Bill Belichick is not as evil as Dick Cheney, but yesterday's post game press conference was downright scary. He was pretty much answering 'fuck you' to every question, just in a low-key, non-profane way. Bill Belichick has been doing this all season. But it was not as apparent as it was yesterday when he was taking questions from reporters regarding the merciless 52-7 smackdown of the Washington Redskins in Foxboro.
With 10 minutes left in the game, and the score 38-0, Belicheck ordered his team to keep driving on fourth down, resulting in a touchdown pass to Randy Moss. On the very next possession, with the score 45-0, the Patriots went forward on fourth down again, ultimately resulting in yet another touchdown. If that isn't running-up the score, then what is? And another question. What did the Redskins and veteran redneck coach Joe Gibbs, ever do to the Patriots?
A reporter called Belichick on his evil ways:
Q: At 38-0 you went for it on 4th down, on 45-0 you went for it on 4th down. What was the philosophy there? BB: What do you want us to do, kick a field goal?
Q: I didn’t want you to do anything. I’m just asking what the philosophy is.
BB: It’s 38-0. It’s fourth down. We were just out there playing.
Then he shrugged.
Holy shit.
The still photos do not do this moment justice. You need to see the video footage (a photo from a TV is below). Belichick is looking almost at the camera. Instead of the humble-looking guy shown above, the Belichick in the video was glaring. He didn't answer the question until after a pause, and he spoke in a low, mumbled tone. I had to replay the moment on my DVR a couple of times to understand what he said. He was in full Dick Cheney 'Fuck the World' mode.
Former Oregon congressman Les AuCoin has called Dick Cheney 'morbid.' Compare Belichick above to the AuCoin's May 1987 memory of Cheney below:
On our second morning in Moscow, my friend, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA), and I rose early to jog before the start of a long day of meetings. What could be more indicative of the new US-Soviet era than two U.S. congressmen trotting through Red Square, past Lenin's Tomb and the Kremlin, without clearance from a party apparatchik?As we circled in front of St. Basil's Cathedral for our return, a spectral figure emerged in the distant mist. If someone had said the hunched man in the overcoat was Karla, the ethereal cold-blooded Soviet spymaster in John Le Carré's novels, you wouldn't have gotten an argument from me.
It turned out to be not Karla but Cheney, the second-highest ranking Republican in the U.S. House, the senior Republican on the trip, George Bush Sr.'s soon-to-be secretary of defense -- and, ultimately, the real-life American version of the funereal Karla.
Steam rising from our sweat suits, Dicks and I were anxious to share our exuberant moment with Cheney. "Imagine, Dick!" Norm exclaimed. "Here we are, standing in the middle of Red Square. What does it make you think?"
Cheney gave a thin smile and replied, "Just that I'm standing on Ground Zero."
I knew Cheney for ten years as a fellow congressman and for four years when he was defense secretary and I, a member the House Defense Appropriations Committee.
When people ask me to describe Cheney, I say, "morbid."
I tell ya, I saw Belichick emulating Cheney yesterday. It was really scary. The man is evil. Yoda he is not.
I gave-up American football. It is a war game with very little flow and too much gambling behind the scenes. When I found out that guys in London bet on the NFL, I knew something was amiss. Despite that, I did enjoy seeing the professional team that plays 15 miles from my childhood home win three Super Bowls. I loved Steve Grogan as a kid. Same with Irving Fryer. The Patriots are (or were) a very likable team. Their first Super Bowl was by far the sweetest. Getting poetic justice over Oakland, then destroying Pittsburgh, and then defeating St. Louis were three of the greatest and most fun American football games I have ever seen.
However, since losing to the Colts in the playoffs last season, the Patriots began their journey towards the dark side. And now their journey is complete.
No, I'm not talking about the cheating - the stealing of other teams' signals. It is well understood that the Patriots were caught doing what other teams have done. No. I mean their absolute disregard for sportsmanship and their obsession to go through 2007 undefeated while running-up scores. I can almost see Belichick telling his players that the one responsible for the first loss of the season will have his beheading videotaped and posted on the Patriots website. It's scary.
And it's not just Belichick. Tom Brady went through a transformation. Brady has gone from underrated Wolverine QB, to backup QB, to adorable boy-wonder, to the next Joe Montana, to male model, and now he's a devouring alpha monster who can't put on a fucking condom.
John Clayton, ESPN:
Welcome to Belichick's no-mercy policy...Although criticism and questions about Belichick's moves will further paint him as the bad guy in his showdown against Tony Dungy and the Colts next Sunday, the Pats coach simply doesn't care. He wore the black hoodie in the Week 1 spy incident and accepted his punishment. Now, he's making the league pay with blowouts
...
Redskins veterans Phillip Daniels and Marcus Washington, who have 18 years combined NFL experience, both said they had never seen a team run up the score the way the Patriots are doing.
Face it, folks, Belichick plans to lay waste to the NFL. Commissioner Roger Goodell took away a first-rounder, so the Patriots will take away your firstborn. Belichick has assembled perhaps the most dominating team in NFL history, and he's intent on destroying all opponents in his path...sending a message to the 31 other teams that the Pats will take no prisoners.
And the players? Why, they are just following orders!
"It's just something the coaching staff wants to do," wide receiver Donte' Stallworth said. "We're behind them for whatever they want to do. Whatever play they call, we are going to run it. "We've been attacked since the start of the season, so we don't care. Whatever is going on out there, we just go out and play and try to execute what we are doing."
They are the executioners. They are running on rage, and a quality playbook.
