Sunday armchair football

My, oh, my how exciting has it been with the NFL this week? Since there aren't any games this week I thought I would weigh in on "Deflategate" and give some of my opinions. Because I love to give my opinions especially when it comes to teams I can't stand...

1. Rules in the NFL - There is an entire book of rules for the NFL game of football. These were published I believe because even though the NFL is a business it is also a game, and the powers that be in the NFL apparently wanted rules. Who knows the reason behind wanting rules, but the bottom line is that they are there. And if they are there then shouldn't they be followed? Shouldn't someone be making sure that the rules are being followed? Because what is the point of having rules if you aren't going to make sure that the rules are being followed.
2. The rule is stupid - Maybe. Someone obviously thought it was a necessity. But whether the rule is stupid or not it should be followed. The stupid thing is that the refs check the balls and the inflation to make sure they are within the rules and then give the balls back to the team several hours before the game starts. Who came up with that bright idea? 
3. Everyone does it - I feel like I'm back in the school yard or the classroom. Yes, I was chewing gum Mrs. Rogers, and yes I know it is against the rules, but so and so does it too. I'm going to say here what my parents always said when we tried that argument, "I don't give a damn whether everybody else does it or not. I'm talking about what you did that was against the rules. Everybody else is not my problem." Or maybe I should use the other argument, "If everyone else jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge, would you do that too?" The bottom line is the Patriots, whether one person on the team or several people on the team, broke the rules and got caught. Period.
4. Bill Belichick news conference #1 - He says he has never talked balls with anyone; not his coaches, not his quarterback, not his wife (no I added that one because, I mean, balls...tee hee). That is his excuse for not knowing anything about the deflated balls that were discovered at halftime by the NFL during the AFC Championship Conference game. Then he sort of threw Tom Brady under the bus telling the reporters to talk to him. Nice. First of all, I'm tired of these coaches playing ignorant. Are you the coach of this team or not? I know there are defensive coordinators and offensive coordinators and special teams coaches and quarterback coaches, but who do they all report to? Who is the main man? The head honcho? The big cheese? I don't care if you think that balls are beneath you and what happens in the locker room is not your problem, but you are wrong. Everything that goes on with your team should be your responsibility and certainly should be on you when it all goes sour.
5. Tom Brady news conference - I've been around enough little lying kids to know the face. The one where you try hard not to cry, yet your slowly blushing face and saliva stuck in the back of your throat as you talk give it all away. Yeah. Check, check, and check on Mr. Brady's face at his "I didn't alter the balls in any way" speech. If the head coach doesn't know about the balls, for sure the quarterback does. Hell, Brady and Peyton Manning were the ones in 2006 who lobbied the NFL to change the rules to allow each team to bring their own balls. Now I'm suppose to believe he doesn't pay attention to the balls? Tom, Tom, Tom. You ain't telling the truth, son.
6. Bill Belichick news conference #2 - This time he was Bill the Non- Science Guy who gave a report on atmospheric pressure and air pressure and blah, blah, blah my eyes glazed over a little before the midway point. Ole Bill spent "far too much time" running scientific simulation experiments on how this deflation could have happened and viola! he discovered it. He explained how it happened and then told everyone he was done with the discussion, that he had a game to prepare for, and thanks for stopping by. Uh, Bill? How come it happened to your balls and not the Colts balls? Hmmmm.
7. John Harbaugh - And just when I was seriously getting bored by the whole topic, in comes the real reason this whole thing started. Let me try to narrow it done in simple terms. Harbaugh's Ravens got beat by the Patriots in the AFC playoffs because the Ravens screwed up, got confused with the Patriots' ineligible offensive lineman, and were penalized several yards. Harbaugh let it be known that he thought the Patriots had done some illegal maneuvering and Tom Brady replied, upon hearing this, with, "Maybe those guys gotta study the rule book and figure it out." Harbaugh decided he would teach that Brady a thing about the rule book and mentioned to his former assistant Chuck Pagano that he should keep an eye out for under inflated Patriots' balls. Whoo Hoo! Cat fight! Or is it Dog fight when it's between guys? Either way, this is now coming out that this is how the whole "Deflategate" started. Harbaugh, now at the Pro Bowl, is backtracking and trying to make nice by giving silly ass kissing sound bytes about Bill Belichick, but something tells me he had better do more than that. Just ask Eric Mangini what happens when you piss off the big man. I might have to be on Belichick's side if he goes after Harbaugh. Ain't sports grand?
8. NFL still quiet - Supposedly this will take some time to sort out. Of course, it will, like maybe until after the Super Bowl? Please. If the NFL really wants to change its image it is going to have to start some place. While this may seem like the silliest place to start it would certainly make everyone stop and think some if the NFL ended the season right now. No Super Bowl. Sorry guys, but one team has cheated and because of that it affects everyone and so we are canceling the big game and calling the season over. Sorry Seahawks, blame the Patriots. I mean, if we are going to have a school yard brawl why not end it with a school yard punishment? That's the way it was done in sports in my day. Someone didn't put forth the effort in drills? Someone didn't score when they should have? We all ran sprints, not just the offender. End the season now and get the message across that you have had it with these shenanigans. Shape up or ship out! Of course, that won't happen, but fines and sanctions and whatever nonsense the NFL comes up with isn't going to put an end to things. Unless someone is hurting kids or hurting animals the NFL doesn't seem to really care. 
9. LeGarrette Blount - No, he had nothing to do with "Deflategate", at least I think he didn't, but I bring him up (again) because it just goes along the lines of how nasty a man Bill Belichick obviously is when it comes to football. Hire a guy who walked out on his team because he wasn't being played? That is wrong on so many levels that it just makes me go "uh huh Coach Belichick, I believe everything that comes out of your mouth...NOT."
10. Super Bowl - Oh, and don't forget that next week we have a football game! The Seattle Seahawks against the New England Cheaters Patriots. Each team has a huge stake in winning; the Seahawks as repeat back to back winners and the Patriots as four time winners with Brady and Belichick together. Of course, there is that asterisk next to a couple of those wins involving SpyGate and now probably one next to this one if New England wins. But, hey, I'm not judging. Just wearing blue and green and hoping Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson and Richard Sherman play an even better game than last year!