I Am SOOOOO Proud To Be a Fan of the New England Patriots

[Brady_to_Moss]

It amazes me that fans of a particular sports area appear to enjoy bashing other teams from the same area.

I just can't stand baseball

 

[Joker]

Of course I see your point and agree. Francona has his strengths...they played well in a clubhouse filled with strong willed prima donna stars...I just do not ascribe to the "Terry won the World Series" and "All wins are because of Francona and all losses are Theo's fault...or Lucchino's fault...or the players fault..or the batboy's fault ..or the groundskeepers and concessions fault...ad nauseum".

John Henry bought this team to make money, let's not forget this...he was the one who marketed the Sox to Pink Hat Nation...if fact HE created it....a sold out park populated by casual "fans" who wouldn't know a suicide squeeze from a lemonade...Francona was PERFECT for this segment of the fanbase. I'm not arguing the business decision to use Francona as the face of the Sox....that worked well for nearly a decade.

I'm saying he was a downright terrible in game manager. I'm saying he made decisions before and during games, season after season, that cost the Red Sox games. Decisions that were NEVER EVER made before in the history of MLB.

Do you remember the season the Sox played the White Sox in the first round and got routed...2005? THat season the Baltimore Orioles were in first place at the All Star break...the Sox in 2nd...to open the series just before the AS break THIS is the lineup Francona starts the series with....

A Cora SS 3
B Mueller 3B
D Ortiz DH 3
T Nixon RF 2
K Millar LF 2
J Olerud 1B
D Mirabelli C
A Stern CF 2
M Bellhorn 2B

Francona sat Damon, Manny, Tek and Renteria to START the last series before the All Star break..with THREE DAYS off coming up right after...the Sox LOSE the opener, 3-1, win on Friday..then get murdered on Saturday and Sunday losing three out of four...to , now get this, the Orioles, who ENDED the season the last place team it always was.

No manager in baseball history has EVER done what Francona did in that series...NEVER!!!!!...in the tens of thousands of games played over a century, no manager has EVER rested 4 starters to start a series with the first place team the series before the All Star break.NEVER BEEN DONE...until Ter decided "rest 'em".,..rest FOUR starters three days before the All Star break??????????????????????? Huh???? Greatest manager in history??? Wha????

So...what happens...the O's prove out to be a total mirage, finishing last...the Sox should have AT LEAST split that series, if Francona doesn't reinvent the game, and the Sox finish AHEAD of the Yanks and DO NOT face the red hot White Sox in the first round, whereupon the Sawx get obliterated three straight. Play the Angels and get some 'mo going and just maybe the Sox get their playoff feet under them. Francona assured this would NOT be the case by making his preposterous "Rest "Em Cona!!!" move just before the ASB. Add to this the year after year fixation with sitting starters who have four for four or three for four multiple hit games with extra bases like it's some kind of baseball law and ANY hardcore baseball player/fan starts to wonder just what the hell is going on in the mind of the manager. Francona made it an art form, just as he made 25 hopper to short Cora a daily addition to the lineup as he used the "Rest 'Em Cona!" strategy to sit hot players all season. I NEVER understood what the hell he was thinking and I seriously don't think HE knows...I think he's got a pathological fixation with resting starting players.

Anyway...he's GONE...I'm still watching the Sox and want the team to play as well as possible. We'll see if Valentine can somehow manage to rein in his ego enough to get it to work...if not, I would hope that Cherington gets to put who HE wants on the bench instead of "Lucky" Lucchino, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

 

[Off The Grid]

Within the narrow context of this season, I would agree: The Red Sox are adrift.

And I would expand that to include the last few seasons.

Valentine is a fool.

We might's well have The Gerbil running things, at this point.

***

But the fundamental Force behind the EPIC Reversal of Fortune of the Red Sox ~ John Henry ~ is still here.

So I'd hardly call the Red Sox a blight on New EngLand's face, or anything.

Leave us not forget: Robert Kraft once hired Pete Carroll.

I have not yet lost faith that John Henry will learn from his mistakes...and right this Ship.

 

[Off The Grid]

While my son still has the Red Sox Fever (he's young and innocent enough to just "root for the laundry") he is also beginning to take more of an interest in the Washington Nationals, and I'm happy for that.

It's called "Integrity."

From you, I expected one hell of a lot better.

What team can boast that its leadership has never disappointed and even disgusted its fans??

Any "fan" that throws in the towel, simply because of a bad stretch, is no fan at all.

And what credibility has any "fan" who switches his loyalty at the drop of an hat??

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

ooops...sawree...I offended the GBOT brigade (GOD BLESS OUR TER!!!)...everyone is entitled to their opinion...if you find that leaving starting pitchers in for 6 + runs in 25 games and LOSING 24 of them or 2-10 starts followed by 7-20 finishes is your idea of fantastic success...well...I have to say I feel the other way about it. If you think "Ter WON the World Series!!!" all I can say is, the Red Sox won two world series IN SPITE of Francoma's horrible game management and should have won at least TWO more during his "tenure". If you think Alex Cora is an everyday player as a sub getting 400 AB's a season, I think you need to read a book on what major league talent really is.

It's pretty easy to be the blind squirrel that finds that WS acorn when you are given the SECOND LARGEST payroll in MLB to work with, two monster 3 and 4 hitters in their prime with one of the best clutch leadoff hitters at the top in Damon heading up a murderers row...and proven big game vets like Schills pitching gems...your blessed Ter actually managed to get them in as a wild card...whoop dee freakin' doo...here's what I want all you die hard Francona worshippers to do...ask any ONE of the 8 million rabid Philly fans why they HATE every atom and molecule of Francona's existence to this day...and then ask YOURSELF why you are a fan of the manager instead of a fan of the TEAM.

I didn't particularly like the Valentine hiring...I thought Lucchino forced him on Ben Cherington...I think Bobby has flapped his gums a couple of times so far and it has given the College Of Cona Colon Cleaners the crack they have been waiting for to vent their anger...but at least Valentine is a proven in game major league manager who will use whatever means are at his disposal to win games, as opposed to just sitting there spitting seeds and watching Joe Madden treat your team like his personal biatch every single season and then smooth everything over in the media and with fans by invoking "Gosh!!!" twenty or thirty times in the post game and reading off the lineup in a five year old's litany of "well Pedey and Youky and Gonzy and Tekky and Salty and Elsy and Poppy and Geeky and Gooky and Goozy and Gaga and Dweezil and Drewzy and <spits>...(then does that annoying *nick* inhale sound followed by...you guessed it...GOSH!!!)....th8is ham and egg act really played well in Pink Hat Sox land the past few years...I'm a die hard Sox fan since Jackie Jensen won the MVP in '58 and I've seen some real rock heads manage the Old Towne Team and still find success in some form...in fact if Johnny Mac or Darrell Johnson had this payroll I'd be willing to bet they would have done BETTER than Goshcona...but that is a question that cannot ever be answered.

So...keep on being miserable and forlorn at the loss of your heroCona from the managerial post of the Boston Red Sox...and I'll continue to be a Red Sox fan first..and we'll all be happy...and in a few years when some desperate team makes a mistake and actually offers the Blessed Ter another chance, you can all follow him there and resume church services.

Somehow I get the feeling you didn't really like Francona as a manager.

While it's certainly true that the "Peedy", "Youky","Elsy".....thing is rather annoying, there are a few things in his defense:

Baseball contracts are guarenteed unlike football. As such, these players always have more leverage. Getting cut is one of the most useful tools in the BB toolbox.

Baseball would do the game a great service if it followed football in this aspect.

There are fewer players. Each player is functionally more important.

The roster has been multi-cultural.

Also, the "pink hat" types pay top dollar to spend a beautiful summer evening at the venue 81 times per year. That's different than the types who sit in the snow.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Here's my take:

It must be great to spend $173 million, have a pitching problem, have stiffs in the lineup, while getting owned by a team spending $64 million with a weak fanbase in Florida. Main reason I don't follow the league, besides it being boring, it's unfair.

The Sox need the management team in Tampa.

 

[stcjones]

You know you keep repeating this "same franchise" stuff.

Francona isn't there. It's not the same team - - only to the mindless "I root for the laundry" crowd.

The Francona team no longer exists.

This team is run by Bobby Valentine.

We are discussing this regime.

"This regime" hasn't even gotten off the ground yet or been given a FAIR chance by many fans. Give the guy a year....if he fails after that or isn't worth it....then fire him. Btw, I wouldn't quite put Bobby V in the same category as Ryan....I haven't heard Bobby come out yapping about guaranteeing that the sox were going to win the world series!

 

[shmessy]

Give it a rest with this Patriot hero worship crap. It's so schoolgirl.
Some of us real fans follow all the local teams, Pinky.

I live in Maryland, Gertrude.

And I feel sorry for you if you are an adult and your only criteria for following a team is laundry.

Enjoy Bobby Microphone. No franchise in MLB has dared touch him for over a decade. There is a reason for that.

There can be no better compare and contrast situation when one looks at the HC of the NEP.

It's a completely different culture.

 

[stcjones]

Good post here...

ooops...sawree...I offended the GBOT brigade (GOD BLESS OUR TER!!!)...everyone is entitled to their opinion...if you find that leaving starting pitchers in for 6 + runs in 25 games and LOSING 24 of them or 2-10 starts followed by 7-20 finishes is your idea of fantastic success...well...I have to say I feel the other way about it. If you think "Ter WON the World Series!!!" all I can say is, the Red Sox won two world series IN SPITE of Francoma's horrible game management and should have won at least TWO more during his "tenure". If you think Alex Cora is an everyday player as a sub getting 400 AB's a season, I think you need to read a book on what major league talent really is.

It's pretty easy to be the blind squirrel that finds that WS acorn when you are given the SECOND LARGEST payroll in MLB to work with, two monster 3 and 4 hitters in their prime with one of the best clutch leadoff hitters at the top in Damon heading up a murderers row...and proven big game vets like Schills pitching gems...your blessed Ter actually managed to get them in as a wild card...whoop dee freakin' doo...here's what I want all you die hard Francona worshippers to do...ask any ONE of the 8 million rabid Philly fans why they HATE every atom and molecule of Francona's existence to this day...and then ask YOURSELF why you are a fan of the manager instead of a fan of the TEAM.

I didn't particularly like the Valentine hiring...I thought Lucchino forced him on Ben Cherington...I think Bobby has flapped his gums a couple of times so far and it has given the College Of Cona Colon Cleaners the crack they have been waiting for to vent their anger...but at least Valentine is a proven in game major league manager who will use whatever means are at his disposal to win games, as opposed to just sitting there spitting seeds and watching Joe Madden treat your team like his personal biatch every single season and then smooth everything over in the media and with fans by invoking "Gosh!!!" twenty or thirty times in the post game and reading off the lineup in a five year old's litany of "well Pedey and Youky and Gonzy and Tekky and Salty and Elsy and Poppy and Geeky and Gooky and Goozy and Gaga and Dweezil and Drewzy and <spits>...(then does that annoying *nick* inhale sound followed by...you guessed it...GOSH!!!)....th8is ham and egg act really played well in Pink Hat Sox land the past few years...I'm a die hard Sox fan since Jackie Jensen won the MVP in '58 and I've seen some real rock heads manage the Old Towne Team and still find success in some form...in fact if Johnny Mac or Darrell Johnson had this payroll I'd be willing to bet they would have done BETTER than Goshcona...but that is a question that cannot ever be answered.

So...keep on being miserable and forlorn at the loss of your heroCona from the managerial post of the Boston Red Sox...and I'll continue to be a Red Sox fan first..and we'll all be happy...and in a few years when some desperate team makes a mistake and actually offers the Blessed Ter another chance, you can all follow him there and resume church services.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I never warmed to the carpetbaggers. I was a Sox fan from birth. Family nights were the highlights of the summer. Saw Ted, lived the impossible dream, mourned Tony C. Had become a rabid fan by the time I could afford my own tickets and was insane about Nomar, Pedro and the grinders - who paved the way for transient carpetbagger ownership to even show interest in acquiring a franchise 84 years removed from a championship. Grady Little nearly killed me but I hung in there after he departed too late and watched the team Douquette essentially built win it all. Until the ugly aftertaste of the way this ownership operates began to ferment - frankly even finding a way to sap just a little bit of joy out of ending an 84 year curse. Alienated Nomar and Pedro while kissing bloody socks ass... And then I was DONE. Haven't watched a game since. Part of that is the increasing monotony of the game itself and the league itself increasingly fueled by empty stats and steroid tainted records. And the embarassing guaranteed money paid now even to marginal not to mention unlikable talents. But part of it is what this franchise has become under the carpetbaggers ownership. Which I think will soon end since they have met their original goals and are maxed out financially and it's getting a little too contentious for Henry's delicate sensibilities.

I didn't become a invested football and therefore a Pats fan until the 90's. That said, nothing Kraft's predecessors did revolted me the way the Henry/Lucchino Sox era has. Those ownerships may have been incompetent and even pathetic in many respects, but the team remained lovable and rootable however mismanaged underdogs. God Bless Kraft and Bill for finding a way to not only turn them in to winners but to maintain their rootability even as a dominant team. It probably wouldn't bring me back but Sox fans would be fortunate if the Krafts ended up owning the Sox once Henry departs. Sadly the lack of cost certainty (cap) in MLB probably wouldn't allow for that.

My mother grew to love the Pats, mostly because Brady was a hunk... But she was a die hard Sox fan for 93 years and sadly spent the last few years of her life not recognizing the team on the field, and not because she was somewhat senile but because bottom line ownership kept jettisoning home grown or established talent and bringing in guys whose names she couldn't even pronounce because they forgot how to develop talent and team build and fixated on keeping pace with the Yankees via overhyped FA.

 

[shmessy]

I never warmed to the carpetbaggers. I was a Sox fan from birth. Family nights were the highlights of the summer. Saw Ted, lived the impossible dream, mourned Tony C. Had become a rabid fan by the time I could afford my own tickets and was insane about Nomar, Pedro and the grinders - who paved the way for transient carpetbagger ownership to even show interest in acquiring a franchise 84 years removed from a championship. Grady Little nearly killed me but I hung in there after he departed too late and watched the team Douquette essentially built win it all. Until the ugly aftertaste of the way this ownership operates began to ferment - frankly even finding a way to sap just a little bit of joy out of ending an 84 year curse. Alienated Nomar and Pedro while kissing bloody socks ass... And then I was DONE. Haven't watched a game since. Part of that is the increasing monotony of the game itself and the league itself increasingly fueled by empty stats and steroid tainted records. And the embarassing guaranteed money paid now even to marginal not to mention unlikable talents. But part of it is what this franchise has become under the carpetbaggers ownership. Which I think will soon end since they have met their original goals and are maxed out financially and it's getting a little too contentious for Henry's delicate sensibilities.

I didn't become a invested football and therefore a Pats fan until the 90's. That said, nothing Kraft's predecessors did revolted me the way the Henry/Lucchino Sox era has. Those ownerships may have been incompetent and even pathetic in many respects, but the team remained lovable and rootable however mismanaged underdogs. God Bless Kraft and Bill for finding a way to not only turn them in to winners but to maintain their rootability even as a dominant team. It probably wouldn't bring me back but Sox fans would be fortunate if the Krafts ended up owning the Sox once Henry departs. Sadly the lack of cost certainty (cap) in MLB probably wouldn't allow for that.

My mother grew to love the Pats, mostly because Brady was a hunk... But she was a die hard Sox fan for 93 years and sadly spent the last few years of her life not recognizing the team on the field, and not because she was somewhat senile but because bottom line ownership kept jettisoning home grown or established talent and bringing in guys whose names she couldn't even pronounce because they forgot how to develop talent and team build and fixated on keeping pace with the Yankees via overhyped FA.

What??? You don't blindly follow the local team no matter how clownish they become????

RhodyPatriot says you are a "Pinky".

You must be forced to support them no matter how much they take you for granted.

Hell, you should even chip in for Beckett's and Lackey's in-game wings and beer.

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

So far, I'm not overly sold on Bobby V, but with that said. I have to side with him on this one.

I think that some of these players Youk, Pedrioa, etc.... are a little out of control. I think Pedrioa's comments on the matter are particularly emblematic of the issue. They are Bush league crap and a clear indication that the dugout is full of a bunch of underproducing, spoiled millionaires that need to "sack up" and start playing some effing baseball.

Youk has sucked donkey balls all spring and he needed someone to come in and kick him square in the joneses. That is what his manager tried to do. The ONLY appropriate response when your manager calls you out in public is to say.

"Yeah, I had a long talk with X this morning and I think we're all on the same page now. We all need to just get out there and win some baseball games".

The only response appropriate for an uninvolved player is "Well, you'd have to ask those guys about that. I'm just doing what I can to win some games here".

Both Youkilis and Pedrioa are out of control. What the hell kind of comment is "That's not the way we go about our stuff around here" from Pedrioa????

Listen a--wipe, the way you "do things around here" is exactly how your manager tells you to. At least in public, that's for damn sure. They may not be drinking beer and smoking doobie's in the clubhouse anymore, but that dugout is still an a--clown asylum and this is perfect evidence of that.

Ole Bobby V may or may not be the savior this team is looking for (only time with tell on that), but he is not wrong on this one. The players need to shut the eff up and go win a few baseball games and stop acting like the spoiled millionaires they are.

As for the original premise of the thread...... I agree. Go Patriots.

 

[Wolfpack]

What??? You don't blindly follow the local team no matter how clownish they become????

RhodyPatriot says you are a "Pinky".

You must be forced to support them no matter how much they take you for granted.

Hell, you should even chip in for Beckett's and Lackey's in-game wings and beer.

There's 2 sides to your criticism here. You are critical of those who "blindly" support one team through thick and thin. But people who do that look at you as being a typical fair weather fan, perhaps even one wearing a pink hat while doing so.

I'm proud of the fact that I was a Patriots fan during the 80's, when they were one of the worst run franchises in all of sports, even though people like you were fans of the 49ers. It makes the championships we finally won all the sweeter. That's something you'll never understand.

 

[Deus Irae]

So far, I'm not overly sold on Bobby V, but with that said. I have to side with him on this one.

I think that some of these players Youk, Pedrioa, etc.... are a little out of control. I think Pedrioa's comments on the matter are particularly emblematic of the issue. They are Bush league crap and a clear indication that the dugout is full of a bunch of underproducing, spoiled millionaires that need to "sack up" and start playing some effing baseball.

Youk has sucked donkey balls all spring and he needed someone to come in and kick him square in the joneses. That is what his manager tried to do. The ONLY appropriate response when your manager calls you out in public is to say.

"Yeah, I had a long talk with X this morning and I think we're all on the same page now. We all need to just get out there and win some baseball games".

The only response appropriate for an uninvolved player is "Well, you'd have to ask those guys about that. I'm just doing what I can to win some games here".

Both Youkilis and Pedrioa are out of control. What the hell kind of comment is "That's not the way we go about our stuff around here" from Pedrioa????

Listen a--wipe, the way you "do things around here" is exactly how your manager tells you to. At least in public, that's for damn sure. They may not be drinking beer and smoking doobie's in the clubhouse anymore, but that dugout is still an a--clown asylum and this is perfect evidence of that.

Ole Bobby V may or may not be the savior this team is looking for (only time with tell on that), but he is not wrong on this one. The players need to shut the eff up and go win a few baseball games and stop acting like the spoiled millionaires they are.

As for the original premise of the thread...... I agree. Go Patriots.

Valentine's over-the-top apology should be telling you that he knows he screwed up.

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

Valentine's over-the-top apology should be telling you that he knows he screwed up.

No...... I think that is typical Valentine. Judging by the underwhelming response he got from his GM (who sided with the player), I'm sure Bobby understands exactly what he's in for. NO SUPPORT from within the organization. He knows he's a dead man walking. The only people that want him is the ownership, and they are apparently off doing more important things.

Why get belligerent when you know your not gonna be supported? He comes across more sympathetic this way for the eventual ugly divorce we all know (including him) is coming.

I'll still love them, and they are my team, but it's a mess right now. Employee's (players) work for the boss (Manager), not the other way around. Until that gets fixed. This team is done. The players can piss and moan all they want about not having their beloved Tito back, but ultimately if they are looking for a reason he isn't, they need to look in the mirror. The collapse last year, while they were apparently more worried about who was brining the KFC and Beer, sealed his......... and the teams fate. They obviously still don't get it.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

So far, I'm not overly sold on Bobby V, but with that said. I have to side with him on this one.

I think that some of these players Youk, Pedrioa, etc.... are a little out of control. I think Pedrioa's comments on the matter are particularly emblematic of the issue. They are Bush league crap and a clear indication that the dugout is full of a bunch of underproducing, spoiled millionaires that need to "sack up" and start playing some effing baseball.

Youk has sucked donkey balls all spring and he needed someone to come in and kick him square in the joneses. That is what his manager tried to do. The ONLY appropriate response when your manager calls you out in public is to say.

"Yeah, I had a long talk with X this morning and I think we're all on the same page now. We all need to just get out there and win some baseball games".

The only response appropriate for an uninvolved player is "Well, you'd have to ask those guys about that. I'm just doing what I can to win some games here".

Both Youkilis and Pedrioa are out of control. What the hell kind of comment is "That's not the way we go about our stuff around here" from Pedrioa????

Listen a--wipe, the way you "do things around here" is exactly how your manager tells you to. At least in public, that's for damn sure. They may not be drinking beer and smoking doobie's in the clubhouse anymore, but that dugout is still an a--clown asylum and this is perfect evidence of that.

Ole Bobby V may or may not be the savior this team is looking for (only time with tell on that), but he is not wrong on this one. The players need to shut the eff up and go win a few baseball games and stop acting like the spoiled millionaires they are.

As for the original premise of the thread...... I agree. Go Patriots.

That about sums it up.:rocker:

The fact that "Peedy" would talk like this after the past three years is further indication.

 

[Deus Irae]

No...... I think that is typical Valentine. Judging by the underwhelming response he got from his GM (who sided with the player), I'm sure Bobby understands exactly what he's in for. NO SUPPORT from within the organization. He knows he's a dead man walking. The only people that want him is the ownership, and they are apparently off doing more important things.

Why get belligerent when you know your not gonna be supported? He comes across more sympathetic this way for the eventual ugly divorce we all know (including him) is coming.

I'll still love them, and they are my team, but it's a mess right now. Employee's (players) work for the boss (Manager), not the other way around. Until that gets fixed. This team is done. The players can piss and moan all they want about not having their beloved Tito back, but ultimately if they are looking for a reason he isn't, they need to look in the mirror. The collapse last year, while they were apparently more worried about who was brining the KFC and Beer, sealed his......... and the teams fate. They obviously still don't get it.

You live in another world. In THIS world, when the manager admits he screwed up, players other than Youk say the manager screwed up, the GM gets involved because the manager screwed up, and the manager goes out of his way to schedule a meeting with the player (Youk) to apologize for screwing up and explain what he was trying to say, that tends to mean that the manager screwed up.

Valentine doesn't look sympathetic. He looks like an idiot.

 

[shmessy]

There's 2 sides to your criticism here. You are critical of those who "blindly" support one team through thick and thin. But people who do that look at you as being a typical fair weather fan, perhaps even one wearing a pink hat while doing so.

I'm proud of the fact that I was a Patriots fan during the 80's, when they were one of the worst run franchises in all of sports, even though people like you were fans of the 49ers. It makes the championships we finally won all the sweeter. That's something you'll never understand.

There's a difference between a team that is losing (but is giving an honest effort) and a team of dog-fakers.

Sorry, but the Red Sox have several dog-fakers (Beckett, Lackey, etc.).

The Diarhea of the Mouth manager (who no one in MLB would hire for 10 years until Lucchino finally got rid of Epstein) inexplicably and in the PRESS goes after probably the hardest working player on the team. He, in turn, is then is ripped in the press by the other hardest working player.

Once again, the issue wasn't winning or losing. It is whether to waste time on dog-fakers. Protecting Beckett and Lackey, but PUBLICLY going after someone who is actually TRYING is the definition of what a dog-faker manager is. He compounds that with the hilarious explanation that it wasn't what he really meant to say. He can't get out of his own way and it is obvious.

Bobby Valentine is a dog-faker and everyone knows it. I challenge any one person here to come forward and state that he should have ANY managerial job in MLB.

If some want to be blind suckers and give that corporation their hard earned money, so be it.

In the meantime, the REAL point of this thread was to appreciate how much better the Patriot Way is.

I'm proud that the New England Patriots know how to handle their business. The NFL is FAR SUPERIOR to MLB in that Beckett and Lackey would have been cut forthwith. MLB is a farce run by the players. I guess some folks (not many, and the numbers are dwindling) prefer that to the NFL. The Boston Globe sports section is their Alamo.

 

[shmessy]

Employee's (players) work for the boss (Manager), not the other way around. Until that gets fixed. This team is done.

You evidently don't understand the business structure of MLB.

Your point makes sense if you're discussing the NFL.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

There's a difference between a team that is losing (but is giving an honest effort) and a team of dog-fakers.

Sorry, but the Red Sox have several dog-fakers (Beckett, Lackey, etc.).

The Diarhea of the Mouth manager (who no one in MLB would hire for 10 years until Lucchino finally got rid of Epstein) inexplicably and in the PRESS goes after probably the hardest working player on the team. He, in turn, is then is ripped in the press by the other hardest working player.

Once again, the issue wasn't winning or losing. It is whether to waste time on dog-fakers. Protecting Beckett and Lackey, but PUBLICLY going after someone who is actually TRYING is the definition of what a dog-faker manager is. He compounds that with the hilarious explanation that it wasn't what he really meant to say. He can't get out of his own way and it is obvious.

Bobby Valentine is a dog-faker and everyone knows it. I challenge any one person here to come forward and state that he should have ANY managerial job in MLB.

If some want to be blind suckers and give that corporation their hard earned money, so be it.

In the meantime, the REAL point of this thread was to appreciate how much better the Patriot Way is.

I'm proud that the New England Patriots know how to handle their business. The NFL is FAR SUPERIOR to MLB in that Beckett and Lackey would have been cut forthwith. MLB is a farce run by the players. I guess some folks (not many, and the numbers are dwindling) prefer that to the NFL. The Boston Globe sports section is their Alamo.

Who exactly are the "hard working" players?