Mike Freeman

BOSTON -- You would think from listening to Detroit Pistons fans that Flip Saunders was Rick Pitino.

I swear they blame Saunders for the Iraq War.

Same with Doc Rivers.

I was listening to sports talk radio here and there was actually a caller who said Rivers was to blame for the Game 4 loss because he didn't use his timeouts properly.

Sure. Makes total sense.

The Celtics making just 21 field goals had nothing to do with the loss of course.

It's just getting old, the blaming of the coaches, instead of the players.

The reason Boston struggled was because the players couldn't make shots. That's it. End of story.

Blame the players...for once. Please.

I'm begging you.

As I said before, this story is dead.

Nothing new to see here.

Except for the excellent shots of the San Diego Chargers cheerleaders. Thanks for that one Matt.

You know a story is dead when the biggest news to come out of Roger Goodell's Tuesday press conference are shots of the Chargers dancers, presumably made for the video staff's crank-yanking enjoyment.

The New England Patriots cheated. They got busted. They were heavily punished. The league not only investigated but gave the tapes to the media.

Please tell me how you get more transparent than that.

Or where the story goes from here.

I understand the almost irrational hatred of the Patriots by fans and many members of the media. Fans hate dynasties and the media dislikes people like Bill Belichick who make their jobs more difficult.

But the hatred has reached ridiculous proportions. The idea constantly being floated that everything the Patriots have accomplished is now tainted continues to percolate. It's a silly notion.

Just get over it people. Spygate is dead.

Now excuse me while I do a professional review of those cheerleaders shots.

I want to make sure their moves are well executed.