Whitlock - Fans should be praying for Pats win

[Hammock Parties]

Good stuff. I agree 100%.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7742260

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.

[pr_capone]

Originally Posted by GOATSE

Good stuff. I agree 100%.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7742260

PHOENIX - Let's begin by stating the obvious: Any disdain directed at the New England Patriots is born out of pure jealousy.

HA!

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.

And that is where I stopped reading.

Throwing in the 4th quarter when you are up 30 is not humility. Going for 4th down when up 30 in the 4th is also not humility.

Bill the Bum is the antithesis of humility.

I did not realize you had started writing for Fox Wendler.... congrats on moving up the ladder.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by pr_capone

I did not realize you had started writing for Fox Wendler.... congrats on moving up the ladder.

Apparently you missed the thread title that said WHITLOCK.

[007]

Originally Posted by GOATSE

Apparently you missed the thread title that said WHITLOCK.

He is slow because of the meds tonight.

[ClevelandBronco]

That's a well written, well thought out article.

I disagree that this Patriots team is the best organization ever. I'd give that honor to Paul Brown's teams in Cleveland in the AAFC and the NFL from the mid-40s to the mid '50s, but I have no other argument with the writer.

I will say that the Patriots are a wildly and improbably successful organization given the constraints of this era. A reasonable argument can be made for the recent and current Pats as the best organization of all time (even though I ultimately wouldn't agree).

[ClevelandBronco]

Originally Posted by pr_capone

Throwing in the 4th quarter when you are up 30 is not humility.

I don't get it. Does Tiger stop shooting the right shots when he can no longer lose?

Winning margin has nothing to do with humility or arrogance.

Coming out the next time after a big win and playing as if you still have something to prove to yourself is what real humility is all about.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by GOATSE

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.

That's an interesting perspective. The reality is that they've spent the following picks on QBs during the last decade:

Michael Bishop, 1999 7th round
Tom Brady (of course...), 2000 6th round
Rohan Davey, 2002, 4th round
Matt Cassel, 2005, 7th round

So would you call that a focus on "drafting and developing a franchise quarterback"? I'm not sure. Did one develop? Of course. But we're talking a Kurt Warner situation here. It was by chance, not by design.

What did New England do to get them where they are? Well, to start with, they had a few drafts with multiple first and second round picks (2 1sts/2 2nds in '98, 2 1sts in '99, 2 2nds in '03, 2 1sts in '04) - that's a far cry from the "big" Chiefs drafts where we have 10 picks, but 7 of them are 4ths and later...

Now, obviously, Brady developing impacted the draft, but what they did do is draft a lot of offensive linemen and tight ends, a bunch of defensive tackles, a few wide recievers and runningbacks, and several defensive backs.

In other words, they built strong lines, and then peppered a few other positions around.

One thing he said is valid, and I think very important, they've focused more on the concept of "team" than on talent. Corey Dillon and Randy Moss were the notable exceptions to that, but all in all, what they've done is go for character, and in free agency experience, over flash.

In the end, what I think the Chiefs need to do is #1 stop throwing picks away on coach and player trades, #2 find a way to parlay their picks into multiple early-round selections, if at all possible. Because, while I do think superstar players can be keys, I think a team like the Chiefs needs more than one or two guys; I think they need an infusion of talent across the board. I don't think I'd drop out of 4 or 5 this year, but I'd start to try to work on getting multiple picks in future drafts, and I'd starting doing it while we're on the clock in April. If that means trading away guys like Tony Gonzalez or Brian Waters, or even Jared Allen and Larry Johnson, I'd consider it. I'd at least listen to any offers that might come in. And, finally, they need to start hitting on most of their picks (and that might have started in 2006 and 2007). There was a ten year period where they wasted draft after draft, and that got them into the hole they've been in for most of the 21st century.

Rocket science it ain't.

[pr_capone]

Originally Posted by Guru

He is slow because of the meds tonight.

[Hammock Parties]

So would you call that a focus on "drafting and developing a franchise quarterback"?

Whitlock didn't use the word "focus." All he said is that developing a QB was a key. The Patriots have done that.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by GOATSE

Whitlock didn't use the word "focus." All he said is that developing a QB was a key. The Patriots have done that.

And the point I'm making is that it was luck.

I'm not saying he's wrong that it's something we need to do, either, but the idea that the Patriots got Brady because their plan was to draft and develop a QB is arguable at best. He was an afterthought that they weren't expecting to develop into anything, and without that injury to Bledsoe his whole story would likely have never been written.

And, hey, maybe in the end that's something else the Chiefs need a little bit of going forward: luck.

[pr_capone]

Originally Posted by ClevelandBronco

I don't get it. Does Tiger stop shooting the right shots when he can no longer lose?

Winning margin has nothing to do with humility or arrogance.

Coming out the next time after a big win and playing as if you still have something to prove to yourself is what real humility is all about.

The golf vs football analogy really does not go.

In golf, a player can (and they have) missed several critical shots on the 18th and grasped defeat from the jaws of victory.

Things don't work that way in football.

5 minutes left on the clock in the 4th, "the right shot" is to drain the clock. Protect the ball and your players... not chuck the ball down the field in big chunks and try to humiliate the opposing team.

There is a reason why teams rest their "star players" before the playoffs. Let them heal and not give them a chance to get hurt. Obviously, the streak was of greatest importance to the Pats and that is why we saw the star players suit up in week 17.

But then again.... who am I to use common sense against an undefeated team.

[007]

Originally Posted by pr_capone

Just sayin.

[ClevelandBronco]

Originally Posted by pr_capone

The golf vs football analogy really does not go.

In golf, a player can (and they have) missed several critical shots on the 18th and grasped defeat from the jaws of victory.

Things don't work that way in football.

5 minutes left on the clock in the 4th, "the right shot" is to drain the clock. Protect the ball and your players... not chuck the ball down the field in big chunks and try to humiliate the opposing team.

There is a reason why teams rest their "star players" before the playoffs. Let them heal and not give them a chance to get hurt. Obviously, the streak was of greatest importance to the Pats and that is why we saw the star players suit up in week 17.

But then again.... who am I to use common sense against an undefeated team.

Well, that comparison was introduced in the original article (some cheer Tiger on while cheering for the Pats to lose) and I thought I'd just keep the conversation going that way.

I have no problem with utter domination in sports. I like to see Tiger destroy his competition, I like seeing the Patriots do the same. I enjoy watching Canadian hockey make a mockery of any other programs in existence.

Excellence is a fun thing to watch and learn.

[pr_capone]

Originally Posted by ClevelandBronco

Well, that comparison was introduced in the original article (some cheer Tiger on while cheering for the Pats to lose) and I thought I'd just keep the conversation going that way.

I have no problem with utter domination in sports. I like to see Tiger destroy his competition, I like seeing the Patriots do the same. I enjoy watching Canadian hockey make a mockery of any other programs in existence.

Excellence is a fun thing to watch and learn.

Please don't misunderstand.... I *LOVE* a good shit kicking. lol

There is a line though between domination and stupidity.

Domination, at least to me, is defined by a 30 point lead going into the 4th quarter.

Stupidity... and lack of humility, at least to me, is putting your key players at risk of getting the f00k knocked out of them and loosing them for a long stretch of time because beating them by 30 is not good enough.

Not that I wish ill on any player on any team (for the most part), but how fitting would it have been for Brady to have his shoulder dislocated in week 17 just because Bill wanted to ensure that the Pats would go undefeated.

By that point, they had nothing to loose in letting Brady, Moss, Welker, and several other key players have a seat and save them for the playoffs.

They still had the 1st round bye and still had the #1 seed over all locked up.

Again though.... that is just me. I have not played or been involved in organized football in nearly a decade so I sure as hell am not a professional, nor a coach.

[kcxiv]

I will admit it. I am jealous of them. Every other team's fans that do not win that year should be jealous of that. If your not, then why bother even watching the game?

I just know since i been a Chiefs fan at about the age of 15 or so. I only seen them get close once with Montana and Allen, but that was a long ass time ago. Its been very bleh since.