Greetings from Fenway Park
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Sep 14, 2007 
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It’s a wicked nice day here in Boston, as the locals would say. Arrived at Logan Airport this morning from Toronto.
Sports talk radio up here is usually akin to two drunks arguing in a bar about whether Clemens is better than Schilling. At best it’s unlistenable.
But today it was interesting as there wasn’t one Yankees-Red Sox call. The discussion was all Patriots and the punishment handed down to Bill Belichick. If Belichick were fired tomorrow, I don’t get the sense that there would be much outrage. It’s like finding out your high school valedictorian had the answers taped to the desk.
The Patriots had become the Yankees of the NFL. Opposing fans hated them but you had to respect them. Their players weren’t punks, their owner spent money wisely and they won by being tough and disciplined. You wished your team was that good.
Now what? Did they win because they cheated? Every hour seems to bring a new story about headphones being mysteriously shut off or some other subterfuge. A lot of it smacks of sour grapes but some percentage is probably true.
Anybody who’s been around football as a player or coach knows that information only goes so far. At some point you have to block and tackle. I also can’t believe the Pats are the only team that tries dirty tricks.
But the whole thing stinks no matter how you try and define it.
We are reminded once again that it’s better to love the laundry, not the people inside.
“I love the smell of fear in the morning – smells like VICTORY” ~ Billy Martin
I would like to welcome Red Sox Nation and its doppelganger ESPN.
The sands in the glass have run out. The time is near. Denis Leary used up his first born in 2004.
Surrender now; while you can.
http://tinyurl.com/27vdds
If you only knew the POWER of the Empire!!
Pete im glad you didn’t mention the specific penalities handed down..
The biggest part of this isn’t the money or the draft pick.. Its BB being labeled as a cheater.. He can pay the money, he can pull off an amazing draft… But he’ll never be able to shake that label.. It’s in the history books now.
c’mon pete, where’s your grainy cell phone picture of the view from the press box?
No offense Pete… I know they are your team… but I hate the Pats… and it is more to do with the Red Sox… because I remember when they won their first Super Bowl… at the Parade the fans were chanting “Yankees Suck”… still rubs me so far the wrong way that I infact HATE Tom Brady!!!!!!!! (but still respect what he has done)
I’m glad you make the comparison of the Pats to the Yanks. I’m amazed that the same chowder heads who delight in shouting “Yankees Suck” like infants in dirty diapers don’t see their own duplicity as they no doubt delight in the Patriots dominance. Where is the vitriol for New England’s “Evil Empire”? I truly don’t understand how you can view the Yankees as an example of everything wrong with the world and not give a second thought to the football version of the same team.
I despise this Yankees-Red Sox rivalry because I think the Boston fans are unhinged and it has nothing to do with baseball but rather every cliche didactic about underdogs, adversity, persecution etc. It’s dumb and a bumout to be around these people. True losers motivated by class resentment and personal insecurity more than draft picks and starting line-ups.
“The Patriots has become the Yankees of the NFL.”
Come on pete, don’t push it. Really love your blog but it’s not true.
First, people don’t hate the Pats as much as the Yankees… it would be necessary so much more sucess through time for the Pats to become that envy/hated, second if people hate them it’s not because of their recent sucess, people didn’t hated the packs os the 60′s, the steelers of the 70′s or any other NFL “so called” dynasty… it has something with ESPN always over-exposing them, overrating Tom Brady, and Bellichick being such an a**, IMO
Pete,
As fellow professional team sport athletes, it would be nice if you could get some feedback from the Yankee players as to the Patriots situation (and I’m not even an NFL watcher).
OTOH, the really amazing thing in the sports world is that McClaren, the F1 constructor, was fined $100MM (yes, $100 Million) for espionage.
“I also can’t believe the Pats are the only team that tries dirty tricks.”
I don’t see why, considering there isn’t any evidence to the contrary.
It seems that Boston is really a nice place. It has history, some of the best institutions of higher education, beautiful autumns, and good, hardworking people. It just seems like a small percentage of the population loses their mind when it comes to the Yankees. The foul-mouth taunting seems to be a prevalent characteristic in Red Sox Nation. Like their motto is “Yankees Suck!” and they’re proud of it.(I know. Some Yankee fans do the same thing).
Felipe from Brazil:
The Pats are very much the Yankees of the NFL, and football fans really do hate them just as much as baseball fans hate the Yanks.
But while baseball fans at least have the [arguably] legitimate complaint about salary to fuel their contempt of NY, football fans basically only had jealousy and the media’s over-saturation of Pats-coverage to fuel theirs. Until this week, at least.
I’m glad to hear that Boston pundits are outraged with BB, though. As a Pats fan, I would have been disappointed if Pats-land was mounting some sort of half-assed defense of this sort of thing.
I guess this just makes BB’s potential retirement at the end of this season a welcome event, even for Pats fans. As long as Bob Kraft keeps the organization on the right track, the talent will be there to be successful. Hopefully a more honest coach could help bring the team back to respectability.
Pats Dynasty= TARNISHED
the dallas cowboys had the last real dynasty.
What a cheater. He steals a million dollars from mr. hess, now he cheats his way to 3 titles. TOTAL CLASS ACT!!!
Tom:
Denver paid Elway under the table and lost a draft pick.
Pittsburgh once held illegal extra practices and lost a draft pick
Oakland under Al Davis has been accused of stuff for years. He used to pay bus drivers of opposing teams to get information and reportedly bugged the locker room.
Why do you think so many teams practice in giant indoor facilities?
I’m not saying two wrongs make a right. But you really think one team cheats? C’mon.
Make no mistake about it, the resentment of the Pats and the Yankees is rooted in the same psychosis: Hatred of the Successful for Being Successful.
It is the same basic morality that fuels anti-American sentiment around the world, including within America.
To me, the irony is that most New England sports fans are so blinded by collectivist team loyalty that they are leading the anti-Yankee tribe on one side while defending the Pats on the other.
i would think the Cowboys are more of the Yankees of the NFL. At least if you’re going from the ‘either you hate them or love them’ POV…
I’m no pats fan, but how could I hate a team that kept the Eagles from winning a Super Bowl?
Unlike others here, I’m not at all bothered by the Red Sox advertising. But one thing is really creepy about the Chowdaheadz ad. Charlie looks so lecherous.
Pete, how long ago did those incidents you listed occur? i could be wrong, but i don’t think they come that close to what just happened.
O.k. I’m seeing a little reverse inferiority complex here. Boston hates New York for all (count ‘em: 26) its baseball success (Yankees, Mets don’t count). Then New York really hates on Boston for its football success. Yes, Bill cheated, but it’s not like he stole laptops or anything. Can’t wait for this story’s half-life to become zero. Some of you are even attacking Pete personally about this subject. Haterade all around.
“but it’s not like he stole laptops or anything”
LOL!!!!!!!!!!
quote of the year
“Denver paid Elway under the table and lost a draft pick.
Pittsburgh once held illegal extra practices and lost a draft pick”
Come on Pete. These are just shop liftings compared to the Pats grand heists. If you know what the opposition defense is going to throw at you you don’t need a Tom Brady to be good. That leads me to question if Tom Brady is really that good.
I always thought the Dallas Cowboys were the Yankees of the NFL. People are more oriented to love or hate the Cowboys. There’s really no in between. I feel that’s how people who aren’t Yankee fans act. They really never sit back and show that much respect for what this team has done.
The Patriots, before this incident, felt like the old 49′ers teams to me. You respected what they were doing in their dynasty years from Montana to Steve Young. You hated when they played your favorite team, but you always respected them. The niners (and the Pats before this season) had an air of class about them.
I’ve lost all respect for the Patriots now. They went to great lengths and took big risks to get this advantage. They wouldn’t have done it unless they knew it helped them win games. It’s a disgrace.
Add this to the Rodney Harrison HGH suspension, Tom Brady dumping his pregnant girlfriend and immediately shacking up with a supermodel and Bellicheat’s marital indiscretions and there’s a stench to this team that is going to be hard to overcome.
They may finally usurp the Cowboys as universally hated.
I find it funny that people think that cheating the SALARY CAP isn’t as large as an offense as stealing signs (perfectly legal) but doing it with a camera (only recently empahsized to be illegal).
Having listened to sports radio here all week Pete, I would disagree, most Patriots fans would be aghast if Belichick got fired. Its the sports media up here that holds a grudge against him because he won’t talk in detail about anything but football that are over the top about how bad this is.
Was he wrong for doing it? Sure. Is this typical of everyone’s overreaction to the newest sports scandal? Absolutely.