Overblown

Here's something I never thought I would write... "What do Britney Spears and the Patriots have in common?" The media hype around them this week is WAY OVERBLOWN.

We TiVo'd the MTV VMA awards to watch the "train wreck" that was Britney. Honestly? It wasn't that bad. (And I hate awards shows... Actually... They have just made my "Dead To Me" list! They are all self-congratulatory bullshit. I used to think the Grammys might be an exception because there are performances, but no, it's all self-congratulatory bullshit. I guess the "Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame" and the "Jammys" aren't that bad. But I digress...)

As with Britney, same thing with the Pats. Did they cheat? Yes. Will they be punished? Yes. HOWEVER, the way they cheated was in a minor underhanded way whose beneficial effect is only possible if it's analyzed by a very smart strategic mind, communicated effectively, executed perfectly and only possible IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE GAME. Is the hype about this overblown? HELL YES.

Honestly, the media hype has to stop. Stop talking about putting an asterisk next to their Super Bowl wins, stop bringing up Barry Bonds (huge difference between taking illegal drugs and videotaping). They are still the best team in football and, in many ways, a model organization. So stop. (An excellent discussion about it by Bill Simmons can be found here. And another good discussion of Belichick by ESPN.com's Howard Bryant here.)