monosylab1k
01-31-2008, 08:12 PM
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7742260?MSNHPHMA
PHOENIX - Let's begin by stating the obvious: Any disdain directed at the New England Patriots is born out of pure jealousy.
Yeah, Bill Belichick skirted the rules for a time and videotaped his opponents. And, yeah, the obscure "tuck" rule stole a Super Bowl appearance from the Raiders and fueled the early stages of the New England dynasty. And, for a while this season, the Patriots did take great delight in blasting their opponents well into the fourth quarter.
Sorry, those are not reasons to hate the Patriots. Neither is Belichick's gruff demeanor or rude post-game behavior with opposing coaches or intentionally stale comments to the media.
The Patriots are the perfect sports team. You cannot find a flaw or a legitimate reason to dislike them. They're not the Yankees, who simply outspend the opposition and pretend to have a strategic superiority.
Nope, if anything, the Patriots are Tiger Woods, everything we say we want in a champion. They're the ideal blend of talent, confidence, humility, hard work, intelligence and willingness to share the spotlight. They're what we all want our teams to be. We might as well admit it. Their success can only help our teams.
So why do so many people want to see the Giants upset the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII?
Well, that's not that difficult a question. Everyone loves the underdog, and most people get tired of seeing the same team win all the time. But there's also the issue of jealousy. I guess, you can be too perfect. That is the Patriots' sin. That sin should not make us overlook the potential blessing in store for the rest of us.
Tuesday afternoon during Super Bowl Media Day I listened for nearly an hour as reporters picked at Belichick's front-office partner, Scott Pioli, the club's vice president of player personnel, trying desperately to understand what makes the Patriots better than everyone else.
Pioli described a philosophy and approach that every sports fan says he wants his team to adopt. Pioli talked about not being a slave to numbers -- "forty" times, height and weight, vertical jump -- and selecting players with the proper character capable of accepting direction and coaching. Pioli talked about assembling a nucleus of players with the intellect to see the big picture and grasp what all it takes to win on a consistent basis.
The Patriots, if you believe Pioli, stress attitude over physical gifts. A player with the right attitude is more apt to adhere to Belichick's schemes and discipline.
In an era when sports fans believe athletes play the game for money -- not love -- the Patriots are a rare throwback. Star quarterback Tom Brady has never forced the Pats to pay him Peyton Manning-type money because Brady wants his team to have the salary-cap room to lock up a strong supporting cast. Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau, in pursuit of a ring, is willing to play for peanuts.
Belichick and Pioli selected a few key veterans -- Brady, Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, Richard Seymour -- and gave them ownership in the direction and locker-room culture of the club. Those players created an environment of personal responsibility and accountability that allows guys such as Randy Moss and Corey Dillon to come to New England and mature as players and men.
Rather than root against the Patriots, we should be rooting for the Patriots. They symbolize what we say we want in a professional sports team. Their continued dominance of the NFL gives us our best chance of restoring integrity and common sense to professional sports.
OK, I know that sounds comical to some of you, the ones who believe Belichick committed some sort of federal offense by taping Eric Mangini's defensive signals. I don't happen to view that as some sort of defining ethical lapse. The Patriots are not football's greatest dynasty because Belichick stole signals.
They're the best organization the NFL has ever seen because Belichick and Pioli are among just a handful of coaches and executives in the free-agency era willing to stick with their fundamental beliefs about what it takes to build a winning team.
Nearly everyone else bends and makes exception for talent.
Oh, it's easy for Belichick and Pioli to make tough decisions. They're playing with house money. They can cut loose their declining star players without raising an eyebrow. They don't have to put up with any player who refuses to conform.
It's a copy-cat league. You'll see more teams adopt the Patriots approach. If you're a Bengals fan and would like to see Marvin Lewis get rid of locker-room cancer Chad Johnson, then you should root for New England on Sunday. Oh, Johnson is a good player. But it's hard to build a winner with Johnson, who demands a renegotiated contract several times a season. Johnson is similar to Moss. You add Johnson to a winning organization, give him strict guidelines to follow, define clearly what you will and won't tolerate and he'll set records.
If you're a Chiefs fan, you want the Patriots to win because it's just one more piece of proof that drafting and developing a franchise quarterback is the key to building a consistent winner.
If you're a fan of the Raiders, well, never mind, just continue to pray that Roger Goodell will one day give Al Davis the Pacman Jones treatment and suspend the Oakland owner for conduct detrimental to the league.
PHOENIX - Let's begin by stating the obvious: Any disdain directed at the New England Patriots is born out of pure jealousy.
Yeah, Bill Belichick skirted the rules for a time and videotaped his opponents. And, yeah, the obscure "tuck" rule stole a Super Bowl appearance from the Raiders and fueled the early stages of the New England dynasty. And, for a while this season, the Patriots did take great delight in blasting their opponents well into the fourth quarter.
Sorry, those are not reasons to hate the Patriots. Neither is Belichick's gruff demeanor or rude post-game behavior with opposing coaches or intentionally stale comments to the media.
The Patriots are the perfect sports team. You cannot find a flaw or a legitimate reason to dislike them. They're not the Yankees, who simply outspend the opposition and pretend to have a strategic superiority.
Nope, if anything, the Patriots are Tiger Woods, everything we say we want in a champion. They're the ideal blend of talent, confidence, humility, hard work, intelligence and willingness to share the spotlight. They're what we all want our teams to be. We might as well admit it. Their success can only help our teams.
So why do so many people want to see the Giants upset the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII?
Well, that's not that difficult a question. Everyone loves the underdog, and most people get tired of seeing the same team win all the time. But there's also the issue of jealousy. I guess, you can be too perfect. That is the Patriots' sin. That sin should not make us overlook the potential blessing in store for the rest of us.
Tuesday afternoon during Super Bowl Media Day I listened for nearly an hour as reporters picked at Belichick's front-office partner, Scott Pioli, the club's vice president of player personnel, trying desperately to understand what makes the Patriots better than everyone else.
Pioli described a philosophy and approach that every sports fan says he wants his team to adopt. Pioli talked about not being a slave to numbers -- "forty" times, height and weight, vertical jump -- and selecting players with the proper character capable of accepting direction and coaching. Pioli talked about assembling a nucleus of players with the intellect to see the big picture and grasp what all it takes to win on a consistent basis.
The Patriots, if you believe Pioli, stress attitude over physical gifts. A player with the right attitude is more apt to adhere to Belichick's schemes and discipline.
In an era when sports fans believe athletes play the game for money -- not love -- the Patriots are a rare throwback. Star quarterback Tom Brady has never forced the Pats to pay him Peyton Manning-type money because Brady wants his team to have the salary-cap room to lock up a strong supporting cast. Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau, in pursuit of a ring, is willing to play for peanuts.
Belichick and Pioli selected a few key veterans -- Brady, Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, Richard Seymour -- and gave them ownership in the direction and locker-room culture of the club. Those players created an environment of personal responsibility and accountability that allows guys such as Randy Moss and Corey Dillon to come to New England and mature as players and men.
Rather than root against the Patriots, we should be rooting for the Patriots. They symbolize what we say we want in a professional sports team. Their continued dominance of the NFL gives us our best chance of restoring integrity and common sense to professional sports.
OK, I know that sounds comical to some of you, the ones who believe Belichick committed some sort of federal offense by taping Eric Mangini's defensive signals. I don't happen to view that as some sort of defining ethical lapse. The Patriots are not football's greatest dynasty because Belichick stole signals.
They're the best organization the NFL has ever seen because Belichick and Pioli are among just a handful of coaches and executives in the free-agency era willing to stick with their fundamental beliefs about what it takes to build a winning team.
Nearly everyone else bends and makes exception for talent.
Oh, it's easy for Belichick and Pioli to make tough decisions. They're playing with house money. They can cut loose their declining star players without raising an eyebrow. They don't have to put up with any player who refuses to conform.
It's a copy-cat league. You'll see more teams adopt the Patriots approach. If you're a Bengals fan and would like to see Marvin Lewis get rid of locker-room cancer Chad Johnson, then you should root for New England on Sunday. Oh, Johnson is a good player. But it's hard to build a winner with Johnson, who demands a renegotiated contract several times a season. Johnson is similar to Moss. You add Johnson to a winning organization, give him strict guidelines to follow, define clearly what you will and won't tolerate and he'll set records.
If you're a Chiefs fan, you want the Patriots to win because it's just one more piece of proof that drafting and developing a franchise quarterback is the key to building a consistent winner.
If you're a fan of the Raiders, well, never mind, just continue to pray that Roger Goodell will one day give Al Davis the Pacman Jones treatment and suspend the Oakland owner for conduct detrimental to the league.