An open letter of apology to all my fellow Patriots fans

Dear Patriots fans,

I have been wrong. For the past two seasons, I have firmly held the belief that Bill Belichick is a dirty, cheating, no good dickhead. When Patriots fan friends of mine said "Well, EVERYONE in the NFL has taped at some point, not just the Patriots", the easiest response was to get up on my pedestal and tell everyone how good the Colts are and how they'd never do that because they have ethics.

No, the Colts haven't been caught video taping. They'd never do that. They have ethics.

However...when the story broke yesterday about UConn's alleged NCAA rules violations in recruiting Nate "Devendorf Jr" Miles, I was fuming for many reasons.

1. Why now? Yes, I understand that Yahoo sports writers throw a party whenever someone decides to read them over anyone else, but this is a terrible time for the team. They've got a Sweet Sixteen game tonight against a great team, and so this creates a massive distraction. Is this Yahoo writer a Duke, UNC or Syracuse fan who needs some sort of edge by knocking UConn out? Wait til after they've won the title, then let this play out during the offseason. Don't be an ass.

2. Nate Miles? Who never played a single game for UConn? WHO CARES? This is what makes me feel that whoever looked into this had extremely petty ulterior motives. If this were Hasheem Thabeet being FedEx'd strippers to Tanzania when he was being recruited, or A.J. Price being given free laptops, that's something to worry about. That's when it's an urgent matter that needs to be looked into. Not when it's some douchebag who got expelled and never played a single game for the team.

3. This is where I realized I was wrong about Patriots fans. My third thought on this was...EVERYONE USES SHADY RECRUITING TACTICS. This is like parents finding out their high school kid drinks for the first time and they act all shocked. "NO WAY, YOU DRANK?!?! I HAD NO IDEA!!!" Am I shocked? No. Would I be shocked if similar allegations came out against Louisville, Duke, Pittsburgh, North Carolina, or other power schools? Not at all. Maybe it's just me, but I never thought shady recruitment was that big a deal because I assumed everyone does it. Now I understand how Patriots fans feel.

I apologize.

Best regards,
-James