I've watched the foot stomping going on among media pundits over the New England Patriots and this so-called video cheating situation. I have an opinion. Before stating it, let me say that any confusion concerning a league rule addressing gameday video policy should have ended what up to that point had been a reasonably common practice of trying to steal signs using video tape among other methods.

Sign stealing will continue as it does in all professional sports under the guise of gamesmanship. Baseball catchers have to change signal patterns when there is a runner on second base. It's accepted that base runners will try to signal the hitter about what to expect from the pitcher when possible. It's always been a part of the sport as far back as I can remember.

Football teams, both college and professional, have been studying film of other teams to detect tendencies of those teams in certain situations so as to gameplan. Teams tendencies, more specifically are coaching tendencies. So based on this assumption that coaches ultimately determine team tendencies, wouldn't it make sense to study the tendencies of those coaches as well. This is where great coaches get seperated from the average.

A great coach will know his own tendencies and use the other team's knowledge of those tendencies by changing the pattern during key moments in the game. During games, these are called adjustments. Coaches who are able to adjust their play in response to the competition win the big games more often than they lose. Most teams have years of video records of teams and the tendencies of those teams in their video libraries. So I say, why not have a similar video library of coaches.

Let's take Bill Parcells as an example. He actually began his NFL career as a linebacker coach. From there he went to New York where he won a couple of Super Bowls. Then he went to New England, New York Jets, and finally the Dallas Cowboys. Parcells has a philosophy on how the game should be played and well documented tendencies during key moments in the game.

If your team is scheduled to play a Parcells coached team, do you think there would be value in a library dedicated to this high profile coach as you prepare for the game? Do you think knowing the statistical tendencies of the head coach in certain situations would be of value? Of course it would. So I ask you, why would videotape of coaches in action on the sidelines be of any less value than tape of the teams on the playing field?

The truth is, there should be nothing wrong with it. Film study is part of being a professional athelete. What makes it different is the league's decision to stop a common practice this season. The Patriots ignored the memo and have been duly punished, but was the flap this has caused worth it to the league?

Has it been good for the league to publically humble one of their most successful franchises and coaches? On a seperate thought, did the young New York Jets coach violate a code of conduct within the brotherhood of coaches by initiating the public flap over a game he stood little chance of winning even if he knew the Patriots entire game plan in advance?

Coach Belicheck gave Mangini his start in coaching. He nutured him up from ballboy through every phase of the game and then honored him with the job of defensive co-ordinator of a Super Bowl calibre team only to have him bolt at the first opportunity; an opportunity that would have been available to him for many years. Would a few more years of seasoning under his mentor's tutalege have made him a better coach instead of the one that will probably be out of work in a couple of years? It's no wonder there was resentment and a sense of betrayal. Didn't that same Mangini invite recently cut players from the Patriot's roster to New York under the guise of a tryout but more likely just to pick their brains about the current playbook? None were signed. Should Mangini have been required to have a frontal lobotomy before leaving to coach the Jets so he could forget all his Patriot signals?

Don't you think other organizations and head coaches have made a mental note of Mangini's tattletale tendencies? Nobody wants a rat in their organization. He's done in coaching if he doesn't win and win big in New York.

Resentment of acheivement is easy to find in sports, business, and personal life. The "have nots" and "can't do's" of the world love to knock down those who do achieve. They love to create innuendo that they somehow had an unfair advantage. The truth be known is winners win and losers whine, or they keep working until they learn to be winners. It's how it works. Belicheck was a loser in Cleveland and kept working until he figured it out. That's what winners do. They don't whine and complain.

And to all those media types who have been quick to jump on the beat-down bandwagon, I'd like to know if your life could withstand the same scutiny? Listen, I know this made for compelling theatre, so to a point I can't really blame anyone for harping on this, but what happened to balance and factual reporting? What happened to being judged on your body of work over your life? This was an opportunity for a wider discussion on the topic of scouting and technology in professional sports and it hasn't happened. Mistakes will be made as teams strive for an edge.

And finally, after Commissioner Goodell has completely cleaned up the league to his liking, will people still want to watch after a steady diet of negatives that have emminated from the commish's office since he began his term. Are we served by such a public display of macho from the league offices or would the sport be better served by a behind the scenes handling of most of these player and team issues? How do you feel about pro football today?

Personally, I love professional football and have been watching it since the days of YA Tittle and Sam Huff. I've looked forward to every season as much as the last. Now I'm concerned and a bit confused.

There's a new sheriff in town and I feel the "OK Corral" has just happened. Will the town ever be the same?