Journal Shadow Wrought's Journal: My Take on Spygate 4

I've listened to various commentaries on the latest "Spygate" information, and want to throw in my own $.02. As an undergrad I studied Law and Society with Criminal Justice Emphasis and know abit about the sociopathic mindset. My wife wants to study psychology after the kids are gone and is interested in the sociopathic mindset as well. So, just about any documentary we see on it, we've wwatched. I am not an expert, nor am I claiming to be, but everything I have read of Belicheck, and seen of him, makes me think (again, as a non-expert) that he has such sociopathic tendencies. Particularly in the way he exerts total control over the organization, his acrimony towards those who have left, and the shroud of secrecy which overlays so much of the Patriots.

Before I get too far though, I'd like to relay a personal story. Several years back I had a roomate who fell in love with me. Now he never said it in so many words, but after enough months of various awkward and uncomfortable comments, I started to realize that he did indeed want that kind of relationship. This was finally confirmed by an old friend who later confirmed all of my misgivings. To make sure that he still got attention from me, he faked having cancer. Seriously. Including regular updates on his chemo, the little cotton patch on his arm where the needle struck him, and of course the late nights when he wanted me to come over because he was scared.

It culminated in a highly dramatic emergency surgery in which he "almost died on the table." Unfortunately for him I knew from my friends in the field that what the story he told was simply not believable. Wouldn't happen. That same old friend who confirmed everything? He didn't know about the cancer story. The roomate was with him, shopping, during the time that he "almost died on the table."

Needless to say a confrontation took place, and I told him that he needed help. Help far beyond what I could give. His response was that I was in denial over his near death, but his cancer support group was there for him. A lie to the end.

The point is, everyone sees the world through the filter of their own morals. Someone who has never lied will be shocked the first time they are lied to. So until you have something like the above story happen to you, the extent to which people will lie and decieve for their own purposes really doesn't strike home. So to me, the line that Belicheck wouldn't do something like that doesn't mean as much.

If he truly does have those sociopathic tendencies, then the rules simly do not apply to him. That's the mindset that comes with the megalamaniacal arrogance. Those things are for everyone else, not him. So IMHO, he probably did have the Rams walkthrough taped, and whoever the taping patsy was honestly believes he didn't show the tape to the coaches, because they most likely viewed it without his knowing about it.

The argument as for why they would do this with a young kid, who they later fired if they wanted it covered up misses the point of the mindset: who would believe a young kid after he was fired? It was inspite of his shortcomings that he was tabbed, it was because of. The Rams lost by a field goal at the end of the game, BTW, how much of an edge doesn't matter, because even a slight edge could have been enough.

The final point is that that personality type doesn't stop. When caught, it will simply cheat in a different way. Indeed, most likely in a bigger way, just to show spite towards whovere called it to account. So, my humble opinion, is that Belicheck has been cheating for at least as long as the Super Bowl against the Rams, that he has continued to cheat (which is why Mangini knew to look for it), and, once caught, has started cheating in an even more galling way. We may never know, but if we do, it will do considerable damage to the league, and forever tarnish the Patriots Super Bowl victories.