Earlier this year, New England Patriots Quarterback, Tom
Brady, opined on his balls. This is what he said:
"When I felt them [His Balls], they were perfect. I
wouldn't want anyone touching those. I would zip those things up, and lock 'em
away until I got out on the field and had an opportunity to play with
them." It was a response to allegations that someone, perhaps even
himself, had, in fact, handled his balls before the quarter final playoff game.
Handled them in such a way as to deflate them. (Tom Brady is know to have quite
some well-inflated balls.)
Now, we discover that he did participate in the manipulation
of his precious balls. He allowed not just one man, but two men to fondle his
precious balls before the game. John Jastremski and Jim McNally went all the
way with his balls inserting a metal needle into each one in order to relieve
some of the pressure and make them easier to toss.
For this act of cheating and subsequent lying, Tom Brady
will be suspended from playing in a couple of games sometime next week. Don't
get me wrong, I don't know shit about football or give a rats ass about Tom
Brady. I do know about playing with balls, and in any other circumstance would
have found this much ado about nothing.
But this isn't really about nothing. It's not even about
balls. It about cheating. It's about privilege and the idea that you are above
the rules. That some people and organizations can get away with cheating
because they have the power to intimidate those who are charges with enforcing
the rules.
It's not enough to be suspended from a couple of games. That
won't stop others from cheating. The game in question should be vacated and
then NO Winner should enter the stats for the 2014 Super Bowl. Further, the New
England Patriots should be denied access to compete in the 2015 Super Bowl. And
then I bet you, no one will every again poke needles into their balls to gain
some advantage over their opponents.
