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September 21, 2005

Belichick Not a Fan of League

Bill Belichick doesn't have much use for the folks in the NFL offices these days.

The Pats coach has dropped a few snide comments during press conferences over the past few days that stop short of being full-blown attacks but are clearly designed to register disgust.

On Monday, Belichick said it would make sense for the league to put a camera on the goal line to give a readily-available angle on players who are close to breaking the plane.

It's something they presented to the competition committee in the spring but it was turned down because of expense.

Asked if the league has given a reason why they don't have one there, Belichick said, "Just talk to the league. I don't want to get involved in that. Just talk to them. I'm sure they have an answer for everything."

On Friday -- a much more lighthearted Belichick was presented with an array of stats compiled by the league on arcane matters like who has the youngest team, etc.

"The geniuses from the NFL came up with this? I see they have a lot of extra time on their hands," cracked Belichick.

After giving his explanation of why his team has the most combined years of experience (a 42-year-old quarterback, for example), Belichick asked, "How many do we have with blue eyes? We have a tall punter. That stuff it really means a lot to me. Really. I see we have a lot of people with some extra time on their hands."

The coach's disdain for the way the league sometimes does business probably dates back a ways, but it first mainifested itself near the start of last season.

Already rankled by the competition committee's crackdown on pass defense that seemed specifically targeted at the Patriots, the NFL changed a rule after the second week of the season saying that defensive players weren't allowed to call timeouts if they didn't have any.

Previously, the official would ignore the player. Now it would be a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. This change came down after Mike Vrabel called a non-existent timeout before Arizona attempted a half-ending field goal. The refs ignored Vrabel but Arizona wailed that Vrabel was a distraction.

The league instituted the penalty that week and Belichick was rankled because he didn't feel it went through the normal channels.

In addition to Belichick's disdain for the way the competition committee seems to work, he's not a fan of what the schedule-maker has put the Pats through the past two seasons either.

New England has had -- in essence -- three preseason games to get ready for its season the past two years because it's involved in the Thursday night season opener a week after the final one is scheduled.

The rest of the league has a 10-day break between the preseason finale and the opener.

And while some would argue that having the league opener is an honor (and a terrific marketing opportunity) Belichick cares little for that stuff. All he knows is his team has the shortest offseason because of its success then the shortest preseason also because of its success.

Then comes the regular season slate. Last year, the Pats had their bye after the second game of the season. So they played the Colts on September 9, at Arizona on the 19th and then were off until October 3. From there, they played 17 straight games.

The Pats get a better bye this season (after their sixth game) but face five 2004 playoff teams (4 of those on the road) in the first six weeks.

That's a crusher. And when it's all rolled together, it's no surprise that Belichick's distaste for the way the NFL does business creeps out every now and then.

Posted by   at 8:36 AM | Permalink

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