Patriots Haters - Theory

[PatriotsReign]

I have just finished scanning over a dozen NFL team message boards in search of proof of a theory I have.

My theory was that the better the team, the more their fans were Patriots Haters. I guess I just fealt it was common sense that the teams that would most stand to benefit from a Patriots demise would have the fans that were most jealous of the Patriots.

I realize I'm probably not presenting ground-breaking news here to all my "wicked smaht" fellow Patriots fans. But I must tell you that my little exercise was quite revealing.

The board that had the most Patriots hating threads is IndyStar. If you go to their board, I must tell you that they eventually dump every "Patriots" topic into a thread called "Grendel's Asylum" which now contains about 500 or more posts and continues to be one of the most acitve threads on their board.

My little excursion around the league boards resulted in the confirmation of my theory. The SteelerFever.com ranked second in the proliferation of Patriots hating themed threads. Steeler fans continue to act as though the 70's Steelers and their 5 super bowl victories somehow make them the most "Elite fans" in the league. Although they don't have as many Patriots hating threads, their level of dispise and arrogance towards the Patriots is far worse than the fans on IndyStar.

The third worst fan board was the Dallas Cowboys relative to the number of posts directed at the Patriots. Their tone is strangely like a combination of the Steeler and Colts board members. They are not quite as arrogant as Steelers fans, but they are also speaking more confidently than the Indy fans. It's almost as if they feel they are "Destined" to meet with the Patriots in the super bowl..."if" either of us gets there!

But here is the kicker!! Early in the year, the Chargers fans board may even have been the #1 Patriots Haters board. but since their team has not performed nearly up to the level of their fans' expectations, you'll be hard-pressed to find a single Patriots Hating thread on their board.

I also scanned through the Packers, Jaguars, Saints, Raiders, Bears, Chiefs, Rams, 49er's & Lions fans boards and saw very, very few Patriots Hating threads. In fact, I read more complimentary and conciliatory threads regarding our Patriots than anything else.

The net/net is my test satisfied and confirmed my curiousity that jealousy & envy are the #1 factors motivating Patriots hatred around the league. So when Colts, Steeler and Cowboy fans come here telling us we are hated as much around the league as we are amongst their own fan base, we can confidently rest assured if their team wasn't in the hunt, they wouldn't be so concerned with us and their hatred would be minimal.

I realize I'm probably not telling Patriots fans anything they didn't already suspect. But I thought you might find this interesting.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Here's an exception. Try a losing team Jets board, like Jets Insider. Lots of Pats threads and the obligatory totally classless "let's kneecap Brady" thread.

 

[Ootball]

I'm sure jealousy & envy are a part of it, but you're ignoring what is probably the primary emotion for "good teams": frustration.

Teams spend years to get the personnel & coaching together to have years like the Cowboys, Packers, Steelers & Colts are all having. Fans wait a long time for these kinds of seasons, when their team is competitive & consistent and - in any OTHER year - could legitimately contend for the title.

Anything can happen between now & the Superbowl, and it's not a foregone conclusion that none of these teams can beat the Pats, but as of right now, it certainly looks like all they can do is compete for 2nd place. It's just bad luck to have your team peak at the same time that one of the best teams in history is dominating the league.

 

[PatriotsReign]

Here's an exception. Try a losing team Jets board, like Jets Insider. Lots of Pats threads and the obligatory totally classless "let's kneecap Brady" thread.

Good point. I forgot to mention that I purposefully didn't go to their board due to the spygate incident and fealt it was an anomily. Add to that the Boston/NY natural rivalry and it just wouldn't fit into my "experiment".

Personally, I LOVE the fact that we are living rent free inside JETS fans heads. To me, that's like a dream come true!

 

[PatriotsReign]

I'm sure jealousy & envy are a part of it, but you're ignoring what is probably the primary emotion for "good teams": frustration.

Teams spend years to get the personnel & coaching together to have years like the Cowboys, Packers, Steelers & Colts are all having. Fans wait a long time for these kinds of seasons, when their team is competitive & consistent and - in any OTHER year - could legitimately contend for the title.

Anything can happen between now & the Superbowl, and it's not a foregone conclusion that none of these teams can beat the Pats, but as of right now, it certainly looks like all they can do is compete for 2nd place. It's just bad luck to have your team peak at the same time that one of the best teams in history is dominating the league.

What YOU are forgetting is that even the average and bad teams have worked just as hard as the Patriots and any other team. So don't use the "years of hard work" theme to explain the hatred when all teams work hard to build successful teams.

But in a way, your point is valid.

 

[PlainOldEd]

But the Packers are just as good as the Cowboys (from a record standpoint) and you said there were very few Patriot hating threads in their group. How would you explain this anomaly?

 

[LoveDemPats]

But the Packers are just as good as the Cowboys (from a record standpoint) and you said there were very few Patriot hating threads in their group. How would you explain this anomaly?

This is an interesting point that I also wanted to ask about.

If you look at any threads about brady in the national media, you will find a lot of Bret Favre fans really blasing Tom. It is as if the packer fans are more interested in Bret's place as "the best qb of all time" argument. They get down right vemomous when talking about comparing Bret and Brady.

So, perhaps the pack is an anomaly because the focus is more on an individual than a team? All articles about the pack seem to stem from how Favre is effected or how he affected the team and community.

 

[PatriotsReign]

But the Packers are just as good as the Cowboys (from a record standpoint) and you said there were very few Patriot hating threads in their group. How would you explain this anomaly?

Maybe they are the only fans that understand the Pats didn't cheat? Maybe the cold is numbing them?

Or maybe the are such true, honest to goodness fans of football that they are just enjoying the ride Brett and the boys are taking them on and are hoping they get to meet the Pats in the SB?

They are an exception based upon what I saw. Keep in mind this wasn't a federally funded 2 year thesis and I spent a few minutes looking through thread titles. If you can offer an explanation for us, we'd love to hear it.

 

[onegameatatime]

It's more than just being good -- it's also that they have lost to the Pats. I suspect you will find little on the GB board, even though it is amog the best teams now.

The Steelers are a big mouth team and fanbase, and the Pats have won IN PITTSBURGH the last 2 playoff match-ups. Until recently, the Pats were crushing Indy too and beat them at home in the last game.

 

[mgteich]

Do our competitors and division mates hate us any more than we hated them now and in the past? Are we really hated by other teams more than posters here have hated Oakland, Denver, Indy, Miami and the jets? The difference is that this year we are the winners by blowout scores and that Belichick fans the fires at every opportunity.

Fans here not only hate our competitiors, but hate those who refuse to share our hate of Indy or Dallas.

IMHO, we deserve every bit that they we get from other fans. We are the raiders and the darth vader of this decade, and most are proud of it.

 

[speed]

I'll quote "everlong" from this site, as a Pat fans in why the Colts "hate" the Pats.

He said this in response to me asking why there were so many Colts threads on this site, I think is translates here.

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/showthread.php?t=67344

"It's a two way street with Pats and Colts fans. We are each others biggest rivals and thus constantly bicker back and forth. I do however feel it will be like the Celtics\Lakers of the 80's where when all is said and done there will be mutual respect from both sides, although BB and BP won't be sharing a shower in this lifetime."

"It's a rivalry so it will always be in both locations to some degree until one of the teams falls off performance wise.

So let's hope it lasts a very long time."

Of course your going to have the senseless antagonistic Manning has a huge forehead, Brady is gay stuff, which to me comes from people who lack imagination or articulation or maybe just general intelligence, but I think Everlong makes complete sense, imho.

 

[ALP]

well, bad teams can now watch the pats with the excuse of they are making history and are so fun...

a fan of a good team cant do that, cuz its like sacrilage, so they cant enjoy the pats games, and therefore attack them

 

[pwes]

Maybe they are the only fans that understand the Pats didn't cheat? Maybe the cold is numbing them?

Or maybe the are such true, honest to goodness fans of football that they are just enjoying the ride Brett and the boys are taking them on and are hoping they get to meet the Pats in the SB?

They are an exception based upon what I saw. Keep in mind this wasn't a federally funded 2 year thesis and I spent a few minutes looking through thread titles. If you can offer an explanation for us, we'd love to hear it.

It's called we haven't beaten them yet. I always read up on the boards of the team we are playing two weeks prior to the actual game just to see the kind of thoughts floating around. Dallas didn't even care about the Patriots until we beat them. Suddenly after the game the board exploded into anti-Patriots and it's been that way ever since. Seriously fans are fine until they beat their team. Like the Eagles. I gurantee you that as of now there is little Patriots hate but when they get beat on sunday their board is going to explode into how much they hate this team and how we cheated them out of a superbowl. It happened with the Chargers, the Bills, Indy, Cowboys, Jets, Redskins, Dolphins and Bengals. The only team I can't remember it happening with was the Browns.

 

[FrontSeven]

I always thought that fans of losing teams realized that their own team was the only thing standing in between them and glory, where good teams see other good teams as standing in the way. Whatever stands in the way becomes hated.

I think that fits with your data, except for historical hatreds like some of the Jets-Patriots thing, and other divisional rivalries. We do have a real rivalry with the Colts, but also with the Steelers and Chargers.

Also fans of teams that we bopped in the SB will always hold a grudge, no matter what. Just look around here and you'll find plenty of posts about wanting to beat on the Packers or Bears because of losses five light years ago.

Some things stick. SB losses do stick and SB wins don't make the losses go away.

 

[PatriotsReign]

Do our competitors and division mates hate us any more than we hated them now and in the past? Are we really hated by other teams more than posters here have hated Oakland, Denver, Indy, Miami and the jets? The difference is that this year we are the winners by blowout scores and that Belichick fans the fires at every opportunity.

Fans here not only hate our competitiors, but hate those who refuse to share our hate of Indy or Dallas.

IMHO, we deserve every bit that they we get from other fans. We are the raiders and the darth vader of this decade, and most are proud of it.

Anyone who is not proud of it shouldn't dare call themselves a Patriot fan!

That's about all there is to say about that mgteich!

 

[PatriotsReign]

I always thought that fans of losing teams realized that their own team was the only thing standing in between them and glory, where good teams see other good teams as standing in the way. Whatever stands in the way becomes hated.

I think that fits with your data, except for historical hatreds like some of the Jets-Patriots thing, and other divisional rivalries. We do have a real rivalry with the Colts, but also with the Steelers and Chargers.

Also fans of teams that we bopped in the SB will always hold a grudge, no matter what. Just look around here and you'll find plenty of posts about wanting to beat on the Packers or Bears because of losses five light years ago.

Some things stick. SB losses do stick and SB wins don't make the losses go away.

You're definately right. I agree with your comments here.

 

[Frezo]

Kick around here PR. You'll find opinions from all different teams' fans.

http://www.footballsfuture.com/phpBB2/index.php

 

[PatsFan#37]

Do our competitors and division mates hate us any more than we hated them now and in the past? Are we really hated by other teams more than posters here have hated Oakland, Denver, Indy, Miami and the jets? The difference is that this year we are the winners by blowout scores and that Belichick fans the fires at every opportunity.

Fans here not only hate our competitiors, but hate those who refuse to share our hate of Indy or Dallas.

IMHO, we deserve every bit that they we get from other fans. We are the raiders and the darth vader of this decade, and most are proud of it.

Perhaps you forgot to take your anti depressants...Because some of us don't agree with you on your assessment of dallas, it doesn't make us the evil bunch or making us deserving of hatred from others.

 

[PatriotsReign]

Kick around here PR. You'll find opinions from all different teams' fans.

http://www.footballsfuture.com/phpBB2/index.php

Thanks Frezo, I appreciate the link. but like I said before, I'm not doing a thesis on fan attitudes and was making general comments along with my opinion.

The link you provided would attract fewer "homer" fans and more "fans of the game" since it has several boards for every team. This thread discusses the attitudes of the "homer" fans since most NFL fans are truly homers.

Personally, I think that's the way fans should be. We should be fanatical in our support of OUR home team. That's what rivalries are made of and also what spawns the most heated and interesting debate.

The site your link took me to is more like the stat-geek/fantasy football site. I'm not a fan of either.

 

[PatSunday]

This is an interesting point that I also wanted to ask about.

If you look at any threads about brady in the national media, you will find a lot of Bret Favre fans really blasing Tom. It is as if the packer fans are more interested in Bret's place as "the best qb of all time" argument. They get down right vemomous when talking about comparing Bret and Brady.

So, perhaps the pack is an anomaly because the focus is more on an individual than a team? All articles about the pack seem to stem from how Favre is effected or how he affected the team and community.

Fans of every team we hadn't beaten recently think their team is better or more deserving of attention. After Patriots win, they change their tune to respect and admiration. Sometimes, hate, too.

However, it is a mistake to believe that these discussions are about cheating or hoping for an injury on another human being. Ninety-nine percent of threads about the New England Patriots across all fan-forums are about the well-deserved success of the Patriots Missile that is blowing out everything in its path. Comments about other things just come from fans who don't hate the Patriots as much as they hate the fact that there is another team so good that their messageboards are full of dozens of threads every week about our team, while the threads about their own team are negative--in comparison, for successful teams the like of Green Bay, Colts, Steelers, and Cowboys--or in reality, like for the Jets, Falcons, and others.