Why, and when, did things get so damn nasty?

I've been watching the NFL more than 50 years, been a Patriots season ticket holder the last 22 years. I recall a time when there was no such thing as "haters," when rival teams beat the hell out of each other but after the final gun mutual respect and good-natured sportsmanship prevailed. The higher ideals of athletic competition were something we aspired to, valued and learned from in hopes of becoming people of stronger character. It was "fun" that we took seriously as a way of measuring ourselves, physically, mentally and emotionally.

I remember as a young fan feeling bad when my team lost but also admiring the skill of the victor and genuinely congratulating rival fans. We all had our favorite teams but at the end of the day were united in love for the sport. These days it's all so cutthroat that win or lose, you have to guard against someone else trying to tear you down, get in your face, or otherwise cause harm. It's not just at the pro level but all levels of sport.

I stated in another thread that the mental stress "deflategate" (and similar contentious nonsense) brings to a hobby/diversion I've relied upon all these years to escape stress ruins whatever joy is left. I'm not sure it's worth hearing and reading "Cheaters!" "Liars!" at every turn, especially when I know it's not true. You need a thick skin and most of it I can tune out, but real life and death is grim enough without putting football on the same level.

I wonder if R. Stokoe Goodell had any compunction over the sadness and anger he has caused so many thousands of fans with his outrageously punitive approach to legislating what should be a source of enjoyment. "Integrity of the game" never meant less than when processed through the hollow brain of that overstuffed sock puppet.

What a sad state of affairs.

Around 2006.

Tunescribe said:

I've been watching the NFL more than 50 years, been a Patriots season ticket holder the last 22 years. I recall a time when there was no such thing as "haters," when rival teams beat the hell out of each other but after the final gun mutual respect and good-natured sportsmanship prevailed. The higher ideals of athletic competition were something we aspired to, valued and learned from in hopes of becoming people of stronger character. It was "fun" that we took seriously as a way of measuring ourselves, physically, mentally and emotionally.

I remember as a young fan feeling bad when my team lost but also admiring the skill of the victor and genuinely congratulating rival fans. We all had our favorite teams but at the end of the day were united in love for the sport. These days it's all so cutthroat that win or lose, you have to guard against someone else trying to tear you down, get in your face, or otherwise cause harm. It's not just at the pro level but all levels of sport.

I stated in another thread that the mental stress "deflategate" (and similar contentious nonsense) brings to a hobby/diversion I've relied upon all these years to escape stress ruins whatever joy is left. I'm not sure it's worth hearing and reading "Cheaters!" "Liars!" at every turn, especially when I know it's not true. You need a thick skin and most of it I can tune out, but real life and death is grim enough without putting football on the same level.

I wonder if R. Stokoe Goodell had any compunction over the sadness and anger he has caused so many thousands of fans with his outrageously punitive approach to legislating what should be a source of enjoyment. "Integrity of the game" never meant less than when processed through the hollow brain of that overstuffed sock puppet.

What a sad state of affairs.

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My guess is that people have always been this stupid and nasty, but only very recently have they had a platform to congregate together and create a ****** echo chamber. It used to be that the only way to get a platform for your opinion to be heard was to get a job on TV or in newspapers, and at least some of those institutions had real incentives not to fling mud and make asses of themselves.

Now that we have the internet, the mouth-breathing idiot hick from Indiana who's seething with jealousy actually has the means to lob obscenities at you.

BradyFTW! said:

My guess is that people have always been this stupid and nasty, but only very recently have they had a platform to congregate together and create a ****** echo chamber. It used to be that the only way to get a platform for your opinion to be heard was to get a job on TV or in newspapers, and at least some of those institutions had real incentives not to fling mud and make asses of themselves.

Now that we have the internet, the mouth-breathing idiot hick from Indiana who's seething with jealous actually has the means to lob obscenities at you.

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I agree the Internet has a lot to do with the phenomenon, but people weren't always so nasty when it came to sports. Fairness and sportsmanship seem like foreign concepts these days.

Tunescribe said:

I agree the Internet has a lot to do with the phenomenon, but people weren't always so nasty when it came to sports. Fairness and sportsmanship seem like foreign concepts these days.

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I think there's still a lot of people who think that way. But they generally aren't the people posting on PFT, trolling other teams' fan boards, and calling into talk radio.

BelichickFan said:

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This. It's all about this. Everyone's is suppose to have the "illusion" of being a winner. That's right the illusion. The Patriots destroy that illusion. Instead of what 50 (even 20) years ago would have been admiration and respect for seeing something historic, they

It's a societal problem. I also submit it's also an anti-New England perspective. Too many sports, to many championships.

Anonymity and a wifi connection = Instant bad ass who can't be wrong.

The cure to being exposed to it is continued winning. I can't wait...

patsinthesnow said:

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I will always remember that. The Patriots, with all the issues that team had that year at WR and defense, beat a 14-2 Chargers team in their building (they helped us, too many mistakes. Guess that's cheating too) and I guess the Pats were supposed to go into the locker room quietly then celebrate.

When the Jets kicked our asses in the 2011 AFC Divisional game, I think it was Shonn Greene that ran in a late TD to seal the win. In the endzone he acted like the ball was a pillow, saying "goodnight" NE. It hurt because it was true and it also cracked me up a bit on a night that hurt. Well played sir.

Tunescribe said:

I agree the Internet has a lot to do with the phenomenon, but people weren't always so nasty when it came to sports. Fairness and sportsmanship seem like foreign concepts these days.

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Go re-read Goodell's comments about Spygate.
Toss in the 24 hour news cycle and sports forums, many of which are very insular (Patsfans.com is like that, for example)

It's a perfect recipe for hostilities.

Yup, 2007 (2006 season) after we beat San Diego and LdT threw his hissy fit. It was pretty much open season on the Patriots after that game, all because someone did Juicehead Merriman's sack dance after we won.

Someone, i forget the poster, on this site that week said "Congrats guys, we are now the most hated team in the league." I never thought 9 years later we'd still be here talking about it. Its honestly pretty funny. They keep trying to tear down the Dynasty and they keep getting slapped.

ViperGTS said:

This. It's all about this. Everyone's is suppose to have the "illusion" of being a winner.

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Yep, everyone gets a trophy now. Society created an entitled "I deserve to be equal" thing for everyone. There are no losers so winners are bad. Add to it that people generally dont have any class anymore and here is the result.

Think about it. It has gotten so ridiculous that kids sports leagues cant have handshakes at the end of games because of all the fights. There are now kids sports leagues in Europe that dont keep score so kids wont feel bad.

We are the most hated team in Pro Sports history. Something I am very proud of mind you.

I'll also add that with the soaring popularity the NFL has enjoyed the past decade or so it seems like many "new" fans care more about the drama than the actual game being played.

It's a PPC advertising BONANZA.

"If you ain't hated you ain't winning"

jv320i said:

I'll also add that with the soaring popularity the NFL has enjoyed the past decade or so it seems like many "new" fans care more about the drama than the actual game being played.

It's a PPC advertising BONANZA.

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The marketing dept at the NFL should all get raises. They must be behind this?
Is the NBA and NHL still playing?

Blame it on national and social media. There was a time where the news reported their stories fair and objectively. Now it is all about appealing to the masses and or using an opinion that will get more views than the actual truth. The Wells Report was the lead story on ESPN for 3 days. They analyzed the so-called "damning" parts of it and its conclusion. They found excuses to persecute Brady for some crime that Wells failed to prove ever took place. Even analyzed Brady's January PC and his refusal to turn over texts as a sign of guilt. Instead of finding objective "analysts" they went with old bitter and frosty has-beens, like 'roid raging Shawne Merriman, Jeff Saturday and even Ryan Clark and Jerome Bettis, who are still carrying grudges against Brady because he humiliated them on the field. Ridiculous. Now that the rebuttal is out there, "Deflategate" is suddenly not the leading story on Sportscenter and there are no analysis and detailed reporting on the subject, to educate the public on what a scam job Wells and Goodell pulled on the Patriots. They just make this rebuttal sound like it's something the Patriots "obviously" had to do. This biased one-sided journalism is why I can't stand watching the news. For an aspiring journalist like myself, it is truly disheartening.

I also have been a fan for over 50 years. I think that the lack of respect is a societal issue that has been increasing over the past several years.

Let us look at the evolution of patriot "hatred" for other teams. We used to hate the dolphins. They beat us every year, and often were the reason we weren't in the playoffs. We hated Denver. We hated Oakland. We had our reasons. However, we also respected teams like the Giants and even our arch-rival Indy. We respect Buffalo.

Part of the change came when the NY-Boston hatred poured into our patriot fandom. Before Kraft came, we didn't hate the jets, who hadn't had a competitive team since Namath played. The jets were literally beneath contempt. They were a joke (and still are).

Part of much of this is a sign of the times. Folks want instant gratification. Look at our posters over the last week. Hundreds of posters want instant satisfaction. Waiting FOUR whole days is outrageous for them. There should be instant drawing and quartering, and instant lawsuits. I don't get it. The season starts in September. This may all be solved by then, or not. There is certainly no need for all to be done in the first week. But then, I am older than 40 and have learned a bit of patience.

And yes, on the NFL as a whole, the change came with the change in commissioners. Under Tags, most of this nonsense would have happened. But let's be clear, the issues of player pensions, player safety and conclusions would also not have been addressed. The league is now more than a group of billionaire buddies. These are 32 real businesses that are NOT run as hobbies, but are run to make money. Television has helped this happen. Players are more than poor employees with little representation.

Make no mistake, the cowboys, patriots, redskins and the giants are money making businesses. Each of these teams is an enterprise worth over $2B with operating revenues of more than $85M a year. And most players will make a couple of million at least. The average player may make enough to last him the rest of his life, if he understanding how to invest.
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BOTTOM LINE
The media hype and the fans wanting instant gratification is a sign of the times.

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