December 26, 2007
Posted by Ryan Graves
The Code
Professional sports, MLB, NBA, and the NFL once followed what could be termed “the code”. It was nothing official or scribed, but it was closely followed. The code was this:
“That out of fairness to all teams involved in a championship competition, any team opposing one of them shall extend itself to the fullest.”
A game that was once quite noble, is now tainted with the importance of the playoffs and gaining the most favorable position within them. “Playoffs!” Now that the Dallas Cowboys have secured they’re spot they will no doubts rest Romo, T.O., and others who are slightly injured. Nobody would think twice about Beli”cheat” sitting Brady in the second half this week versus the “I hate Eli Manning” Giants. They definitely have the undefeated thing going for them (which is nice) and I believe they will play hard to reach this goal, but in any other circumstance, Moss, Brady and the crew would sit and rest.
My argument is not that the Patriots should sit there stars, it is that the integrity of giving your all, giving 100% until the last week of the season is almost non-existent. Especially for teams that have secured a play-off spot. The San Diego Chargers have a 3rd seed to play for so they will undoubtedly come out firing against their rival Raiders but, for teams that don’t need a victory like Indianapolis, will you give it your all? Will you treat these last weeks as if they were your first? I would doubt it. It is sad because any gambling man would put his money on the Colts when playing the Tennessee Titans but now the same Vegas gambler has to take into consideration how much Dungy and the Colts want to “preserve” themselves for the playoffs. Isn’t this a mans game? Another miserable position is if you are a Browns fan, who need the Colts to win against the Titans in order to gain a playoff birth. You can only hope a half-ass Colts team can claim a victory over a 110%, season on the line, Titans squad. Good luck.
Peyton, when you take the field Sunday, try for one second not the think about your first round bye or the Patriots secondary, think for a second about your competitive integrity, think for one second about your “love of the game”.
