 Bill Belichick; Jim Rogash/Getty Images |  |
| The victory of the New England Patriots over the Atlanta Falcons was disheartening for some of us both because of the Patriots jaded history of NFL violations and the mutual adoration between the Patriots and Donald Trump. From illegally filming their opponent’s signals, dishonestly using their injured reserve list, to using deflated footballs, the Patriots have shown a flagrant disregard for following NFL rules. This disregard for rules is matched by Donald Trump’s disregard for rules and may be the basis of their mutual affection. Trump has often cited his great admiration and respect for the Tom Brady Patriots’ quarterback; Bill Belichick, Patriots’ coach; and Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft and they, in turn, have expressed support for Trump. To make Atlanta’s loss even more disheartening, the Patriots came back from a seemingly overwhelming 28 to 3 Atlanta lead in the third quarter. Like Trump’s improbable victory over Hillary Clinton in the Presidential election, the outcome was stunning and raised questions about what the future portended for our side, the good guys. But, the Patriots’ victory in the Super Bowl is not necessarily a template for how the bad guys can win any more than Trump’s victory was. Instead, these outcomes show first, that there is a degree of capriciousness in the outcome of most contests. This suggests that one cannot take winning lightly and assume “victory is in the bag.” Second, they show that experience is important ingredient for victory; the Patriots had 22 players with previous Super Bowl experience while the Falcons had 4 players. Trump is so lacking in experience he needed FBI and Russian interference to defeat Hillary. Third, playing defense is psychologically and physically harder than playing offense because defenders must try to anticipate or react to the offense. The Falcons’ defense faded and left the Patriots with an opportunity; Democrats need offense. Perhaps next time, our teams will remember these lessons and play accordingly. |