John Nieman
I’m happy to raise my hand and admit that I too am fascinated by the ongoing story that is Bill Belichick and his girlfriend. So much of the talk is about why and how they are together. To be completely honest, I wake up every morning amazed and thankful that my trophy wife of almost 37 years is still putting up with me, so my days of judging others are long past.
Now that I have decided to return to following and supporting Tar Heel sports, my only concern is whether there is an effect on the fortunes of the UNC football team. And if there is an effect, is it positive or negative?
It’s not really important how the fans and the media and the public look upon this relationship. The real question is whether a player’s decision to come to Chapel Hill rests on their view and respect of the head coach. How does a 17, 18 —and in this era of transfer portals, even older players—look upon this going saga.
The potential problem I see is the incredible public nature of this relationship. I don’t believe I ever saw a picture of Nick Saban’s wife—I don’t even know if he’s married. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t pick out either of Dean Smith’s wives out of a photo lineup, even while I was in college. And yet, I can’t go a day without my phone popping up a picture of Belichick and his girlfriend. And I’m pretty sure there are plenty out there who could do an entire story on the pictures of the two of them doing yoga poses on the beach.
I’m 72, the same age as Belichick. My perspective on this whole thing is one thing. Not really that relevant or important. As a 19-year-old back in the ‘70s, I probably would have thought of it as pretty funny and it certainly would have affected my respect for the coach.
But these are vastly different times. I really don’t know whether all of this public display is a positive or negative for the program. Young people today are conditioned to accept that virtually everything is in the public domain. I’m fairly certain that my perspective on this—at my age—is going to be very different from the perspective of a young athlete who’s a product of these times.
I guess the only way we’ll know is what happens this fall. I don’t believe we should be judging Coach Belichick and his girlfriend about their relationship. That’s their deal. Some, maybe many, might see them as somewhat ridiculous. I’m sure that there are lots of people in my life who look at beautiful Martha and Fat Boy and have a bit of a chuckle themselves. I know it doesn’t bother me and I’m sure it doesn’t bother Coach Belichick.
But I know I will be joining the masses in judging the coach on the performance of the Tar Heels on the football field.
I really think it would be great to be witnessing Belichick and the girlfriend lifting up the ACC championship trophy. They can do yoga poses with it on the beach. It will be a real spectacle!
On another note, I’m finding that it’s taking me a lot of work to catch up on what’s going on in NASCAR. The rules keep changing, the drivers keep changing. There are lawsuits I don’t understand, and I’m a lawyer.
But the racing seems to be quite entertaining. There are clearly haves and haves, just like the good old days, but the difference between the two is not nearly as great.
So I head to Martinsville later this month with eager anticipation. Anticipation not just for the racing and the experience but also for the cultural observations. I try not to inject politics into this space since I, like I’m sure most of you, enjoy sports as an escape from this vale of tears.
But in recent weeks, I have had no fewer than five people start conversations with me telling me how much they regret their presidential vote. It gives me a glimmer of hope, and so I look forward to seeing if any of those sentiments are reflected at the race.
It’s not just that I want to have the image of Martha and me more presentable—or at least less comical. I really feel like it’s pretty important for health reasons that I do something about this Fat Boy deal. Serious intermittent fasting is clearly called for. I hope to wage war on the Index. But for now, Fat Boy Index: 278.
