East Coast Ethics
As an Indiana resident and longtime fan of the Indianapolis Colts, it has been gratifying to watch the New England Patriots sweat while under investigation for taping the defensive coaches of the New York Jets.
Unfortunately, fans of the Patriots have been less than crestfallen at the ethical breech. This absence of outrage originates in a fundamental east coast world view that rewards cheating and laughs off ethical constraints.
To me, Belicheck and Patriots quarterback Brady are the embodiment of “east coast ethics.” For the average fan of the Patriots, Bill Belichick must be commended for taping the opposing sidelines – he would be a “sucker” if he didn’t push the envelope.
Brady, the playboy, impregnates supermodels at lightning speed, but can’t seem to figure out why deliberately breaking a written rule of the NFL might be considered cheating.
Since he can’t deal with adults but still finds success in his occupation, Belichick is called a genius. Instead of genius, he instead gets by on cheating and intimidation. Ask brain-damaged former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson about Belichick’s commitment to his players. It ends the second you’re no longer useful to him. Belichick abstains from morality, in favor of expediency.
Picking up a well-known, team-splitting troublemaker like Randy Moss is no problem for the Patriots. As long as he produces on the field, his personality and his behavior are irrelevant. Adding one more spoiled apple to the oily, soulless bunch has no obvious effect.
The integrity-free exploits of Belichick and Brady stand in sharp contrast to the personas of Colts’ coach Tony Dungee and quarterback Peyton Manning. Regarded for their earnestness, ethics and work ethics, Dungee and Manning bring an old-school, midwestern personality to their team and to their state. That’s a personality that I can root for.
Relief, Not Joy
At the point where you feel more relief than joy when your team wins, you are taking things too seriously. Since becoming a fan of the Colts, upon moving to Indianapolis in 1995, I have been conditioned to expect the worst whenever the team took the field in a “big” game. Each season, you expect that any hopes of a championship will get squashed sometime between September and February.
Yesterday served more as a culmination of 12 years of angst than a cathartic breakthrough. Just seconds into the game, my fatalism crested just as Devin Hester turned right at the 20-yard-line with the opening kickoff. I started to get a little woozy, flashing back to an AFC Championship game in Pittsburgh 11 years ago.
I was woozy, that is, until Bear QB Rex Grossman pump-faked early in the 4th Quarter. When Rex loaded up and got ready to fire, I let out an instinctive yelp of joy, even before the camera panned to the intended target of the strike, revealing the perfect position of Colt defensive back Kelvin Hayden.
Since last July, even before the start of the preseason, I had taken every opportunity to explain why Rex was not the best choice for the Bears to friends and family. Oddly, this stems more from my appreciation of 3rd-string QB Kyle Orton than it does from really caring about the Bears.
In the instant that Rex drew back his bow, two prophesies were fulfilled, bringing peace to the NFL, or, at least, to me.
With 32 teams in the always-more-competitive league, it may be a generation or more before we see the gleam of another Lombardi trophy in the circle city, but for today, we can all be satisfied.
View archives for September 2007.
