Outside the Lines

[hambone1818]

I know, they're all blowhards who love to hear their own voices, but I found it interesting that guys like Lupica and Albom--the entire panel, in fact--said that if the Patriots win they would consider this team to be the best team in the history of professional American sports.

I've said it before, and I'll reiterate it here because it's relevant to this post, but I'm very much a sports history buff, having read books on prior greats of the game, great seasons, dynasy's, etc. The 6 year run leading into this season was, and is, an amazing accomplishment in this era and the 2001-2006 Patriots would have to be considered among the great dynasties in football--certainly not at the top, but in the discussion. After this season (if they win, of course, I'm not marking that as a given in the least), the legacy of the Belichick and Brady Patriots will be elevated to that of Wooden's UCLA teams, the Canadiens during their runs, the Yankees during their three dynastic runs, etc. This season--a season that many, including the OTL's panel, are calling the best ever--would elevate my favorite team into a new stratosphere, and I couldn't be more ecstatic about that. In twenty, thirty years when I have kids of my own and they're old enough to appreciate the intricacies of sports and what makes a great team, I'll be able to tell them about the 2007 Patriots, the greatest team to ever play and one that reached its peak during the middle of the greatest dynasty in the history of the NFL, perhaps in all of sports.

And that makes me smile. Now win the game, for the love of God.

 

[Fanfrom1960]

I know, they're all blowhards who love to hear their own voices, but I found it interesting that guys like Lupica and Schaap--the entire panel, in fact--said that if the Patriots win they would consider this team to be the best team in the history of professional American sports.

That was the Sports Reporters show. I watch it every week. Lupica, Ryan and Albom are good, and I respect their opinions much more than your every day ESPN guys. That show is on again at 9:30 Pacific on ESPN News.

 

[hambone1818]

That was the Sports Reporters show. I watch it every week. Lupica, Ryan and Albom are good, and I respect their opinions much more than your every day ESPN guys. That show is on again at 9:30 Pacific on ESPN News.

Ah, ok, sorry for the errors, I'll edit my post. I actually can't stand Lupica, but Ryan and Albom (for some reason I thought that was Jeremy Shaap) aren't bad.

 

[Fanfrom1960]

Ah, ok, sorry for the errors, I'll edit my post. I actually can't stand Lupica, but Ryan and Albom (for some reason I thought that was Jeremy Shaap) aren't bad.

I like Lupica. He's sharp, funny, and for a guy that writes for a NY paper, he's always fair about the Pats and Sox, IMO. I think he went to UNH though, kind of evens it out.

 

[Bella*chick]

Sports Reporters is the only "talking heads" show I can bear to watch anymore.