Anyone contemplating a sports-media blackout for an extended period of time?

[BradyManny]

Because I am. Somewhere between 2007 and now, I went from rooting for this team to obsessing over them.

I felt like - and feel like - we have to win a Super Bowl in the post-Spygate era to shut everyone up. Until then, we'll continue to feel like we have unfinished business. No matter how great those 3 rings are - we need one more.

Logically, I know perfectly well that it's "just a game". But somehow, it never feels like that anymore.

And you can add to that the fact that following a sports team in this day and age - and especially a team as hated as the New England Patriots - is an entirely different exercise as it once was.

And so, I think I am growing tired of how prevalent this sport and this team is in my life - always counting down to the next big date; draft, camp, regular season, playoffs. Because losing now feels much worse than it once did. And what should be a fun hobby, a diversion from life, actually delivers as much stress and frustration from whatever it was supposedly diverting me from in the first place.

Where once we could watch our team lose and sulk in a miserable - but now seemingly blissful - solitude, we now live in the internet age - we can't avoid the sports media anymore. We don't go to it, it comes to us.

And so, we'll have to endure questions over BB and TB for the rest of the year, until next year. And I'm getting pretty sick of it. Why should I care so much? Why should any of us really care THAT much what people think of Belichick or Brady or this team?

I think it's time - at least for me - to take a break from completely engrossing oneself in this awesome - albeit addictive - sport of football, and more specifically, the New England Patriots. I'm going to do my best to avoid both patriots forums, ESPN, PFT, WEEI, 98.5, etc., etc. for as long as I possibly can. I'm sure I'll fail and be back sooner than I hope. But I'm mainly also curious to see if anyone else feels the same.

 

[Mark.]

I'm taking a break from ESPN and other tv outlets. This forum has some good insight(and some not so good) so will still visit here. After the 2007 loss, my obsession has not been what it once was anyway. The losses are tough, but I get over them much more quickly.

 

[Kontradiction]

You can take a break from ESPN and whatnot all you want. For some reason, people love giving them clicks and hits and will still post their stuff on here. In order to get away from all of that, you have to take a break from here, which is unfortunate. You're a good poster, BradyManny and I hope you're back. Believe me, I gave it a lot of thought yesterday (ask anyone in the chat). But, ultimately, this is the best outlet for me to vent any frustration about the team. Also, I work behind a computer and work can often get slow. This is one of the only websites they'll let me access. So I CAN'T leave.

 

[SoonerPatriot]

I'll be watching both conference title games and the SB as I always do. I don't believe the Jets are going to win a SB. Green Bay is going to win it and I want to be watching when the Karma Fairy pays the Jets a visit.

My hope is that it comes in the SB. That would be the most damaging for them mentally moving into 2011.

 

[BadMoFo]

While I will still watch basketball, the majority of my football news will come from you guys here.

 

[Patriots2001]

The one good thing is there is more football next week !!! We will still suffer but the rest of the NFL will focus on the Championship games and who loses those games..What would have been worse is like back in 2007 when you lose the superbowl thats all you see and hear for 7 months...

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Wont watch ESPN for a few days....but i keep getting txts from people....you drying yet? from 2 jets fans and a big hahaha from a chargers fan...bunch of idiots that i know


I have to watch the Jets-Steelers game...i have to root my heart out for the steelers

 

[blackglass3]

You summed it up pretty well, BradyManny. I just want one. One Super Bowl. One final shot for Brady and Belichick to shut up the doubters for once and all.

I tell myself I shouldn't care so much since this is something I have no control of. And logically, that makes sense. However, football and poker are my only two real hobbies. I feel like if I stop being a football fan, which I did contemplate last night, I will not have an identity anymore. Being a Patriots fan, to me; is like being a father and husband and military member. It is something I am supremely proud of. If I stop being a fan, if I relax my following of this team; a part of me is gone.



WHY DO I CARE SO MUCH?????
(that is a rhetorical question, I know exactly why I care so much. I am just frustrated right now)

 

[RHbT76]

I hate the so called sports media so I avoid it to begin with. I guess it makes these times easier to deal with as well.

 

[Patriots2001]

You summed it up pretty well, BradyManny. I just want one. One Super Bowl. One final shot for Brady and Belichick to shut up the doubters for once and all.

I tell myself I shouldn't care so much since this is something I have no control of. And logically, that makes sense. However, football and poker are my only two real hobbies. I feel like if I stop being a football fan, which I did contemplate last night, I will not have an identity anymore. Being a Patriots fan, to me; is like being a father and husband and military member. It is something I am supremely proud of. If I stop being a fan, if I relax my following of this team; a part of me is gone.



WHY DO I CARE SO MUCH?????
(that is a rhetorical question, I know exactly why I care so much. I am just frustrated right now)

Well said !!

I think this sums up alot of us,cause it does hurt and we are involved emotionally..

 

[TruthSeeker]

My TV will be on the NHL network for the next 5 days. Won't go anywhere near ESPN until the weekend. I had a very bad feeling about this game the second the Jets beat the Colts. The Jets put everything into getting revenge for the 45-3 blowout (almost wish we won that one 14-3). They put all their hatred into attacking us, and the Pats played with no anger or hatred. Almost like they believed that they were gonna walk all over them again, believed in their own hype, regardless of how they claim they didn't listen to it. The 3rd worst loss in Pat's history. They deserve all the bad press they are getting right now, but I'm not gonna read it or watch it.

 

[InRodWeRust]

I'm right there with you BradyManny. I've been a Patriots fan since 1991 and my obsession is becoming worse and worse; especially since 2007. It's extra horrible for me when the Pats don't win a Superbowl because I don't like any other sports or any other teams and I'm envious of people that have other sports to get into until next season. I'm on this message board and another Patriots message board almost every day absorbing any little Patriots content I can find. It's absolutely brutal between when the Pats get eliminated until the draft and then from the draft until game 1. The month of March makes me want to cry.

During the regular season I get only a little joy when the Patriots win a game; it's more like a sense of relief. When the Patriots lose it ruins the next couple of days. When the Patriots lose a playoff game it stews inside of me until the next season starts. Once the Patriots are eliminated I can only hope to hell that one of the five evil teams (Jets, Colts, Chargers, Steelers and any team with Brett Favre on it) don't get a Lombardi.

I wish I could not care as much; it would make my life a lot easier but I don't think I have that ability.

 

[runswithscissors]

The one good thing is there is more football next week !!! We will still suffer but the rest of the NFL will focus on the Championship games and who loses those games..What would have been worse is like back in 2007 when you lose the superbowl thats all you see and hear for 7 months...

What is worse is being a Patriot's fan living in NY. Several co-workers came closer to death than they probably realized. So did my father-in-law.


:violent:

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Because I am. Somewhere between 2007 and now, I went from rooting for this team to obsessing over them.

I felt like - and feel like - we have to win a Super Bowl in the post-Spygate era to shut everyone up. Until then, we'll continue to feel like we have unfinished business. No matter how great those 3 rings are - we need one more.

Logically, I know perfectly well that it's "just a game". But somehow, it never feels like that anymore.

And you can add to that the fact that following a sports team in this day and age - and especially a team as hated as the New England Patriots - is an entirely different exercise as it once was.

And so, I think I am growing tired of how prevalent this sport and this team is in my life - always counting down to the next big date; draft, camp, regular season, playoffs. Because losing now feels much worse than it once did. And what should be a fun hobby, a diversion from life, actually delivers as much stress and frustration from whatever it was supposedly diverting me from in the first place.

Where once we could watch our team lose and sulk in a miserable - but now seemingly blissful - solitude, we now live in the internet age - we can't avoid the sports media anymore. We don't go to it, it comes to us.

And so, we'll have to endure questions over BB and TB for the rest of the year, until next year. And I'm getting pretty sick of it. Why should I care so much? Why should any of us really care THAT much what people think of Belichick or Brady or this team?

I think it's time - at least for me - to take a break from completely engrossing oneself in this awesome - albeit addictive - sport of football, and more specifically, the New England Patriots. I'm going to do my best to avoid both patriots forums, ESPN, PFT, WEEI, 98.5, etc., etc. for as long as I possibly can. I'm sure I'll fail and be back sooner than I hope. But I'm mainly also curious to see if anyone else feels the same.

I thought I was the only poor, lost, wayward addict. We should start having meetings.

 

[IcyPatriot]

I will still come here and listen to WEEI ... I'm disappointed but I'm not in need of therapy.

 

[Lansdowne]

Because I am. Somewhere between 2007 and now, I went from rooting for this team to obsessing over them.

I felt like - and feel like - we have to win a Super Bowl in the post-Spygate era to shut everyone up. Until then, we'll continue to feel like we have unfinished business. No matter how great those 3 rings are - we need one more.

Logically, I know perfectly well that it's "just a game". But somehow, it never feels like that anymore.

And you can add to that the fact that following a sports team in this day and age - and especially a team as hated as the New England Patriots - is an entirely different exercise as it once was.

And so, I think I am growing tired of how prevalent this sport and this team is in my life - always counting down to the next big date; draft, camp, regular season, playoffs. Because losing now feels much worse than it once did. And what should be a fun hobby, a diversion from life, actually delivers as much stress and frustration from whatever it was supposedly diverting me from in the first place.

Where once we could watch our team lose and sulk in a miserable - but now seemingly blissful - solitude, we now live in the internet age - we can't avoid the sports media anymore. We don't go to it, it comes to us.

And so, we'll have to endure questions over BB and TB for the rest of the year, until next year. And I'm getting pretty sick of it. Why should I care so much? Why should any of us really care THAT much what people think of Belichick or Brady or this team?

I think it's time - at least for me - to take a break from completely engrossing oneself in this awesome - albeit addictive - sport of football, and more specifically, the New England Patriots. I'm going to do my best to avoid both patriots forums, ESPN, PFT, WEEI, 98.5, etc., etc. for as long as I possibly can. I'm sure I'll fail and be back sooner than I hope. But I'm mainly also curious to see if anyone else feels the same.

I don't know if this helps any, but I feel exactly the same as you. I hated whenever the Patriots lost back in the 90's, but there wasn't as much salt in the wound. Now, it's much different due to the advent of the Internet and expansion of other media. I've grown to hate losing--and our haters--because of the media overload.

When the Pats lost SB 31 to GB, it stung but I quickly got over it. I still look back fondly on that year. And I didn't have to endure any obnoxious Pats-bashing. Now, it's harder to avoid, due to the Internet and everybody with an opinion. I'm a sore loser and it's felt a lot more personal since 2007. I hate the NFL Network for showing SB 42 highlights at every commercial break. I hate feeling like the people in the media have it for us. It didn't used to be this way.

I wish I wasn't so emotionally-invested in something like this, but it's not something that's easy to turn off like a switch. The heartache can be a bit much, and my peers who don't follow sports don't understand my plight.

I've already removed all sports-related bookmarks from my browser (while minimizing my web browsing in general). I have not watched television, and only briefly tuned in to WEEI (Big Show discussing the botched fake punt). I'm also boycotting the rest of the playoffs, and the Super Bowl, for the first time in my life. I need to separate myself from what's causing me misery. Although, this void I feel contributes to the misery.

I'm struggling with this, but I hope you and others like us will find peace soon.

 

[Poonz]

Today was a rough enough day listening to the radio and the spygate, cheating bs etc. etc. I don't know if I can stand it anymore.

But if the Jets are playing the Bears in the Superbowl I'm banning it and ESPN for at least a month. There's no way I'm listening to Rex Ryan talk about his team and how good they are for 2 weeks before and weeks after if they win. And if the Bears win that's the biggest travesty in as long as I can remember.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

I wont turn on espn, for oh i dont know until after the super bowl... wont turn on nfl network either... its just tough to watch right now.. still listen to eei and here but its not as tough as the super bowl loss, but its close...

 

[pherein]

Theres only one SuperBowl left for us in New Orleans, win or lose.
Anything else would be a disappointment. We beat what the NFL could give us for 2nd place. We want the Patriots.
We want Belichick and Brady, at their best , with no injuries. Our best game vs theres.

We don't want the Jets win, based off a cheap bad day. We want the best game Brady and BB can throw against us vs the best Brees and Payton can play and game plan.
Thats what we want, and it's going to happen.

If we lose, ok we tried, we will shake hands and try again, but thats our hope.
We know we have a small window, were lucky to get Brees, but that is the mind of New Orleans. There is no other team we want in the SB.

 

[Patradomous]

Hi my name is Patradomous,and I'm Pataholic.

I said last yesterday if they lose I'm just going to go to bed and get up and go snowshoeing and get back in the swing of thngs.
But instead listened to both talk radio stations.Watched sports comcast both editions and went to bed and couldn't sleep thinking about that game and here I am.
I want Bill and Tom to win just one more and I think they will.
They got to get back to defense.
Face it the joke was on us last nite.
I remember the days when we would be down 14-10 and the D would stop an average (if that) offense like the Jets and we would win 16-14 or so.
We have to be able to win close low scoring games and this team can't right now and hasn't been able to going on 5 or 6 years.