Worried about the defections? A lesson from ancient history

[ctpatsfan77]

And I mean ancient.

The Achaemenid Persian Immortals, usually referred to as the Persian Immortals or The Immortals were an elite force of Persian soldiers who performed the dual roles of both Imperial Guard and standing army during the Achaemenid Empire's expansion and during the Greco-Persian Wars. Herodotus describes the Immortals as being heavy infantry led by Hydarnes that were kept constantly at a strength of exactly 10,000 men (also written as the "Ten Thousand Immortals") — every killed, seriously wounded or sick member was immediately replaced with a new one, maintaining the cohesion of the unit.

The Belichick-era Patriots are, I would say, as close as any sports team has ever come to this ideal (minus the killing part, of course ).

When one player goes down, what's the message to his replacement? "DO YOUR JOB."

It's very simple, but very powerful, nevertheless. As but one example, the first few weeks after Brady was hurt, Cassel's job was not to lose games--and he did his job. As he became more comfortable, his job was to lead the team to victories, and he did.

So, while the Patriots may be suffering heavy casualties this week, remember--the Patriots are prepared, and the Patriots will continue to do their job: "consistently compete for championships."

* * *

Edit--it just occurred to me: the Chiefs have Pioli, and the Donk--er, Broncos have McDaniels. San Diego must be thrilled.

 

[AzPatsFan]

And I mean ancient.

Edit--it just occurred to me: the Chiefs have Pioli, and the Donk--er, Broncos have McDaniels. San Diego must be thrilled.

I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Norv Turner and AJ are out; Shanahan is in over in Lightening Bolt land.

 

[Krugman]

Interesting. Re the BB speech prior to one of the superbowl games where he instructs each member to"do your job",I saw a clip on NFL network the other day,caught it while channel surfing so I dont have the details,a Cardinals coach is exhorting his players with a very similiar speech ,he uses the same BB phrase.This was before the Panthers game.I dont think it was Wisenhunt,the head coach.In any event this guy had obviously watched that Patriots Superbowl DVD ,he knew the essence of that speech...if anyone else saw the whole thing ,please fill in the details or correct me...

 

[NEGoldenAge]

Interesting. Re the BB speech prior to one of the superbowl games where he instructs each member to"do your job",I saw a clip on NFL network the other day,caught it while channel surfing so I dont have the details,a Cardinals coach is exhorting his players with a very similiar speech ,he uses the same BB phrase.This was before the Panthers game.I dont think it was Wisenhunt,the head coach.In any event this guy had obviously watched that Patriots Superbowl DVD ,he knew the essence of that speech...if anyone else saw the whole thing ,please fill in the details or correct me...

I saw. I thought to myself "I know where that comes from".