When I was growing up, I was taught basic sportsmanship in the athletic events I participated in. I was taught to help other kids up, shake hands after the game, and if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying. Oh wait, I didn’t get taught the last one, Bill Belichick did.

In case you have been off of sports websites for the past couple days; the New England Patriots have been accused of deflating their footballs in the AFC Championship Game. This would make the balls easier to throw and catch than fully inflated balls.

The NFL has found that 11 out of the 12 balls the Patriots used were under-inflated, although no accusations have been made and no punishments have been handed out.

First off, it’s highly unlikely that those deflated balls would have turned around the 38-point spread that the Patriots defeated the Colts with. Many people have realized that and are brushing it off as no big deal. But what if it was a close game? Would that change the situation?

I think most people would agree if this were a close game, this would be a big deal. But how can we make judgments based on how close the game is? The Patriots broke the rules, and they should be punished, regardless of the outcome of the game.

The question is how much should they be punished. Should they lose future draft picks? Should they be banned from the Super Bowl? Should Bill Belichick be suspended?

Suspensions should be the punishment. Bill Belichick should be suspended for the Super Bowl and all of next season. If Sean Payton was suspended for the bounty incident, where nothing was done to break the rules on the field, Belichick should be suspended at least the same amount.

Let’s also remember this isn’t the first incident where the Patriots were caught cheating to gain an advantage. All the way back in 2007 the Patriots filmed New York Jets defensive coaches calling in plays.

But, the Patriots are not the only ones to blame in this situation. The NFL’s policies make it easy for teams like the Patriots to cheat in this situation.

According to Wilson (the game ball provider) the balls are shipped at the correct psi, to the teams. Then around two hours before each game the officials inspect the balls.

Does anyone else notice some of the problems with this system? For those who don’t, let’s point them out. Each team does not need it’s own set of balls. There is a lot of time between when the officials check the balls and the game.

However, the bigger issue is how the officials didn’t notice the difference in pressure during the game. The officials touch the ball every single play, and not a single one noticed? Maybe those officials should be suspended as well.

This doesn’t excuse the Patriots from deflating the balls, but these policies do make it easy for teams to modify the equipment. So here is the solution to prevent situations like this in the future.

First, all playable footballs should be given to the NFL and held onto by the officials until game time. This limits the contact between the people to the balls who have a reason to affect the game for one team or another.

Next, wait, there is no next. This is all that needs to happen for this to never happen again.

So why hasn’t the NFL done anything to change this? Maybe because the chief disciplinarian is also the person in charge of making money for the brand. So how can Rodger Goodell be unbiased when he obviously has an interest in having the best matchups, and making the NFL the most profitable?

But, back to the main point, Belichick should be suspended for a long time. Cheating should never be tolerated no matter the situation, and the NFL needs to take action.