Patriot Reign?

You know when you’re a kid, and you find out that there’s no Santa Claus and you become utterly disappointed? That sick in your stomach, my world is crashing down around me and everything I believed in is a bunch of crap feeling?

That’s how I’ve felt this week in light of the Patriots spying scandal. Disappointed, discouraged, and disgusted that my beloved Pats have become the Yankees of football.

I started to become interested in football when I was about 10 years old and watched it with my dad. He’d flip around through all the games that would occupy a Sunday afternoon. By the time I was 13 I had developed into a little Pats fan. I remember watching the ’97 Super Bowl at my ex-boyfriend’s house, squished on a couch next to his parents and just dropping my head as the Packers continually made cheese out of the Pats. I couldn’t stand Bledsoe as a QB before Tom Brady had even started in college ball. When I got to college, my friends and I would get together every Sunday and watch the games. I remember sitting in Joe Gregg’s dad’s house during the 2001 Super Bowl. I was on the edge of my seat – literally, and probably for the only time in my life – and covered my eyes as Adam Vinatieri stepped up for the game winning field goal. I didn’t open them again until everyone else in the room started cheering. The Snow game where “the Tuck Rule” became immortalized, sitting in the Leitch Lounge with Nate Bailey, Griff, and Tim Kalhert watching the game in disbelief. The Super Bowl that immortalized the phrase “wardrobe malfunction” in Steve’s Donahue Hall suite with Steve, Brendan Fayle, and Cathleen Spadea. Steve picking on Kevin Faulk every game we watch. Napping through almost every game against the Dolphins from 2001-2005 (no, I’m not quite sure why).

I have so many good memories surrounding Pats games. About a year ago, I heard someone say the comment about the Pats becoming the Yankees of football and brushed it off. People were just jealous because we were able to do well with the salary cap, dispose of players who wanted more money and were past their prime (what IS Ty Law doing these days…?), and were just a great TEAM – an anomaly in modern sports.

But recently I’ve started to see what other fans are seeing. Tom Brady is an unwed father who’s dating a supermodel, which makes him more of a pretty boy celebrity than a quarterback. You don’t hear about (shudder) Peyton Manning doing that crap… although, Brady IS a saint compared to Michael Vick. Rodney Harrison who I thought was one of the best defensive players of our time openly admitted to buying HGH. And now, Matt Estrella is caught crossing sidelines to videotape defensive signals against NFL rules.

The more I read about it, the more I get disappointed. I was a blind fan who thought that my team was just a good team; I had no idea that they had already been asked to stop it by the Packers last year. Belichick stands up there saying that he had a difference with Roger Goodell about the “interpretation of the rules” and apologizes to the staff, players, and ownership for everything… what did he think was going to happen? Next thing you know someone is going to tell me that Troy Brown is really just a robot and the reason he’s been on the PUP list is because he needed an oil change.

I don’t know. I’ve read a lot from the various sports writers and editorials and the general feel is “Bill, you’re too smart for this. You’re ruining your team’s reputation. Where did this ego suddenly appear from? You don’t NEED this crap!” And I have to agree. Now people are starting to question whether or not all of the wonderfulness of the last 6 years have been aided by cheating and whether or not the Pats are as good as they look. “Can they win without the help?” has become the question of the week.

I’d like to think that they can win without cheating. Even with all of the bad press they’re still showing as 91% likely to make the playoffs on some polls. There’s no way that AV could have made those kicks by cheating, and a lot of those games were too close to call cheating the means for the wins. Now, whether or not cheating made a difference in the 38-14 win against the Jets on Sunday we’ll never know. Or at least we won’t know until the NFL makes their decisions and releases their comments on the matter. All I know is that we play the Chargers on Sunday, and I don’t trust that they’re in the right mindset to win (although, I’d love to knock LaDainian Tomlinson down a few pegs, speaking of egos).

Am I still a Pats fan? Yes; there’s something to be said about loyalty to your team. No, my colleague who’s a Colts fan, I’m not going to start cheering for Peyton Manning to win every game. I’m still a Pats fan, and even if I moved to NY I’d STILL be a Pats fan (although I’d know how a Yankees fan feels in Boston, I’m sure).

But am I completely disappointed with the leadership on my favorite team? You had better believe it.