Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop
No. They filmed the Jets' defensive coaches (and their signals) from their own sidelines. They were allowed to watch the Jets' defensive coaches from their own sidelines, and they were allowed to film the Jets' defensive coaches from other places, but they were not allowed to film the Jets' defensive coaches from their own sidelines. And there again, I come out in the same place: They broke a rule, but the collective hysteria about it is grossly out of all proportion to what they did. While a rule is a rule, it's hard for me to get excited about the breaking of stupid rules. Both episodes remind of the public shaming that Jon Ronson wrote his most recent book about -- there's something irresistible about jumping on the "Patriots are cheaters" bandwagon, and there's something irresistible about inflating what they actually did. Hank knows they cheated for years every time they didn't fumble the ball, and you know they filmed other teams' practices. The narrative is just too strong.
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When I was in high school, most nice afternoons we'd stop at Walgreen's and pick up a case of Miller High Life ($4/6-pack),head to the park to play football until what passed for the local motorcycle gang (snerk) showed up and wanted to play with us. We didn't like playing with them because they were real big fans of the clothesline and the late hit. On the other hand, they always had the best weed, so we'd try our best not to be crippled for another half-hour, then they'd get high with us.
That was football. Once the players stopped having fun, football ceased to hold any charm for me.
Now I like NASCAR because there are fast cars, enough crashes to keep it interesting without demanding my full attention, and the outcome of the race is never certain until the final restart. Each driver takes each race very seriously, and as long as the hit isn't too obvious, justice is handled on the track by taking the offending driver out. I suppose as it becomes more of a tv sport (it's already the most popular sport in the country), we'll stop seeing drivers cutting other divers tires Roman chariot style or bumping them into the wall. With any luck, I'll be dead by then
