New ENgland the Yankees of Football?

[eS El Duque]

By Bill Simmons
Page 2

After one of the greatest victories in Patriots history, after one of the defining Sundays of the Belichick-Brady Era, after an absolute roller-coaster ride of a win, after one of the more memorable they-had-absolutely-no-business-winning-that-thing games in recent memory, I turned the television off, pulled off an awkward high-five with my father and waited for the phone to ring.

And I waited.

And I waited.

Nothing. None of my friends called. My mom never called. None of my editors called. I even checked the ringer on our phone to make sure it was working. Yup. It was working. I jumped online and only two friends had sent along their congratulations (mainly because they had both wagered on the Pats). That was it. I briefly zoomed through reader e-mails and was shocked to see the same three themes over and and over again: either "You guys are so freaking lucky," "The Chargers freaking choked" or "Just kill me, now I have to sit through another freaking week of Pats-Colts hype."

At this point, I was starting to get bummed out. How could people not appreciate an undermanned, banged-up underdog that persevered simply by playing well together, by being well-coached and well-prepared, by pulling off all the Little Things and by believing in one another and steadfastly trusting they could pull out any close game? How could people not appreciate Troy Brown's supernatural strip of Marlon McCree (one of the greatest heads-up plays in Boston sports history), or Brady's slogging through a dog-crap game and having the balls to zing that ridiculously clutch throw to Reche Caldwell on the winning drive? How could they fail to be impressed that Belichick and the Pats knocked off a 16-1 team, a 16-2 team, a 15-3 team, a 14-2 team, a 14-3 team and a 14-4 team over the past five Januarys?


Then I realized something horrible.

Wait a second ... am I rooting for the football version of the Yankees?

I felt like Steve Martin realizing he was white in "The Jerk." And the thing is, I could see this coming for three years. People expect the Patriots to pull out close games. They're bored of watching it happen. They're tired of Patriots players and fans playing the "nobody believed in us" card. They're tired of writers and talking heads breaking out the popsicles for Brady and Belichick every January. It's becoming a formula -- nobody thinks the Pats can pull it off, the odds are impossible, MY GOD THEY DID IT AGAIN! -- which is unfortunate because formulas become boring pretty quickly.

Still, if the Pats really have turned into the football Yankees, then everyone outside of New England believes that ...

A. Rooting for the Patriots is like rooting for the house in blackjack.

B. An entire generation of fledgling NFL fans is being raised to root against them as we speak.

Just writing those last two sentences gave me the Manning Face. How could this be? How did we get here?

Like every other Boston fan, I grew up hating the Yankees, Canadiens, Steelers and Cowboys. My teams always lost, those teams always won, and I despised them with every fiber in my body. When our luck changed and the Celtics started competing for NBA titles again -- even winning three -- America never galvanized against them because Bird was so popular. Only recently did everyone come to loathe one of my teams: the post-2004 Red Sox, with the oversaturation of the "We finally did it!" angle. And I can't blame them. Looking back, everything after October '04 spiralled out of control faster than the street brawl in "Anchorman." The celebration carried on too long, too much was written (yes, I include myself), too many people had too much to say, bandwagon fans oozed out of the woodwork, and by the time everything was said and done, I think Curt Schilling killed a guy.

So yes, I can see how America turned on the Sox. But the Patriots??? I keep thinking of the scene in "Godfather: Part II" when Michael's sister urges him to forgive Fredo and calls Fredo "sweet and helpless." Umm, that was the Patriots! For like 40 years! As I have detailed in the past, they were always the undisputed black sheep of the Boston sports scene. At no point from 1960 to 2001 did any Patriots fan EVER think to himself, "Some day, this will all be worth it ... we're going to hire the best coach alive, find the best big-game QB alive, win three Super Bowls, become known as 'the team that just keeps winning,' break the hearts of fans across the league and, eventually, we'll turn into first-class villains and everyone will hate us and complain that we won't go away." That never happened. We were more worried that the Patriots would actually go away, that they'd bolt for another city (like L.A. or St. Louis) and never come back.

Now we're on six years of football euphoria. And I get the part where the outside world is ready for another team, because that's the way our society works now: We embrace something new, digest it, beat it into the ground and move on to something else. One minute, "Borat" is the greatest comedy of all-time; the next minute, it's overrated. One minute, everyone loves "Lost"; the next minute, we're wondering if it jumped the shark. One minute, everyone loves The Killers; the next minute, they're self-important sellouts. It's the Everything Sucks Era. We spend an inordinate amount of time bitching about everyone else. Nobody's good, nobody's worthwhile and everybody needs to go away. That's the prevailing theme. And after their third Super Bowl victory, the Patriots entered the "all right, you guys can go away now, you've ceased to be interesting" stage of their run, where we've been stuck for the past two seasons. I'm sure the players and coaches don't care, but for the fans, it's been bittersweet and even a little discouraging. If you can't appreciate THIS team, even as an impartial observer, what does that say about the future of sports?


The rest at http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070119

[Sanford - V. President of the Dangerous Crew Movement]

new englands payroll is not 100000000000000000000000000000000 times more than most of the teams in the NFL.

[Sparegeez]

Nope. They're just the New England Patriots.

[eS El Duque]

new englands payroll is not 100000000000000000000000000000000 times more than most of the teams in the NFL.

i think you didn't read any of it

[I Am The Anton]

new englands payroll is not 100000000000000000000000000000000 times more than most of the teams in the NFL.

Might wanna actually read it first.....

["THE" MoSav]

thats one of the realest things ever wrote..
Its funny that he said wrote this because before the game all my freinds were telling me they were rooting for the Colts because they were sick of the pats and blah blah blah...And i asked them to look at the situation and tell me how they could Hate a team Like the Pats..none of them had good answers, it befuddles me how people can hate on a team like the Pats

[Shallow]

thats one of the realest things ever wrote..
Its funny that he said wrote this because before the game all my freinds were telling me they were rooting for the Colts because they were sick of the pats and blah blah blah...And i asked them to look at the situation and tell me how they could Hate a team Like the Pats..none of them had good answers, it befuddles me how people can hate on a team like the Pats

It's hard to hate the Pats but easy to hate Brady. He's Mr. Hollywood and he gets exponentionally more praise than anyone else on that team. His commercials never have anything to do Football. H ealso sounded like a baby during the press conference. I'd understand it if he had never won, but after 3 Superbowl rings and Peyton finally getting trough you you'd think he could give a little blessing and be glad to be part of such a great and historic game. If Manning had won 3 with the colts and the Pats had finally won I'd be good for Brady and have rooted for him.

[Primo]

LMAO at talking bout Bradys commercials. You can't watch TV without seeing Manning in 4 commercials.

[Shallow]

LMAO at talking bout Bradys commercials. You can't watch TV without seeing Manning in 4 commercials.

"His commercials never have anything to do with Football".


That's what I said. Every Manning commericial uses the game of Football to sell the product. It sells the product, the game of football and Manning at the same time. I was saying that Brady's commercials are about his "good looks" and I was pecifically thinking of his new one about cologne or whatever it's about.

[J$crILLa]

thats one of the realest things ever wrote..
Its funny that he said wrote this because before the game all my freinds were telling me they were rooting for the Colts because they were sick of the pats and blah blah blah...And i asked them to look at the situation and tell me how they could Hate a team Like the Pats..none of them had good answers, it befuddles me how people can hate on a team like the Pats

see i hate the pats and the colts... but i rooted for NE, cuz i really fuckin hate manning. period

[Don Jacob]

thats one of the realest things ever wrote..
Its funny that he said wrote this because before the game all my freinds were telling me they were rooting for the Colts because they were sick of the pats and blah blah blah...And i asked them to look at the situation and tell me how they could Hate a team Like the Pats..none of them had good answers, it befuddles me how people can hate on a team like the Pats

i hate the pats because of that charles woodson play a few years ago......if that call goes the raiders' favor, the raiders are in the superbowl

[Sanford - V. President of the Dangerous Crew Movement]

new englands payroll is not 100000000000000000000000000000000 times more than most of the teams in the NFL.

i think you didn't read any of it

new englands payroll is not 100000000000000000000000000000000 times more than most of the teams in the NFL.

Might wanna actually read it first.....

 ....

my fault fellas.   

[Shallow]

thats one of the realest things ever wrote..
Its funny that he said wrote this because before the game all my freinds were telling me they were rooting for the Colts because they were sick of the pats and blah blah blah...And i asked them to look at the situation and tell me how they could Hate a team Like the Pats..none of them had good answers, it befuddles me how people can hate on a team like the Pats

see i hate the pats and the colts... but i rooted for NE, cuz i really fuckin hate manning. period

You got something against talent?

I may hate the praise Brady gets but I don't actually hate him as a player (and obviously not as a person since I don't know him). He's a great QB, I just don't think he's the greatest playing right now because I think Peyton is, but I have no problem with anyone saying Brady is number 2.

Why do you hate Manning?

["THE" MoSav]

thats one of the realest things ever wrote..
Its funny that he said wrote this because before the game all my freinds were telling me they were rooting for the Colts because they were sick of the pats and blah blah blah...And i asked them to look at the situation and tell me how they could Hate a team Like the Pats..none of them had good answers, it befuddles me how people can hate on a team like the Pats

see i hate the pats and the colts... but i rooted for NE, cuz i really fuckin hate manning. period

You got something against talent?

I may hate the praise Brady gets but I don't actually hate him as a player (and obviously not as a person since I don't know him). He's a great QB, I just don't think he's the greatest playing right now because I think Peyton is, but I have no problem with anyone saying Brady is number 2.

Why do you hate Manning?

You shouldnt have a problem with anyone saying Brady is #1, just like you shouldnt have a problem with anyone saying Manning is #1, Shit this year IMO Brees was the best...

[Shallow]

thats one of the realest things ever wrote..
Its funny that he said wrote this because before the game all my freinds were telling me they were rooting for the Colts because they were sick of the pats and blah blah blah...And i asked them to look at the situation and tell me how they could Hate a team Like the Pats..none of them had good answers, it befuddles me how people can hate on a team like the Pats

see i hate the pats and the colts... but i rooted for NE, cuz i really fuckin hate manning. period

You got something against talent?

I may hate the praise Brady gets but I don't actually hate him as a player (and obviously not as a person since I don't know him). He's a great QB, I just don't think he's the greatest playing right now because I think Peyton is, but I have no problem with anyone saying Brady is number 2.

Why do you hate Manning?

You shouldnt have a problem with anyone saying Brady is #1, just like you shouldnt have a problem with anyone saying Manning is #1, Shit this year IMO Brees was the best...

I do think Brees was the best this year. I think Manning is the best of the era. If I think Manning is better than Brady than why wouldn't I have a problem with people saying he's #1. I think both Favre and Young were better than Aikman in the previous era, and Kelly and Elway were just as good in my opinion, yet Aikman is the only one with 3 Superbowl rings. I'd have a problem with someone saying Aikman was the best of his era, just like I do when someone says Brady. I think Marino was the best QB of the era before that followed by Montana and Elway, because I think Montana would have been exposed as hell playing on Miami, and in the 1 Superbowl against eachother Miami couldn't run to save their lives and San Frans Defense was like a killing machine. I remember seeing a tape of that game and they just kept coming at Marino from all sides.