Scott Cordischi On Sports: Belichick Sets The Standard
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Bill Belichick has his critics. There are those who feel that the Patriots coach is too controlling of his players. That he deprograms them once they arrive in New England and turns them in to his “one game at a time” robots.
Others don’t like the way that Belichick deals with the media. He throws around information about injuries and his team’s strategy each week like manhole covers - which is to say, never.
After a loss, he never gets into specifics as to why the team failed and in what areas they came up short. Instead, it’s the usual, “we have to coach better, we have to play better” routine.
But for as much as Belichick’s antics can seem frustrating to us at times, there is a method to his madness.
For instance, do you think that what happened in the Red Sox clubhouse this summer would ever happen to a Bill Belichick-coached team? Not a chance!
Maybe that’s a poor analogy because football and baseball are very different sports. Football players, for instance, do not go back into the locker room during games unless they’re injured or absolutely, positively have to go to the bathroom.
Okay, fair enough. So let’s use a football analogy, shall we? Just a couple of hundred miles to the south in east Rutherford, New Jersey, Rex Ryan’s New York Jets are trying to put on a happy face. The problem is that there is trouble in that locker room.
Two weeks ago prior to the Jets-Patriots game in New England, a report surfaced suggesting that some of the Jet receivers complained to Ryan about offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer’s play-calling. The Jets issued a public denial that any such meeting took place. Then, just a couple of days later, they traded Derrick Mason, who was rumored to be a part of that meeting, to Houston for a bag of balls. Coincidence? I think not.
Then, last week prior to their game against Miami, WR Santonio Holmes ripped his offensive line publicly for not giving QB Mark Sanchez enough time to throw the ball. Guard Brandon Moore took offense saying that Holmes should not have gone public with his criticism of the O-line and the battle lines were drawn.
Ryan reportedly summoned the two players into his office on Saturday to clear the air and made them both captains for Monday night’s game against the Dolphins. But based upon the comments of both players following the game, the tension still exists.
The Jets are now (3-3) on the season and face a tough test this Sunday when they host the San Diego Chargers. They will then travel to Buffalo followed by a home game against New England. Anything less than a (2-1) record during that 3-game stretch and you get the feeling that the turmoil will be back in full force.
A great leader gets all of his soldiers to fall in line. This is why we should be happy that Bill Belichick is the Patriots’ coach. He may not be the most entertaining interview like Rex Ryan, but he has proven that his way works.
-Did the Bruins leave their offense in Vancouver last spring?
-The fact that the Raiders sent a 1st and 2nd round pick to Cincinnati for Carson Palmer who has been sitting on his couch for the past few months makes you wonder if Al Davis really did pass away a couple of weeks ago.
-First it was drinking beer in the clubhouse. Now the reports say that the pitchers drank beer in the dugout during Red Sox games. What’s next? Bud Light rosin bags on the mound at Fenway Park?
-Speaking of the Red Sox, letting David Ortiz walk in free agency might not be such a bad idea if you can get a third baseman with some pop in his bat and move Kevin Youkilis to DH.
-Maybe they can get Adrian Beltre? Oh yeah, they let him go last offseason.
-No team in the NFL needs Stanford’s Andrew Luck more than the Miami Dolphins who haven’t had a good quarterback since Dan Marino retired.
-Somebody should have told Cowboys’ coach Jason Garrett that giving the ball back to Tom Brady with the game on the line and a couple of minutes to go isn’t such a good idea.
-The Green Bay Packers are the NFL elite thus far with the Patriots topping the list of the next tier of teams behind them.
-Boise State, SMU and Houston in the Big East? Really?
-I may not be a geographical whiz but, the last time I checked, none of those schools were in the east.
-Then again, even those who are mathematically challenged know that Big 10 has 12 teams.
-Raise your hand if you’re interested in this year’s World Series.
-How is it that rookies have had an easier time learning the Patriots’ offense than Chad Ocho Cinco has this season.
-It may be time for Donovan McNabb to call it quits.
-It appears that the owners have all of the leverage in the NBA’s labor dispute.
-Can Theo just go to the Cubs already?
-I'd love to see Rob Ryan back in New England as the Patriots defensive coordinator.
-Good luck to former PC coach Keno Davis who will try his hand at TV when he serves as color analyst for college basketball this winter on the Big Ten Network. He may not have been the best coach for the Friars, but he was a good guy while he was here.
-My son and some of his teammates drink juice boxes in the dugout of their farm league games. Does that make them bad people?
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