A big deal was made recently out of the penalizing of the New England Patriots and their coach (some $750,000 altogether in fines) because the Patriots had set up an operation for stealing the opponents’ defensive signals that was simply too blatant. They had set up some kind of camera operation, and that was considered simply too brazen. They could have done the stealing the old-fashioned way(s) and stayed out of trouble…but, no, they had to flaunt their athletic intellect.
All of this hit the media as something sort of (gasp and three palpitations) outrageous, notwithstanding that any sports-follower knows that cheating is as much a part of the game as the game itself. In fact, peccadilloes resulting from a mindset are not in any way to be confused with peccadilloes managed by finagling with the athlete’s body. In other words, steroids or any other drug that enhances physical configuration are absolutely intolerable, though sports at all levels, including high school and college, are permeated with drug-use. The deal that matters with drugs has only to do with how to “get away with it.”
Of course, a coach or manager or player has to be careful about how he goes about the mind game. A defensive tackle wouldn’t sneak into the opposing team’s huddle to hear the offensive play…in fact, he couldn’t. But, how about a guy with a directional microphone pointed at that huddle. Might he hear the necessary information and signal his defense as to what might be expected?
On the other side of the ball, the offensive signal-caller (or his coaches) might figure ways to confuse the eavesdropper, indicating what in the huddle will be translated at the line into something else. Of course, there’s always the problem of some player forgetting what the translation is, missing his assignment, thus causing his quarterback to suffer a needless concussion (is a concussion ever needed?) engineered by the guy he was supposed to block.
In a game the other day, the Florida State honchos, remembering the Patriots’ experience (the Patriot opponent had complained that his enemy seemed to always know where he wouldn’t be), rigged a blanket behind which the sideline signal-callers operated so that only their players – at least hopefully – would know what was going on. The Seminoles won, so maybe they had something there.
A large part of baseball is the cat-and-mouse game of stealing signals. The third-base coach tips off what the batter and everyone else on base are supposed to do – for instance, a hit-and-run or taken pitch or run-and-hit or steal second. He goes through a litany of signals (patting his pants-leg; rubbing his nose; sliding his hands across his chest) and his own players know what he means. The trick for the other side is figuring out what he’s trying to hide.
All the while, the runner on second is trying to steal the signal the catcher gives the pitcher so he can signal the batter what he thinks the pitch will be. Often, the catcher and pitcher become suspicious and have a discussion on the mound as to what the signals are, since they’re always different when an opposing player is on second. After their consultation, they shift the Redman in their mouths, spit a few times, scratch a few times, and get back to business.
In a game of Bridge, players have been known to kick their partners’ legs – under the table, of course – but that’s considered uncouth in polite company, as well as not too smart if the wrong legs are kicked. In a Poker game, though, it never hurts to have a buddy behind another player to flash a signal as to what is in that player’s hand. That’s for impolite company.
Yeah…cheating is just a part of the game. Some baseball managers reconfigure the field before a game, maybe raising or lowering the mound or sloping the line from the batter’s box to make a bunt roll one way or the other. In a Kentucky-Vanderbilt basketball game a number of years ago, a fouled Kentucky player was a poor free-throw shooter, so the best shooter on the team sneaked in at the foul line to take the shot. The coach was conscientious enough to suspend that player for one game. Of course, everybody had seen what happened…except the referee, the one guy who was supposed to know.
So…since signal-stealing is just part of professional football, should the Patriots have been penalized for ratcheting up their skill-level? Probably not! Sports has had a multiplicity of scandals lately, however, one of the latest and grimmest being the dog-fighting and drug charges against Michael Vick, one of the NFL’s stellar performers. He most likely will not play again, but in any case, the guys who run the show try to make it as respectable as possible.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
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