Bill Belichick is the best coach in football and his resume speaks for itself. 6 AFC Conference Title games, 5 Super Bowl appearances, 10 division titles in 12 seasons as the Patriots head coach. He always has the Patriots playing January football and their best football when it’s needed down the stretch. He’s a top 10 coach of all time but there’s one thing we seem to notice about Bill and it’s been shown these past few years. The way he handles defeat. After a heartbreaking loss in 2008 that ended their pursuit to perfection, Bill just walked off the field not acknowledging anyone. He just walked back into the locker room. He’s had a history of doing this and yesterday’s incident can be added to that list as well. After losing to the Ravens in the AFC Title Game, Bill Belichick declined to do an interview with CBS’s Steve Tasker after Baltimore’s 28-13 win over the Patriots. Shannon Sharpe’s comments were very well said. “There’s something to be said about being gracious in defeat,” Sharpe said on CBS’ postgame show, via USA Today. “We’ve seen the New England Patriots five times in the last 12 years be victorious. And we’ve seen the opposing coaches that lost come out and speak to our Steve Tasker. Coach (Bill) Cowher (who was sitting next to Sharpe) did it when they lost. We saw this last week (when the Patriots beat the Texans). “Bill Belichick makes it very easy for you to root against the Patriots. You can’t be a poor sport all the time. You’re not going to win every time. And he does this every time he loses. It is unacceptable.” I want to elaborate on this as well. You’re not remembered how you are after you win, you’re judged more by how you handle defeats and failures and that quote isn’t just used with sports, that’s life in general. Losing is a feeling we never want to experience but you’re not always going to win and that’s a life lesson. You still have to maintain professionalism and class in all situations and Bill’s actions were unacceptable and inmature if you ask me. I’ve seen a lot of sports over the years and even if a team lost the biggest game of the year, they still came to the podium and answered questions or spoke to the sideline reporter. That’s class and that’s not what Bill Belichick was last night. If you can handle wins as a man, you can handle losses as a man too.
