UPDATE 2/4/2008 12:01 a.m.
Yahoo! calls Belichick a “sore loser.”
Because Bill Belichick wanted to go hide when he lost, the field ended up being flooded with people, and the officials had to clear the area before the Giants could take their final snap and make it official. When you lose, you take your loss. You don’t leave early because it makes you feel sad inside. Your opponent deserves more respect than that.
Original Post
Pure speculation, but I would be shocked if a losing head coach ever departed the sidelines before the end of a Super Bowl. Until the scummiest coach since Barry Switzer did it tonight.
With one second on the clock, the New York Giants had one play left to run before claiming the Lombardi Trophy as the NFL’s greatest team. Belichick and hundreds of other sideliners, thinking the game over when New England quarterback Tom Brady’s fourth down pass fell incomplete, stormed the field. Once the officials explained that the Giants must run the final second off the clock, most people returned to their staging positions on the sideline.
Belichick did not. Humiliated by the impending loss and disgraced by more revelations of video tape cheating, Belichick chose to walk halfway across the field, wave to the victorious Tom Coughlin, and jog off to the Patriots' locker room. Belichick would not do what 41 other losing coaches did–congratulate the winner.
Under Belichick, the Patriots have won three Super Bowls, but they have also cheated. In Super Bowl XXXVI, Belichick allegedly video taped the St. Louis Rams final walk-through in gross violation of NFL rules and the unwritten rules of sportsmanship. In that game against the Rams, who went in at 17 point favorites, Belichick’s defense stifled the Rams' offense by illegally tackling wide receivers Tory Holt and Isaac Bruce on almost every play from scrimmage. The NFL officials, shocked by the flagrancy of the Patriots' tactics, were too stunned to throw flags.
Earlier this year, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell fined Belichick $500,000 for spying on the New York Jets. Many felt Goodell would go futher, awarding game 1 to the Jets by forfeit.
The real reason why many people hate the Pats is the coach. Belichick is a liar, a cheat, and a sore loser. His players love him. They must be cheats, liars, and sore losers, too.