Sportsmanship Lies

This is one of those times where people actually think they believe something that they don't believe. Sports fans are literally channeling that inner toddler - recalling stories of George Washington & his cherry tree, and forgetting to apply the vast amount of knowledge they have acquired over their years on this planet.

This Derek Jeter nonsense is completely laughable. It is a joke, and I'm not talking about what he did.

In any given baseball game, you see 3 to 4 plays in which a player "sells" something that he or she didn't do.

In any given football game, you see a lineman decide to hold a defensive player, and hope to get away with it.

In any given basketball game, you see a player flop or act as if they got fouled.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the sport culture we have created, and you cannot have your cake and eat it, too. Every time Pedroia phantom swipes 2nd base on a double play, do we get up in arms? Every time Big Baby takes a soft hit to the chest and falls backwards, do we call the morality police?

The answers, as we all know, are no freaking way.

When it all boils down to it, Derek Jeter has 1 job - win World Series rings. He is better at that, I may add, than anyone in the last 20 years, maybe the last 40 years. He is a powerhouse, an epic Hall-of-Famer who has done everything, every single thing, that is asked of him by the organization.

Jeter knows he is getting old, and he knows he is slowing. His job is to get to first base, and he'll do whatever it takes. There are rules set up within the game, and if you can point to a rule that says, "no faking," I'll read it and respect it. Further, if there is consequence, then let that be applied.

But without rules and without consequence, in the context of a sport, I have no overarching issue with what Jeter tried to accomplish, aside from the fact that I would personally not choose to do something like that.

Do I dislike the dishonesty that takes place every single second on a sports field? Yes, I hate it. I despise it. Do I think that a player should be run out on a rail for accepting it as a reality, especially when dollars, legacy and championship are on the line? No way at all.

In any given Pro Sporting event there are lies. Dozens per game. Athletes, and pro sports, are blocks of time in which you try to accumulate all advantages you can, within the rules, in order to win. We set this system up, and we don't demand change, so what can we expect.

Next time you see your favorite Patriot trap a football and claim it was a good catch, or next time you see Garnett smack away at a player's arm and not call the foul on himself, try to align yourself with the fact that they're just looking out for No. 1, and that's all Jeter did against Tampa the other night.

Randy Moss Lies

I don't know why fans still think the sport - football in this case - starts and finishes between the white lines, during game play only.

Athletes are athletes on and off the field. Sports are sports in locker room, press room and the playing surface.

The Patriots won today. Good for them. They won 38-24, in week 1. They could go 14-2, and they could go 6-10. Neither would surprise me. Neither will have anything to do with what Randy Moss said after the game.

Moss was a big part of the win - he clearly is still a fantastic player. Their success will be in part due to how well he plays, and he has feelings. He has emotions. He also has a reasonable desire to take care of himself.

Moss isn't a Patriot only from 1pm - 4pm, Moss is a Patriot 24/7. He is allowed to complain about the organization, team and his situation as much as he wants.

Why aren't people killing Logan Mankins for his childlike antics. Why aren't people killing the Kraft oligarchy for theirs?

We are dealing with very selfish people. Ego people. This is always going to be a difficult pill for fans to swallow, but you have to swallow it. We used to live in a world where you could enjoy an old fashioned ball game on the field and that was that...but that isn't sports life anymore.

Sports is the game, the contract, the negotiation, and everything in between.

What Moss did in the press conference today was no more offensive to me than a dropped ball on the field. I think the coaching staff, GM, President and players themselves feel the same way, but that's just me.

In his own words, which fans need to hear, "This is not football, football leaves you in college and high school. This is a job, Man."

Randy is right. Listen to him and get used to it. You're going to hear a lot of that this season and into the off-season, and you'll be hearing it 12 months from now when all of these greedy gentlefolk are complaining about how to divide up the cash pie. Randy will look like a saint compared to these owners, and you'll be pining for his crooked Giants cap.