Tim Graham defends the Patriots claim to

[Guest dog14787]

Actually, that honor goes truly to the Pittsburgh Steelers...They have a following nationwide and have won 2 super bowls, albeit without getting caught for cheating (Unlike the Patriots). A truly blue-collar team and should be the true Americas Team.

 

Blue collar-team yada,yada,yada,yada I realize its meant as a compliment to the City, but has no bearings on how good the team is or how well its liked Nation wide. Does blue collar play any part in the teams you like? ( excluding Buffalo )

 

Sorry guys, I just don't like the doggon Steelers and they beat up on my Bills.

 

America's team should be a team America stands behind. I'm only about 100 miles away from Pittsburgh in PA just a little north of Erie and I know more Bills and Browns fans from this area then Steelers fans. Half the people I talked to wanted the Cardinals to win the Superbowl. So if the State of PA doesn't even back their team very well, I doubt the Country does a very good job of backing them, but hey, that's just me.

 

Its so funny, because the Steelers get blacked out for my Bills

 

I do give credit to the Steelers for a great Superbowl and Pittsburgh's tradition of bringing home Championships speaks for itself. (just don't like them)

 

I honestly Billieve it would take very little in the way of success for the Buffalo Bills to become popular again. Folks around the Country want to like the Buffalo Bills if we could just give them reasons to Billieve.

 

T.O. is a good start

[ans4e64]

The Patriots haven't won the SB since 2004, were caught cheating, and instead of erasing talk of "Spygate" by winning it all in 2007, were the victims of one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. The Steelers are America's team now.

 

 

Thanks you.

 

To ans4e64, I would ask... what is your definition of a Dynasty? It's been 5 years since the Pats* last Super Bowl win. Yes, they were in the Super Bowl 2 years ago. But, they lost that game. Yes, they've been a perennial playoff team. But, does that make them a Dynasty? I would say that winning 3 SBs in 4 years could potentially equal a dynasty, but it would be a relatively short one or perhaps average - certainly not one of the longest in NFL History.

 

Granted, their dominance of the Bills is approaching the Fins dominance of the 70's. So perhaps it seems to us it feels like a long dynasty. But, again, in terms of the NFL at large I'd say they were an average tenured dynasty.

 

If losing a SB is still factored into your dynastic reign, then the 90's Bills were definitely a dynasty. Thing is... no one ever refers to those Bills teams as an NFL dynasty.

 

Just because they haven't won doesn't mean they haven't been damn close. You can't knock off a dynasty yet when they're still going to Super Bowls and AFC Championship games. They were one of the greatest teams in NFL history in 07, setting records in many categories. They played in the Super Bowl then, made the playoffs every year before that, and played in a few Championship games.

[VOR]

Just because they haven't won doesn't mean they haven't been damn close. You can't knock off a dynasty yet when they're still going to Super Bowls and AFC Championship games.

The cheating pretty much destroyed the "dynasty" talk, as did the SB loss in 2007. And with the Steelers winning 2 SB's since then and having fans all over the country...

[ans4e64]

The cheating pretty much destroyed the "dynasty" talk, as did the SB loss in 2007. And with the Steelers winning 2 SB's since then and having fans all over the country...

 

This year having Brady back will be a telling year for me. If Brady comes back and they do nothing, and if the Steelers are again strong, then I'll annoint the Steelers as America's team in my mind. But I'll wait to see what Brady and the Pats do again.

[BLZFAN4LIFE]

Just because they haven't won doesn't mean they haven't been damn close. You can't knock off a dynasty yet when they're still going to Super Bowls and AFC Championship games. They were one of the greatest teams in NFL history in 07, setting records in many categories. They played in the Super Bowl then, made the playoffs every year before that, and played in a few Championship games.

 

I'm starting to think that your avatar doesn't indicate your dislike of the Gaytriots. I think it indicates your love of the Patriots and penis.

[TheLynchTrain]

The reason I say it's a laugh is, before they started winning regularly this century, they weren't even "Boston's Team".

 

 

 

The NFL's first plan to "regionalize" a franchise...

[Guest dog14787]

The 97.5 million viewers who saw the New York Giants' last-minute win over the New England Patriots made it the most-watched Super Bowl ever and second biggest event in American television history.

[QB Bills]

Who cares?

 

They are Canada's team and that's all that matters.

[Steely Dan]

Oh, absofriggin'lutely. I visited Boston the summer they drafted Bledsoe, and figured I could find some good football talk. Hah. Every time I brought up the Pats, the reply was, "They suck. Nobody cares about them."

 

That was right around the time they sold 19,000 season tickets, too. No, wait, I'm giving them too much credit. Here's the actual quote from the Pats' weekly release, on the page where Krafty Bob brags about himself:

 

 

To compare, while the Bills were in the high teens a couple of times (1978, '84-85), they haven't sold under 18,000 season tix since 1964.

 

This is why I think they qualify as the team that has the most bandwagon fans right now.

 

 

The Pats* are America's Team as much as the Yankees, Chicago Bulls, or Dallas Cowboys ever were...meaning to the frontrunners fans of the world. The dweebs who run around in team gear only because that team happens to really good at that moment. When the next dynasty emerges then all that Pats* gear will wind up in the closet or at Goodwill.

 

PTR

 

What he said.

 

 

I hate the Patriots just as much as the next guy (avatar), but they are no doubt America's team right now.

 

They have been one of the longest tenured dynasties in NFL history, that is going on still going on currently. They are located in Boston, one of the very first birth cities of this country. They wear red, white and blue. And oh yeah, they're called the PATRIOTS.

 

The name "America's team" seems to accompany a current team that is above and beyond the best. They Cowboys suck and have sucked for a very long time. IMO, the Patriots are America's team until they suffer a severe drop-off and a new team/city takes over. The Steelers are close.

 

What he said.

 

 

Funny, I don't know any more Patriots fans now, than I did 9 years ago...Red Sox yes, not Patriots.

 

I live in Austin, and the Cowboys can still lay claim to the most band wagon fans as far as I am concerned. When they win, they rub in everyones' face. When they lose, they point to "Troy and Emmitt and Michael" as if they won a championship just last year... they are an annoying lot...

 

I agree though, with everyone who says that the term "America's Team" is pretty stupid...

 

I think Texans are dyed in the wool Cowboys fans and when they bandwagoners jump it's for the Cowboys. I'd imagine there would be a lot of ridicule for any Texan in Pets* gear.

 

 

Ok, but we're North America's team right?

 

I still don't get what that means.

 

America's team would only encompass 50 states. North America's team encompasses all of the fifty states and Canada's provinces as well as the other 21 countries that make up the North American continent. Is it true of the Bills? Probably not but that's what TO was getting at. He was greatly complimenting the Bills. JMO

 

 

Just because they haven't won doesn't mean they haven't been damn close. You can't knock off a dynasty yet when they're still going to Super Bowls and AFC Championship games. They were one of the greatest teams in NFL history in 07, setting records in many categories. They played in the Super Bowl then, made the playoffs every year before that, and played in a few Championship games.

 

As long as Brady is their QB and they keep having winning seasons then they will remain America's team. JMO

 

The cheating pretty much destroyed the "dynasty" talk, as did the SB loss in 2007. And with the Steelers winning 2 SB's since then and having fans all over the country...

 

To us it did but to Pets* fans it doesn't at all. They will all tell you that every team does that they're just the ones who got caught. Total BS but a lot of us might think the same if the Bills were caught doing something like that. JMO

[TimGraham]

This story by Tim Graham would have been great to quote for an earlier thread dealing with Belicheat* cheating* and why the media doesn't do all it can to investigate the cheating. Some people think the media would do anything to find dirt to expose. But in the final analysis the media who cover football would rather try to somehow bask in the glory of the winning teams and get inside access to the big name coaches and owners than probe further about the cheating* that in this case was at least part of the reason NE* became a winning team*. To write a story about why NE* should be America's team and not to at least footnote the cheating and the penalty that resulted from it is ridiculous. I mean the whole decade was referenced as to why NE* should be America's team and the cheating scandal only happened in 2007, less than 2 years ago!!!! No mention of it at all!!!!!

 

I don't mention Spygate because it didn't matter and because I think it's sad that so many people cling to the concept as the reason for the Patriots' success.

 

It's easier to think of excuses than solutions.

 

I've interviewed more people than I can count about Spygate, and the most anybody will say is "It couldn't have hurt," but nobody can say how they benefited. Even the coaches and players who supposedly were cheated during those years don't think the videotaping mattered. Coaches and analysts insist it was a common practice; the Patriots were the only ones caught because of a bitter former employee.

 

The Patriots went 18-1 after Spygate. That's when the whiners jump in and say "Yeah, but they didn't win the Super Bowl." You'd love that type of humiliation to happen to your team.

 

To say the Patriots should be dismissed because of Spygate is tantamount to saying the Broncos deserve an asterisk because they chop block. Yes, the engaged in something that was against NFL rules, but so did other teams and it didn't have an impact.

[McD]

The Patriots went 18-1 after Spygate. That's when the whiners jump in and say "Yeah, but they didn't win the Super Bowl." You'd love that type of humiliation to happen to your team.

 

Tim, we have our own brand of humiliation, we don't need anymore. I don't think Bills fans could even handle going 18-1 with the one loss coming in the SB. Buffalo and Billsnation as a whole would implode.

[The Dean]

The Patriots haven't won the SB since 2004, were caught cheating, and instead of erasing talk of "Spygate" by winning it all in 2007, were the victims of one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. The Steelers are America's team now.

 

 

...and missed the playoffs last year.

 

But essentially they shouldn't be talked of as America's Team, as they have a small national fan base, when compared to many other NFL teams. Based on what I see at sports bars in various parts of the country, there are more fans of the Bears, Steelers. Browns, Packers, Jets, Giants, Raiders and Cowboys, than the Pats*. Add to that, the fan base they currently have seems to be made up of the bandwagon variety. For the most part, Bears, Steelers. Browns, Packers, Jets, Giants, Raiderss, Cowboys...and Bills fans, show their colors every year, whether or not the team is winning.

[VOR]

I don't mention Spygate because it didn't matter and because I think it's sad that so many people cling to the concept as the reason for the Patriots' success.

 

It's easier to think of excuses than solutions.

 

I've interviewed more people than I can count about Spygate, and the most anybody will say is "It couldn't have hurt," but nobody can say how they benefited. Even the coaches and players who supposedly were cheated during those years don't think the videotaping mattered. Coaches and analysts insist it was a common practice; the Patriots were the only ones caught because of a bitter former employee.

 

The Patriots went 18-1 after Spygate. That's when the whiners jump in and say "Yeah, but they didn't win the Super Bowl." You'd love that type of humiliation to happen to your team.

 

To say the Patriots should be dismissed because of Spygate is tantamount to saying the Broncos deserve an asterisk because they chop block. Yes, the engaged in something that was against NFL rules, but so did other teams and it didn't have an impact.

Yeah, right. That's why they videotaped illegally for 8 years, continued to do it after getting warned about it (in 2006), and why NO ONE ELSE was ever implicated. It's all just about a bitter employee (what was that about excuses, again). Pure gold!

 

And if you want to talk about nullifying the Broncos' SB wins for (legal) cut blocking, we should definitely nullify that first Patriots SB for that ridiculous "tuck" call in the Raiders playoff game.

[McD]

It's easier to think of excuses than solutions. Yes, your excuse below is a perfect example.

 

I've interviewed more people than I can count about Spygate, and the most anybody will say is "It couldn't have hurt," but nobody can say how they benefited. Even the coaches and players who supposedly were cheated during those years don't think the videotaping mattered. Coaches and analysts insist it was a common practice; the Patriots were the only ones caught because of a bitter former employee.

 

To say the Patriots should be dismissed because of Spygate is tantamount to saying the Broncos deserve an asterisk because they chop block. Yes, the engaged in something that was against NFL rules, but so did other teams and it didn't have an impact.

 

Are you implying that they were BETTER at cheating than everyone else and therefore should be crowned America's Team? Just curious.....

[Ice Cold Bruschi]

They're not America's team, they're our team, America can't have 'em

[The Dean]

They're not America's team, they're our team, America can't have 'em

 

 

Most of America has no use for them. Don't worry.

[TimGraham]

Yeah, right. That's why they videotaped illegally for 8 years, continued to do it after getting warned about it (in 2006), and why NO ONE ELSE was ever implicated. It's all just about a bitter employee (what was that about excuses, again). Pure gold!

 

And if you want to talk about nullifying the Broncos' SB wins for (legal) cut blocking, we should definitely nullify that first Patriots SB for that ridiculous "tuck" call in the Raiders playoff game.

 

Why would I need to make excuses for the Patriots?

 

Isn't it possible that I have come to an objective conclusion without being influenced by the team I root for?

[TimGraham]

Are you implying that they were BETTER at cheating than everyone else and therefore should be crowned America's Team? Just curious.....

 

I didn't mention cheating in my America's Team story. So the only place I'm implying it is in your mind.

 

And, obviously, they weren't better at cheating. They got caught.

 

I'm not denying the Patriots broke the rules. But it didn't make them champions.

[TimGraham]

Yeah, right. That's why they videotaped illegally for 8 years, continued to do it after getting warned about it (in 2006), and why NO ONE ELSE was ever implicated. It's all just about a bitter employee (what was that about excuses, again). Pure gold!

 

And if you want to talk about nullifying the Broncos' SB wins for (legal) cut blocking, we should definitely nullify that first Patriots SB for that ridiculous "tuck" call in the Raiders playoff game.

 

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/10/31/Sports/S...p_Broncos.shtml

 

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/29/sports/s...ks-illegal.html

[Ice Cold Bruschi]

America's team would only encompass 50 states. North America's team encompasses all of the fifty states and Canada's provinces as well as the other 21 countries that make up the North American continent. Is it true of the Bills? Probably not but that's what TO was getting at. He was greatly complimenting the Bills. JMO

Lol I know I'm ripping on my own team by doing this but, if its the North American continent we're talking about there are tons of Pats fans in Nicaragua

 

http://www.nypost.com/seven/02142008/news/...gua/photo01.jpg