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Cheating again, but why are we so shocked? When the pot is $60.0 Billion or more, the incentive to win, or better still, win at all costs, seems to justify the means, any means legal or illegal, to many in professional sports. I would even argue this latest incident with the Patriots is not much different than the controversy swirling around steroid use. Fans, sponsors, owners, and the players themselves want winners, and the pressure to win must be enormous. Having played organized football, admittedly never at the professional level, I do wonder though what the Patriot's actually gained from this transgression. It seems inconceivable that any huge advantage would be gained, but then again, I am not a professional coach, player or spy for that matter, but the point is no that, the point is this was a blatant attempt to cheat. In fact what is hardest to understand about this is New England is a tremendously talented team and should be able to hold its own in the battle to win on skill alone.

The NFL has enough problems already in my mind. The off field conduct of its players, and the unbecoming and increasingly violent reactions of its drunken fans when "their" team suffers a loss are reasons enough to be concerned about the "values" this sport sells to our society. If the information that is out there is true, the fact that New England had already been warned against this practice last November, then I think the penalty was not enough. Bill Belichick is a leader, and the responsibility of a leader is to serve as a role model. The influence that professional sports and its players and leaders have on a large segment of our society is enormous. To you or I a $500,000 fine may seem severe, but to a person making well over $5,000,000 a year it is but a slap on the wrist. If the commissioner wanted to send a real signal to his charges, a suspension would have been a whole lot more effective.

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