#IBelieve

Belief.

It’s what makes you put on that shirt in the morning.

And wear that lucky sock. And paint your face. And drink your coffee out of your lucky mug.

Belief is what makes you get there hours before the gates open.

It is what makes you sing. It is what makes you stand. It is what makes you chant.

Belief is standing in the rain. Belief is standing in the heat. Belief is standing when no one else does.

But belief is not hope. Belief is not faith. Belief is not optimism.

It is knowing. It is understanding. It is certain.

And that is what makes belief the cruelest of mistresses.

I’ve seen what belief does when it fails you.

It’s punch to the gut. It’s a soul crusher. It’s a heart breaker.

I believed when I was eight and too ignorant to know better. And then I—like my team—was crushed by five Super Bowl rings.

I believed in 1998, after the top of the fifth inning, after a so-called “pure-hitter” crushed a ball into the upper deck. Two innings later, my heart was broken by a bad call and one swing.

I believed in 2004 and 2006 and 2007. But a slip in the end zone, a toe-out-of-bounds and quarterback with no timeouts ended my belief then.

And I knew belief last week, which was silenced in 30 seconds. And I saw belief Sunday, until a cracker of a goal and a bad foul made the room quiet.

But belief when it is true to you is pure ecstasy.

It’s a stadium, 72,000 strong drowning out the critics.

It’s an invasion, when the away team that is a program with no history defeats the program of history.

It’s storming the field, the court, the pitch whenever No. 1 goes down.

Belief is four seconds left, with an entire football field and marching band in your way.

Belief is a goal-line stand that sends you to the Super Bowl.

Belief is winning the division on the final day of the regular season.

Belief is a game-winning goal that saves your life in the World Cup.

Belief can be magic. Belief can be cruel.

And it is why I still believe.

Spy Gate: Beijing Edition

So much to talk about today. Dissenters are being arrested in China as the Olympics steadily approach. Chinese officials first reneged on a promise to keep an open internet for the Games. Then they balked on that, keeping restrictions on website like Amnesty International. Then they balked on that plan, lifting restrictions on several sites, but still no full freedoms for media at the Olympics on the internet.

And then there's spying. Sure, the authoritarian government in China will spy on guests. Yeah, it's an invasion of basic human rights. But it's China and they're probably going to get away with it.

What I think is a little bit scarier, especially for these Olympic Games, is the integrity of the sports and competitions being held in Beijing. China hosted the Women's World Cup last year, sort of a preparation for the Chinese government for their big day.

And on the eve of the Olympic football tournament, it turns out that the Chinese were spying on its opponents, or at least one. Denmark may have lost 3-2 to the Chinese last year, but the bigger loser is FIFA, who did absolutely nothing, as they said that their investigation in the spying incident in Denmark's prep room as "non-sport related."

Bullshit. So, we can't punish the Chinese for violating human rights (maybe the U.N. will want to sanction them or something, but like Chinese officials care).

But in the world of sport, where national athletic federations are held accountable by world governing bodies like FIFA and FINA and the IOC, then I sure as hell hope when cheating happens, they come swift with a penalty.

That didn't happen at last year's World Cup. FIFA let it slide and in my opinion, the integrity of the Games may be in jeopardy.

This may not effect the individual sports as much at this year's Games, but it sure as hell effects the team sports. There is so much strategy and planning that goes into competitions involving two teams. Spying on a team can give it quite the advantage over an opponent.

Yes, teams still need to execute and perform, but when they know when and how to execute and perform based on information gathered through espionage, it ruins the game.

Let's hope that the IOC has put in place systems to prevent this type of cheating. Because if it hasn't, then Denmark won't be the only one who is robbed. The fans will be robbed of what true athletic competition should be all about.