Cleverly-titled Response
So Dids apparently thinks that because it's the salary cap era, that makes winning three titles in four years and being labled a "dynasty" by the media somehow more impressive? Somehow being "very good" when everyone else is mediocre is "more impressive" than being "great" and beating "very good" teams? Not sure I see the logic there, chief.
You acknowledge that the fact that the one year they didn't win it, they didn't even make the playoffs might be one dent in their armor. I would argue to also look at what else has happened in the years of, and immediately surrounding, their 3 titles. Those three Super Bowls are squeezed around the two worst Super Bowls probably of all time. Terrible matchups featuring mediocre teams. And who are the Patriots beating, exactly? They "upset" a Rams team that barely beat a Philly team much weaker than this year's version; a Rams team that imploded into total mediocrity the very next season. Then they missed the playoffs entirely, and then they won by three against a Panthers team that went 7-9 both the year before AND the year after they went to the Super Bowl. Then they won by 3, again, against an Eagles team that most people agreed was severely flawed in places AND was playing with their best player at possibly 80%.
And in those three 3-point wins, Dids, you are correct that it took A.) Mike Martz stubbornly refusing to use Marshall Faulk, B.) John Kasay botching the kickoff out of bounds after the Panthers tied the game, and C.) a wheezing, puking McNabb having to throw to a wide receiver with pins and screws in his ankle, in order for them to win each game by 3. I would never say that the Patriots are "lucky," but they have an astounding streak going of having extraordinarily good fortune, and having few-to-no breaks go against them.
And don't give me any of this "they don't have any stars" bullshit. Tom Brady is Jesus at this point, and Bill Belichick is a bizarre amalgam of God, Moses, and Ben Stein. Tedy Bruschi is all over SportsCenter, as are Mike Vrabel, Rodney Harrison, and Willie McGinest. Corey Dillon is one of the best running backs in football. I agree that it's refreshing that they have no players running their mouths off week after week, but is that really a reason for annointing this team as fantastic, or for pulling out the bullshit "Hey, they're a TEAM, not individuals" sentiment? Just because Troy Aikman was having sex with men and Michael Irvin was trying to snort the 40-yd line doesn't mean the Cowboys were any less of a "team."
So what's the common denominator? Why is this team being celebrated like this? Becuase that's what the media wants. For some reason, the media loves to see one team winning all the time. They used to hide behind the bullshit assertion that they "like to see greatness," but I serioously doubt that is actually what we're seeing here in New England. Yes, they're better than everyone else right now. That's like saying "I'm one of the smartest men of all time because I'm the least-retarded retard in this room right now." Bullshit.
As for Boston College, I loathed them in the dreaded Troy Bell/Ryan Sidney days. But now I'm on board. They are, year-in and year-out, the most underrated program in college sports. Did you know that their game against Notre Dame the other night was their first non-regionally televised game of the season? 20-0 and they hadn't even been on national television yet. I tuned in hoping to see if they were still almost exclusively running the flex, because if they were, they would have become my new favorite team in the history of everything, ever. Sadly, Notre Dame zoned them up all game. But I was still delighted to see the ball being swung around the perimeter while big men constantly flashed to the high post. Good times.
Okay, I have class. Nips, where's your review of the T&T? I'm giddy waiting to hear!
posted by Jack @ 2/10/2005 11:24:00 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Okay, Jack asked for it. So have a look at my anal cyst.... of a soccer game.
But first, I agree with Todd on basically everything he has said about the whole Patriots "dynasty" thing. Therefore, he's correct.
Also, I refuse to comment on the OSU-MSU game. It was too Brandon Fuss-trating.
And a couple notes on BC: Lunardi's Bracketology has the Big East getting 7 NCAA bids, more than any other conference... and undefeated BC is #4?!?! Still, I miss Jeff Beer-Bomb, just another in a litany of great names in Big East basketball.
Now, on to the hexagonal....
USA vs. T & T Music Factory (With as many steel drums as the Tobaggons had in the stands, this is, say it with me: funny on exactly 2 levels.)
I was thinking about doing a S.O.C. for this, but even I can't write "holds it, Holds It, HOLDS IT!!!" 300 times in a row. So I guess this is kind of a half-assed, bastardized soccer S.O.C.
- I have to start with the stadium. T&T has a sorta famous stadium that holds something like 90,000 fans and creates a hell of an atmosphere. Too bad this game wasn't played there. It was played in some other stadium down the street that doesn't even qualify as a stadium really, and only holds 16,000. Its intended to hold either polo or cricket. I forget which. I can't adequately describe it, but I'd say it looked like a cross between old Cleveland Municipal Stadium and a Barbie Dream House.
- Being Ash Wednesday (end of Carnival), all the fans had to be hung over. And it was 91 degrees. Ouch.
- During the pregame interview I finally realized who Bruce Arena sounds like: Rupert from The Late Show w/ David Letterman.
TANGENT:
10 POLITE WAYS TO TELL SOMEONE HIS ZIPPER IS DOWN,
by David Letterman
10. The cucumber has left the salad.
9. Quasimodo needs to go back in the tower and tend to
his bells.
8. You need to bring your tray table to the upright
and locked position.
7. Paging Mr. Johnson... Paging Mr. Johnson..
6. Elvis is leaving the building.
5. The Buick is not all the way in the garage.
4. Our next guest is someone who needs no
introduction.
3. You've got a security breach at Los Pantalones.
2. Men may be From Mars.....but I can see something
that rhymes with Venus.
And the #1 way to tell someone his zipper is
unzipped..
1. I always knew you were crazy, but now I can see
your nuts.
Okay, a rundown of the goals:
- 30' : The unstoppable Eddie Johnson puts us up 1-0 with a gorgeous header off a perfect Cherundulo cross. Wow! Sure, both of those guys were wide open, but that's as good a cross/header combo as I've seen in a couple of years. Tons of pace on each.
- 54' : After some hot and hectic end-to-end action, Eddie Lewis rips a long shot from the d into the side netting. Eddie&Eddie 2 - T&T 0
-89' : Kasey Keller fucks up a low cross and the Tobaggons finally score on a VERY tired U.S. team. Keller had a phenomenal day until this boneheaded play. I won't hold it against him, though. A win is a win. And this one's big.
Other nonchronological thoughts:
- Apparently a soccer fan, Drew Carey was at the game.
- Once T&T put in Cornell Glen at forward in the second half, the 4 forwards on the field consisted of 2 current Dallas forwards and 2 former Columbus forwards (now both playing in England). So congratulations Dallas, the future is now! And congratulations Columbus, the future was then!
- Arm wrestling was on after the game. Gotta love ESPN2.
- At one point in the second half, they showed how far away the 2 commentators (JP Dellacamera and Marcelo Balboa) were from the field. I think it was in Florida.
- Right before the droppadeuce cut to the halftime commercial, they played a clip of Kasey Keller talking about playing on the road: "I've taken the odd half-eaten hot dog off the head!" That reminded me of that guy who asked Phil to go fry some hot dogs with him. I still can't believe Phil said no.
- Speaking of Keller, it's been a good month for him. Apart from this fairly strong performance yesterday, a couple other notable things happened:
1. Brad Friedel retired from international competition, which means the GK job for the World Cup is Keller's to lose.
2. Keller got transferred to a new team where he starts and has been playing very, very well. That team is Borussia Monchengladbach. And I'm not making that up. God bless the Germans.
- Die Nipzen
I'm dying to know: does Marcelo Balboa still look like Yanni? He had one of my favorite sports moments that didn't count for anything: when he blasted that bicycle kick wide of the net against Colombia in '94. Good times...
Yes, Balboa still looks like Yanni. In fact, the man hasn't aged a minute in the past ten years. He looks EXACTLY the same from the neck up. (From the neck down, he's a rickety old man though.) Take a look at some pictures of 'Celo and his mullet evolution here:
http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/searchresults.asp?ButtonLeap=41
Like I said, he looks exactly the same as that 1998 picture. There's a lot of other great hairstyles all over that page too.
Interesting that you brought up the Balboa Bike. You're probably not aware, but in 2000, when he was still with Colorado, he did the exact same thing against the Crew, except he scored. It's generally regarded as the greatest goal in MLS history.
- Nip
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