The Sage of Miami

(a rant from that almost undefeated Patriots 2007 season)

"They are in a status called unbeaten, so, thus far, they are not undefeated. Undefeated is the culmination of being unbeaten."
-Mercury Morris

This is what various media outlets are inviting Mercury Morris onto their radio and television stations to say about The 16-0 New England Patriots. Have you heard this crap? Unbeaten is undefeated and undefeated is unbeaten! The first time I heard these idiotic and nonsensical opinions was on local sports talk radio here in Boston. It was around the point in the season when the Pats were 10-0, and all this guy kept saying was, they’re unbeaten, not undefeated. Not one person on the show had the balls to tell him that unbeaten and undefeated are the same thing. They just kept listening as he lectured them on the difference between two synonymous adjectives.

The next thing I know, Morris is on ESPN. They couldn’t let his incredible insight pass them by. They had to get him on while his groundbreaking mastery of linguistics was still hot. So I’m watching him sit there like some wise oracle preaching to a congregation of, who, second graders? Who is buying this drivel? This is his platform? - They’re not undefeated, they’re unbeaten? The interviewer looks amazed. Not amused, amazed.

This rant has nothing to do with football. I’m a Patriots fan, that is true. And I know that everyone has an opinion on the undefeated, or is it unbeaten, Patriots. This is about what is wrong with sports media when they allow a guy like Mercury Morris to sit back with a cocky expression on his face and repeatedly make a mockery of the English language. Where did he come up with this? Why doesn’t anybody challenge him? Can’t the ‘72 Dolphins come up with a better spokesperson?

Well, we didn’t win the Super Bowl, we won the Lombardi Trophy. You see the difference?
MORON !

The American Heritage Dictionary says:
un - beat - en
adj.
1. Not defeated: an unbeaten football team.

I’m not kidding, that’s what it says.

Look it up you media morons before you go and give this guy his own show!