Mn3

In a game where HONOR the rules is part of the culture.... then you get cheating.
In a game where you play until the ref calls a foul... you get rule breaking and penalties.

The Ravens lost to NE because NE drew up a play that was novel and the ravens did not call time out to figure it out... so they scored a TD. IMO... part of the game. both teams had a fair shot using the rules.

To me... this deflate ball issue is a choice between honor the rule and its intent... OR push the edge of the rule and seeing what you get away with?

Brady pushed the rule and counted on the officials not catching him. In fact he was caught and they re-inflated the balls for the second half. No PENALTY was charged since it is not part of the rule book. as Brady said... we won the game fair and square... Game is over.
The culture of football is Win. See what you can get away with... its part of the game. There is no HONOR in football... so there is no cheating.

The upset is that we believe that there is OR SHOULD BE a spirit of honor the rule... because football is the all american sport and as Americans, our mythology is all about honor and we give lip service to Honor the game and its rules ....

Well... Brady did not honor the rule.. So he "cheated"...

But..is honor the rule spirit part of the game of pro football. Is that part of the game?
Football is caught between the all American hype (honor etc) and the mundane... See what you can get away with because this is an entertainment business.

In boat racing..... we call fouls on ourselves.. if you touch the mark.... you do a turn. No refs needed... No competitor needed to charge you with a foul. I argue that honoring the spirit of the rule is the foundation of sailing rules..

When the underlying philosophy of a game like football (play and see what you can get away with) is used by sailors in sailboat racing.. That's when you fundamentally change the sport of sailboat racing...for the worse.

Don't forget... the sport USED to DSQ your butt if you did not honor the rule... No penalty turns... etc... A very bright line was used to make sure racers HONORED the rules because the risk was DSQ and the reward was made trivial.

Today... I will push my advantage on the port starbord cross and see what I can get away with... If I am called on the foul... I have a new risk reward... take it to the protest room OR do my turns.. Turns are just a cost of the risk reward of not honoring a rule.. Its part of the "new" game of sailboat racing..

Hmm... A slippery slope indeed!