Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater…
The feelings I have about cheating stem back to when I was a kid watching a television show or movie where there was an athletic activity going on. Most of the time the good guy/girl/group would triumph over evil - even if the evil group happened to cheat at a certain event to win. Only in make-believe would we see cheaters not winning. Unfortunately in todays world we do not have the luxury of A) seeing cheaters lose every time like you see on TV or B) having the knowledge of knowing who is cheating.
This weekend we found out the New England Patriots, a team I have rooted for since the age of 12, allegedly used cameras on the New York Jets sideline - for reasons of benefit for their team. As I sat there thinking about the accusation and the penalty that would follow if proven guilty, I remembered what use to go down during my playing and coaching days in baseball. Obviously these are two different sports but both use signs during games.
People use to often refer to stealing signs in a baseball game as "bush". I use to refer to it as "bush signals". If you are the opposite team, you better not allow me to know what signs are coming. Do not allow me to know what your steal sign, bunt sign or hit-and-run signs are. Otherwise, we will pitch accordingly and you will be ours all night.
Is Football different than Baseball? Yes, I will admit that. However, there is a bigger issue that hasn’t really been discussed at length. That is the audio issue. Apparently there was some audio equipment close to the coaches on the field. That means someone on the Patriots staff could hear what play would be called. That is a much bigger issue. Why? Because a lot of coaches cover their mouths when they send a plan in. If they cover up, they can’t figure anything out. Otherwise, why use a camera when binoculars will do the trick, right? Only audio equipment will pick up Andy Reid’s plays, right? That’s why having audio equipment near the coaches should be a bigger issue and it isn’t. For the life of me, I cannot understand why…
I certainly know if I was mic’ed up during games in which I was a coach I’d be in big trouble with the opposition. It also makes sense that New York knew about this; Eric Mangini did coach under Bill Belichick. Regardless of how many organizations try to gain an edge by doing something underhanded, New England is the only team under fire and only they can blame themselves for that.
Other stuff…
- Greg Oden may miss the entire 2007-08 season because of cartilage damage in his knee. This is a big blow to both Oden and the Portland Trail Blazer organization but this may be a blessing in disguise. Portland isn’t ready to make any noise this year but if they get smoked this year, get a top 4 pick for next year, get Oden healthy and allow some of the perennial powerhouse teams to get older and weaker, Portland then has their team set up for the next decade. It’s like 1997 when San Antonio lost David Robinson and Sean Elliot and ended up drafting Tim Duncan thanks to their horrific season. They weren’t a bad team but got decimated with injuries. Then San Antonio became even greater than they were before. That may not happen with Portland, but with Oden being out it certainly gives them a chance to really load up with young talent.
- HGH being tested by 2008? Gee, I’d love to have some audio equipment in the room where the MLBPA have their own internal meeting. Wouldn’t it be great to be a fly on the wall for that one. "Hey, you seem to be sweating hard big guy. Is everything ok?". That said, I can’t see the Players Association agreeing to that.
- Mark Bell was suspended by the NHL for 15 games for a drunk driving/crash episode that occurred over a year ago. The court sentenced him a few months ago and it was only until recently that the NHL took action. I thought the league wanted to be taken seriously?
- Mike Tyson is going through his possession of cocaine case and nobody even cares. How the mighty has fallen. We use to eat Mike Tyson news up all the time. Then again, we cannot fault Mike entirely as boxing has continue to plummet in terms of it’s appeal. Let’s face it folks, MMA has started to take over and boxing is now left wondering what it needs to do to get it back to the good ole’ days.
…Im off tomorrow and Monday on assignment so I’ll be back on my show on Tuesday. I should have a replay going tomorrow morning of THIS morning’s show. Have a great night and even better weekend.
