Continuity Under Kraft

[Huckleberry1]

He's no longer here...banned long ago by folks who didn't understand his fandom genius, but the legend of NEM will live forever.

Mrs. NEM may have been the greatest comeback effort of all time.

 

[tasmlab]

Out of 32 teams, only 6 are playing in the same stadium the year Kraft took over the team

With the Pats not being one of them, but the parking lot is the same I think.

 

[RobertWeathers]

With the Pats not being one of them, but the parking lot is the same I think.

Yep!

Yes parts of the old parking lot are there but repaved on the movie theater side

 

[Chevy]

With the Pats not being one of them, but the parking lot is the same I think.

As much as I was / am impressed with the new stadium / metropolis, the old days of the dirt parking lot, set up your grill wherever you want, and grill after the game while the traffic sorted itself out are truly missed by me.

 

[tasmlab]

As much as I was / am impressed with the new stadium / metropolis, the old days of the dirt parking lot, set up your grill wherever you want, and grill after the game while the traffic sorted itself out are truly missed by me.

That sounds heavenly. I wish I was doing that now.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

A tremendous 3 coaches ... quite amazing.

Bob Kraft bought & kept the stadium lease; overpaid to buy the team; leveraged a Hartford deal to secure enough support to build a new stadium; and hired Bill Belichick.

Impressive. But if he's the best owner, that says much more about ownership in the league than it does about him.

He's done more than other owners...but...

He thinks Drew Bledsoe belongs in the same conversation with Bobby Orr, Bill Russell and Ted Williams...

He recently commented on the Butler benching by saying managerial decisions under him are acceptable if they are done "with the right intentions". That's okay...but what about decisions that are horribly wrong that can still be corrected?

Kraft clearly considers his relationships with Goodell and the flying elvis, to name two, to be nothing less than marriages...and divorce is not in his vocabulary.

He personally stated that he prefers our old logo but the team has looked like this his entire ownership.

He absolves Goodell for any responsibility for decisions that were made by Goodell, and Goodell alone, blaming pressure from other owners and "jealousy and envy" which maybe might have made sense after winning a third title in 2005, but is ridiculous if attempting to explain the bias against his team the previous thirty-five years.


So, "continuity" is a double-edged sword in Kraft's case.

After seven months of unprecedented libel and slander with his team raked over the coals, dragged through the mud and levied an unfair competitive disadvantage, not to mention having a perfect season stolen by officials with whistles caught inside their throats:

Kraft, Belichick apologize for Spygate

Exactly ten years ago today.

 

[mgteich]

Since you seem to need a better team and ownership, I was going to suggest another team. Except for one thing, this team and ownership is by far the best situation in the NFL, perhaps in NFL history.

So, rather than suggestion a new team, I suggest another sport. Perhaps that way you won't be so disappointed.

Bob Kraft bought & kept the stadium lease; overpaid to buy the team; leveraged a Hartford deal to secure enough support to build a new stadium; and hired Bill Belichick.

Impressive. But if he's the best owner, that says much more about ownership in the league than it does about him.

He's done more than other owners...but...

He thinks Drew Bledsoe belongs in the same conversation with Bobby Orr, Bill Russell and Ted Williams...

He recently commented on the Butler benching by saying managerial decisions under him are acceptable if they are done "with the right intentions". That's okay...but what about decisions that are horribly wrong that can still be corrected?

Kraft clearly considers his relationships with Goodell and the flying elvis, to name two, to be nothing less than marriages...and divorce is not in his vocabulary.

He personally stated that he prefers our old logo but the team has looked like this his entire ownership.

He absolves Goodell for any responsibility for decisions that were made by Goodell, and Goodell alone, blaming pressure from other owners and "jealousy and envy" which maybe might have made sense after winning a third title in 2005, but is ridiculous if attempting to explain the bias against his team the previous thirty-five years.


So, "continuity" is a double-edged sword in Kraft's case.

After seven months of unprecedented libel and slander with his team raked over the coals, dragged through the mud and levied an unfair competitive disadvantage, not to mention having a perfect season stolen by officials with whistles caught inside their throats:

Kraft, Belichick apologize for Spygate

Exactly ten years ago today.

 

[flasox27]

Since you seem to need a better team and ownership, I was going to suggest another team. Except for one thing, this team and ownership is by far the best situation in the NFL, perhaps in NFL history.

So, rather than suggestion a new team, I suggest another sport. Perhaps that way you won't be so disappointed.

Apparently you believe that Kraft is infallible and his cravenly submissive behavior towards the POS commissioner is acceptable even though the reputation of the team was destroyed. I wonder how much better the team's record would have been if Kraft didn't offer up the draft picks to placate his beloved partners.

 

[mgteich]

Apparently you believe that Kraft is infallible and his cravenly submissive behavior towards the POS commissioner is acceptable even though the reputation of the team was destroyed. I wonder how much better the team's record would have been if Kraft didn't offer up the draft picks to placate his beloved partners.

I wonder what our record would be if Kraft were an average or above average owner.

No, Kraft isn't infallible. Neither is Bill. And, neither is Brady. However, Kraft doesn't need to answer to you. He has done more than enough to get the benefit of the doubt on any of his decisions for as long a he runs the team.

Kraft has given us the best ride imaginable in the history of the NFL. And yes, this is especially sweet for those of us who remember when we played the last game to see who would get the first draft choice.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Apparently you believe that Kraft is infallible and his cravenly submissive behavior towards the POS commissioner is acceptable even though the reputation of the team was destroyed. I wonder how much better the team's record would have been if Kraft didn't offer up the draft picks to placate his beloved partners.

Kraft has stated his disdain for and resentment of the original owner. Despite the much trumpeted fact that his family were season ticket holders, it's very hard to imagine him among all the rest of Pats fandom in the stadium booing the hell out of our logo's proposed replacement/impostor in 1979.

Further, he is apparently oblivious to modern professional football history in the sixties, when the NFL was clearly exposed as corrupt, racist, manipulative and dominated by avarice. The Patriots are original members of the rival AFL, which was singly devoted to playing entertaining football and offering fair, if not lucrative, opportunities for young athletes to compete professionally. Mr. Rozelle orchestrated the deal that completely let the NFL owners off the hook for their criminal behavior, setting the foundation for their descendants which we have today.

Kraft really, honestly respects and looks up to Orthwein, Tagliabue, Goodell, and all the others from ownership to fandom who've had nothing but consistent hatred, contempt and bias against the New England Patriots since that 1970 merger. Yes, Sullivan's own poor decisions, along with local media bias which ran amok in the 1980's as the financial house of cards prepared to collapse, helped people, including Kraft, buy into the propaganda.

Kraft stated his commitment to bringing a world championship to New England, and he succeeded. He deserves credit for that.

But Sullivan did hire Fairbanks, and was the owner of the first Super Bowl winner in New England, but for Ben Dreith.

And Sullivan definitely understood and respected the team's fandom. I meet people every day of my life here in Massachusetts, of all ages and genders, at my work, among friends and acquaintances, shopping, and on the street who wear and clearly state their preference for our original logo which adorned our helmets from 1961-1992, the dawn and coming of age of both modern pro football and the New England Patriots.

Kraft is a total doormat and milquetoast who acquiesces to wholly unwarranted and undeserved denigration and public disparagement and abuse from the loud majority speaking for ignorant, stupid opponents and the league. The disingenuous protestations to the latest stolen draft pick/fake scandal/defamation/civil rights-violating suspension on the team website is pitiful.

Boiling it down, Bob Kraft is incapable of seeing, admitting and acknowledging he's made a mistake. Even is it's partially excusable. I don't necessarily think it's his fault that CMGI Field had to be hastily changed to Gillette Stadium just in time for its opening...but he DID execute the change. Just as he's switched playing surfaces, in the midst of a season, not once but twice.

I know that Kraft is financially in bed with the league, and Goodell, contractually beyond the general public's knowledge, and he obviously considers the blind support of stupid, fly-by-night fair weather fans as the important and impactful demographic, as opposed to lifelong supporters of the team since its inception.

But the main point is that he is always right. No matter what. As he says, "I'm the boss." And his personal resentment of Billy Sullivan is his major agenda.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I wonder what our record would be if Kraft were an average or above average owner.

Exactly what it is today.

Kraft doesn't need to answer to you.

Or any other Patriots fan.

No, Kraft isn't infallible. Neither is Bill. And, neither is Brady. He has done more than enough to get the benefit of the doubt on any of his decisions for as long a he runs the team.

It's convenient to lump the three of them together-the media does it all the time. Kraft certainly hasn't screwed it up.

Kraft has given us the best ride imaginable in the history of the NFL.

Fans in Green Bay, San Francisco, Dallas and Pittsburgh, to name a few, don't have to imagine their teams they rooted for since the early sixties out there on the field winning titles in front of a world-wide audience...or having ownership that backs up its players and coaches.

And yes, this is especially sweet for those of us who remember when we played the last game to see who would get the first draft choice.

That year (1981) was the only losing record in a stretch of 13 Patriots seasons...