I usually enjoy Random Shots. But after reading yesterday, couldn't help but feel annoyed by yet ANOTHER member in the growing nation of Patriot haters and had to voice my opinion. It's bad enough the Monday Night Football broadcast was dedicated to rooting against the Patriots (wheeling Mercury Morris out of the asylum and Don Shula out of the home for the evening, voodoo dolls in hand), but now Footballguys own Joe Bryant seems to have joined in the hystrical masses, pitchfork and burning torch in hand, to decry my team. It seems that there is no intellect applied anymore when criticizing the Patriots, it's all emotional.
It started out somewhere in Week 3 when he asserted that the Patriots would not go undefeated (still feeling confident about that prediction Joe?) and has snowballed slowly into this week's acerbic not so random shots at the Pats. Here are some highlights:
Few games live up to expectations but the Washington - Buffalo game was as dramatic as everyone thought it would be following the death of Redskins safety Sean Taylor.
In one of the cooler things I've seen on a football field in a while, Washington opened the game on defense with just 10 players for the first play as a way to pay tribute to Taylor. Pretty moving.
I'm just glad they weren't playing New England as the fake kneel down - throw long to Randy Moss play probably wouldn't have gone over well there.
Okay, first of all, and this is a bit of a non-sequitur, but in my opinion, starting the game out with 10 guys on the field was incredibly stupid. These are professionals being paid tons of money in a sport in which each game and each play has signficance. But that's neither here nor there, was it really necessary to take a shot at the Patriots here? I get it, they are heartless, soulless heathens who would dance on the grave of their fellow man. Got it.
Here's another one:
New England only failed to cover by 16 points this week. That's better than last week...
So what's your point here Joe? What are you saying? Is this humor? Is this insightful in some way? No. Is it Patriot hating? Yes.
But wait...there's more!
The reality is that New England was busted for cheating this year. They were hit with unprecedented fines in addition to losing a first round draft selection next year. It was a very serious punishment for a very serious offense. Acknowledged cheating threatens the very thing the league holds most dear - the integrity of the game...
First of all, just wanted to say
But, it's highly debatable how serious an offense this was or how much it actually benefitted the Patriots when A) every team changes their defensive hand signals every week to prevent "espionage." and b) Every team in the league is bending the rules to gain an advantage.
Sure, Goodell had to appease the other team owners in the wake of this highly publicized violation and hit the Patriots with a meaningless fine and take away one of two first round draft picks, but in reality, the penalty really doesn't hurt the franchise.
It just brings me back to the point that this board has become infested with such irrational Patriot hating that I can't even read these opinions any more, and now, Footballguy #1 is contributing to the cacophony. It is a shame that human reaction to the success of others is usually envy/anger. And I'm tired of seeing it.
I'm from Boston and have had plenty of opportunities to be around the organization at corporate and charitable events and games. The Patriots are an organization that does things the right way. From the executive level management, to the players, to the administrative staff at Gillette. They are incredible contributors to the community, genuinely down to Earth and humble people that are extremely good to the fans. Moreover, they are a football team that stresses an unparalleled commitment to winning, personal sacrifice and teamwork.
If you can't at least appreciate the Patriots, you're just confused. In consideration of the above, after five years, I have unsubscribed from Random Shots and will not renew my membership to Footballguys.
It started out somewhere in Week 3 when he asserted that the Patriots would not go undefeated (still feeling confident about that prediction Joe?) and has snowballed slowly into this week's acerbic not so random shots at the Pats. Here are some highlights:
Few games live up to expectations but the Washington - Buffalo game was as dramatic as everyone thought it would be following the death of Redskins safety Sean Taylor.
In one of the cooler things I've seen on a football field in a while, Washington opened the game on defense with just 10 players for the first play as a way to pay tribute to Taylor. Pretty moving.
I'm just glad they weren't playing New England as the fake kneel down - throw long to Randy Moss play probably wouldn't have gone over well there.
Okay, first of all, and this is a bit of a non-sequitur, but in my opinion, starting the game out with 10 guys on the field was incredibly stupid. These are professionals being paid tons of money in a sport in which each game and each play has signficance. But that's neither here nor there, was it really necessary to take a shot at the Patriots here? I get it, they are heartless, soulless heathens who would dance on the grave of their fellow man. Got it.
Here's another one:
New England only failed to cover by 16 points this week. That's better than last week...
So what's your point here Joe? What are you saying? Is this humor? Is this insightful in some way? No. Is it Patriot hating? Yes.
But wait...there's more!
The reality is that New England was busted for cheating this year. They were hit with unprecedented fines in addition to losing a first round draft selection next year. It was a very serious punishment for a very serious offense. Acknowledged cheating threatens the very thing the league holds most dear - the integrity of the game...
First of all, just wanted to say
But, it's highly debatable how serious an offense this was or how much it actually benefitted the Patriots when A) every team changes their defensive hand signals every week to prevent "espionage." and b) Every team in the league is bending the rules to gain an advantage.Sure, Goodell had to appease the other team owners in the wake of this highly publicized violation and hit the Patriots with a meaningless fine and take away one of two first round draft picks, but in reality, the penalty really doesn't hurt the franchise.
It just brings me back to the point that this board has become infested with such irrational Patriot hating that I can't even read these opinions any more, and now, Footballguy #1 is contributing to the cacophony. It is a shame that human reaction to the success of others is usually envy/anger. And I'm tired of seeing it.
I'm from Boston and have had plenty of opportunities to be around the organization at corporate and charitable events and games. The Patriots are an organization that does things the right way. From the executive level management, to the players, to the administrative staff at Gillette. They are incredible contributors to the community, genuinely down to Earth and humble people that are extremely good to the fans. Moreover, they are a football team that stresses an unparalleled commitment to winning, personal sacrifice and teamwork.
If you can't at least appreciate the Patriots, you're just confused. In consideration of the above, after five years, I have unsubscribed from Random Shots and will not renew my membership to Footballguys.
But, it's highly debatable how serious an offense this was or how much it actually benefitted the Patriots when A) every team changes their defensive hand signals every week to prevent "espionage." and b) Every team in the league is bending the rules to gain an advantage.
antywaste:
