America’s team?
After the tragedy of Sept. 11, the New England Patriots became America’s team.
Maybe it was their colors, the red, silver and blue. Or their mascot. Or their winning ways. Or even their dimple-chinned quarterback.
They were the all-American boys playing America’s sport.
Ironic, then, that on the sixth anniversary of Sept. 11, the NFL ruled that the Patriots have cheated. You know the story — New England had a cameraman on its sidelines Sunday taping the New York Jets’ coaches on the opposite sideline. They were taping defensive signals.
That, my friends, is a no-no.
Now, I’m all for a little gamesmanship. But this violates long-standing rules in the NFL. And by some accounts, it isn’t the first time the Patriots have done it. The Packers say that they escorted the same cameraman out of Lambeau Field a year ago when they suspected the same kind of foul play.
The NFL needs to come down hard on the Patriots. A fine, even a hefty one, won’t be enough to hurt a multi-million dollar franchise. A suspension of coach Bill Belichick won’t do it either. His assistants are able enough to handle the gig without him.
The NFL has to hit the Patriots where it hurts.
Make the Pats forfeit the victory against the Jets.
It seems extreme, but nothing else will be enough to make the Pats think twice about doing this again. A loss, though, would likely scare them from trying it again.
The image of America’s team has already been tarnished. Taking away a victory would be just the thing to keep from letting that tarnish rub off on America’s game.
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Comments
You really have no idea what you are talking about. It’s journalists like you that ruin the credibility of the media and make it hard for honest, hard-working journalism students like me to get a good job. I am a fan of the Patriots, and I can tell you that they have been anything but America’s team. They’ve been disrespected by most NFL analysts (see: Tom Jackson, John Madden, Chris Mortensen), they had to win two more Superbowls after beating the “Greatest Show on Turf” before anyone considered them the real deal, and since the incident they’ve gone on to methodically destroy the Chargers and Bills. So you can be bitter and try and argue that they cheated for six years, but come on now. Do you really think that in six years, no head coach, assistant, owner, GM, or player would have seen anything? If you do, then you’re crazy and should probably stop writing about sports, let alone real news.
Not sure where you got the idea that the New England Patriot’s became america’s team after Sept. 11th. . . . that’s quite a stretch. . .I have never seen any evidence of them being America’s team. . . Maybe in your own little world.