If the New England Patriots are the Death Star of the NFL – menacing and seemingly invincible – then their coach, Bill Belichick, is Darth Vader. He is the "dark lord" of the coaching ranks. With equal parts of arrogance and brilliance, he is the main reason people love to hate this team.

The love-hate affair blossomed in Week 1 of the 2007 NFL season, when Belichick was caught using a video camera to steal signals from the New York Jets' sideline during the Patriots' 38-14 win. NFL officials seized the camera in the first quarter of the game and the Patriots were fined the league maximum of $500,000 and ordered to forfeit a first- round draft pick in 2008 if they made the playoffs, or a second- and third-round pick if they didn't.

With a perfect 13-0 record as of this writing, it's no longer a question of whether they'll make the playoffs, but if this is the greatest team in NFL history. Belichick remains unrepentant, and his widely-used nickname of "Belicheat" is sure to follow him for the rest of his career.

If that wasn't enough, Belichick's consistently dour demeanour and smug, dismissive treatment of the press and his opponents don't win him any points among most football fans outside of Massachusetts. Whether he's winning (almost always) or losing (rarely) during a game, he stands on the sidelines with a facial expression like he just tasted something nasty.

We're all familiar with the famous quote, "Nice guys finish last." Few people know that the true origin of the quote was Leo "The Lip" Durocher, manager of the 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers. Before a game with the New York Giants, he shared his belief with a reporter that there is no correlation between gentlemanly behaviour and winning. Pointing at his opponents, he said, "The nice guys are all over there. In seventh place."

Bill Belichick is a man after Leo the Lip's own heart. He doesn't care what you think of him, as long as he keeps winning. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Belichick had another of Durocher's famous quotes framed on his office wall: "Win any way you can as long as you can get away with it." It's that very attitude that makes him the second-most polarizing figure in North American sports, as well as one of my Top 10 Sports Figures of 2007.

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