(The great man shares his diplomatic wit and charm with members of the British press.)

From Neil Reynolds on BBC.com – Kraft’s wisest move in New England was to hire Bill Belichick as head coach. Since taking charge in 2000, he has guided New England to six AFC East Division crowns, four Super Bowl appearances and three NFL title game victories. And he has achieved all of that success with steely determination, an almost robot-like focus on preparing for each game and on a total refusal to let any single player become more important than the team. The Patriots are, indeed, the ultimate team. They have their share of stars such as quarterback Tom Brady and wide receivers Randy Moss and Wes Welker, but all of those guys buy into the concept of being just the same as the other players on the roster. Brady is a perfect example. Now, I’m sure Brady will get handsomely rewarded in the near future, but this is a player considered to be among the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game. We are talking about a three-time Super Bowl winner who is favourably compared to living legend Joe Montana. Yet Brady took a pay-cut in order for the Patriots to sign Moss in 2007. He remains in the middle of the pack when it comes to annual quarterback salaries and hardly seems bothered by that scenario. What concerns Brady and the Patriots is winning games. Belichick is not big on reputations and he couldn’t give two hoots about what it says on a player’s birth certificate. All that matters is that a player does a job for him each weekend… You would think such an approach would make Belichick an unpopular tyrant. But, by all accounts, his players enjoy playing for him. Winning cures a lot of concerns and there’s no doubt the Patriots have been major winners under the demanding head coach.

At long last, Bill Belichick comes across a sportswriter who gets him. Granted it took flying to another continent a vast ocean and 5 time zones away, but he finally did it. Apparently in Great Britain the press is able to judge a coach based on his accomplishments and how his players play for him. As opposed to how much he grabasses with them or gives them scoops or whether his press conferences are future Coors Light ad material the way American sportswriters do. The British press must be known worldwide for their class and dignity.

Actually I should probably be glad Neil Reynolds is across the pond. There’s only room for one blogger with an extreme Belichick fetish in this town, and I don’t need El Pres getting any ideas about outsourcing my job.

(Thanks to Stephen K, the Stool’s foreign correspondent embedded with the troops in London.)