2015 NFL Thread - Lounge - Forums : Best Ever Albums

pearljammer13

Young Pilgrim

Gender: Male

Age: 38

Location: Massachusetts

ShaneSpear wrote:

I'll disagree with you as well. It's not even the most exciting final play in SB history. That goes to Rams/Titans.

That's close, but even though I'm biased I think the Butler interception was clearly better. I mean it seismically shifted the entire scope of this era. In a split second it went from Seahawks back to back Super Bowls and possibly the next dynasty and Patriots over the hill and coming up short yet again, to the Patriots back on top and Brady staking his claim as one of the two greatest QBs in history. It was just the weight of the moment, as it was greater even than just determining the Super Bowl champion of one year, it was an era defining moment. And then on top of that it was the sheer disbelief of pretty much everyone watching that they decided to throw the ball. But yes I certainly agree that Dyson coming up a yard short is top 2.

RepoMan

I think Rocky has a raised a really great point here - ALL sports fans can b obnoxious. 🤣

I don't blame , Rocky for coming at us New England fans so hard though. It really must suck not to have home court advantage in your very own stadium when the Red Sox come to town. I've often thought how annoying that must be. Especially since must of them will be acting like tourists.

Anyways a couple of points from a life-long, 46 year old Pats fan...

1. Brady cheated.
2. The denial was FAR worse than the cheating itself.
3. The CHEATING itself is being overblown as it was simple gamesmanship which has actually been celebrated throughout sports history.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/sport....html?_r=0

4. Considering recent events with the NFL and the optics of the situation, a 4 games was totally expected. Goodell really had no choice despite the fact that this was not on par imo with the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson offenses or PEDs.
5. Most importantly, I'm really disappointed in Tom Brady. Most likely, any edge gained from deflating the balls was largely mental or a placebo effect. Considering how Spygate has been hanging over New England's insanely impressive accomplishments this past decade it was just really, really stupid.
6. Pearljammer's over the top response to the trolls is completely understandable and points out how stupid and reckless Brady's actions were. New England fans had already been dealing with Spygate as the one word rebuttal to everything the Patriots had accomplished over the last twenty or so years. It was getting O-L-D. And now things are understandably going to get way worse.

BUT, as someone who's sidelined from real life for the most part, the pure ENTERTAINMENT value of all this is tremendous. This is a legendary scandal. New England Patriots of the the Belichick/Brady will be a legendary team that actually gains a lot personality and pop precisely because of these two scandals. It makes them incredibly interesting especially because neither the videotaping or the deflating balls probably helped out all that much. (Although the reduced fumble numbers are quite compelling.)

The Patriots are going to make the next year in sports stories very interesting. I hope I get to see how this all turns out.

Peace.

RockyRaccoon

Is it solipsistic in here or is it just me?

Gender: Male

Age: 35

Location: Maryland

Moderator

In case this is a misconception about my opinions on the Pats, I don't believe that deflategate or spygate are the sole reasons that the Patriots have been successful. I know that Belichick and Brady are both some of the best the NFL has seen at the coaching and quarterback position. I also know that the reason the Pats have won the super bowls they've one is because of how good both Belichick and Brady (among many others) are. I mean, Belichick brought the Patriots back from a horrible start to winning the super bowl, that's just downright impressive.
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ShaneSpear

Thread Killah

Moderator

RockyRaccoon wrote:

I mean, Belichick brought the Patriots back from a horrible start to winning the super bowl, that's just downright impressive.

2-2, with the two losses being to the Dolphins and the Chiefs, is hardly a horrible start.

sp4cetiger

Quote:

The CHEATING itself is being overblown as it was simple gamesmanship which has actually been celebrated throughout sports history.

I hear the word "gamesmanship" thrown around a lot in on-field sports scandals and I've always wondered how it's supposed to be distinguished from cheating. Wikipedia has the following:

Wikipedia wrote:

Gamesmanship is the use of dubious (although not technically illegal) methods to win or gain a serious advantage in a game or sport.

If that's what's meant by that word, then people misuse it a lot. It certainly doesn't apply here, though you could argue it does apply to that controversial line-up the Pats used against the Ravens last year.

I do agree, though, that lying and dragging it out is worse than the actual crime in this case.

pearljammer13

Young Pilgrim

Gender: Male

Age: 38

Location: Massachusetts

ShaneSpear wrote:

2-2, with the two losses being to the Dolphins and the Chiefs, is hardly a horrible start.

Don't forget though, they got embarrassed by a mediocre Chiefs team on national TV, and the following week there was constant talk around here about a quarterback controversy, which was the biggest joke ever. That's how reactionary some of us nuts up here get over sports. I've been Brady or die since 2001 and will be until he decides to hang it up.

Repo- I agree with a lot of what you said, but I don't get how you can so readily conclude that Brady cheated. There is absolutely zero evidence anywhere that Brady ever ordered or knew about someone taking air out of footballs after inspection (if that even occurred). From everything I've read, it's as likely as anything that he simply told his staff at some point that he wants the footballs at the lowest end of the allowable pressure, and that's that.

Sorry, I don't want to get bogged down in this again, but i'll die defending my hero, even if it is to a fellow Patriots fan. It's true I'm a fanboy, but I think it's crazy that people have condemned him as a cheater with no evidence of Brady having knowledge of illegal activity.

RepoMan

pearljammer13 wrote:

Repo- I agree with a lot of what you said, but I don't get how you can so readily conclude that Brady cheated. There is absolutely zero evidence anywhere that Brady ever ordered or knew about someone taking air out of footballs after inspection (if that even occurred). From everything I've read, it's as likely as anything that he simply told his staff at some point that he wants the footballs at the lowest end of the allowable pressure, and that's that.

Sorry, I don't want to get bogged down in this again, but i'll die defending my hero, even if it is to a fellow Patriots fan. It's true I'm a fanboy, but I think it's crazy that people have condemned him as a cheater with no evidence of Brady having knowledge of illegal activity.

I really, really, really hope you're right, PJ!!! Regardless, this is going to be one hell of a season. Go Pats!!!

Saoirse

I just want to put in a captain-obvious note in that I think we glorify these players and organizations beyond all reasonable extremes. They get parades when they win a fucking sports contest. We never give parades for the first-responders or firefighters who are the best at their job and actually save lives. Who get payed at best a one a penny for every dollar these players make. I mean the sports star all have amazing talent and do something only few can, but in the end of the day it is entertainment, while yes it's always great to have someone to look up to, I don't put them on the same plateau as people who routinely have to make life or death decisions every day. Treating Tom Brady like he's some martyr is ridiculous- he's getting four games suspending largely for not cooperating with a scandal investigation, which is chickenfeed. An NFL trial is nothing compared to people have had to face real sham-trials for simply stating their beliefs. I donno Im going off on tangents but it's news like this that make this absolute glorification of sports accomplishments, and hyperbole of at-the-end-of-the-day rather minor real-world problems, rather ridiculous.

pearljammer13

Young Pilgrim

Gender: Male

Age: 38

Location: Massachusetts

Saoirse wrote:

I just want to put in a captain-obvious note in that I think we glorify these players and organizations beyond all reasonable extremes. They get parades when they win a fucking sports contest. We never give parades for the first-responders or firefighters who are the best at their job and actually save lives. Who get payed at best a one a penny for every dollar these players make. I mean the sports star all have amazing talent and do something only few can, but in the end of the day it is entertainment, while yes it's always great to have someone to look up to, I don't put them on the same plateau as people who routinely have to make life or death decisions every day. Treating Tom Brady like he's some martyr is ridiculous- he's getting four games suspending largely for not cooperating with a scandal investigation, which is chickenfeed. An NFL trial is nothing compared to people have had to face real sham-trials for simply stating their beliefs. I donno Im going off on tangents but it's news like this that make this absolute glorification of sports accomplishments, and hyperbole of at-the-end-of-the-day rather minor real-world problems, rather ridiculous.

It really is crazy when you sit and think about disproportionate importance some of us put on sports and athletes compared to true heroes. As you can see, I totally go off the rails when talking about sports, and the passion I have for the games (mostly football and hockey now) actually effects my life sometimes. After the Patriots lost those two Super Bowls in recent years, I felt depressed for at least a week after. And this past February after they won I was walking on air the next month, even though the snow up here had people ready to off themselves. My entire weekend is planned around the NFL during football season. Tom Brady and Patrice Bergeron are two of my idols when there are so many others who should be in their place.

This point was further emphasized yesterday while I was listening to talk radio. The subject went from possible deflated footballs to the death penalty being handed down to the Boston Marathon Bomber. Makes you realize how trivial sports are in the grand scheme.