Inflated Numbers, Inflated Egos

The New England Patriots are the best team ever in the history of the NFL!

Or so say all the pundits and talking heads and other no-life sports writers. Why do they say this? It is because they have gone the entire regular season without losing a game. They are 16-0 and that is the first time in history that a team has gone 16-0 in the regular season so they have won the most regular season games, ergo the “Best Ever”.

Or are they? Did they really do something historic (as in never been done) or are the numbers just artificially inflated ?

Are they the first team in NFL history to win all their regular season games? Well actually they are the fourth. So as historic as the 4th person to fly the Atlantic Ocean solo (who was that? nobody knows or cares).

Back in 1934 the Chicago Bears went 13-0 in the regular season before losing in the championship game in the famous “Sneaker Bowl” to the New York Giants (so called because one of the Giants assistants went and broke into a gymnasium and stole a bunch of sneakers because the cleats were slipping in the icy Polo Grounds field).

The 1942 Bears went 11-0 (again winning all the games in the regular season, shortened because of World War II) but again lost in the Championship game (back then they didn't have three rounds of playoffs before the championship game hence no chance at becoming 16-0).

The 1972 Miami Dolphins went 14-0 in the regular season and 3-0 in the playoffs to include the NFL Championship Super Bowl. They are therefore the first team to go all the way to the end undefeated. So they are basically the Charles Lindbergh of the NFL, and the Patriots are down there on the list.

So why are they making such a hoopla over this? Well there is first of all the egotistical notion that the men and women reporting sports wanting to be part of history as if because of the Patriots achievement, they themselves become important. They are living vicariously through the Patriots as some parents who force their kids into doing things that they failed to do in their youth.

Of course we all talk about the numbers, but again the teams in the past didn't have the chance to win that many games, so one can never really say who is the best ever just because we inflate the season and dilute the talent. There are many more teams today and of course some think there seems to be enough talent to field them. However there is definitely a big drop off in talent between the good teams and the average and bad ones. Plus the rosters of teams have expanded so more players suit up for games then in the past. Free agency does help as well as teams can stockpile talent and take the disgruntled players from other teams and rent them for a year to make a “Super Team” and then let them all go for salary cap reasons.

The game has also evolved as rule changes and equipment have changed the game for better or worse depending upon one's point of view (they changed a lot of rules to allow for more offense and therefore making more interesting and wide open games, in theory).

Also there are way too many improvements in conditioning, diet, supplements (legal and otherwise) and lifestyles today. For instance the athletes of old had to work other type of jobs in the off season and didn't have access to the wonderful exercise equipment that athletes have today.

Lets face it players that were considered “huge” in the 30's, 40's and even the 70's are considered way too undersized today. So it is tough to compare eras and decades in any sports. But that doesn't stop these sportscasters as that would require research and that is too much work for the so-called “journalists” of this day.

None of this is of course New England's fault, and I am not taking anything away from their achievement. They earned their success and should be proud of it and celebrate appropriately. They are the best team of this era and if they go on to win it all, more power to them.

Let's just not go overboard and disrespect history and what came first. Appreciate the past, live in the present and embrace future growth.

Mahalo.

You Can't Touch Me I'm A Made Man!

 

So Bill Belichek, head coach of the New England Patriots, just wanted a home movie of the Jets game last week, and look where it got him.

Bill known as the most sensitive, caring football coach in history just wanted to share a memory with his former assistant Eric Maginni. Let's face it what a better present than a video of a shared moment? After all this is why we all take videos of weddings, birthdays, graduations etc., is it not? Hey the camera man just thought the Jets' assistant coaches were doing a fancy dance, and he wanted to make sure he got the date and time right. He was just helping Maginni by giving him a light hearted video during the tense and rigorous experience that is the NFL season.

Yeah Right! If you believe any of that drivel, then I have a nice bridge in Brooklyn to sell you, or maybe some nice swamp land in Florida is more to your liking?

Belichek is known and criticized throughout the media that covers the NFL as a cold calculating fish. He is also described as a manipulative and arrogant jerk. He is very secretive about what is going on behind the closed doors of his office. Critics point at his blatant abuse of the injury report required by the league as a way of his tiptoeing around the rules (he puts everyone on the report to keep opponents guessing about the true status of his players' health). He does play by the rules in wearing “Official NFL approved Apparel”, but he cuts of the sleeves of his hooded sweatshirt so he looks like a bum on the sidelines (again obeying the rule of the law, but not the spirit of the law). His press conferences are boring and monotone, and he only does the because they are required, and he does the minimum time that the league allows. He treats the media as a necessary evil and doesn't allow his assistants to talk to the media. Of course he learned this from his mentor Bill Parcells, late of the Dallas Cowboys.

His history doesn't allow one to appreciate his character either. Within a day after accepting a job as the head coach of the Jets, he promptly quit and accepted a better offer from their rival the Patriots. But then again it might be that he knew the Jets were a franchise in disarray and decided that he couldn't live in that mess.

The issue at hand however is the video that one of his assistants was taking of the Jets sidelines during the game. What he was doing was taping the assistants signaling the plays for the defense, and then quickly panning to the scoreboard to record down and distance. This allowed the coordinators in the booth to compare the signals and the time of the game with the formations that the Jets were using. This give them the knowledge of what the Jets were going to do and allow the offense to change the play and take advantage of this advanced knowledge. Of course the quarterback has a radio receiver in his helmet so the coaches can send in plays. All they need to do is call two plays in the huddle (a common practice) and then once they have the defense figured out, shout a code word and allow the quarterback to change the plat at the line of scrimmage by “calling an audible”.

This is not the first time the Patriots have been accused of doing this. The Green Bay Packers caught this same guy doing this last year, and at least one other team has said they thought they saw this, but couldn't believe someone would be so brazen as to do this in the open.

Now watching the other team's signals and trying to pick them up is as old as the game. This has led to various ways to camouflage the signals including having multiple coaches/players sending in dummy signals to confuse the other team. In fact the offense now relies on radio controlled helmets for the quarterbacks. However the defensive captain doesn't get the same advantage. This may lead to the adoption of this equipment in the near future. The amazing thing is that many teams have complained to the league about the signals mysteriously going out during crucial drives while playing in Gillette Stadium (Home of the Patriots) as well as jammed signals between the press boxes and the sidelines. Hmm what a coincidence.

The rule is clear that a team is not allowed to record the signals of an opponent using any video recording device. Belichek's defense was that “He just misinterpreted the rule”. Right, sure Bill, whatever you say.

Of course the NFL came down with some minor slaps on the wrist as far as penalties are concerned. Bill was fined $500,000 (maximum allowed by league rules), which sounds like a lot, but considering his base salary is $7 million it isn't all that much (plus the additional $5-8 million he makes in endorsements, and one can see where this doesn't really hurt). The team was fined $250,000 and loss of a first round draft choice if they make the playoffs, or a 2nd and 3rd round choices if they don't. Big deal, the franchise is worth $1.5 Billion and they actually have made trades where they have 2 first rounders this year, so it doesn't hurt anyone except a current college player who will now lose money because they will not be a first round draft choice (a difference of millions in base salary and bonuses).

The team cannot pay the fine for Coach Belichek, but he all of a sudden he got a one year extension of his contract through 2013, and oh yeah an undisclosed amount of bonus money was included. A little fishy? Again a way around the rules? Well it does follow the letter of the law, but.....


The New England Patriots under the present owner Bob Kraft, has been held up as a model franchise, and has been considered the “right way to run a team”.

Of course Belichek is Kraft's handpicked coach. And oh yea he also has three Super Bowl rings (which is the NFL's equivalent of "being made") over the last 5 years and the Patriots are a lot of people's choice to win it all again this year. He has been labeled as a genius for getting the most out of players and being able to overcome devastating injuries by plugging in role players into unfamiliar positions and make it work (i.e. Troy Brown a receiver playing defensive back and doing it well).

Of course this seems to have galvanized the team into playing an almost flawless game against the Sand Diego Chargers last Sunday night. It was as if they were saying that “Hey we don't cheat nor do we need to in order to win”.

Last we heard the NFL was still looking into this situation, and it seems to be an open investigation. However this may just be a cover story to make them look like they are doing something, while already deciding that the matter is closed. Only the future will tell.

Mahalo.