Overreactive Fans

[gomezcat]

Profuse posters proudly produce prodigious punditry.

Laconic, loquacious, layabouts lampoon lazily.

 

[frankiesfly]

It's the nature of the beast for fans to be reactive, but sometimes I think we do exactly what the media clowns do, trying to be the first to report/predict something regardless of accuracy.

I noted a number of threads about Stallworth turning into "well, Stallworth didn't happen, now what..." laments. One of them even had it in the title.

Whereas every media item I read said he is going to visit Tennessee and Miami, and make a decision.

Could somebody present me a statistic that says a player never visits another team after the one he eventually joins? Or is this just us going nuts on no real information? The whole "If he was gonna sign he would have done a couple days ago" theory seems flawed from that perspective.

Not that I'm sold on Stallworth, Moss, or any other particular receiver as "the answer." I just don't get the hysteria. Can someone explain this point of view?

PFnV

Its Just like when we go shopping for a new TV. we go to other stores to see if we can get a better price. Its no different than a player visiting other teams to find the best price.

 

[gomezcat]

I see NOTHING wrong with Donte Stallworth going to see other teams. He wants to make sure that he gets the right financial package, that he can actually get on with his new team mates and management and that he would want to live in a new area. He may find that he "clicks" better with the coaching staff elsewhere. Who knows?

I agree with you, PFnV, about hysteria. It is worth remembering just what the Internet has done to the world of communication, the speed and the ease with which ideas, news and opinions can be communicated.
Consider that, twenty years ago, I would have subscribed to a newsletter, and sent in comments, if I had something to say. The turnaround time was weeks on that sort of thing. OK, there are Football related magazines and papers that I could have read here in the UK, but there was nothing dedicated specifically to the Pats.
This all adds to the frenzy and the excitement that we all feel. I, like everyone else, get hungry for new information. It is easy to forget that we are still not party to 90 odd percent of what actually happens between closed doors.
I guess my point is that information can more easily be blown out of all proportion. It is easier for us all to read things into what we hear or find out.

 

[DarrylS]

I see NOTHING wrong with Donte Stallworth going to see other teams. He wants to make sure that he gets the right financial package, that he can actually get on with his new team mates and management and that he would want to live in a new area. He may find that he "clicks" better with the coaching staff elsewhere. Who knows?

I agree with you, PFnV, about hysteria. It is worth remembering just what the Internet has done to the world of communication, the speed and the ease with which ideas, news and opinions can be communicated.
Consider that, twenty years ago, I would have subscribed to a newsletter, and sent in comments, if I had something to say. The turnaround time was weeks on that sort of thing. OK, there are Football related magazines and papers that I could have read here in the UK, but there was nothing dedicated specifically to the Pats.
This all adds to the frenzy and the excitement that we all feel. I, like everyone else, get hungry for new information. It is easy to forget that we are still not party to 90 odd percent of what actually happens between closed doors.
I guess my point is that information can more easily be blown out of all proportion. It is easier for us all to read things into what we hear or find out.

I agree along with our ADD tendency and quest for news in times of boredom, makes every story more newsworthy than it actually is and makes us thirst for more. The advent of the internet and sports radio on 24 hours a day, makes all want more info than we need, and more information than we know how to use intelligently, vs. hysterically.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Laconic, loquacious, layabouts lampoon lazily.

The latter being the key word!

 

[gomezcat]

The latter being the key word!

Yeah, well, I don't think anyone would accuse me of being hyperactive.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Yeah, well, I don't think anyone would accuse me of being hyperactive.

I'm too tired to.

 

[shirtsleeve]

Okay, I realize I shifted the burden of proof, but does anyone have stats on this, that "in most cases the FA visits, and stops at the team he will play for?" Who in his right mind would be the first visit, if this were true?

I will buy the idea that it is more likely that a guy signs here first than last, for example, since the scenario includes people who've been wooed from point A to point B, and are just showing up to pop the champagne cork.

Seems to me we're going by recent history (4 corkers in a weekend,) rather than any kind of reliable stats.

If we can not substantiate statements like "most of the time," I can't take them seriously... of course by this time Friday (or Saturday or Sunday,) maybe those guys will be proven right (this time.)

PFnV

Clearly, Stallworth is shopping himself for the best deal in the best off-season to be a free agent in the history of the league. Graham did the same thing. He then came back and signed with Denver, his first stop. Another phenomenon being observed is that to many free agents this year, the best deal is not necessarily the most lucrative. Its gotten to the point where they have the luxury of saying "as long as the up front money is there, I will play for the team that fits my goals the best". Which is going to bode well for a team like the Pats.

I dont see the need for a stretch the field WR if CJ is coming back for camp. But perhaps BB knows something about that whole situation that we dont know. So I too will drink the kool aid (strawberry, please) and in BB I trust.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Clearly, Stallworth is shopping himself for the best deal in the best off-season to be a free agent in the history of the league. Graham did the same thing. He then came back and signed with Denver, his first stop. Another phenomenon being observed is that to many free agents this year, the best deal is not necessarily the most lucrative. Its gotten to the point where they have the luxury of saying "as long as the up front money is there, I will play for the team that fits my goals the best". Which is going to bode well for a team like the Pats.

I dont see the need for a stretch the field WR if CJ is coming back for camp. But perhaps BB knows something about that whole situation that we dont know. So I too will drink the kool aid (strawberry, please) and in BB I trust.

I think the "stretch the field" concept is valid but a little overstated. It adds a dimension, and keeps DBs honest, but the same can be said of the spread attack in general -- too many targets for the coverage guys, period. The difference is that getting burned for the long gainer can leave you no room to make up the bad play. But the spread attack, with or without the long gainer, puts plenty of points on the board (even in this last season with the revolving door at receiver.)

I guess I would call that big-play threat a "wanna-have" not a "gotta-have." If BB/SP share this opinion, the Stallworths and Mosses of the world need to recognize that is the case, if indeed they put any premium on being part of this franchise. This plays into "what you're worth to this team," rather than what you're worth as some sort of dimensionless number at which you value yourself.

If it's competition between us and other teams, what NE brings to the table includes that very mindset, because that's the mindset that wins SBs, and people know it. If star receivers don't catch on -- no pun intended -- it's been the pattern in NE to succeed with what receivers are available.

Still and all, it would be nice to see this capability added. Drinkin another kool-aid my ownself,

PFnV

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Yeah, well, I don't think anyone would accuse me of being hyperactive.

Oh nice! Now I have this mental image of Onslo from the old Keeping Up Appearances show. Poor MsG-cat.

 

[shirtsleeve]

I think the "stretch the field" concept is valid but a little overstated. It adds a dimension, and keeps DBs honest, but the same can be said of the spread attack in general -- too many targets for the coverage guys, period. The difference is that getting burned for the long gainer can leave you no room to make up the bad play. But the spread attack, with or without the long gainer, puts plenty of points on the board (even in this last season with the revolving door at receiver.)

I guess I would call that big-play threat a "wanna-have" not a "gotta-have." If BB/SP share this opinion, the Stallworths and Mosses of the world need to recognize that is the case, if indeed they put any premium on being part of this franchise. This plays into "what you're worth to this team," rather than what you're worth as some sort of dimensionless number at which you value yourself.

If it's competition between us and other teams, what NE brings to the table includes that very mindset, because that's the mindset that wins SBs, and people know it. If star receivers don't catch on -- no pun intended -- it's been the pattern in NE to succeed with what receivers are available.

Still and all, it would be nice to see this capability added. Drinkin another kool-aid my ownself,

PFnV

I agree. The only real value that one of these guys has in this system is that when they head downfield, it clears the deep middle zone. That creates all the opportunities for the Welkers, Branch's, Browns, of the world to exploit. One of these is a need, not a want. But it takes a pretty unselfish WR to be willing to run downfield, get all gassed, 30 times a game, when he knows that unless he's all by himself, he wont see the ball more than 5 times. In this system, controlling the clock and the field is just as important as a score. The Pats prefer a ten play, eight minute drive that ends in a TD to a two play 30 second one.

But still, the system requires someone to frequently stretch the coverage to create those gaps.

Which is why I always doubted the Stallworths and the Moss's fit here. Not for their ability. But for their attitude and baggage.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

At the end of over-reacting to The World According to Michael Smith (that is, believing we got Stallworth...)

I'd just like a moment out to say "Nya nya nya nya." Maybe we can remember this moment the next time a guy leaves town without a contract. Sheesh!

PFnV

PS, if this damn Daunte Signing Story falls apart, of course, I still stand by my belief that sometimes they leave town, and come back anyway. That's the nice thing about the "sometimes" theory of the world. The "Always" theories of the world have to be right every time. But hey, at least they don't look wishy-washy (even if they do look overreactive.)

PFnV