We just have a different outlook.
I try to figure out why we will win the next game. With BB here, that's easy for me.
I try to look at the whole picture. Over the years I have come to realize that BB is right more than anyone else. He is also wrong often, but less than anyone else.
When Pete Carroll amd Bobby Grier were here, I expected that I would be disappointed.
With BB here I expect that I will be pleasantly surprised.
Of course the irony here is that I began to question Belichick more and more forcefully over the course of this offseason as I was able to see more and more of the whole picture, yet you're claiming that you are looking at precisely that.
Retired starters at safety and linebacker (*3, although one came back)
Traded starter at LB
Traded starter at CB, and one of the best return men in the game
Failed to sign chosen LB replacement, 2 LB draft picks lost for the season
Then....
Traded starter/frequent Pro Bowler/potential HOF player on the DL, which BB has said is where he builds his defense from.
It doesn't take a football genius to see the inherent problem in trading away your best defensive player in a situation like that. Hell, even if you only looked at Seymour as your 3rd best defensive player, trading him was STILL a bad move under the circumstances. The only possible defense is the draft pick (which is a crap defense), and that's at the expense of this season.
I suppose the differnece between you and I is this:
1) I believe that from my vantage point I have about 15% of the date necessary to make (or judge) the appropriate decision
You're partially right here. I think that there are things where I have plenty of data available to form my opinion on. Of course, so do you, and you've done so in the past. The difference is that I don't have a problem when my opinion runs counter to BB. That's where you go off the rails.
2) Given #1, if I trust the guy making the decision (which I do today) I believe in the decision, or at least believe the decision will be right more often than normal, you seem to not
You know full well that I think Belichick has historically been right more than wrong with this team. This is just you attempting to create more men of straw.
3) I am optimistic until proven wrong instead of pessimistic until proven wrong
I am consistent until proven wrong, whether my analysis seems optimistic or pessimistic. There's nothing optimistic about blindly following someone. Frankly, it's about as pessimistic as it gets. It says that you unconsciously don't feel that the person being followed could stand up to scrutiny, and also that you're not smart enough to see where things have gone wrong.
4) I could care less if my post on a message board turn out to be right or wrong, I post to express my feelings about the team, which often turns out to be to overcome my concerns and make me feel better. I predict the Patriots to win every single game in the prediction thread. I do not believe they will win every single game but I enjoy being a fan more when I expect they are going to.
If you could care less, why do you bother posting disagreements with others on the message board? Frankly, you should just be using the new Blog feature which Ian has installed. By doing that, you could just post your feelings and look back at them in the future, without all that messy 'disagreement' stuff that you get in the message board proper. The message board proper is set up for people with varying opinions, after all.