Perception

Recent posts by Greg Doyel and Ron Borges should give any reasonable person cause to step back and examine their own perceptions, assumptions and beliefs when it comes to Deflategate.

Not that I'm claiming to be a reasonable person.

 

In both cases, it struck me the subtext of both pieces was based on a familiar syllogism…

The Patriots are cheaters.

Cheaters cheat.

The Patriots cheated.

The basis for this is Spygate, of course, and there's no denying that Spygate happened. That it happened eight years ago come September; that there were no incidents or accusations of cheating until Deflategate isn't noteworthy. Spygate persists as a cottage industry for pigskin pundits and bobbleheads and when its relevance is challenged it will be noted the Patriots have no one to blame but themselves. The details of Spygate are also inconsequential. The Patriots winning percentage since Spygate is inconsequential or explained away as New England's morally bankrupt head coach Bill Belichick finding new and more creative ways to cheat that – until Deflategate – went undetected, much like athletes using designer PEDs that are undetectable to current testing protocols. 

Those are not facts, of course.

We used to count on journalists to give us the facts, to help us find the truth. Maybe it's unfair to think of Greg Doyel and Ron Borges as journalists. They're really columnists, aren't they? You know, bloggers who work in an office instead of their mother's basement, sneering and snarking and dismissing any dissent as they draw their pompous conclusions from generalizations presented as inevitabilities.

Doyel and Borges are right about one thing. The Wells Report, regardless of what it contains, what conclusions are drawn, what judgments are handed down will not change the long-held perceptions of either the Patriots haters or their fans. What they seem to miss is their complicity in all of this. Instead, they shrug it off. Perception is reality. Everyone thinks the Patriots are cheaters. What am I supposed to do about that?

Do your job?

I have long held little regard for the media personalities that throw logs on the raging fires of hate that burn in the hearts of so many in this country and then wash their hands when the inevitable result is violence and death. Yes, this is only football we're talking about but we're also talking about America, the most heavily armed civilian population on the face of the planet. As the "Tom Brady is a lying cheater" story was leading the news across every print and electronic outlet, I had a terrible thought that some nut with a gun wearing an ill-fitting Peyton Manning jersey would take a shot at Brady and kill one of his kids.

I'd like to think that's a crazy thought but I live in America. I've seen shit like that happen. Over a parking space.

Doyel mentions in his piece that Bob Kravitz, his fellow Indianapolis-based media personality who broke the Deflategate investigation story, has been subjected to anti-Semitism which is vile and indefensible. Doyel noted his personal life was deconstructed, as were the tires of his car. Again, this is at best an embarrassment to any good citizen of Patriots Nation. (It was also something of a shock to me when I didn't think anything related to Deflategate could surprise. A Patriots' fan in Indianapolis?) Doyel states in his "we're all losers" piece that all Patriots fans will be judged by the actions of the anti-Semites and tire slashers.

What's it called when you judge a larger group on the basis of the actions or words of a few?

Borges is a well-known local curmudgeon who has reveled in his self-styled role as Patriots ombudsman. He seems to believe his views are legitimized by his antagonistic relationship with Bill Belichick as it burnishes the patina of his selfie as the only honest man in Boston. In his piece he specifically calls out Patriots fans who don't believe New England cheated, didn't deflate footballs and didn't lie about it. We are "idiots." Without enumerating the many times the Patriots "played fast and loose with both the letter and the spirit of the law on issues big and small" he notes that much like a woman in a tight dress, New England is getting what they asked for.

That any footballs (whatever number) were underinflated (by however many PSI) is proof enough for Doyel and Borges that New England cheated, that some member of the Patriots organization tampered with those footballs to achieve a competitive advantage. Doyel and Borges consider this to be a reasonable conclusion with which only a dolt or hypocrite would disagree.

That the Colts would tamper with the Patriots' game ball they had on their sideline after the D'Qwell Jackson interception or take any actions to tamper with their game balls to ensure they were inflated to the original 13.5 PSI because they dropped a dime on New England ahead of the AFC Championship Game and knew their balls might be gauged is just nuts. Indianapolis would never cheat. To think otherwise is ludicrous.

Quick Aside: According to Doyel, science is another thing that's "ludicrous."

"If I assumed the Patriots cheated, well, Bill Belichick's behavior during the Spygate scandal gave me license to make that assumption. And if the Wells Report concludes that cold temperatures deflated those footballs, well, my assumption will stand. Because that's ludicrous."

If I'm an idiot for questioning how the Colts' footballs (and I'm not even sure they were gauged at halftime as a control) could still be at 13.5 PSI after being subjected to a 20 degree drop in temperatures and soaked in rain, then so be it.

I mean, come on! Science? Ludicrous!

If I'm an idiot for questioning why the Patriots would call attention to the mishandling of the K balls in the AFC Championship Game and risk the revelation they were manipulating the pressure of the game balls, then so be it.

I mean, come on! The Patriots caring about the integrity of the game? Idiot!

If I'm an idiot for questioning the trustworthiness of the NFL in the context of that fired NFL employee, the inequity in the Vikings receiving a warning for tampering with footballs vs. the botched sting and subsequent need for a Warren Commission-level investigation of the Patriots and the fact the league didn't gauge the footballs before kickoff given these suspicions – risking the integrity of the AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl – then so be it.

I mean, come on! Oh, wait. Nobody is saying the NFL has done a good job with any of this.

If I'm an idiot for refusing to believe the Patriots cheated in the AFC Championship Game until I see facts and proof, for refusing to judge the New England football team for something that happened more than 7 years ago, then so be it.

I mean, come on! Facts? Proof? Are either of those trending on Twitter? I didn't think so.

And if I'm an idiot for thinking that if they're exonerated by the Wells Report, the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and yes locker room attendant Jim McNally will deserve apologies from the league and the many media personalities who've used the Patriots as a cash cow for the last month or more, then pass me that pointy cap over there. I'll wear it with pride.