The N&R’s Rob Daniels takes a look at the Patriots’ run to perfection:
It is becoming fashionable to hate the New England Patriots. Their coach is an entirely unlikable curmudgeon who dresses like a fugitive. Their quarterback dates supermodels. They were caught cheating in a game they won by 24 points, the rough equivalent of using a jackhammer to subdue a spider.
So when they win, which is 11 times in 11 chances this NFL season, the conflagration on the message boards begins anew and the 1972 Miami Dolphins get agitated as their champagne chills for another week.
And speaking of chilling, that’s what everybody should start doing.
What we’re witnessing here is not evil; it is historic, which is why anybody who claims to be a sports fan should at least tolerate it if not embrace it.
Even if fans don’t care for Patriots coach Bill Belichick these days, he’s been through worse, though not necessarily by his own doings. Jon Morgan’s excellent book, Glory for Sale, tells us how Cleveland fans showed their contempt for Belichick and Browns owner Art Modell after he announced the team’s move to Baltimore in the middle of the 1995 season:
The Internet would crackle with derisive commentary on Modell; one world Wide Web home page would offer visitors the chance to download color photos showing the mock executions of Modell, his son David, and Browns coach Bill Belichick.
All that, and Belichick never made the move to Baltimore. Modell fired him first.
