^there‘s the problem. The site has turned into a battleground among religious factions.
that view right there is intolerant of anyone who might take a balanced view and see both good and bad points about Bill, or Mac, or Kraft, or BOB.
there‘s no room for discussion, it’s all rhetoric and argument and rebuttal. Even in this thread Venecol’s responses such as when Ashley was still here come across as trying to win an argument not to discuss and reach an understanding. I’m not surprised that has driven Ken away from composing his insightful analyses.
there was some of that all along, with the Team Bill vs. Team Tom false dichotomy, but as long as the Team Patriots had wins to talk about there was room for those of us who really don’t subscribe to that false dichotomy. Now that the wins have gone away there’s not much room for positive discussion. And there are a limited number of ways to say BiLl MuSt Go! before it devolves to uninteresting noise.
i figure Ken is probably not here for the same reason I’m not here as much these days: there’s not much interesting here.
I agree with most of this, but I disagree that sucking doesn’t make them interesting. To me one of the least interesting seasons was 18-1, where I was turning games off at the half because they were blowing teams out so badly that it wasn’t interesting to watch. Whereas their early Dynasty years,, especially the 2001 and 2003 seasons, were as compelling as it gets. I felt the same way about 2014 season, and really wish the threads from that season could be reopened and discussed again, because half of this board quit on them completely, and wanted both Brady and Belichick, as well as most of the roster gone, but that season, ending with Butler’s interception was one of my favorite season’s of all time.
I guess the distinction I’m making here is between interesting, in terms of what they need to do to become a great franchise again, and watchable, which they aren’t, except in terms of figuring out who needs to stay and who needs to go. The product on the field simply sucks, period, There is just no way around that. . And Belichick, who deserves to share credit for their Dynasty years, gets the blame, as that’s what goes with wanting complete control of the franchise. And while I have always defended him for creating the greatest Dynasty in NFL history, I think he is responsible for them sucking, because like the Dynasty, he chose the coaches, he chose the players, and he is the one deciding who plays and who doesn’t, who stays and who goes, and their game plans every week.
At this point the only thing that matters is the future of the franchise. Not who deserves what, or who was right or wrong, but where do they go from here. And as far as this forum goes I think Ken is a valuable voice with valuable iinput, and I hope he comes around to looking at the team from that perspective, as opposed to the weekly autopsy on their play that day. My basic take on this is that Kraft should now do what Belichick has always claimed is his only priority, and do what’s best for the franchise, which is to take all personnel decisions away from Belichick, except who plays that week and who doesn’t. Belichick can argue with that and say that is not their deal, to which Kraft can give him the option of staying on as coach, or resigning. There are many here who want him fired, and that’s understandable, but my opinion is that he’s still a great coach, but his failure as GM over the past 4 years means it’s time for someone else, or others, to take on those responsibilities.
This season is done, clearly, so I’m doing something I haven’t done since the HughMillenating season and rooting for the first pick of the Draft. And although I’m generally a best player available guy I think this is the exception, They have the worst QB room in the league, and I am taking the best QB available, and if they dont get the one they want I would double up, trade up, and take another one with their second pick. They have to fix this problem or nothing else they do will matter, because you can’t win if your QB sucks.
So, to get back to the original topic, I’m glad to hear that Ken is apparently ok, even if he’s in a drunken stupor, and gambling away his life savings. And I hope he’s able to ignore the assholes, who were toxic when they were great, and are even more insufferable now. Ken has great football knowledge, and his input on who should stay and who should go is very valuable to this board. There’s no real need to dwell on the weekly X’s and O’s right now, the simple phrase “that sucked” pretty much covers it, but evaluating the coaches, units, and personnel, with the purpose of figuring out what decisions need to be made to get to where they want to go is a very interesting discussion, and one I’m sure Ken will want to be involved in. How you build a great team has always been the most interesting aspect of football for me, that’s why I have always loved the Draft. And this year I hope Ian decides to allow draft talk in the Patriots Forum, as that, as well as free agency, will be the most interesting topics going forward. I understand why he has kept it separated in the past, as it would interfere with the current season, but given that there is nothing constructive to discuss about this season right now, it might actually bring something positive to discuss in the coming months.
And Ken, I hope I kept that short enough for you?
