5 ways the Pats got it good but we refuse to see because we don't remember "bad"

[PatsFanInVa]

5. Playcalling. Oh yeah I know I know. Whoever is calling the Pats' plays is the most unoriginal unimaginative hack in the history of the game. Or: what were we THINKING on that less unimaginative play/situation (that didn't work)? Charlie Weiss can't call an offensive game to save his life. Wait I mean Josh McDaniel. No hold on what I really mean is... crap I've lost track.

I live in Washington, where Daniel Snyder has decided it's not enough to hire the coordinator first and then the coach. It's not enough to play musical coaches every year. It's not enough to play fantasy football with the roster and the payroll.

Nooooo, now he has to have multiple overlapping areas of responsibility ON EVERY PLAY, where nobody is apparently the last word in anything, there are enough cooks in the kitchen to host an Iron Chef NFL special, and they have Sherm Lewis incurring delay of game penalties because when he hears on the head set "third and eleven" he feels compelled to answer "take me to heaven." Once when Jason Campbell was calling signals and got to BLUE, SEVENTEEN...and Sherm answered "BINGO!"

Trust me. It can be worse.

4. We could be Buffalo. You remember when there were rumblings of moving the Pats to Hartford? Now once again, I live hundreds of miles away, but it just sounded gross even to me. HARTFORD? I mean sure call 'em the NEW ENGLAND Patriots if you want. But that means the BOSTON Patriots, and just like I rooted from a distance for the Red Sox most of my life because I was born within a few miles of Boston, I want to root for a Boston-area Patriots team. AND I DON'T EVEN LIVE THERE!

Think about that, then multiply it. How about if they moved you to a FARAWAY state? How about if they moved you to ANOTHER COUNTRY???

The only bright side for Bills fans is the spectacle of T.O. possibly attempting to factor in an exchange rate when making contract demands, or getting confused when told he has to come up with 70 catches to make an escalator, and blurts out "70 American?"

3. We could be Detroit. Okay, they're not the 08 Lions. But in all fairness being the 08 Lions even once defies belief. The 08 Lions were what's called a "black swan": They're an unlikely event you can't plan for. There is just no reason a team as bad as the 08 Lions should ever have played in the NFL. For that to happen two years running would require a distortion of probability to downright Buccaneerian proportions.

But they are still the Lions. There is no real near-term hope for this team. If they are very, very lucky, and play very, very, well, they may land a wild card... NEXT YEAR. Or, more likely, some year thereafter... followed by more years in the desert. Oh and by the way, the average value of a Detroiter's home is now so miniscule they sometimes express it in Canadian dollars to feel better. The only reason the Redskins lost to them was not the bingo playcaller, it was another Washington/Detroit bailout situation. Now I'm a big backer of our president but sometimes you have to allow for creative destruction. Not for the auto industry, for the bloody Lions.

Can you imagine the mass orgasm Detroiters would simultaneously experience if they so much as won a divisional round playoff game? Us, we're sick and tired of being in/winning AFC Championships. Eh well. Can't say I'm any different. FU(K 2007. Okay just had to get that out.

2. No more irrational curses. Okay, this is pretty much cribbed from the Red Sox aspect of being a Boston fan, but it carries over for me. I can't ice skate and I'm short so I just couldn't shout "I'm Bill Russel!!!" or "I'm Bobby Orr!" But like every other kid I knew when I was little I could shout "I'm Sam Cunningham!" or "I'm Carl Yastremski!!!" And the teams those guys were on, they were cursed.

Growing up I thought it would always be that way. In fact, I was waiting all through that first Super Bowl run for reality to set in. It had been a good run, but the Raiders were more than likely going to beat us in Oakland. It had been a good run, but there was no DOUBT the Steelers would stifle us in Pittsburgh. It had been a good run, but there we'd already played our best game against the Rams. It had been a good run, but it's the third quarter and just look at Warner carving us up. Yeah it was a good run but... what? Huh? We wo... we wo... we...??? Did not compute.

Then 2 more of them after that one forgettable 02 season, then the Sox? Are you KIDDING me?

Paisans: there are guys that live their whole lives watching sucky teams and bleeding their colors. I would have been one of those guys if it weren't for the current Pats' regime dragging their buttocks into contention, then past that level, to the level of excellence.

Yeah, we got it good now. Still.

And number one...

#1. We lost the Brett Favre sweepstakes... over and over and over.

Man, I love watching the posts fly whenever this guy re un re un re unretires. He has jacked around every fanbase that has looked to him as the messiah, and fugged over every fan who ever loved him. Brett Favre is to football what the Balloon Boy Family is to the news: the pure distillation of egotistical selfishness. At least the Balloon Family knows it was being selfish. Welp, more phenomenal numbers, more friction with his team, his owner, his coach, and at the end of the day, more disappointment for Brett this year, followed by (no doubt) more retiring and un-retiring.

Brett's obviously a very very good football player. He's also poison to NFL teams. And he's not going to hang 'em up for real until the only blitzer that can't catch his sorry azz is Wolf.
--------------------------------
/rant

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

Those are all valid points, but when you have such great players like Tom Brady and Randy Moss, you expect greatness.

 

[Jangles]

Those are all valid points, but when you have such great players like Tom Brady and Randy Moss, you expect greatness.

This

Just because we aren't as bad as the Browns doesn't make me want to jump out of my seat in excitement.

 

[Sicilian]

Those are all valid points, but when you have such great players like Tom Brady and Randy Moss, you expect greatness.

What a tremendous way to trivialize everything those players have done. As though just having two players out of 53 is enough. As though those two can just roll out of bed in the morning and be great. They don't need to work, they don't need to play their best. We have Brady and Moss, and since no other team has great players losing is UNACCEPTABLE.

Give me a break.

 

[Jangles]

What a tremendous way to trivialize everything those players have done. As though just having two players out of 53 is enough. As though those two can just roll out of bed in the morning and be great. They don't need to work, they don't need to play their best. We have Brady and Moss, and since no other team has great players losing is UNACCEPTABLE.

Give me a break.

He was using examples and saying this team still has it's share of championship caliber players.

Watching this team, it is ludicrous to suggest that they are at best a 10-5 team. It's not a bad season but we could have performed better.

 

[T_Brady12]

I don't care for the "Well, atleast we aren't (Enter Failure Team)"

Who cares? You're right, we aren't. We're better. We expect to see our team win.

So... if hypothetically I were a Steelers fan, and we lost to the Browns, Chiefs and Raiders, I simply say "Screw it! Atleast I'm not a Browns fan! Atleast I'm not a Chiefs fan! Atleast I'm not a Raiders fan!" Well guess what.... THEY LOST TO THOSE TEAMS!

Fans aren't always happy, that's just the way it is. I'm sure you have countlessly been unhappy with a playcall, a player, and what not. We have no say on who is on our team, how they run the team, or who will coach.

So, we voice our opinion. What else do you want us to do.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Hey anybody here who has voiced negative opinions and take it personally... relax. It's just another set of opinions that does point to the atmosphere of priviledge and luxury within which we are free to ***** and moan. And of course, all of us do, at one time or another, about one aspect of the game or another.

PFnV

 

[Patriot_dynasty]

You need to consider your fan base. Many of the fans don't remember the bad times, because quite a few were not big fans when the going was rough. There are 4 types of fans...

1. The Newbies (AKA: Bandwagon Jumpers, AKA: The Front-runners): These fans are the ones that became Pats fans after Super Bowl 36. They ditched their former favorite teams (Cowboys, Steelers, 49ers, Giants...basically any other bandwagon team they followed before the Pats rose to prominence).

2. The Late Bloomers (AKA: The Bledsonians): These fans started paying attention in 1994 when the Pats went to the playoffs after a terrible drought, lead by second year "Gunslinger" Drew Bledsoe. These fans ditched their former favorite teams in the same fashion as "The Newbies"

3. The One Hit Wonders: These are the fans that were around for the 1985 playoffs. They wore "Squish the Fish" T-Shirts, couldn't name 3 players on the team...but could dance the "Super Bowl Shuffle".

4. The Lifer (AKA: The Old Crustys): This group of Patriot following foot soldiers know only 3 colors...RED, WHITE & BLUE (And we aint talkin' about the Giants or Bills). These are the true Patriots...the ones that have weathered through countless losing seasons, the ownership buffoonery, and the false hope each season seemed to bring. They look back at the past 10 years and have a true respect for what they have witnessed, and know exactly how good they have had it.

 

[Jangles]

You need to consider your fan base. Many of the fans don't remember the bad times, because quite a few were not big fans when the going was rough. There are 4 types of fans...

1. The Newbies (AKA: Bandwagon Jumpers, AKA: The Front-runners): These fans are the ones that became Pats fans after Super Bowl 36. They ditched their former favorite teams (Cowboys, Steelers, 49ers, Giants...basically any other bandwagon team they followed before the Pats rose to prominence).

2. The Late Bloomers (AKA: The Bledsonians): These fans started paying attention in 1994 when the Pats went to the playoffs after a terrible drought, lead by second year "Gunslinger" Drew Bledsoe. These fans ditched their former favorite teams in the same fashion as "The Newbies"

3. The One Hit Wonders: These are the fans that were around for the 1985 playoffs. They wore "Squish the Fish" T-Shirts, couldn't name 3 players on the team...but could dance the "Super Bowl Shuffle".

4. The Lifer (AKA: The Old Crustys): This group of Patriot following foot soldiers know only 3 colors...RED, WHITE & BLUE (And we aint talkin' about the Giants or Bills). These are the true Patriots...the ones that have weathered through countless losing seasons, the ownership buffoonery, and the false hope each season seemed to bring. They look back at the past 10 years and have a true respect for what they have witnessed, and know exactly how good they have had it.

What if we fall under the *I'm 20 years old category*

I'll admit I hopped on the bandwagon. I liked football but never followed it with much passion until I was in high school. I did watch all of the Pats superbowls and I've always liked the team. Just never been very enthusiastic about it until the last few years.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Great fan bases like great teams are generational and sometimes seasonal and the best are forged out of adversity. Many in this teams fan base haven't truly experienced persistent adversity, in their lives or their football yet. Just like this current team hasn't won a championship yet, although a handful of it's players have won multiple times in their careers.

The last time this team wasn't in contention for the division much of this team was still in HS if not grade school. Ditto the fanbase. Adversity for them is when a day or a play or every season doesn't go as they envisioned.

 

[Wax Frog]

3. The One Hit Wonders: These are the fans that were around for the 1985 playoffs. They wore "Squish the Fish" T-Shirts, couldn't name 3 players on the team...but could dance the "Super Bowl Shuffle".

4. The Lifer (AKA: The Old Crustys): This group of Patriot following foot soldiers know only 3 colors...RED, WHITE & BLUE (And we aint talkin' about the Giants or Bills). These are the true Patriots...the ones that have weathered through countless losing seasons, the ownership buffoonery, and the false hope each season seemed to bring. They look back at the past 10 years and have a true respect for what they have witnessed, and know exactly how good they have had it.

There ought to be a 3.5 for those of us who are 4s by nature but only caught on in '85 due to accidents of geography (born/raised in MD, heart in NH).

 

[Patriot_dynasty]

I began being a Pats fan during the 85 season...so I know where you are coming from. I was 12 at the time, and was more of a Celtics and Red Sox fan. I wore the gear, but didn't watch to many Pats games...because I believe they were blacked out most of the time. Also, times were rough during the early 80s...a recession and my dad worried more about buying oil for heat than Pats tickets.

 

[patsox23]

Hey anybody here who has voiced negative opinions and take it personally... relax. It's just another set of opinions that does point to the atmosphere of priviledge and luxury within which we are free to ***** and moan. And of course, all of us do, at one time or another, about one aspect of the game or another.

PFnV

It is, as usual with you, a very reasoned and enlightened post. Don't worry about those who aren't smart enough to get the point. Great stuff, thanks.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

I guess us "old crusties" should hope that the young "front runners" or "old crusties at heart" never have to see the dark days return. I mean, hell, I don't wish that on anybody. May we remain spoiled and untested as fans, one and all, until the day we pass from fandom into the happy cheering section of the great beyond.

But if, God forbid, those days return, us "old crusties" will recognize as our own those who follow games until the last down if it looks like we'll get a 4 win season out of it instead of 3... those who hang on draft picks and free agency moves not to watch the final pieces come into place for a championship, but to scratch our way back to respectability... all those things you suffer through when your team is bad, all those wasted emotions on what's in the final analysis "just a game."

Some culture somewhere has a proverb that the cup of your joy is carved to the depth of your sorrow, and if that's true, I feel bad for the 20-year-old Pats fan who would bleed red, white, and blue (and now a little silver,) because you have no idea what it's like to go from the utter pits to the top. At the same time, for both our sakes, may you never know it.

But if it happens -- the way the NFL is, more like when it happens -- there'll be plenty of time for you to become the new old crusty, and you'll have your chance to go after the next wave of bandwagon jumpers. Hell, maybe some of them will stick around too, and if so, good on 'em.

I'll say one thing about Redskins fans -- they might not be the best people in the world, or the smartest football fans in the world, or whatever, but they bleed burgundy and gold no matter what Snyder throws at them. It's like he's trying to drive them away, and they just come back for more. Hell he sues them and they come back for more.

He probably doesn't get that he doesn't "own" the franchise. He owns it in every legal sense, but he doesn't own them. They're waiting it out, they know the team is really theirs and not his. He has to sell or die some day. For the time being, they'll just suffer the child-owner as best they can.

I mean, I admire the Pats organization more than any organization in football. But may we always be capable of what the 'Skins fan-base is capable of. They've been to the mountain-top a time or two, and they're staying true through the valleys... same with a lot of other teams. I hope in Pats-land the Pats don't become "yesterday's news" when our next time in the barrel comes around, yanno?

One day, Brady's gone. One day, Belichick's gone. One day Kraft may sell (though probably within the family from what we've seen so far.)

They've given us all a great gift... but they know exactly what I said the fans know in Washington... in a very real sense, the team is the fan's.

Here's to you guys, and here's to passing the test when it comes!

PFnV

 

[Jangles]

But if, God forbid, those days return, us "old crusties" will recognize as our own those who follow games until the last down if it looks like we'll get a 4 win season out of it instead of 3... those who hang on draft picks and free agency moves not to watch the final pieces come into place for a championship, but to scratch our way back to respectability... all those things you suffer through when your team is bad, all those wasted emotions on what's in the final analysis "just a game."

So what you're saying

is I can lose bandwagon status if I remain true to the team if they begin sucking?

BRING ON THE 1-15 SEASONS

 

[Hardboiled]

It is, as usual with you, a very reasoned and enlightened post. Don't worry about those who aren't smart enough to get the point. Great stuff, thanks.

I guess I'm not smart enough. All I get is that Patriots fans should shutup because:

1. The offensive playcalling could be worse.
2-3. They don't follow Detriot or the Bills.
4. Something about not having a curse.
5. The Patriots never had Brett Farve.​

Really? Lions, Bills, Farve?

Hey anybody here who has voiced negative opinions and take it personally... relax. It's just another set of opinions that does point to the atmosphere of priviledge and luxury within which we are free to ***** and moan. And of course, all of us do, at one time or another, about one aspect of the game or another.

I disagree with that any B***ing and moaning or critizing the team is due to "priviledge and luxury."

Do I not get to criticize your posts because there are worse ones?

For me, the "it could be worse" or "it was worse" response is empty.

2001, 2003-2004 ain't walking through that door. Neither is 92, 82, or 72. Each year is a moment in time. Don't be sensitive that people focus on the team that is the 2009 Patriots.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

You need to consider your fan base. Many of the fans don't remember the bad times, because quite a few were not big fans when the going was rough. There are 4 types of fans...

1. The Newbies (AKA: Bandwagon Jumpers, AKA: The Front-runners): These fans are the ones that became Pats fans after Super Bowl 36. They ditched their former favorite teams (Cowboys, Steelers, 49ers, Giants...basically any other bandwagon team they followed before the Pats rose to prominence).

2. The Late Bloomers (AKA: The Bledsonians): These fans started paying attention in 1994 when the Pats went to the playoffs after a terrible drought, lead by second year "Gunslinger" Drew Bledsoe. These fans ditched their former favorite teams in the same fashion as "The Newbies"

3. The One Hit Wonders: These are the fans that were around for the 1985 playoffs. They wore "Squish the Fish" T-Shirts, couldn't name 3 players on the team...but could dance the "Super Bowl Shuffle".

4. The Lifer (AKA: The Old Crustys): This group of Patriot following foot soldiers know only 3 colors...RED, WHITE & BLUE (And we aint talkin' about the Giants or Bills). These are the true Patriots...the ones that have weathered through countless losing seasons, the ownership buffoonery, and the false hope each season seemed to bring. They look back at the past 10 years and have a true respect for what they have witnessed, and know exactly how good they have had it.

So if you were born in the mid-80's or later I guess you're SOL, you're not a true fan because you weren't born early enough

 

[PatsFanInVa]

So what you're saying

is I can lose bandwagon status if I remain true to the team if they begin sucking?

BRING ON THE 1-15 SEASONS

LOL Jangles, I'm personally a pretty generous soul, and I figure if a guy says he's a fan, he's a fan until proven otherwise... you are cleared to stay positive.

Hardboiled, have at it. You're most likely wrong, as most of us usually are, given that the guys that run the Pats are football guys for a living, and smart ones at that. Knock yourself out.

I mean, yeah, winning the SB is better than not winning it, so you can make a very bad argument that the Pats have failed as a team since 05. You cannot make the argument that someone has been more successful since Belichick and Kraft were at the helm. It's another disadvantage we have as Pats fans... we know for a fact we couldn't do better, over the course of those years. It's likely, therefore, that our analysis of a given year -- based on the unstated proposition that the Pats' brass just don't understand football as well as we do -- is in error. This is not the case for a 'Skins fan or a Lions fan.

I feel for you, bro. But keep doing what you do, I have no problem with it. A minute ago we were talking passion for the team, and obviously, you're exhibiting that by obsessing on best possible decisions/outcomes.

Knock yourself out.

PFnV

 

[PatsFanInVa]

So if you were born in the mid-80's or later I guess you're SOL, you're not a true fan because you weren't born early enough

This does not apply if you are a female fan born in the mid 1980s or later, with the cut-off being, at present, 1991, based on applicable statute.

KIDDING.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I guess I'm not smart enough. All I get is that Patriots fans should shutup because:

1. The offensive playcalling could be worse.
2-3. They don't follow Detriot or the Bills.
4. Something about not having a curse.
5. The Patriots never had Brett Farve.​

Really? Lions, Bills, Farve?



I disagree with that any B***ing and moaning or critizing the team is due to "priviledge and luxury."

Do I not get to criticize your posts because there are worse ones?

For me, the "it could be worse" or "it was worse" response is empty.

2001, 2003-2004 ain't walking through that door. Neither is 92, 82, or 72. Each year is a moment in time. Don't be sensitive that people focus on the team that is the 2009 Patriots.

We won't if those of you who have to date at worst suffered through 9-7 (or 11-5 after losing the franchise QB in week 1)and out of the playoffs on a tiebreaker can find your way clear to develop some perspective... This team has won the second most regular season games (and most games overall including playoffs) in this decade, including one third of the SB's contested to date in the decade after competing in 40% of them. One other team in this 32 team league has managed to appear in or win more than one. No team will ever win them all.