Optimists make chicken salad out of chicken shit. Boston Sports Media seemed so desperate for news and viewers this week that they were making chicken shit out of chicken salad. Yes, Tom Brady is aging but is still one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL. The Patriots are poised to have a great run. Many would argue they have what it takes to get to the Super Bowl. They have talent and depth in all phases of the game, enough to withstand the usual number of injuries and setbacks. Tom Brady is healthy and on fire with a strong back-up quarterback. We have been waiting for this. Why such endless doom chatter?
You don’t have to be Nostradamus to predict that Tom Brady will retire in the next 2-5 years. He is in his late thirties. He has stated he wants to play into his 40s, which is possible for Brady who continues to prove that he is a tough-as-nails badass. Why undermine this goal with all the doom when energy could be spent focused on all that is aligning for the New England Patriots right now?! It isn’t even worth our time since Bill Belichick doesn’t really have a problem disappointing people. In the unlikely case that Brady loses perspective, we can count on the smart, savvy and salty Belichick to send Brady on his way.
I feast on Patriots news of any and all kinds wherever I can squeeze it in. Not this week. By mid-week, I vowed to stop watching until kick-off time on Sunday. The Sports Media Doom Squad would not stop riding the idea that Tom Brady is fading, won’t be able to recognize when the time comes to retire, or will get traded to another team because that is how this business works. Most the commentators don’t believe him when he says he will stop playing when he sucks.
I know it is the job of sports media to get our hackles up, to get us thinking and to make our blood boil here and there. It is entertainment for a lot of people to watch sports commentators take sides, sling opinions, fill the time with banter and fight about who was or is going to be right or wrong. Thought-provoking banter is good stuff, but this week of news about the Patriots was tiresome.
I know the commentators like to be the first to predict outcomes, so they can remind each other and us when they were right. If they didn’t remind us as often as they do, we wouldn’t know because we don’t really spend much time remembering when they are right or wrong. We tolerate their squawking and bickering for the nuggets of news in and between all that. The constant reminding on air of who was right or wrong inspires some viewers with time on their hands to tell them when they were wrong, which leads to more madness. Most of us are busy people moving on to the next thing. Since I am not watching the news about the Patriots this week, I have time for this rant.
Early in his career, people loved how Brady was squeaky clean, but then it irritated people that he is actually a fine, genuine person on top of being an amazing athlete. The adoration-Shadenfreude-worship-resentment swirling combination ultimately causes people to eagerly sniff for mistakes with the media or in his personal life. It has been over a decade, and the guy remains pretty darn squeaky clean. He is a gifted quarterback, intelligent, well-spoken, a family guy, kind-hearted and unreasonably attractive with a supermodel wife. Yes, the guys is hot. In fact, he could be held responsible for kicking the collective libido of many women in New England up a few notches. Everybody wins with that, people, but I digress. It is hard for the haters to justify their hate for Tom Brady. Instead of wasting our time and energy on negativity, let’s cheer this amazing guy on as he leads our favorite team to a great season.
* By the way, for anyone out there who thought Giselle was “just a model” without much else going, watch her new Under Armor ad. It turns out Giselle is a tough-as-nails badass lassie herself. Good for her!!