May 12, 2015

  • Tom Brady's 4-Game Suspension

    It's likely to be reduced to just two games on appeal.  I say that for two reasons.  All the wise guys (such as Mike Lupica) predict as much, and who am I to disagree with Mike Lupica?  And secondly, there's the cynical reason that the NFL doesn't want to lose the ratings for the Patriots-Cowboys game, and so they'll get the fix in for the appeal to be successful.  (Maybe that's why Lupica predicted what he did.)

    Though I'm not a Patriots fan, and though I cohabit this house with Barbara, who thinks Brady should get the heaviest penalty that law will allow (that already has not happened), I'm way on Brady's side on this one.  Despite the seriousness of cheating.  And despite the smirk that was so obviously on his face when he fielded questions in January.  And despite his refusal to cooperate with the investigation by turning over his cellphone and email logs.

    This is why.

    They all do it.  Brady just got caught.

    If you're not cheating, you're not trying.

    That's the sad truth of it.  In competitive activities, it's wonderfully noble of you to follow all the rules religiously, but when everybody you're competing with is cheating, you simply have to cheat.  Hell, I'm starting to rethink my objection to admitting Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

    There was a college course I took once.  I was staying up all night studying for the final exam (which was to be graded on the curve) and my friends said to me, "Didn't you know there was a cold copy of that test available?  [So and so] has it."  So of course I contacted so and so, because I didn't what to flunk a course I'd worked my ass off in all semester.  I was forced to cheat.  Or accept a poor grade on my transcript that I didn't deserve.  Yeah, I can hear your argument that I should have done exactly that.  Be righteous.  I'll concede you could be right, but I did what I did, and I know I'm a righteous person even if you don't think so.

    Not saying Tom Brady is righteous, but ...

    If you're not cheating, you're not trying.

    On the other hand, I'm not criticizing Roger Goodell here, because he HAD to drop the hammer.  Especially after his weaselly responses to domestic violence.  Even though there's no comparison.  And even though the irony is obvious.

     

Comments (11)

  • That paper chase still goes on in colleges but I like to think that the risks out weigh the benefits (perceived). My husband is pursuing a case of academic dishonesty and what started as a single suspicious grade from one student has blossomed to include a whole classroom and possible involving persons outside the class and even tutors... a real can of worms.

  • i feel the punishment was a bit harsh, and i am not a fan of NE, but a punishment was needed and this may send a message to the others about cheating and getting caught. i am not sure if it made any difference in the game. it does seem that NE has a bit of a history of cheating and getting caught. i dont agree with your statement about cheating and trying.

  • @murisopsis: The older I get the more sympathetic I get for cheats, suicides, loners, misfits of all kind. I do realize that's going in the wrong direction, and I continue to strive mightily to stay sane and keep from feeling bitter. Mostly, I succeed at that. But it keeps getting harder.

  • @buddy71: Perhaps my statement about cheating and trying was on the too-harsh side, but this morning's (May 13, 2015) sports page article by Jere Longman said what I wanted to say, and perhaps it would be good to look it up and read it if you haven't already seen it. One old NE episode that hasn't been mentioned by anyone (far as I know) is the infamous snow plow game. NE was playing at home on a snowy field and they needed a field goal. They called timeout. A guy with a snowplow came onto the field to clear a spot for the kicker. It worked. But it gave new meaning to "home field advantage." That was on a par with deflating footballs, as far as cheating is concerned. I don't like that they got away with it. And that for sure made a difference in the game.

  • If you are not cheating, you are not trying!! Hope my children and grandchildren never hear that.

  • @ZSA_MD: Let me say that I'm sorry I posted this thing, for several reasons. One being, it misrepresents how I feel about cheating. Another reason is that I unwittingly used a 20-year-old quotation (source uncertain) without any sort of attribution. I Googled the phrase and found this:

    The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs
    Edited by Charles Clay Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder and Fred R. Shapiro
    New Haven, CT: Yale University Press
    2012
    Pg. 37:
    If you are not cheating, you are not trying.
    1982 Alastair Fowler, Kinds of Literature (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP) 99: “Even our sayings are prefaced by opening formulas (‘Like they say, if you’re not cheating you’re not trying’; ‘As the saying goes...’)” (italics and ellipsis dots as shown).
    1992 Boston Globe 27 Dec.: “First of all, rules are made to be broken, I don’t care what you’re getting involved with. If you’re breaking it [sic], you’re trying to win. If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying to win.”
    The proverb is most often used in reference to athletic competition.

    [End of excerpt from The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs]

    For the record, I would have had no problem with Goodell to have sent an anti-cheating message so loud and clear that everyone in the world would get it. Suspend Brady for a whole season. I have no problem with that.

    But what bothers me about this whole controversy is how polarized everyone is. There are sports writers and commentators wide, wide apart on how this affects Tom Brady's legacy, i.e., how history will regard him. There's even a difference of opinion on how much Brady knew about what was being done with the footballs. My guess is that the two equipment people acted on their own, knowing that Brady likes lower air pressure in the balls. And I'm guessing that when Brady realized what had happened, he should have taken the high road but didn't; he just laughed and winked and then stonewalled. A big mistake. I could be wrong in my guesses, of course. I could also be wrong in keeping my admiration of Brady at a high level. But I can't lie. Right or wrong, I still admire him.

  • @twoberry:

    Sayeed was a Freshman in school, and he was playing tennis for the State championship up in Chicago. He was facing a Senior from one of the schools in the Chicago area. Sayeed had won the first set. In the second set, he was leading 5-3.He was such a small wiry kid, and no one could believe that a small, brown kid from a school from Quincy could be facing the giants of Chicago and the neighboring areas. The opponent's parents were sitting on lawn chairs just outside the court. We were about ten or twelve from the Quincy district. The other boy had about thirty of his friends and family members there, rooting for him. Sayeed returned a shot that landed way under the base line in the left hand corner. It was a brilliant shot. The kid called it "out". Everyone standing around, gasped, and whistled. The kid turned to his parents, and said, 'mom, it was out." and the mother replied, "I believe you son. You just play and win this game!" All of us, were dumbfounded at this horrible display of unethical approach. Sayeed looked at me, and I threw him a kiss across the court. All around us saw what happened. Every one, including the friends and relatives of the other kid, started chanting "Go Sayeed, win this game. Play your game. Win Sayeed, win Sayeed." I still get tears in my eyes when I recall that moment. Sayeed did win that game and beat the kid at state. I wonder what he is doing now.
    Your argument is well taken Bob. To each his own. Love to Barb.

  • @ZSA_MD: That's an awesome story. Thanks for sharing. I'll bet that Tom Brady wishes he had as much character as Sayeed.

  • Deflategate.
    I just wanted to stop by and say HEY and ask How are you doing?!
    I owe you an e-mail!
    HUGS!!!
    :-)

  • Wow, I am really behind on xanga to just be responding to this now, but it just caught my eye. I realized that I respond very differently to academic cheating than athletic cheating. I will admit to academic cheating, I never had access to something as serious as a cold copy of an exam, but I think I'd do the same. And I definitely placed my test paper in such a way as to allow a friend who struggled with the material to see, or surreptitiously stole an answer when I figured my neighbors guess was as good as mine. But that falls into this "do what you gotta do" category in my mind. Like Robin Hood stealing to feed the poor. Getting your degree, your potential source of income, your survival... this is different than cheating at a game. And yes he is a professional, but lets face it, hes set for life. He doesn't NEED to win more. At this point you would think he would play for love of the game. Dont get me wrong, I love learning just as much, but a grade is not how I measure learning, learning I can do on my own even if I get no credit for it. When you love something, the credit doesn't matter. And I love football right down to my very soul and I think I would rather die than cheat at it, because then the victory would be meaningless. Football is not how one survives, it is what one lives for.

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