Alan Greenwood

Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow needs to watch more TV. Specifically, he needs to pay attention to any of the cop shows, particularly the parts when the suspects are advised of their right to remain silent lest they say something really stupid that makes them look guilty as hell.

Wednesday, in response to this week’s charges that his club went a step too far to steal foes’ signs, Lunhow said, “We haven’t done everything properly, but I do feel confident that in general, most of the time, we did things right and we try and follow the rules. We try to be good citizens and we try to compete as hard as we can.”

Wow. It’s good to know that they try to follow the rules most of the time, except for those times when they don’t.

Actually, the whole sign stealing saga is worthy of an exaggerated shoulder shrug. Teams try to steal signs, and it should surprise no one that this isn’t confined to those moments when they have a baserunner taking a lead off second base. They try, they steal, and if they get caught they catch all sorts of flack.

This is not meant to suggest that all teams do it all the time, or that teams should be allowed to ignore rules, even those that are routinely broken.

Believing that the Astros are lone wolves in this pursuit is as silly as those who damned the Patriots as evil incarnate over the position of their cameras at Giants Stadium against the Jets that Sunday afternoon in 2007.

Had Bill Belichick come within a mile of snorting out an answer resembling Lunhow’s, the next question would have been “Do you prefer a hanging or a firing squad?”

IN OTHER SILLY COMMENTS: Baker Mayfield, poster child for the over-hyped Cleveland Browns, scolded fans after their home win over Buffalo on Sunday. Apparently he believed the Browns’ third win in nine games was more difficult than it needed to be because the home crowd made too much noise with the Browns’ offense conducting delicate brain surgery.

“… When we’re on offense, we need it to be quiet It might’ve ruffled some feathers, once again that’s okay, but when we’re on offense on a critical down, we need to be able to have silence in our home stadium. It’s got to be an advantage for us, and then when they get the ball, it’s got to be really loud. It’s just basic football.”

Considering it all, Mayfield should feel fortunate that the Brownies have fans whose passion is so durable.

TIME TRAVEL: Nov. 14, 1974 – “Alvirne High of Hudson will play six of its home basketball games in the gymnasium at Nashua High School this winter.

“The Nashua Board of Education, which met Monday, approved that request as part of an offer of assistance to the town of Hudson. Alvirne High was nearly totally destroys by fire two months ago and the basketball team was left without a home court.”

Contact Alan Greenwood at 594-1248 or agreenwood@nashuatelegraph.com.

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