Patriots get an Asterisk

With their victory over the Colts this past weekend the Patriots have improved their record to 9-o and taken a step closer to finishing the season undefeated. Coach of the legendary 72 Dolphins, Don Shula suggested that if the Patriots do go undefeated, their accomplishment would be diminished because of the Spygate incident earlier this year. The 1972 Dolphins team is the only one in NFL history to complete the perfect season. The team and Patriots coach Bill Belichick were fined a combined 750,000 dollars for their role in Spygate. The Patriots were also stripped of their first round draft pick this year. Such harsh penalties suggest that what the NFL found during their investigation were very serious violations of league policy. Shula then suggested that the Patriots have an asterisk put next to their name in the record books if they manage to go undefeated. (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3097057) He then compared the Patriots cheating with Barry Bonds getting an asterisk put on his record breaking home run ball for his alleged steroid use and that the same consequence should apply to the Patriots. I agree with Shula, cheating is cheating. Now the Patriots accomplishments, no matter how great, will always be questioned. That shadow of doubt will always haunt this years team, much like Barry Bonds is questioned because his home run total might be inflated because of steroid use. The Patriots cheated and now have to suffer the consequences. They knew what they did was cheating, but they did it anyway. A fitting punishment would be attaching an asterisk to their undefeated season if they do manage to complete the perfect season.