Most weeks, I'll eat up just about anything Bill Simmons posts on espn.com.
(I even read his NBA columns, and I don't watch, or care about, pro basketball.)
His Boston bias is nauseating - there's what ESPN needs to make sure it covers,
the EAST COAST viewpoint - but that's easily squared with the fact that Simmons
is a terrific writer with insightful comments and rare wit.
I ain't swallowing this week's column, though, a beyond-the-pale diatribe Simmons
spends entirely by complaining about the refereeing in last week's Patriots-Colts
tilt, whining that the referees were -trying- to screw the New Englanders, and now
somehow I'm supposed to feel sorry for the poor 9-0 Patriots and their suffering fans.
You want to complain about the refereeing in a pivotal Patriots game, Simmons?
Scrutinize a game that -really- counts for something, like Super Bowl XXXVI. The
pivotal play of that game should have been called back because Mike Vrabel whacked
Kurt Warner in the head. Ram receivers were getting clutched, grabbed and tackled
without the ball all game long while every official's flag remained planted deep
in his pocket. They stopped the clock once during New England's game-winning drive
when they shouldn't have, and they let the clock run out after Adam Vinatieri's
game-winning FG, when it should have stopped and given the Rams a chance to return
the kickoff.
THAT was a screwjob, Simmons - one that laid the foundation for the run your
team is on now. The Internet's biggest Patriots cheerleader pissing and moaning
about officiating is about as ridiculous as politicians who hold $5,000-a-
plate fundraising dinners at night and complain there's too much money in
politics during the day.
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