Brendon Ayanbadejo, a linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens, lit into the New England Patriots on Twitter recently.

He's already apologized, having realized that social media is as much a shackle as it is a freedom for anyone, but the comments he made at the time reminded me about another article I had read recently, about being a high level gamer, and about the mentality of the scrub.

If so you see the hurry snap offense catch em b4 they set up. It's a gimmick.

"It's a gimmick", "It's cheap", "That's bullshit". The game doesn't know any of that. Sure, you say that your team lost because "they were being cheap", but there's no third column for cheap wins next to the regular wins and losses.

Tom Brady's comments later:

Brady made it clear that he didn't need the remarks for motivation, instead focusing on the fact that his team is one win away from a return to the Super Bowl.

"That's the only motivation we need," he said. "That's the ultimate motivation."

These are two wildly different mentalities on display, (They're also arguably two different 'classes' of player.), and while I think Tom Brady may have had the advantage of the retort, which let him take the high ground there, I don't doubt he's focusing on how to win, rather what people are saying.

Why?

The W column, of course.