Great history refresher, especially for the younger crowd

[Off The Grid]

I did a spit take on this one. Billy Sullivan was starting to struggle financially in 1985?

Yes, but thank God Michael Jackson's Victory Tour bailed him out!!

 

[tuckeverlasting]

Remember Matt Millen taking a shot at the younger Sullivan? I saw the game against Oakland while I was visiting family in Florida and picked up a copy of USA Today on the flight home and the front page of the sports section had the pic of Millen taking a shot at Sullivan.

he swung and hit sullivan with his helmet. i always wondered why sullivan never pressed charges. assault with a deadly weapon sounds about right. what would goodell do today if a player swung and hit an owner with his helmet. all hell would break loose. but because it was the raiders and patriots, nothing happened , just like stingley.

 

[italian pat patriot]

a great story in a great article for a great owner

thanks

 

[Off The Grid]

It's easy to credit BB and Tom Brady for the team's success, but having a great owner also makes a big difference. Just ask the Cowboys and Redskins how much ownership can matter.

Indeed.

Red Sox History turned on its axis, the day Henry took over.

 

[RayClay]

Yes, but thank God Michael Jackson's Victory Tour bailed him out!!

Eggzackly! I hope Mrs. Sullivan at least got the cottage on the Cape she was promised in 1959.

 

[RayClay]

a great story in a great article for a great owner

thanks

Do you get to watch the game Thursday?

Do you have a similar harvest festival in Italy? If so, is there a traditional main dish?

Happy Thanksgiving Pat. Thanks for good friends and good football!

 

[FCB02062]

They tore down a parking lot to put up paradise.

don't know what you got till it's gone...

 

[40yrpatsfan]

he swung and hit sullivan with his helmet. i always wondered why sullivan never pressed charges. assault with a deadly weapon sounds about right. what would goodell do today if a player swung and hit an owner with his helmet. all hell would break loose. but because it was the raiders and patriots, nothing happened , just like stingley.

At that point Pat Sullivan was the GM -I thought he was a good guy and good GM - by far the most competent of all the Sullivans - but he must have been kind of a nut too. Did the Sullivans still own the team?

It was right as the game ended where the Pats defeated Oakland in a playoff game. Sullivan had been heckling Millen the whole game from the bench area, apparently real crazy sh*t. Millen assaulted him while in full uniform as the game ended.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Indeed.

Red Sox History turned on its axis, the day Henry took over.

Yep. Celtics are also a prime example. You get an ownership group that knows how to generate revenue and are financially committed to putting a championship-caliber team on the floor.

Bruins are another example although you can make the case that they are spending money like crazy now but for 30 years they spent just enough to be competitive.

 

[shmessy]

LOL, that was such a unique situation that will probably never happen again in this region for a major sport. The Patriots used to be a second rate organization for years under the Sullivans the few good teams notwithstanding.
Remember Matt Millen taking a shot at the younger Sullivan? I saw the game against Oakland while I was visiting family in Florida and picked up a copy of USA Today on the flight home and the front page of the sports section had the pic of Millen taking a shot at Sullivan.
I thought for sure they were gone, its a miracle that there was someone like Bob Kraft to engineer the situation the way he did and keep the team here, anyone else would have taken the easy money and ran.
I used to dream about a good owner taking over and turning us into a class A org and it happened. Thats why I find it absurd when these younger fans ***** and moan because we won but didnt look good. They dont know how good it is here.

1) Great memory about seeing the Millen punch against Pat Sullivan on the front of USA Today. My experience was that I was in the middle of a month of backpacking/Eurailing through Europe after completing my Junior year fall semester abroad in London, staying in hostels one night to the next and I was straining to get any news of the Pats each day. Finally, got the 6 page version of the International Herald Tribune in Vienna - - and there was ol' Matt Millen on the front page slugging Pat. My friends and I screamed so loud in the middle of St Stephensplatz - - there were alot of startled Austrians!

2) Re: Your last paragraph: That should be required reading for every misguided teenager that comes on this site to moan about "how cheap Kraft is".

 

[Beecke]

We should all thank our lucky stars the Patriots are in the hands of Kraft. The way he handles everything, alongside with being modest and classy is a fantastic thing to watch.

We are all so spoiled. Kraft, BB and Brady. I mean, what are the chances the three of them actually come together at the same point at the same time?

At this moment in time I am not looking for another Super Bowl because I think the Patriots have to do it and get all mad if they are not, however I want another one purely for the legacy of all the guys (whom I certainly don´t know all, so I won´t start spelling the ones I know out, while forgetting others) that have helped the Patriots into the position they are in now.

Otherwise, I might just enjoy the ride.

 

[Pewsterbaby]

Oh, that was POETRY. :rocker:

Uhh, apparently so, since it's the inverse of a famous Joni Mitchell song lyric. Hers is "Tore down Paradise and put up a parking lot."

I always envision you to be about 15. And don't call me brother. It loses its effectiveness if everybody across the freaking board is called that. How's that for a crabby Thanksgiving morning post?

 

[scout]

Eggzackly! I hope Mrs. Sullivan at least got the cottage on the Cape she was promised in 1959.

I wouldn't exactly call it a cottage. It was in a small village on the cape, on a road what we referred to the Gold Coast. They owned it during their ownership of the Patriots, so maybe they did move to a cottage after the Jackson tour. It was on one the huge estates left over from another era. Incidentally, Jonathan Kraft supposedly owns a home somewhere in that village.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Indeed.

Red Sox History turned on its axis, the day Henry took over.

I'm not a Sox fan, but I really appreciate and respect Henry as an owner and see a lot of similarities between him and Kraft. Boston fans are extremely fortunate to have those two guys as owners.

 

[dryheat44]

We are all so spoiled. Kraft, BB and Brady. I mean, what are the chances the three of them actually come together at the same point at the same time?
.

Actually, I give a lot of credit to Parcells and Bledsoe. They preceded Kraft, but between the two the rejuvenated the franchise and fan base and made it worth keeping the Pats around.

 

[Beecke]

Actually, I give a lot of credit to Parcells and Bledsoe. They preceded Kraft, but between the two the rejuvenated the franchise and fan base and made it worth keeping the Pats around.

Totally agree. What happened when Kraft took over and afterwards takes the spotlight away from them and what they did before.

Especially Bledsoe IMO is reduced too readily to "who preceeded Brady" trivia.

 

[shmessy]

Actually, I give a lot of credit to Parcells and Bledsoe. They preceded Kraft, but between the two the rejuvenated the franchise and fan base and made it worth keeping the Pats around.

I'm sorry, but Parcells is nothing more than a short-term adrenaline shot, corporate takeover artist. He GETS an organization out of a hole, but he never stays around to sustain it. NE, NYJ, Dal, Mia. The only time he actually hung in and sustained true growth was in the 80's with the Giants. Ever since then, he's been the Runaway Bride.

Parcells left the Patriot franchise in shreds in January 1997. He blew up the team like a diva in the week before the SB against the Packers.

Great coach. GREAT COACH. Lousy long-term franchise builder.

Kraft over 16+ years has built something for the ages - - something that has metastasized into a far more reaching benefit.

In the corporate world, Parcells would be a Carl Icahn (takeover, raise up, then dump for personal gain) whereas Kraft would be a Warren Buffet.

This is not to denigrate what Parcells did which was HUGE for the organization. But he has always been a great "shot of adrenaline". Nothing more. He gives a franchise a short-term high. The only franchise he stayed in for more than three years has been the NY Giants.

Parcells deserves great credit for being a shot of adrenaline into the corpse of the Patriot franchise in 1993. But remember, they didn't sell-out automatically until the day Kraft bought the team the next year. Google what happened to season-ticket sales the day after Kraft bought the team. if he didn't buy the team, Parcells would have been coaching the Pats in St Louis the next season.

 

[italian pat patriot]

Do you get to watch the game Thursday?

Do you have a similar harvest festival in Italy? If so, is there a traditional main dish?

Happy Thanksgiving Pat. Thanks for good friends and good football!

ciao RayClay: yes i will see the game ! ready for it !

Happy Thanksgiving You too and have a nice game !

 

[patfanken]

. The only time he actually hung in and sustained true growth was in the 80's with the Giants. Ever since then, he's been the Runaway Bride.

Smesh, you entire post was right on the money and well articulated. I did find the above quote interesting in that the ONLY reason Parcells had some "sustained true growth" with the Giants was that he was FORCED to stay. IIRC after the first superbowl, didn't he try to get out of town, only to be forced to finish his contract.

No, you are perfectly correct. This guy is just a turnaround artist. He does well in turning around disasters, but SUSTAINING success is MUCH MUCH harder, and Bill has PROVEN, he doesn't have the chops to do it.

In fact to his credit, I think he knows his limitations and THAT's why he runs for the hills after some initial success. If there is one thing Parcells knows well is to get off the stage on a high note.

What Kraft has accomplished here is nothing short of ground breaking. Since 94' this team has had just ONE losing season. In the way the NFL is set up. In this competitive environment that just AMAZING.

 

[Sivy]

Kraft parlays parking lots into thriving franchise

Didnt see it posted..if I missed it..my sorry

Kraft parlays parking lots into thriving franchise - NFL - Yahoo! Sports