I can't speak for anyone other than myself, but FOR ME it's a combination of jealousy, and the arrogance of Pats fans.
The Patriots dominance has simply gone on for far too long, and Pats fans have been anything but classy along the way. You guys are severely lacking in perspective.
Meh, teams can be up and down. The Pats are one of the few teams that ever ascended to dynasty status. It is likely they will one day decline from that status, given the behavior of teams in previous decades.
SO FAR, 2001-2004 was the zenith of this team. The talent level peaked in 2007, and it would have been the greatest team to ever take the field, with one more TD - but that did not happen, so with 18 wins in a season, they were a disappointment (that happen much in NY? Oh that's right, LOSING in the AFCCG qualifies as a victory there....) We don't really know how good the 2010 team is, but we'll find out.
Ya see what I'm getting at? We're in the middle of something you guys have not sniffed. Meanwhile, you're "taunting" us when we demolish the league and out-perform 30 of 32 teams... then lose to ONE team... and we're supposed to be "classy." Really?
Your guys are out there saying "we are headhunting with the intent of injuring the Patriots' players" and you're complaining we're not "classy" enough?
Here's a hint: when you piss off the Pats, they
will beat you by blowout scores. If you want them to be "classy" -- i.e., to only beat you by a little -- play your butts off and make it happen.
That's the only kind of "classy" other fans consistently complain about with the Pats, it's not "classy" to whoop their butts so badly on the field. That's on your boys.
As to "classy fans," hell. I have seen drunk morons wearing every jersey in the NFL, and posting on behalf of every NFL fan base. There are better and worse crowds, for my money, and from my point of view. But it usually devolves from any given team's attitude toward being beaten. The Chargers whined about "class." The Colts, meh, they did their whining via the competition committee, and had rules changed to emphasize their advantages. The JEST fans complain about tactics their
own team used repeatedly (as did most teams)... and then their hand-picked commish backed them up on it.
Everybody has their "side" in the media story lines. Everybody sees the other guy's "side" as wrong. You are cast in the role of angry upstarts; we are cast in the role of arrogant world-beating juggernaut.
The NFL's ability to fix the games to fit the story lines is much less than professional wrestling's custom of fixing the matches. Otherwise, it's the same basic premise -- entertainment. They feed us stories involving our teams. There are two sides. Pats fans take the Pats' side. Jets fans take the Jets' side.
The Jets' side has to be the complaining, whining, dispossessed ****y side, by virtue of the niche they currently occupy.
The Pats' side has to be, from your point of view, the arrogant rat-bastard cant-be-beat has-all-the-advantages insufferable jerk side.
And the Sports media feed these stories. You are encouraged to see us as giants (no pun intended) walking the earth, Gods among men, mythologized legends. If you beat us once in a regular season game, it's your super bowl. That sort of thing.
The psychological button they're pushing for you is one of rebellion against a suffocating, unjust, and heretofore unvanquishable authority. Why shouldn't we play into that?
Who's your daddy?
PFnV
