Question for Those Who Don't Care About a Perfect Season...

[aluminum seats]

This question isn't meant in a hostile way, I'm really just curious. I've seen folks here periodically mention that they don't care about/don't feel that a perfect season really matters, etc. My question is: why does a Super Bowl matter then? I mean, if you think about it, none of this stuff really "matters," right? Plenty of people don't follow sports at all.

For those of us that do, though, something like your team winning Super Bowl is kind of a big deal. You feel joy, vindication...."your" team won something permanent, and lasting. But if that matters, doesn't something as amazing and historic as a perfect season matter too? Or really, matter more? SOME team HAS to win the championship every year, in every sport. It has to happen. No team has to be perfect, of course. In fact, some thought it might never happen again--and it still hasn't happened. But if it does, that's a big deal.

So to those who don't care--what's the distinction you're drawing? Note that I'm not asking this to those who say the pursuit of the perfect season might harm the Pats' chances of winning it all. If they don't win it all, by definition they won't be perfect. The question is directed to those who just don't think a perfect season matters: why not?

 

[oldskool138]

SOME team HAS to win the championship every year, in every sport. It has to happen.

Not necessarily. Labor disputes, lockouts and wars have prevented teams from winning championships every year the League is in existence.

 

[xmarkd400x]

I think I would fit the profile of who you are asking. I view the Super Bowl as paramount, and a 16-0 season as ancillary.

Here's the thing. I do care about a perfect season. I also realize that the quest to go undefeated could derail the team's Super Bowl chances. This could be done by playing a player they would otherwise rest (Ben Watson, ankle, perhaps). HFA is locked up. The Patriots need to do whatever gives them the best chance to win in January/February. If a 16-0 season happens to come, if records come, if the "best of all time" discussion comes, great. Don't forget how excited you were to watch an 11-5 team win the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is paramount.

 

[BionicPatriot]

I'll say this.

I want an undefeated season. Badly. If that happens, this Patriot team will never ever ever be forgotten. This franchise will be freaking immortalized from here on out no matter how bad they suck. Because look at the Dolphins, we always hear about the 72' Fins. Well this Pats team I bet would get even more hype. So that would just be a lot of fun.

On the other hand, think about it. You'd really be proud if we went 16-1? I wouldn't. I don't give a rats ass if they go undefeated. If they don't win the superbowl it was all a waste. The super bowl is everything. It's what makes history, it's what gives you bragging right. It's the big papa of them all. A super bowl is critical. To put it simply. I wont be as happy if we were 18-1 hosting the trophy as I would be if it was 19-0, but at the end of the day, you just won the freaking superbowl. The super bowl is the promised land, going undefeated as well is simply the honey moon.

 

[Keegs]

16-0 is worthless if the pats don't win the superbowl.

It immediately goes from a great achievement to a huge embarrassment. that is why

I don't understand how people don't get this. The superbowl win means everything, everything else is less important.

 

[richpats]

A better question for those who care more about the SB than 19-0:

If the Pats do go 19-0, will you buy a shirt to celebrate the feat?

 

[richpats]

I don't understand how people don't get this. The superbowl win means everything, everything else is less important.

So if the Pats are 15-0 after this week, do they go for 16-0 at the Meadowlands?

 

[BelizePats]

Here's my take. The Superbowl is the pinnacle of the sport and its a long and difficult journey just to get there, yet alone win it. You needs some breaks along the way and the team has to be incredibly focused on that one goal. And, during a season, there are many many distractions that that can shift focus away from that ultimate goal. To me, the perfect season is one of those things that can act as a distraction.
I could care less about the perfect season. The only benefit to it as that it shuts up all those idtiot players from Miami who constantly get refered to by the media jerks as the last undefeated teams lose each season. I hate Miami, hate Dan Marino, hate Don Shula and all the wankers from that 72 team that has been jammed down my throat for the last 30 years as the berometer for "greatness". Screw them!!!!
Home field advantage throughout the playoffs has been achieved so I'll leave it in the capable hands of BB as to how he handles the last two games.
Respects,

Rich

 

[aluminum seats]

I want to jump in here because I think the question is being misunderstood. (My bad, I'm sure, for not being clear.) By "perfect season" I'm referring to 19-0, not 16-0. That's why I said I'm not directing the question to those who are afraid the pressure of a perfect season might harm the Patriots' Super Bowl chances--because if they lose, both things are lost.

What I'm asking--what I've seen on this board more than once--is directed at those who have said they just don't think a perfect season really matters. I'm wondering how those people can think that, or why.

 

[Grizzafted]

Super Bowl - Perfect Season >>>>>>>>> Perfect Season - Super Bowl

There's really not much more to say than that. You wanna see someone dance around Foxboro? The Chargers...Colts...Steelers? No way bud.

 

[MetalBleachers]

In 2004 the Steelers were 15-1 and lost to the underdog Pats in the AFC Championship.
In 2005 the Steelers were the wild card team, won all their playoff road games and then the Super Bowl. Of course, 2005 is Pittsburgh's favorite season of the past 17 years because the won it. That's why the Pats going undefeated didn't matter (I say didn't because now that it's within reach they should go for it, to keep momentum and history on their side). The SB is key.

there's timing involved: if in September you predicted the Pats would have had at least 14 wins, you would have been happy, no? Well, now that seems like less than their best. Who knew?

 

[oldskool138]

You wanna see someone dance around Foxboro?

Yeah, the Pats cheerleaders!

 

[jarnhestur]

I'm pretty sure every Pats fan would love the 19-0 prize. What most of us fear is going 16-0 in the regular season and loosing in the playoffs. That to me, is the worst case scenario. Loosing in the playoffs is bad enough, but to have it commemorated with an undefeated regular season would be just awful.

That being said 19-0 is the ultimate. It would make this Patriot team the best ever and no one could ever legitimately argue otherwise. Plus, all the haters out there would have to live with it.

 

[wistahpatsfan]

Super Bowl - Perfect Season >>>>>>>>> Perfect Season - Super Bowl

There's really not much more to say than that. You wanna see someone dance around Foxboro? The Chargers...Colts...Steelers? No way bud.

This post made me throw up in my mouth just a tiny bit........

 

[aluminum seats]

I could care less about the perfect season. /QUOTE]

OK! This is what I'm talking about......why? If the Super Bowl is the reflection of all that hard work, etc., wouldn't a perfect season be that times 10? Why do you care about the Super Bowl if not 19-0?

 

[hughthehand]

I for one do not really give a hoot about the Perfect Regular Season.

Let me ask a question. If the Patriots lose to Miami or the Giants, and then go on to win the Superbowl, are people rooting for the pefrect season going to be dissapointed?

For me personally, I cannot possibly Imagine any Patriots Fan feeling dissapointed after winning The Super bowl.

If anyone tells me they are going to be disappointed because we won the Super Bowl, WON THE F!!CKING SUPERBOWL, but lost to the Giants, then my mind set and that persons mind set are so compeltey different, that there is no way in hell we are going to be able to understand each other's point of views.

 

[ClevTrev]

Let's put it this way, if the Pats win the next two regular season games, they'll need to go 19-0 to achieve their only important goal.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Because you have a shot at undefeated every season. Once a Superbowl run ends you can never get it back.

If this team goes 16-1, the season will be the single most disappointing/devastating blow in franchise history. If they go 17-2 and win the Superbowl, the championship will overshadow what might have been - at least for rational honest to god fans. Sure, the bandwaggoners will begin to kvetch, probably within minutes of the win, but that's because they are never really truly satisfied with anything this team does. Don't kid yourself, if they go 19-0 they will still find something or things to biatch about within 24 hours...

In fact if they go undefeated this year and win the Superbowl, the bandwaggoners will expect that to be the new gold standard, which will really suck here...

The goal for each NFL team and it's fans at the beginning of the season is winning the Lombardi. Anything else they manage to do individually or collectively is just gravy. Too many here are all caught up in fanboy bragging rights, and they have lost sight of what the goal is and who achieves that goal. It's the players, and they do it to win a championship as a team - we fans are just lucky to be along for the ride, and should be as humble as this team and grateful for all they have done and continue to do that makes us feel so special some of us have lost sight of the goal...

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

Put me in the camp that "doesn't care." But the answer to your question is that the superbowl is, artificial or not, the whole reason they play. You create a league, create rules, and figure out a way to say which one is best. Every team understands and gears itself to that goal. And that's the goal that we celebrate, because it means every team competed to do the same thing, and the team that did it can claim to be the best. So, if a team goes 10-6 in the regular season, but wins 4 in a row in January and February, it gets to be the best. You have beat the the other teams at the goal they all were trying to accomplish. That's it. You win. Hooray, banners, etc.

The way it's structured, the regular season is just a tool to get there -- we've accomplished everything we could have in the regular season. It now is irrelevant.

Now, what does it mean that I "don't care." It doesn't mean that I wouldn't celebrate it as an accomplishment, as one often does in sports. For example, I enjoy seeing David Ortiz win awards or lead the league in stats even if the Red Sox don't win the championship. But that's really all it is to me.

Here's an easy way to put it it. If we lose to the Giants but then win our next three, there is no part of me that will be disappointed. None. Zero. Zilch. That's what I mean by "don't care." Similarly, let's imagine a world where everything is cost/benefit. Assume that by doing something in the next two games that would significantly hurt our chances of winning, we could increase our chances of winning the superbowl. (Even just a tiny little bit -- let's say 1 percent.) Now, I don't know if this is the case or not, but I'd make that trade every day of the week. Put another way, if you told me that right now the patriots have a 50 percent chance to win the superbowl (don't jump on the number, it's just a hypothetical), but they could increase that chance to 51 percent by losing their next two games, I'd say, "deal."

I don't give a crap about 16-0 for the same reason that I scoff at those old Dolphins who think it means their 1972 team was better than all the others -- the 49ers, the cowboys, the Steelers, etc. It's laughable. The "best team of all time" is always going to be a matter of debate and opinion, and it's not necessarily going to be a 16-0 team. The only tangible thing that makes a difference in football and is not a matter of opinion is the championship. It's particularly laughable for us when you consider we're trying "win" two games that very well could be meaningless. The next game certainly is. The one after may or may not be depending on what the Giants are playing for.

 

[The Boston Patriot]

This question isn't meant in a hostile way, I'm really just curious. I've seen folks here periodically mention that they don't care about/don't feel that a perfect season really matters, etc. My question is: why does a Super Bowl matter then? I mean, if you think about it, none of this stuff really "matters," right? Plenty of people don't follow sports at all.

For those of us that do, though, something like your team winning Super Bowl is kind of a big deal. You feel joy, vindication...."your" team won something permanent, and lasting. But if that matters, doesn't something as amazing and historic as a perfect season matter too? Or really, matter more? SOME team HAS to win the championship every year, in every sport. It has to happen. No team has to be perfect, of course. In fact, some thought it might never happen again--and it still hasn't happened. But if it does, that's a big deal.

So to those who don't care--what's the distinction you're drawing? Note that I'm not asking this to those who say the pursuit of the perfect season might harm the Pats' chances of winning it all. If they don't win it all, by definition they won't be perfect. The question is directed to those who just don't think a perfect season matters: why not?

I have seen some gawd awful Pats teams on the field under some gawd awful
ownership. Whatever success they achieve is fine with me. I like
football. When they win I am happy, when the lose, I am sad. It's football, a
game. I have to get up and go to work regardless of what a bunch of
millionaires have done to each other on Sunday. I try to check my OCD at
the door when it comes to football and try to enjoy the game.