Bitter, party of one newspaper!*

Let the Boston-New York rivalry, nay, hate-fest continue! This time it spills off the football field into and onto the pages of The New York Post. But not quite where you'd expect: not in the column of some Jets' beat-writer; not in some sports editorial piece; not in a cheesy ad for a bar that shows NFL games; but in the NFL standings section of the paper (A section heretofore, in my recollection, which has matched, in its contents, the print and paper it exists on- black and white- or maybe even off-white in its extreme). In an extremely- dare I say- colorful move, the powers-that-be over at The Post felt the necessity to put and asterisk next to the name of New England, who at present boasts a 6-0 record and a commanding lead in the AFC East. Just below the standings we see noted that the asterisk has the connotation of "Caught Cheating," in bold type-face. Now, I am no fan of the New England Patriots- in fact I loath them. But, being that I am also not Jets' fan I can (in this case) remove myself from the inter-city slugfest that is Boston-New York.

This reeks of bitterness on the part of New York (The Post taking it upon themselves to speak for all), on behalf of the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets. Not just run of mill bitterness- but that chip on the shoulder, deep-seeded bitterness that has become synonymous with Boston fans. The famous bitterness that provoked a "Yankees Suck" chant to break out during a celebration of the Patriots Super Bowl championship celebration in 2002. As most every football fan now knows, in or out of Boston, the New England Patriots and their coach Bill Belichick were caught video taping signals of the opposing team's coaching staff on the sideline during a game. Belichick was fined $500K and he and the Patriots organization were vilified in the national and local media. And rightfully so: the Patriots were caught using illegal tactics to gain an advantage over their opponents. They turned over all the illegally-obtained information to the League. End of that story.

So now back to the asterisk. Now while "caught cheating" is a statement of fact, the statement it makes is one of blind jealousy and stupidity. It implies that Patriots are 6-0 because of the incident, and that their record therefore is somehow irrelevant. Perhaps The Post should print what New England's record ought to be, with the cheating taken into effect. Or better yet, maybe the all-powerful press should vote every week and tell us who the best team in the league is- like they do so accurately do for college football week after week. The real truth is, cheating, or what have you, aside- the Pats are 6-0 because they are more than likely the best team in the NFL at present. And let's face it: Belichick got caught- but it doesn't mean other teams haven't done it or maybe even continue to do it, albeit more discretely. And let us not forget against whom the Patriots were playing when all this went down… yep, the New York Jets. Hmmm. Quite frankly, the asterisk would embarrass me if I were a Jets fan. The Patriots did not beat the Jets on that day thanks to stolen signals. They beat them because they were, and are the better team- by far. And New York fans being as savvy as they are, they know this.

The bottom line is: the NFL standings page is not the place to make opinions known, or qualifications made. Why not add asterisks to the Major League Baseball standings, or to any team in any sport who has had a player suspended for performance-enhancing drugs? Why not add asterisks to denote the period of time when a team had its star player out with an injury? Or for players in touble with the law? I could go on and on into infinity, into minutiae -but that would be ridiculous. The New York Post has now set the bar for ridiculous-ness. There was a report today that Tom Brady was fined by the NFL for not buckling his chin strap fully in last week's game against Dallas. I can't wait to read the NFL standings The Post in the morning to see if they've added another asterisk.