So I just finished watching the Patriots beat the Chargers 38-14 and the general feeling I get is one of vindication.  All week Coach Belichick has been villainized for what happened against the Jets.

Let me say that what he did was wrong and we were punished severely - to the point that it went beyond what we deserved because I feel they wanted to make an example that not even the Patriots can get away with something like that.

What stands out most in my mind is all the people that said this has been going on for years and that the Patriots don’t deserve the reputation they’ve gained and the Super Bowls they’ve won.  In my mind it’s obvious that there are too many coaches and players that have left the team - McGinest, Romeo, Mangini, Givens, etc. - that would have had to have been in on it for this to have been a long running thing.  Someone would have spoken up before now - even Mangini just last year - if we had been cheating all along.

We proved tonight that we have quality players, superior coaching, that we’re hard working and are simply better than anyone we’ve faced so far.  We don’t need any edges - which by all accounts we didn’t even get from the taping - to plain and simply outplay you.

With the Bonds and the McGwires making us so cynical about our sports heroes has it come to the point that a team that has defined what makes football great, that has been a model franchise and has grown to take the Cowboys spot as “America’s Team” can make one mistake - granted a big and stupid one - and blow all of their goodwill in one shot?

Watching the Patriots’ players crowd around Belichick after the game and congratulate him you know those closest to him believe and trust in him.  I think if Tom Brady and Tedy Bruschi - two of the finest players in the NFL - can vouch for him then we should too.  If I’m wrong and we did really get this far by getting an illegal edge than there really is nothing good left in sports.  But I don’t think I’m wrong.

Random Tidbit: Andy Rutledge provides another strong argument to design with web standards.  I know one of my goals is to continue to make my code better and more standards compliant for many of the reasons he mentions - is it one of your goals as well?  Trust me, when it comes to making large site wide changes down the road, you won’t regret it.