[Bill,
October 29, 2007]
I didn't hate the New England Patriots until last night ...
... when they ran up the score against Joe Gibbs and the Washington Redskins. 38-0, 4th and a few on the seven -- you don't keep Brady in. You pull your first string, take a knee, and have your second string defense practice the "prevent" defense and your second string offense practice running up the middle.
Sure, Washington would've scored a few times. But wouldn't 38-14 be more classy and respectable than 52-7.
Honestly, if I were Joe Gibbs, on that 4th down play I would've sent everyone after Brady, and had my players go in low and late. Sure, there would be a hail of yellow flags. So what? The more important thing is Beelzebubchek would get the idea not to keep his quarterback in too long.
Sure, Washington would've scored a few times. But wouldn't 38-14 be more classy and respectable than 52-7.
Honestly, if I were Joe Gibbs, on that 4th down play I would've sent everyone after Brady, and had my players go in low and late. Sure, there would be a hail of yellow flags. So what? The more important thing is Beelzebubchek would get the idea not to keep his quarterback in too long.
Here's a special story of sportsmanship. It was apparent after about 5 minutes that my daughter's soccer team was going to cream another team this weekend. So the coach took these actions:
Part 1: Usual good sportsmanship for soccer
The coach 1) pulled one of her team's players off the field and 2) told them they had to make several passes before shooting.
Part 2: A cruel twist on sportsmanship
Their coach told the ref in the 2nd half (who he knows) to make calls in favor of the other team ... including giving them a penalty kick which resulted in a goal.
Needless to say, the girls were fine with Part 1 and they went ballistic over part 2. I was torn as a parent because it was a bit cruel, but the girls extreme drama over the calls was really funny.
Final score: 7 - 1 (on the penalty kick resulting from a non-foul collision that occurred outside the box)
Of course, these days, it may take the refs to teach New England a lesson on the football field.
I think part of what was annoying about the Patriots game is both Brady and the backup quarterback spiked the ball in the end zone after the 45-0 and 52-0 touchdown. At the very least, flipping the ball to the referee would've shown some class.
The Patriots are all about paying back the NFL for fining them on the filming stuff. Someone will eventually get hurt.
Not very classy.