MaineBusiness.com

Cheating

I suppose part of me always wanted to be a sports writer. Last week, the worlds of sports and business intersected through the actions of one of my heroes. So today, reluctantly, I get my chance.

I have been a New England Patriots fan for as long as I can remember. To me, the Pats are not a Sunday afternoon diversion on television; I’ve suffered with them through long seasons of disappointment. I’ve left frozen chunks of my backside on the old Schaeffer Stadium bleachers as the Pats struggled through year after year of mediocrity.

This morning the snap crisp of autumn air stings my face. I remember a similar mornings when we headed to Foxborough hoping to score tickets, prepared to pay the full face value of $15 or so. We felt like the luckiest guys on earth when some season ticket holder was glad to dump a pair of tix on us for $10 each.

My college girlfriend Colleen, a Foxborough native, worked at a restaurant frequented by Steve Grogan; she told me how sorry she felt for him when fans would harass him; he was just trying to eat dinner with his family. Last year, I played in the New England Football League All-Star game against Grogan’s son!

I had the thrill of working the sideline microphones as an audio tech in my TV production days. I was nearly crushed by Mosi Tatupu. I was 3 feet from Reggie Roby when Andre Tippet broke Roby’s leg. My friend Dave Melville, another Pats fanatic, worked the opposite sideline.

I was in the nose-bleed section with my friend Jim Cusano when Drew Bledsoe won his first game. I completed my wife’s conversion to football by taking her to Tom Brady’s first win against San Diego. I saw O.J. Simpson ejected from a game for fighting with Ray “Sugar Bear” Hamilton.

By the way, I’m still playing ball myself and I wear number 20…as a tribute to my all-time favorite Patriot: Gino Cappelletti!

Then came the Age of Enlightenment! It started with the Tuna, but it would take Coach Belichick to complete the journey to the Promised Land. Tickets started getting scarce for the real fans like me. The “Nouveau Fans” invaded our territory. The unused corporate seats at each game left an empty place in my heart; “That seat could be mine!” Still, we managed to score some tickets here and there. I booed Randy Moss as a Viking. I was there to bear witness to the 21 game all-time winning streak. With Pete and Ben Rollins and my long-snapper Smokey Hicks, I watched our boys dismantle the hated Jets in last year’s playoffs…

…and then: CAMERA-GATE!

Once in a while those of us who can be considered true Football Fans run smack into the realization that pro-football is a business; a very big business. Like all businesses, there is always the temptation to push the envelope to gain a competitive advantage.

Is it ever right to cheat? Is it ever right to try and get around the rules?

Let’s put this in perspective…Operating a camera to steal sideline signals, particularly a camera that was not even minimally concealed, against an opponent whose coach had been trained by our own beloved Coach Belichick, is not on any sort of par with the evils of Enron. There is a vast difference between the violation of the NFL competition rules and an illegal act that cost thousands of people their jobs, their life savings, and for some, their lives.

However…the NFL is a big business and any unfair advantage can translate into thousands, if not millions of dollars for athletes, franchises, advertisers and supporting businesses.

And…cheating is wrong. Period.

In any way, shape, or form…cheating is wrong. The model franchise of the NFL shouldn’t need to, shouldn’t have, just shouldn’t be cheating.

Am I taking this too hard? No.

Not only am I a fan, but for years I’ve used the Pats and Bill Belichick as symbols of excellence in my talks, in teaching the children in my martial arts program and most recently, in my book. I supported them with real money when I bought their tickets, their merchandise, and the products they endorsed. I supported them through the bad times and defended them when in the best of times when so many said they won by accident, by luck and by the “tuck”. (Non-football fans are obligated ask a true fan about the meaning of the “tuck”…sorry!)

Now, what’s done is done (I hope!). The Pats and Coach Belichick are paying the price for this action. They are, in the words of Belichick, “moving on.” They shouldn’t have done what they did, but they are facing up to the consequences.

In business, are we ever tempted to cheat? Do we try to interpret the tax codes to our advantage? Do we sometimes push the envelope? Do we treat some favored employees differently than the office pest? Do we ever use a bit of private information to gain competitive advantage?

Let those amongst us without sin cast the first stone! However, a situation like this can provide all of us with a tremendous lesson. It’s only a game, but games provide a wonderful opportunity for us to take a look at who we are and what we do. Games, particularly football, provide a magnifying glass under which we can study the human spirit and psyche.

I’m glad the Pats players came together and routed the Chargers last night; I really believe in my heart that they didn’t know what was going on and their reputation shouldn’t be tarnished by the actions of their coach. All they can do now is move forward and win. Belichick has accepted personal responsibility for his actions; there’s not much more we, as fans, can ask of him for now.

When we make mistakes, we cannot reach into the past to reverse our actions, we must stay focused in the present and use this time to make amends and shape the future. Hopefully, one for which we will be proud, someday, to be remembered.

Note from the Dynamic Components of Personal Power office staff: J
Jim is taking this Pats thing pretty hard! At age 46, he’s still a semi-pro kicker with the Midcoast Chaos of the NEFL. He’s also an assistant coach for special teams and defensive backs with Hyde School in Bath, Maine.

As far as his obsession with the Patriots, we’ve advised treatment plans; he’s not receptive so far. An intervention may be planned in the future!

Jim’s attitude toward football takes more the form of religion than recreation. So, at the DCPP office we will never, under any circumstances say, (at least where Jim can hear us), that football is just a game. We wish him a speedy and full recovery from this trauma!

In the meanwhile, please remember that his new book, Dynamic Components of Personal Power is now available on-line at JimBouchard.org, and that as soon as he does recover, he’ll again be available for speaking engagements at your next corporate event!

For more information on Jim's condition or to book your event, call 800-786-8502.

E-mail this entry to a friend