Cheaters Do Actually Win, And Winners Usually Cheat

It could be argued that Bill Belichick is a bad person. Now I don't know the guy personally, but I tend to think that statement is somewhat true. Don't get me wrong, if we're looking at wins and losses he's one of the best coaches in NFL history. As someone who doesn't like the Patriots at all really, I always pointed as Belichick as the only guy I could stomach in that organization. But as new reports come out that the Patriots were nabbed for cheating this past Sunday against the Jets, I've lost respect for him too. An associate for the Patriots, a video guy if you will, was stopped by NFL personnel Sunday just before halftime and his camera and tape were confiscated, as he was accused of videotaping the Jets' defensive signals. Belichick has even come out and apologized to the front office, players, and the rest of the league for his and his team's actions. It's just another thing Belichick has done in the somewhat recent past that has called his character in question. There was the supposed affair he had with a secretary when he was with the Jets, and of course there's the not-so-friendly approach he has takes when dealing with the media. Also, the Patriots' injury report from week-to-week is, to be nice about it, "vague". So vague that it is often looked at as misleading to their opponents when trying to prepare for the upcoming week. And who knows? Maybe, just maybe, Belichick had some influence on Rodney Harrison's use of HGH. Just throwing that out there... It's these little things that have called Belichick into question recently.

Now you can look at the fact that I dislike the Patriots and I'm also an aspiring journalist and thus, throw dirt on my argument here. But Patriots fans who don't realize there's some shady business going on here are totally naiieve.

I guess that this is just the culture that we live in in sports today. The biggest individual record in all of sports is held by a cheater. Rick Ankiel is the feel-good story of the summer that was marred by dogfighting, the aforementioned Bonds* saga, and an NBA official caught in the middle of a point-shaving scandal. And now we know that because of HGH use, the Ankiel story isn't as magical as we'd like to believe. It is what it is. Unfortunately, it's the nature of sports as we know them today. And I guess, when you think about it, Belichick may be a bad person, but maybe that's what makes him so good.