Scott Garceau: Tom Brady In The Cheaters Hall Of Fame
I think Tom Brady cheated and should be suspended for playing soft-ball. The Wells Report found it probable that Patriots personnel deliberately deflated balls during the AFC Championship Game and that Brady likely was "at least generally aware" of the rules violations. Brady's cooperation in the investigation has also been questioned and remember him going LOL at that press conference when he was asked if he might be involved in this.
So now comes the real drama, how does Sheriff Goodell deal with his 4-time Super Bowl champion quarterback? Sports radio gauges it somewhere between cut off his right arm to asking him, "please Tommy don't do that again." I say dealing with the integrity of the game is a serious matter. If Brady is guilty of plotting with Patriots staff members to get footballs after they've been inspected by game officials then deflate them to his standards that's worthy of more than a fine.
What does a fine do? Brady earns millions on and off the field. A fine is a joke. Sitting out games sends the real message to Brady, Belichick and anybody else who wants to play this game. If this commissioner who's attacked player conduct off the field (except Ray Rice) allows the game between the lines to be tampered with shame on Rog and his NFL seal. Recently Browns executive Ray Farmer got a 4 game suspension for texting to the sideline, don't you think tampering with game balls is as bad or worse.
Let me also say that Tom Brady recently won a Super Bowl and tore up the respected Seattle defense with a great second half and did it with official size and weight footballs. I don't buy that Brady would be an ordinary quarterback if he didn't cheat. No, he could win with over-inflated, under-inflated or nerf footballs, but like so many others in this win-at-all-costs sports world it's sell your soul to get an edge.
As long as sports has been around we've had cheats. They come in all sizes; sex's and uniform colors here are a few of my favorites that are now teammates with Brady in the Cheaters Hall of Fame.
* Rosie Ruiz-- Likely a Patriots fan, it was the 1980 Boston Marathon when Rosie not only won the women's race but did it in record time. Upon further review she cheated. Rosie started the run then got a ride and jumped back on the course near the finish line.
* Louisville Grays-- Baseball is full of cheaters and some gambling scandals. This bunch is among the first, in 1877 four Grays players were accused of throwing games after the first place Grays went on a 1-10 skid. The Chicago Black Sox became more infamous when they were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series.
* John McGraw--- A legend with National league Baltimore Orioles in the 1890's McGraw used to grab the belt loops of players rounding third base or of players who tried to tag up at third. He was also notorious for tripping players and impeding their way around the base paths in any way possible. McGraw was able to get away with this because there was only one umpire on the field in baseball's early days.
* Albert Belle --- Two former Orioles involved in this James Bond like thriller. In 1994, Belle had his bat confiscated by umpire Dave Phillips who then locked it in the umpire's room. During the game, Indians pitcher Jason Grimsley attempted to retrieve the bat. He went into the crawl space above the umpire's room and replaced the corked bat. An investigation was carried out by a former FBI agent flown in by MLB. The equipment room was dusted for fingerprints and the path the burglar took was discovered. Belle got a 10 game suspension.
* The Bossard Family --- They've been groundskeepers for the White Sox and Indians since 1920 and they've cheated. In the 1920s and '30s, Emil Bossard, the Indians groundskeeper, would move the Indians' portable fences back between 12 and 15 feet when they played the power-hitting Yankees. Gene Bossard began to freeze baseballs in 1967 because the White Sox were a no-hit pitching-first team. The Comiskey Park infield was also excessively watered down to help the Sox sinkerball pitchers.
* Danny Almonte --- The story of a 14 year old kid and Little League coaches gone wild, falsifying birth certificates and using the 14 year old flame-thrower against 12 year old competition. Almonte became a sensation during the 2001 Little League World Series, throwing the first perfect game in since 1957.
* Dora Ratjen --- Yes Sir! Dora was a German athlete who competed in the 1936 Olympics in the Womens High Jump. Dora was actually Hermann, a man who was coerced by the Hitler Youth into tightly binding his genitals and competing against women. Germany didn't do much in the previous Olympics so they thought they'd get an edge binding genitals, ouch! But the German men couldn't even beat the women, as Ratjen finished fourth, failing to medal.
* Spain Pain--- This is the winner take all in the Cheaters HOF. The 2000 Paralympics saw the basketball team from Spain take the gold medal in the "intellectual disability" category. Hold that medal please; ten of the twelve players on the Spain basketball team were later found to be perfectly normal. It wasn't just the basketball team, participants in table tennis, track and field, and swimming events were also not disabled. Cheating in the intellectually disabled portion of the Paralympics must make Lance Armstrong, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Tom Brady smile.
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