Somehow, I'm reminded of Watergate. Nixon's men had absolutely no reason to break into the Watergate hotel to ransack his democrat opponent's office, as he was looking to win by a landslide... which he did.
Since he won handily anyhow, what did it matter that his men committed a crime? Someone who covers up the crime is just as culpable, which was Nixon's downfall. I don't think this is Bellicheck, in fact, I think he tried to give Tom a chance to come clean. I don't know that Bellicheck handles footballs at all during a game. The guy covering something up is Tom. Consider: if someone doctored your equipment to give you an unfair advantage, and you just woke up Monday to find out about it, how would you feel, being an accomplished professional, just after winning a statement game & heading into the Superbowl?
ANGRY. If it were me I'd be extremely upset that someone did something to tarnish my image. Not stand up on stage & equivocate.
As for the Patriots, it's not that the outcome of the game was in doubt... it's just that they felt they had to do something dirty as "insurance". Actually, it's very possible they've been doing this for years. How many of the Patriots' games were decided because of an unfair ball security advantage? for that matter, how many of OUR games were decided by fumbles? dropped catches? which of our QB's could've turned into Pro-Bowlers if THEY allowed to "toss a marshmallow" instead of "sling the rock"? This affects so much more than just one game. That's why this is a much bigger deal than just last Sunday.
Nothing has been proven but if true it's easy to understand why many football fans are so outraged and why we're not ready to "move on" until we do find out the truth. If we ever do.
