Deflategate

The controversy surrounding the AFC Championship Game between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts is now entering the second week--and has achieved cult status with a skit on Saturday Night Live this past weekend.  Much has been made of the air pressure used in the Patriots' footballs, and for good reason.  Reports coming out of the NFL now seem to confirm that the footballs were below regulation pressure, making them easier to handle.  What remains unclear is who was responsible for the deflated balls, or what the punishment will be for the individual and/or the team. 

At this point, I should admit that the I come from a family of Patriots fans, but a teenage desire to differentiate myself from my family drove me away from the Patriots (and served to annoy my family in the process--a double win for any teenager.)  However, I watched the game this week and have been following the ensuing story with an interest in sportsmanship, and only a minor bias against my family's team.  I freely admit, as have many Colts, that the Patriots were the better team on the field last weekend, regardless of the air pressure in the footballs. 

Whether any of the Patriots players or coaches ordered their (and only their) game balls to be deflated so that they would be easier to handle or whether it was done accidentally or by a ball boy trying to help the team, the Patriots benefited from the deflated balls, and there should be some ramifications for this.  The system currently in place calls for, as I understand it, a $25,000 fine and the potential loss of a few draft picks. The fine in place is 0.5% the cost of ONE 30-second Super Bowl commercial. 

The biggest problem with the #Deflategate controversy rests with the inherent fairness of the game of football, and of other games.  Kids across the country (or at least across New England) look up to Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski and the rest of the team.  In my opinion, the Patriots played the Colts with an unfair advantage. They didn't need to, but they did anyway.  Play Like a Champion research shows that children play games because they are fun.  Adults watch games because they are fun.  A big part of the fun for kids and adults of all ages is knowing that the game is fair and governed by mutually agreed upon rules.  When the game stops being fun, children stop playing, and adults eventually stop watching. While the popularity of football won't suffer due to the current controversy (in fact, this controversy has kept the NFL in the news during what is normally a slow week,) for the game to endure, and for games to continue to be enjoyable at every level (youth, high school, college, co-rec, and professional) fair play must reign supreme.

The views in the blog are those of the author, and do not represent the views of the Play Like a Champion Today organization.  And for the record, the author still hasn't decided who to route for in the upcoming Superbowl.