An Insult To Video Guys

I was born on the West Coast, raised on the West Coast and plan on raising my own kids on the West Coast. I love most everything about the West Coast and strongly dislike the East Coast for the most part. I hate the big cities, the crappy weather, the pompous sports fans and the overrated sports teams. The Yankees and Red Sox rivalry is played out, the Patriots are nowhere near the 49ers or Cowboys dynasties of yesteryear and the NBA played on the East Coast is an absolute embarrassment. I haven't even mentioned college football (there isn't any in the Northeast) and Big East basketball is too boring for me to even acknowledge its existence.

I bring all of this up because the New England Patriots have gone and embarrassed video coordinators. I don't know much about the profession but I do know a couple of people who work in the video field. They are hard-working individuals and have to answer to some pretty demanding coaches, or so it seems. It appears Patriots video assistant Matt Estrella has marched to head coach Bill Belichick's orders one too many times. Apparently, he was caught recording the hand signals of the New York Jets on Sunday. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has determined they broke the rules and a punishment is likely to follow. Check out stories on the situation here, here and here.

My question is this. If the Patriots are the single greatest team ever assembled (according to various media blowhards), why do they need to cheat? And why do they need to cheat more than once before being punished? The Green Bay Packers kicked Estrella out of Lambeau Field last year for doing the same thing. Only in the NFL could a player be suspended for a year for being charged, not convicted, of a crime but some 'genius' coach can repeatedly cheat and get away with it. No I'm not talking about Vick, I am talking about Pacman Jones. I predict the NFL will protect one of its 'genius' coaches and fine the team an amount that equals a Sunday's worth of hot dog sales or take away two 7th round picks. Whichever it is, the Patriots will certainly pay so dearly for the offense that they would never want to do it again.

I have long held that the Patriots are overrated and been annoyed by the media's infatuation with them. Now it only gets worse as they employ their video assistant to blatantly cheat and do it more than once. Only an idiot would assume the Patriots have been caught the only 2 times they've tried to film the opponent's signals. Belichick likely thinks he has done nothing wrong and the Northeast will follow his lead like the starstruck sissies they are. If the Red Sox tell their faithful they are not doing what the Yankees did 10 years ago they buy it hook, line and sinker so whatever Belichick comes up with will be taken as gospel.