The Problem with Bill Belichick - jmik58's Blog

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The Problem with Bill Belichick Stuck

Posted on September 25, 2012 at 10:21 AM.

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When Bill Belichick reached for and briefly grabbed the arm of an official following Sunday night's loss to Baltimore, all he really wanted was an explanation -- or so he said.

The decision to make contact with the referee will likely lead to a fine and possible suspension for Belichick, but there's nothing wrong with asking for clarification. Unfortunately for the anti-social model of stoicism, Belichick's problem wasn't that he wanted an explanation -- it's that he felt he deserved one; that it was owed to him.

Coach Belichick has been overanalyzed, misunderstood, and underappreciated his entire NFL head coaching career. The son of Steve Belichick, Bill was watching and breaking down football film with his dad since he was in elementary school. Steve, who spent a significant part of his career as a football scout, literally wrote the book on football scouting methods.

Few doubt the football knowledge and situational genius of Bill Belichick. But for every strategic on-field advantage orchestrated by the coach there is an unappreciative too-good-for-this press conference moment. And for each perfectly structured personnel grouping to build a dynasty there has been a Spygate scandal.

The NFL is America's most popular sport which thrives on support of fans fueled by connections to personalities within the game. If it was up to Bill Belichick, professional football would be played in a dark basement away from cameras and lights. It would be fought on a sheet of paper or a board atop a table with pawns, void of emotions.

To him, football is a game meant for great minds -- the best of which excel at the strategy involved in structuring a team. Spectators only get in the way.

The problem with Bill Belichick is that he's smarter than the rest of us when it comes to football. There's no way we could know what he knows about the game and we're an insult to his intelligence.

But the biggest issue with the coach is that his game is our NFL. Bill Belichick wants to have his cake and eat it too, but if he continues to show disgust towards the media and entitlement with officials he'll continue to find himself with a plate full of something worse.

The problem with Bill Belichick is that he's due for a serving of crow. Perhaps the bitter taste of a Ravens defeat will suffice.

Sound Off: Should Bill Belichick be suspended for grabbing an NFL official? Does the genius of the coach outweigh his abrasive personality?

Justin Mikels is a staff writer for Operation Sports. Follow him on Twitter: @long_snapper

Comments

# 1 Gary Armida @ Sep 25

Excellent points. I'm on the side of Belichick on this one. The refs wouldn't stop so he grabbed one. When you feel you were robbed of a game (which he was), you tend to want an explanation.

As for his disdain for the media...that's a tough one. I find it amusing, but there is no reason for it. It won't make him prepare any less and it does nothing for his coaching legacy. He's a football savant, but the whole one word answer press conferences are too much.

# 2 edwing @ Sep 25

When you have a game that was as poorly officiated as that one, your emotions tend to get the better of you. The emotion from being up by 9 to losing on what seemed to be a borderline field goal made must have been running strong there. Obviously what he did there was off limits, but the refs called a shoddy game and usually took their time to huddle and try to make the right call when they could. When they made the call for a good FG, everyone just started celebrating and leaving the field. I guess Belichick was stunned that this play was let go so easily without any clarification by the refs. To let such a poorly officiated game end so borderline and with no explanation was a bit insulting to him.

# 3 Bmore Irish @ Sep 25

the field goal call was the right one, if the ball is over top of the upright, then it is good, thats clearly stated in the rules. as for all the other bad calls, thats entirely on the NFL executive office.

Bellichick should've been afforded an explanation there, it's the least the refs could do in that situation, especially when that seems to be the only rule they can really interpret correctly. someone in the booth looked at that to make sure it was over, and not outside of, the upright, and that's it. the reviewability is different now, after the game in 2007 when the raven's lost in ot after a similarly questionable field goal call for the browns in the final seconds.

# 4 Bmore Irish @ Sep 25

correction, my bad that play is not reviewable because it went over the uprights, all the more reason for belichick to be given at least a brief explanation. as simple as "the play is not reviewable"

# 5 oliveira311 @ Sep 25

Good read. I'm from New England and I'm obviously biased to a certain degree on Bellichick. I think what happens is we all think that how our current teams do things, or how they act, is the right way. The moment someone else does it differently and succeeds, we don't like it. We want other teams to fail and we jump on the opportunity to criticize them. Kind of like Lebron. We love finding reasons to hate him, right? (I'm actually starting to give him a chance lately)

Anyways, we get both ends of the spectrum's here in New England; Doc Rivers - great with the media and insightful. Bellichick, is the complete opposite but he's proven over time that he is a great coach and he has an excellent system in place to not only succeed in the short term, but also for years to come.

What must really p1ss people off about him, is that he doesn't give you an inch, share any insider information or kiss any babies. He just cares about winning - and I love watching the Patriots because they always have a chance to win.

But hey, "it is what it is."

# 6 Greatness @ Sep 25

Should Bill Belichick be suspended for grabbing an NFL official? Does the genius of the coach outweigh his abrasive personality? Yes, to the first question and no to the second question.

# 7 Sidion @ Sep 25

Good read. I think he's just anti-media. That's why he always looks frumpy, it's why he doesn't say much in the pressers, and it's why when he shows any emotion everyone seems to flip out.

As a Ravens fan I thought it was a bit uncalled for personally. He lost. Instead of handling it, he rushes out (When both teams were coming out to shake hands and move on.) and instead of shaking hands with the coaches and players... Tries to get an explanation from a ref.

At that point the game was over. No explanation was due. Why didn't he just go home after being a good sport, and the next day call the front office for his explanation?

I think all the coaches and players are realizing you can intimidate these officials into giving you what you want (Bad calls, game winning decisions.) When you're in a game abusing them as such, it's going to be pretty hard to just shut it off once the game ends. Respect and all that stuff you know?

# 8 keator @ Sep 25

I loved Bill's explanation on Monday when he said he had never been penalized by the league bc in Bill's eye's spygate never happened.