Recently, I was bored to the highest degree while trying to find the glue to attach the horizontal, to the vertical. While I was in deep thought, the term “cooking the books” kept invading the space of my consciousness. I don’t know if the old saying: “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop” is true or not, but I can say that it is not good to allow your mind to wander around aimlessly and without purpose. However, during my time of ultra-boredom, “cooking the books” seemed to be the perfect analogy when it could be applied to NFL head coaching stats. The investopedia.com website defines “cooking the books” as using accounting tricks to make a company’s financial results look better than they really are.”
Please take a little time out to evaluate my opinion regarding, “tenderizing the ledger.” Prior to the recent Pittsburgh Steelers’ 18-16 victory at Acrisure Stadium on Nov. 17 over the Baltimore Ravens, many friends, fans, foes, prognosticators and pundits inaccurately forecasted that the Ravens would prevail simply because the Dirty Birds would overcome their questionable defense with an ultra-potent offense spearheaded by their QB Lamar Jackson. For the past few years, Jackson has won a few NFL MVP awards or has been one of the leading candidates considered to receive one. But they were all wrong. The Steelers once again were victorious, clipping the feathers of the Ravens, sending Baltimore back home flightless. Adding a huge footnote, Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin is a contender to take home the NFL Coach of the Year award. Tomlin currently holds a 21-15 won-loss coaching advantage over the Head Coach of the Ravens, John Harbaugh. However, in many instances, Tomlin was outmanned by Harbaugh but the Steelers as Miles Davis would say: “came out on top.” But again, the books continue “simmering” on low. Why? Well, simply because I can still smell the aroma coming from the kitchen. For example: Kevin Stefanski left his gig as the defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings to become the head coach of the Cleveland Browns in 2020. Stefanski went on to win the NFL Coach of The Year Award in 2020 and 2023 in light of not advancing very far in the postseason. The books are now about to be deep fried because another AFC North coaching foe of Mike Tomlin is of course John Harbaugh and he took home the hardware for the NFL Coach of The Year statue in 2019.
Let’s step out of the AFC North and travel to the AFC East and place their ledger under the broiler because Bill ‘Belicheat’ Belichick, the former ‘guru and coaching genius’ of the New England Patriots ‘stole’ the honor as Coach of The Year in 2007 and 2010. In 2010, approximately three years after the Patriots management and Bill Belichick were exposed illegally filming the practices and signals of their opponents, Belichick was again awarded, the so-called sacred ‘Coach of the Year Award.’
Mike Tomlin has repeatedly beat the pants off of Kevin Stefanski and John Harbaugh and would have up until the present slapped Bill ‘Belicheat’ Belichick and his All-American quarterback ‘Cheatin’ Tom Brady around like they stole grandma’s chewing tobacco and her last ‘bucket of chitlins’ if Belichick had not been caught red-handed rigging games. Oh, but the violations of the ‘Pats’ were not about to stop.
Jacob Camenker posted an article on May 5, 2024 on sportingnews.com. The title of the article is ‘What is Deflategate? Revisiting Tom Brady involvement, suspension from Patriots scandal’ Mr. Camenker writes: “Tom Brady earned a lot of accolades during his NFL career. He won seven Super Bowl rings, five Super Bowl MVPs, and three NFL MVPs, across his 20 years with the Patriots and Buccaneers.
The Patriots were exposed cheating not once but on numerous occasions, paid the fines but kept on cheating. There was a story told about the legendary Black heavyweight boxing champion of the world, the late Jack Johnson. Johnson was driving and was stopped for a speeding violation. He was pulled over and the officer supposedly issued Johnson a $50 speeding ticket. When Jackson gave the officer a one-hundred bill, twice the amount that was due the officer asked him why and Jack Johnson allegedly replied, “I might as well pay you now cause I gotta come back.”
Although they continued their lawless behavior, perpetual accolades and rewards were continually heaped upon the New England Patriots. It seems like certain sports franchises don’t care about being caught violating any rules because they will pay the penalties and keep it movin’ because as my Uncle Will used to say, “its only a fair fight if you win.” Are the smoke alarms working because I smell smoke in the kitchen?
In light of all of the lies, many fans and pundits don’t have to fret or worry about preserving the legacies and reputations of their esteemed anti-heroes because the books have been freeze-dried, so the only thing that they have to do is to rehydrate their version of history and then marinate their flawed and subjective chronicles in a mixture of hypocrisy and dishonesty.
As far as Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin receiving an NFL Coach of The Year award, my theory as to why it hasn’t happened already is because many folks didn’t recognize him or his work at all is simply because he was supposedly hired under the façade of the ‘Rooney Rule.’ That being said, it appears that his qualifications and validity as a football coach were and may continue to be irreparably flawed and unacceptable.
So if Mike Tomlin doesn’t win the NFL Coach of the Year Award this season; well put it this way…we are going to have to use our ‘Perks’ card at the supermarket to get a discount on a new set of books that may be on sale.
About Post Author
