Unsportsmanlike Conduct

WASHINGTON -- The quarterback arrived at Salem State University by helicopter to adoring, cheering crowds. "Most famous witch hunt victims in Salem?" read one sign. "Bridget Bishop. Rebecca Nurse. Tom Brady."

Oh please. I don't care much about football in general or Deflategate in particular. At least I hadn't until Wednesday's report concluding that two New England Patriots employees were involved in deflating game balls and that it was "more probable than not" that Brady was "at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities."

But the more I think about the episode, the more I listen to Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Brady's entourage sputter indignantly about the, well, witch trial to which they have been subjected, the more I am convinced that (a) the transgression matters and (b) the punishment should be severe.

Actually, enough mincing words. This was cheating.

That's a strong word, so let's dispense with the argument that this was minor rule-breaking with no conceivable effect on the outcome of the lopsided AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. Yes, the Patriots led 17-7 in the first half, when the squishier balls were used; they actually performed better, racking up another 28 points, when they played with properly inflated balls in the second half.

That doesn't matter, for two reasons. First, those involved apparently thought the level of ball inflation was important enough to warrant a clandestine deflation plan.

Second, cheating is just as wrong when it is ineffective or unnecessary as when it works. Imagine that your child is caught smuggling an illegal calculator into an algebra exam. She's a math whiz, and didn't need it. Does that make her conduct OK? Didn't think so.

A related argument is that, in the larger context of professional sports, Deflategate isn't big-time cheating. This is the head-exploding contention that convinces me that this episode is bigger than a meaningless sports squabble. The lesson it threatens to convey, especially to younger fans, is that, in our anything-to-win culture, rules exist to be broken, with minimal consequences.

Sure, there have been bigger cheaters in sports: Lance Armstrong. Tonya Harding. Too many baseball players taking steroids. But the prevalence of other forms of cheating does not excuse this version.

A friend, his ordinarily clear thinking addled by Patriots fandom, argues that the correct comparison isn't doping -- it's a pitcher putting Vaseline in his glove: "It's cheating, everyone knows you'll get tossed if you're caught, and everyone knows it's part of the game and always has been."

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