Ignorance is bliss

Bill Belichick, coach of the New England Patriots, got busted this week for spying on his first week's opponent. One of his assistants was seen videotaping the other team, the New York Jets. All sorts of drama here. The coach of the Jets was once Belichick's assistant, and Belichick was not happy about him leaving. He's been warned once before about spying on teams. There's been talk of the team jamming radio frequencies coaches use to talk to other coaches in the booth.

The rulebook states clearly that videotaping of coaches during the game is not allowed. Yet, Belichick willfully ignored the rule, saying he had misinterpreted something that is pretty unambiguous. The icing on the cake was the press conferences. His are dry as toast anyway, but his refusal to address it at all is eye-popping. What does it take to ignore slings and arrows coming for you? Do you need such a huge ego that the arrows, and the transgressions, just bounce off you and mean nothing?

Some think the punishment--$500,000 personal fine, team fine of $250,000, loss of draft picks--is too lenient, and he should be suspended. If you really want to make a statement, make the Pats forfeit the game. That will get people's attention.

In the end, this sort of espionage is small-bore compared to the real thing.