Official Thread to Discuss ANYTHING but Maroney

[convertedpatsfan]

I'd like an answer to the following question: why does (American) football appeal so much to Americans?

Here's the puzzle. (1) Football is the ultimate in disciplined sport, the submersion of the individual for the good of the team (2) America is a highly individualistic society. Is there some contradiction there? Is either of (1) or (2) false?

I don't know if I'd call it a contradiction; I think the way Americans are perceived is the problem.

Another similar "contradiction": America loves underdogs (and you can use the Pats as an example when they ran through that tunnel as a team against the Rams), even though America is rarely an underdog in anything.

While individualism is a bigger deal in America than some other countries, don't forget that America also created the assembly line. In "The Meaning of Sports" by Michael Mandelbaum, he suggests that football started to gain popularity in the 60's and 70's, when many Americans who were involved with the military during WWII/Cold War were rising to positions of authority in American society. I don't know how much weight that argument holds since I wasn't around back then, but just curious what others think of that.

 

[Reckedtrek]

Yeah, I should mention that I like the Law Firm, but I'll just feel a bit better when we have him for added insurance again!

I gotcha on that, and agree. He (Law firm) is a good change of pace back and good insurance policy.

 

[IcyPatriot]

Can we discuss his wheels ... what does he drive? That's not him ... right? :confused2:

 

[patological]

from Ian Rapoport's Rap Sheet Twitter today:

"Is anyone listening to Jonathan Kraft on the Sports Hub? This is crazy. Felger and Kraft are yelling at each other. High comedy, and awkward..."

Inquiring minds, etc.

 

[Kontradiction]

I'd like an answer to the following question: why does (American) football appeal so much to Americans?

Here's the puzzle. (1) Football is the ultimate in disciplined sport, the submersion of the individual for the good of the team (2) America is a highly individualistic society. Is there some contradiction there? Is either of (1) or (2) false?

P.S. The first American beer I ever drank was a Budweiser -- at a July 4 picnic, with an ear of corn. I thought it tasted great. Obviously, it's gone downhill since then.

Simple. Because it's a very violent sport. Not sure if you noticed or not, but we Americans love our violence and our sex. Football gives us our steady dose of one of those things (though it sometimes helps ruin our steady dose of the other thing).

 

[patriots pam]

Can we discuss his wheels ... what does he drive? That's not him ... right? :confused2:

I have taken it under advisement, and will now render my verdict:

NO!

This line of discussion will inevitably lead to whether he should be able to plow said vehicle through snowbanks or other obstacles, etc., etc., and next thing you know...:deadhorse:


Then I would have to report you for contributing to the delinquency of my thread, and I really don't want to have to do that! But I would!

 

[patological]

The two genii-Bill & Ernie

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I wonder if Maroney and other players for that matter read this forum.

It does kind of seem far fetched but think about it, if you played for the New England Patriots wouldn't you get curious once in a while to see what's being discussed about you? And as far as I know this is the most popular Patriots forum on the web. So it kind of makes you think... what his reaction must be if he does visit the forum lol

 

[patriots pam]

I wonder if [EDITED BY OP] and other players for that matter read this forum.

It does kind of seem far fetched but think about it, if you played for the New England Patriots wouldn't you get curious once in a while to see what's being discussed about you? And as far as I know this is the most popular Patriots forum on the web. So it kind of makes you think... what his reaction must be if he does visit the forum lol

A perfectly valid topic for this thread, if you had used only "the players". You now have 5 minutes to edit your post, or else....REPORTED!!!!

 

[patriots pam]

The two genii-Bill & Ernie

Excellent! I don't think I've ever seen a picture of BB so young. Or looking so much like Jimmy Connors. Weird!

 

[IcyPatriot]

Is Bill still dating Linda Holliday?

 

[Kontradiction]

How does everyone like my new sig? I figured it was time for a change. Features two of my five favorite players on the team (the other three being, predictably, Moss, Welker, and Mayo). Just went to Google and image searched "Brandon Meriweather sig" and found both of them.

 

[IcyPatriot]

How does everyone like my new sig? I figured it was time for a change. Features two of my five favorite players on the team (the other three being, predictably, Moss, Welker, and Mayo). Just went to Google and image searched "Brandon Meriweather sig" and found both of them.

It's a bit busy for a sig ... nice graphics though.

Side by side if they were a bit smaller would look better.

 

[shakadave]

I like Macaroni.

Today I had a Mormon friend over for lunch to watch an old movie. We had a simple lunch: nice basic baloney sandwiches. Man, Fred and Ginger could really dance! My friend who was telling me about the Angel Moroni and it was pretty far out.

 

[emoney_33]

from Ian Rapoport's Rap Sheet Twitter today:

"Is anyone listening to Jonathan Kraft on the Sports Hub? This is crazy. Felger and Kraft are yelling at each other. High comedy, and awkward..."

Inquiring minds, etc.

I caught some of this on the way home from work. Felger was insinuating that the Patriots have been cheap lately and it's probably not enough to to be only in the top 3rd of cash spent (Jonathan said last year we were 12th-14th in terms of how much cash was actually given out).

Jonathan was trying to explain to Felger the principles of value spending and not spending just to spend. Bringing up various issues like the uncertainty of injuries and future cash restraints etc...

Felger kept harping on the cap raising for the last 3 years and that teams haven't gotten into much cap trouble as of late so that it was no longer a "valid" for the Patriots to "underspend" due to worries about cap hell etc...

Jonathan pointed out that 2010 was set to be a year in which the cap decreased because they overestimated the 2009 cap (if they didn't opt out of the CBA or whatever).

Back and forth for a while, basically Felger trying to talk over Jonathan with points that didn't see the whole picture. It finally got down to Felger saying we should have signed Samuel. And then Jonathan brought up Samuel's last game, then caught himself before bringing up the blown coverage play I assume. He then said if Felger thinks Samuel is earning his contract that's up for debate and his opinion.

In conclusion, Felger was calling the patriots cheap and saying they should spend more money. Jonathan was trying to explain the logic behind long term and continued success as well as spending for value not spending just to spend. Brought up the fact that we usually spend more than IND and PIT who are the 2 other teams this decade who have consistently been competitive.

 

[IcyPatriot]

In conclusion, Felger was calling the patriots cheap and saying they should spend more money.

So it's Felger with a disguised voice who is Steve from Fall River. :ugh:

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

A perfectly valid topic for this thread, if you had used only "the players". You now have 5 minutes to edit your post, or else....REPORTED!!!!

I don't need to follow your rules k

It would just be hilarious seeing his reaction to 20 threads a week dedicated to him. He's probably wondering don't these people talk about Tom Brady even

 

[Mike the Brit]

I don't know if I'd call it a contradiction; I think the way Americans are perceived is the problem.

Another similar "contradiction": America loves underdogs (and you can use the Pats as an example when they ran through that tunnel as a team against the Rams), even though America is rarely an underdog in anything.

While individualism is a bigger deal in America than some other countries, don't forget that America also created the assembly line. In "The Meaning of Sports" by Michael Mandelbaum, he suggests that football started to gain popularity in the 60's and 70's, when many Americans who were involved with the military during WWII/Cold War were rising to positions of authority in American society. I don't know how much weight that argument holds since I wasn't around back then, but just curious what others think of that.

Thanks.

Yes, it may well be a perception issue. I mean, no society could be as successful as the U.S. if it didn't have ways to limit individualism in order to co-operate successfully. Your point about the assembly line is excellent and sets me thinking -- but there's also a lot of ambivalence. People liked the goods it produced, but they weren't keen on it as a way of life (see movies from Modern Times onwards).

To an outsider, the connection between football and the Armed Forces is very striking. And America is not only a militarily very powerful nation (duh!) but, what's surprising (given that this was a society that had such a distrust of standing armies) the prestige of the military is extremely high. I suspect this has to do with the fact that the army hasn't been associated with a domestic aristocracy (U.K., France, Germany) internal repression (Italy, Greece, Germany) or major military catastrophe (France, Germany, Italy, Japan). Maybe football also shows that you can have discipline for a shared goal -- not just status hierarchy and bullying (to which Americans are allergic).

Oh, and Scapa malt whisky is very nice.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Simple. Because it's a very violent sport. Not sure if you noticed or not, but we Americans love our violence and our sex. Football gives us our steady dose of one of those things (though it sometimes helps ruin our steady dose of the other thing).

Funnily enough, although Americans and non-Americans firmly believe this, it's not true. Yes, the American murder rate is scary to a European but that's because people have such easy access to the means of fatal violence (i.e. guns). Bad things can get very much worse far more easily. But if you compared general violence between Britain and the U.S., you'd find the former way ahead. The city centres and hospital emergency rooms in the U.K. are a battlefield on a Saturday night compared to the U.S. (Not to mention your chances of getting in a fight if you go to a soccer match vs. a football game.)

As for sex, I'd like to have more data ...

 

[patological]

emoney_33

Thanks for that recap on J. Kraft/Felger (whadda bahfoon).
Came across the podcast but its almost 25 mins. and I don't have the time.