If anything short of winning it all is a failure

[Lifer]

then football isnt fun for me anymore. this whole thing is something id like to forget and i truly hope they lose their 2008 opener so i can enjoy the season.
because if it all is horrible if you lose the SB then whats the point of watching a November game against the Colts?

 

[Marshy]

I agree, and the English Premier League helps me believe that a season isn't a failure if you don't come out on top.

I'm a West Ham fan, and honestly we don't win anything. The league is dominated by the big four (Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool), and a team is considered incredible to actually break into the top four.

We normally end up around mid table (out of 20 teams) and some people can't understand why bother watching the Premiership as a fan of a non-top4 team if you know beforehand you wont win anything.

It's all about getting better. We ended up 15th last season, and this season we're currently sitting at 10th. If the season ends the same despite not winning anything i'll be so proud of our team.

I try to keep the same frame of mind for the NFL. If we win the AFC East, then we've won something. If we're AFC Champions, that's a great season and you cannot take that away from the team.

A lot of it however is down to expectations. If we won the East next season but lost out in the Wildcards i'm sure everyone would be devasted as it's regressed from last season.

 

[IcyPatriot]

then football isnt fun for me anymore. this whole thing is something id like to forget and i truly hope they lose their 2008 opener so i can enjoy the season.
because if it all is horrible if you lose the SB then whats the point of watching a November game against the Colts?

Not my opinion ... I love football win or lose. Too many said our season was a failure if we did not win the SB. I do not agree ... the season was great and losing the SB just made it a bit sad.

 

[signbabybrady]

then football isnt fun for me anymore. this whole thing is something id like to forget and i truly hope they lose their 2008 opener so i can enjoy the season.
because if it all is horrible if you lose the SB then whats the point of watching a November game against the Colts?

I think that is a little black and white......can't you enjoy the moment you are in.

Yes it pisses me off that we lost.....It hurts still....every once in a while sometihng about the SB gets thrown in your face and really makes me angry.

But looking back on the season and it is probably the 4th most fun season that I have been watchin the patriots only behind the 3 winning seasons.

We won 18 games and every single one of those wins was a lot of fun to watch and losing the superbowl doesn't change that they were fun at the time....It does stop me from going back and continuing to enjoy them.

You can not sit there and say that watching Tom and Randy's assault on the records was not fun.

the loss stings but the great thing about sports is there is always next year even when you are 1-15 like the dolphins.

 

[Tunescribe]

Not my opinion ... I love football win or lose. Too many said our season was a failure if we did not win the SB. I do not agree ... the season was great and losing the SB just made it a bit sad.

I agree completely. Just because you lose your shiny new 2007 Corvette in a bad wreck doesn't take away all the fun times you had driving it the previous six months.

A football season is a process, and you need to enjoy the process. It's a 19-game season if you go all the way, and we had 18 weeks of rejoicing. That's more than any other NFL team.

 

[Cannon Arm]

then football isnt fun for me anymore. this whole thing is something id like to forget and i truly hope they lose their 2008 opener so i can enjoy the season.
because if it all is horrible if you lose the SB then whats the point of watching a November game against the Colts?

Well, support some god-awful team, then. The Patriots are a championship caliber team. They are expected to win it all. If you are expected to win it all, but fail, then you are a failure.

You watch a November game against the Colts because it's another step toward the goal, another ring. The season the Pats just had is no better than the one the Dolphins just had. It's just the way it is. It's the price you pay to be a Pats fan, for supporting a great team. Winning is the only thing for teams like that.

 

[brdmaverick]

I've thought about this very topic myself recently, how a season can no longer be a success without a championship. It is a testament to how spoiled we have become as fans. I'm just as spoiled as the rest of us though. The SB loss really does sting because the season has a big black spot over it. Sure, they were the first team to go 16-0 in the regular season. But I would rather be another team that wins a Super Bowl than the only team to go 16-0. I'll admit that I am spoiled, and it's too bad that we can't REALLY appreciate what we have. Something tells me that we won't truely appreciate it until we go back to sub-500 seasons. It won't be until after Brady and Belicheck leave that we appreciate seasons that do not end with Lombardi Trophies.

 

[BradyFTW!]

IMO, this past season definitely wasn't a failure. Not the all-out success that I was hoping for, but it was still a pretty good year to be a Pats fan. While I like that the players and coaches take the "all or nothing" mentality, I prefer not to.

 

[jp03]

IMO, this past season definitely wasn't a failure. Not the all-out success that I was hoping for, but it was still a pretty good year to be a Pats fan. While I like that the players and coaches take the "all or nothing" mentality, I prefer not to.

Its all about the ring folks..but i do admit AFC champs is still an accomplishment

 

[WTE]

We've done a lot more cheering than most of the other NFL fans this year.

There were tons of other fans that were disgusted with their teams won/loss record.

We weren't one of them.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

I think its only a failure this yr ,because of all the perfection and the records, and how we were so focused after the indy game.. This yr was ment to win it.. And that is why this yr is not a success..

 

[stinkypete]

Thank you.

Giants fans are the only ones in the NFL who wouldn't give it all up to feel what we as Pats fans have been furtunate enought to feel. If not winning it all is failure, than we have experienced the most thrilling, exciting, proud and historic failure that any fan has the right to experience. 30 teams are still jealous of the Patriots.

Thread of the year.

 

[Lifer]

if anyone misinterpreted what i said, let me be clear, im not saying this is MY attitude, that the season was a failure, but all the hype over the perfection thing and fallout from the Super Bowl loss and complaining and crying that this was a failure by so many in Patriot Nation and in the media has made me think fondly of the days i was grateful for a 10-6 season and a playoff berth.
I'll never forget the euphoria I felt when the Patriots beat the Bears 13-3 to clinch a playoff spot in 1994 after an 8 year playoff drought. We were hungry fans then, and if someone had ever told us back then we'd be making the playoffs 10 more times in the next 14 years, go to the Super Bowl 5 times, and win 3 of them, I dont think any of us would be wailing and gnashing our teeth over a 18-1 season with a Super Bowl loss.

we have it good. real good.

 

[tobias funke]

I think this "season is a failure" thing gets misinterpreted.

The players are allowed to think it was a failure. They're the ones who "failed".

Fans who consider the season a failure, however, are stupid and do not deserve to root for these Patriots.

 

[PatsFanJess]

Not my opinion ... I love football win or lose. Too many said our season was a failure if we did not win the SB. I do not agree ... the season was great and losing the SB just made it a bit sad.

Youre exactly right. Our season was not a failure. It was disappointing we didnt win the SB, but our season was one of the best in NFL history. We had an undefeated regular season ( with a VERY DIFFICULT schedule ), won 2 playoff games against EXCELLENT teams. We broke all kinds of records. Brady had the best season in the history of the position. We have nothing to be bummed out about. I'm already over it, looking forward to a great next season.

 

[Tunescribe]

I'll never forget the euphoria I felt when the Patriots beat the Bears 13-3 to clinch a playoff spot in 1994 after an 8 year playoff drought.

I remember how special it felt that season to buy AFC Champions gear and wear it proudly. Now, we look down on it as acknowledgement of "failure." I know that nine out of 10 times we'd've beaten the Giants; we still had a GREAT team in 2007.

 

[IcyPatriot]

Youre exactly right. Our season was not a failure. It was disappointing we didnt win the SB, but our season was one of the best in NFL history. We had an undefeated regular season ( with a VERY DIFFICULT schedule ), won 2 playoff games against EXCELLENT teams. We broke all kinds of records. Brady had the best season in the history of the position. We have nothing to be bummed out about. I'm already over it, looking forward to a great next season.

and don't forget all the talk that went on over here during the season ... that was fun also.

 

[thenepatsrule]

6 more months before we are off to another 16-0 regular season............. GO PATS........... GO REDSOX

 

[PromisedLand]

I don't think 18-1 is a failure by any means. I never did, even after winning 3 SB in 4 years. The talking heads always like to point out (when they are doing their usual megahyping the Super Bowl as the most important event since the birth of Jesus) that nobody ever remembers who lost a Super Bowl. That may even be true - but I don't think too many people are going to forget the 2007 Patriots. 18-0 coming into the Super Bowl ... no one is ever going to forget that. We may not have won the Super Bowl but we still broke the 72 Dolphins record of starting a season 17-0. Not the ultimate achievement we all sought, but a great season nevertheless.