Try Not to Compare the Cardinals-Astros Alleged Hacking to Deflated Footballs, If Possible
By Mike Cardillo
2015 is almost halfway through. Think about how much time the sports world spent worried about balls, specifically the PSI of the balls used during the AFC Championship Game. Deflategate/Ballghazi was the perfect (read: tedious) topic for our screaming, take-driven sports media landscape that needs to fill countless television, radio and Internet hours on a daily, nonstop basis.
Finally, in mid-June, we were blessedly free of all talk about how much air Tom Brady likes when he squeezes his footballs … until today when news broke about the St. Louis Cardinals allegedly hacking — or more accurately illegally accessing — the Houston Astros’ information database. Since both situations fall under the broad umbrella of “cheating” the natural inclination is to compare the two since that’s how it usually works — something happens, we compare. If a third situation comes along, it becomes a trend.
Problem is, these two situations don’t appear all that similar unless you host a caller-driven talk radio show. For all that was written and or screamed about the Deflategate thing we still don’t know how much it actually affected the game of football. Most can agree the Patriots would have beaten the Colts regardless. Using the ballboys to tinker with the PSI of footballs is indeed cheating and breaks NFL rules, but it’s not a crime. The NFL investigated it in-house with Ted Wells.
The Cardinals/Astros situation drew an investigation from the FBI. That is significantly more serious, even if it doesn’t involve a four-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback.
Right now this is a fluid situation and we don’t know very much of the specific details, aside from the hack was targeted by the Cardinals at their former employee Jeff Luhnow, now GM of the Astros. What we need to figure out is whether or not the Cardinals employees who accessed the Astros’ system–it looks like guessing old passwords in a plot ripped straight from Silicon Valley–were trying to simply embarrass Luhnow publicy by posting internal information on the Internet or if they were trying to actively steal the Houston’s data for their own gain.
Some early indications make you think this wasn’t the most sophisticated plan ever conceived. That hardly forgives the Cardinals, especially if higher-ups in the organization knew it was going on. Even if it was “just” to embarrass an ex-employee this is beyond petty and mindlessly stupid. If it’s more than that and stealing information was the goal, it’s infinity worse than the Deflategate thing and much more comparable to the Spygate scandal.
And again, the FBI is investigating this, so it goes beyond most of the cheating we see in baseball, be it too much pine tar or stealing signs in the outfield. This is potentially breaking Federal law.
That said, cheating is ingrained if not accepted in baseball. This happens in other sports under the old banner, “if you’re not cheating you’re not trying” but baseball, maybe because of its long documented history, gets painted with that brush more than others. Collectively, we’re being naive if we think the Cardinals and Patriots are the only two sports organizations trying to bend the rules to gain an advantage, as fans and observers we tend not to think about it until somebody gets caught.
One of the Cardinals all-time great players, Rogers Hornsby, once said, “I’ve cheated, or someone on my team has cheated, in almost every single game I’ve been in.”
Maybe that’s why some members of the Cardinals — a team that prides itself on the so-called Best Fans in Baseball and its rich history — would allegedly risk this sort of brazen maneuver. Perhaps they figured they wouldn’t get caught or it would get swept under the rug. How else can you explain the logic of this? Best-case scenario, you make Luhnow look like an idiot (nevermind the Astros are no longer laughingstocks and in first place today). Worst-case? You commit a crime, face actual judicial penalties AND give reason for all the people who mock your organization from afar reason to doubt your accomplishments over the last decade?
The only thing that comes across my mind is hubris.
And that’s why it’s probably okay to draw some general comparisons between the way the Cardinals and the Patriots conduct business, even if the results of their actions are vastly different in the grand scheme of sports.
Both organizations have an unflinching, unwavering confidence in whatever actions they take. In the minds of those involved, the Cardinal Way or the Patriot Way are correct and flaunted in the face of all others — Deflategate probably wouldn’t have devolved into what it became, if it was any other team but the Patriots.
Of course, the Cardinals and Patriots are big winners and very easy to “hate.” The slew of pictures of Bill Belichick and Tony La Russa together only add to conspiracy theories. Although the specific actions (and crimes) of deflating footballs and hacking computers is an apples vs. oranges scenario, the comparisons will be drawn and screamed about. Try your best to remember one is serious and potentially a crime that goes far beyond cheating on the playing field, while the other is made-for-debate cannon fodder.
Buckle up.
[Photo via Getty]