Thank You, Meh!

@CaptAmehrican I’ll give you a pass on thinking the Bills or Ravens would be a better option since you’re at least rooting for the right team now.

@mfladd wow, great sizzle reel!

@mfladd Can I hate you for other reasons?

@sammydog01 Yup, but you might have to wait in line.

@mfladd who’s even in that line?

@jbartus Who’s not?

@mfladd me!

@mfladd He should thank the Masshole who pulled the fire alarm at the Steelers’ hotel at 3 AM. Classy.

@sammydog01 because that’s totally the reason this game progressed the way it did. A fire alarm at 3 AM definitely had far-reaching impacts on a game starting at 6:40 PM…

Never mind that we’ve beaten them by similar margins in both of our last two games against them.

@jbartus might want to blare that fog horn a few more times

@Kevin I’m just tired of all the bullshit excuses whenever the Patriots win from spiteful fans of other teams who can’t get over their own sour grapes at their team’s failure.

The Patriots are a good team, it’s a group of talented individuals and every bullshit excuse that tries to diminish their skills and talents pisses me off.

The Patriots were the better team. They were the better team today, October 23rd, and on many other occasions. Quit trying to take that away.

@jbartus I’m an Eagles fan. I couldn’t even be mad that they beat us in the SB. They just beat us.

@jbartus. You take ribbing waaaaay too seriously.

@jbartus if you’re not cheating you’re not trying

@sammydog01 maybe if just once in a while you lot would say “wow the Patriots played a really good game today” it’d be different, but you never do. It’s always pot shots taken at the Patriots’ expense. Always.

@Kevin whatever.

@jbartus Nah, I like it when everyone busts on the Pats. It just tells me that they are that good. And people hate how long they have been good. @sammydog01 just likes to rile me up. I love that about her. Oh, and she is probably stink’in mad that the Patriots took Chris Hogan from Buffalo (giggle).

@mfladd Hogan was an excellent acquisition. In Bill We Trust.

@jbartus

/image cheaties

@mfladd You know I just give you shit because I like you. And one of these days I’m gonna get another Bills Super Bowl sweatshirt. The last one is getting kind of worn.

@jbartus

TB12 has his balls ready

@Kevin

@sammydog01 You are more likely to be wearing the emperor’s clothes after that sweatshirt disappears.

@mfladd

@MrMark Yeah, I think he was just in a mood. He wishes some people would just give the Pats some credit, which will NEVER happen. I have threads asking for Patriots hate. I bathe in the blood of the jealous haters. Oooooo…now I have to go find it. Hope you are well.

@mfladd I’m also pretty sure the Patriots get a lot of credit. It’s not like they are the underdog.

It’s only the insufferable chowerheads that make those claims.

@Kevin Bitch, we are fabulous!

@MrMark actually I made a thread doing nothing of the sort. O_o

The Meh homepage on the day I posted this was in Patriots colors so I made a thread joking about Meh’s support. @mfladd started the bragging.

And yes @mfladd I do wish people would give the Patriots credit once in a while instead of just making up bullshit to tear them down with.

@jbartus hahaha…I did start the bragging. I will always start mayhem when I can

@jbartus Yeah, the colors red, white, and blue bring nothing to mind other than a football team.

@mfladd Yes you will, and that’s why we love you.

@sammydog01 it was a joke. A joke.

@jbartus Well, in that case,
/giphy good job

@sammydog01 That was not meant to be sarcastic but I just love that gif.

@sammydog01 what is from? It’s brilliant

@jbartus You’ll have to ask giphy. He found it.

@sammydog01 I found it

@f00l I am both baffled as to when they have done these objectionable things that result in the “they act it out” claim and bemused that this accusation is coming from a Cowboys fan. Unless you’re just saying that they act it out every other second in the sense that they win?

@jbartus

The Pats and their publicity engine appear to swagger a bit. Rub it in a bit. I pay minimal attention. But that’s the impression.

Decades ago, when the Cowboys were truly great, the team didn’t swagger much. The behavioral norms of dignity and politeness were set by Landry, Murchison, Schramm, Meredith (a party guy but not a wear-my-victories-on-my-sleeve guy), Staubach, the Doomsday Defense, Hayes, Lilly, Martin, Jones, White, Aikman, amd the like.

Yeah there were a few loudmouth show-off flashy exceptions, but their public conduct off the field was tolerated locally, not revered. Most people around here just wished the showboats would tone it down. Way down. That’s Hollywood, not north Texas.

The whole "America’s Team thing was as much a creation of the networks, based on the nationwide respect felt for the team and many of its players, as anything else. The Team did capitalize on it, but not in a loud way.

The team won and lost without making too big a public attitude show over either, but while fighting as hard as, and being as determined as, any team anywhere in the history of the NFL. And that fits with our local prefs for how star athletes should behave.

I would say “remember the Ice Bowl”? Except that I suppose that’s well before your time. And they didn’t whine about the Ice Bowl result afterwards either.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_NFL_Championship_Game

http://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/the-ice-bowl/

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-films-americas-game/09000d5d821e1541/America-s-Game-The-Ice-Bowl

That’s what the Cowboys were, and could be now if they were owned by someone with a little dignity. Someone other than Jerry Jones.

Remember this? (Again, you’re too young):
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XIII

One of the ways a great team is truly great is that the fans remember the hard-fought brutal, all-on-the-field losses with as much pride as the fans feel for the famous victories.

And there’s this:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Howley

Charles Louis “Chuck” Howley (born June 28, 1936) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys. Howley was a member of the Chicago Bears in his first two seasons and spent the remainder of his career with the Cowboys. He was named the MVP of Super Bowl V and is the only player on a losing team to receive the award.

Because he earned it.

I don’t prefer the losses to the wins. I could have linked to all the wins. But class is something for every day, win or lose, spectacular or ordinary. They had it.

As for Jerry Jones, most true Cowboy fans cring every time he appears in public or opens his mouth.

I wouldn’t mind if the Pats had a bit more of that. But hey, it’s not my team. I spoze if their fans want swagger, there’s gonna be a temptation to swagger.

@f00l I think there are two things at play. First is the different climate around the NFL during the Cowboys’ America’s Team era, the second being how society behaves in general and more specifically how the news media plays things up.

You mentioned the respect the Cowboys had during that era, the Patriots see none of that, not since 2007. It has been mostly driven by irresponsible reporting practices and sensationalism.

Spygate, for example, was made out to be a far bigger deal than it really was. A common practice carried out in a location that was unilaterally declared unacceptable by a league official in violation of long-standing protocol was made out to be this massive scandal. Things snowballed from there.

Suddenly, the Patriots were cheaters. Never mind that the issue was a matter of a technicality, never mind that the ‘rule’ they supposedly broke was never properly established, never mind that the team was still made up of incredibly talented individuals, coached by an incredibly talented coaching staff, none of it mattered. The Patriots had won three Super Bowls in four years and jealous people had been given an excuse to take that achievement away from them.

Every year since… Every. Single. Year. Since. No matter how well the Patriots did or didn’t do, it was because of this so-called cheating. If they did well, it’s because they were cheaters still riding that wave. If they did poorly, it’s because they were prevented from cheating and couldn’t hack it anymore. Year after year. And yet they continued to succeed.

Things got boring for the media, the Patriots were still winning. AFC East Division Championships in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016. AFC Championships in 2011, 2014, and 2016. And then it’s all taken away by the media again when they catch wind of a baseless accusation of ball deflation. An accusation that was allegedly arrived at by means of taking actions that are themselves against the rules.

Never mind that the score at halftime was 17-7 and the Patriots had scored 28 unanswered points in the second half after the balls had been re-inflated and any possible real evidence of malfeasance destroyed. It didn’t matter, all that mattered was that people who had watched the Patriots’ success year after year after year had another reason to take that away from them. The science doesn’t add up? “Who cares! The Patriots are cheaters!”

And the worst part? The NFL coming off of a year fraught with disciplinary embarrassment seizes the opportunity for a dog-and-pony-show circus to save face, they commission a farce of an investigation and assemble a Mickey Mouse court to convict the Patriots and, laughably, Tom Brady of cheating without a single bit of actual evidence and in the face of reasoned scientific evidence to the contrary. Players who committed domestic violence were given a slap on the wrist but the Patriots and Tom Brady who had been proven to have done nothing more than be accused of deflating balls were hit with unprecedented penalties.

Considering the media circus that’s been convened every time there’s been an opportunity for a clickbait article accusing the Patriots of wrongdoing I’d call what goes on tame by comparison. Regardless of that distinction, the team themselves, exclusive of the PR machine, do conduct themselves with dignity. When have you ever heard Tom Brady shit on another team? How about Bill Belichick? Anyone?

Bill Belichick holds his players to a higher standard than any other coach in the league. Tom Brady’s the closest thing we’ve got to a superstar and he’s the consummate team player. When players do get an ego about them Bill sends them packing, there’s no room for ego trips on the Patriots.

So yeah, maybe the fans and the PR department are a bit exuberant in their efforts to rub the noses of the NFL and people who have been shitting on the Patriots out of jealousy for their success. Considering the adversity, don’t you think they deserve to a bit?

@jbartus

I don’t personally condemn the Pats as being notable cheaters compared to everyone else. I think you know that.

I agree that the NFL Head Office is all about favoring the favorites and saving face using the Pats as bait.

Not fair. Not right. Not if it had happened then. Not now.

But there is quite a diff in choices of conduct. People have a right to their prefs on that. So whatever you guys want.

In the days when the Cowboys mattered, if this had happened to them, they would have largely shut up and stood their ground and let the facts or the mgmt/lawyers make all the noise. I believe that. If you had lived here, you would believe it too.

Yeah some the fans would have bitched some in the newspapers and in sports talk and the like. But most of them would have also just simply stood their ground and been quiet and not yielded a millimeter and waited for their day in court.

No hair trigger defenses. What would that accomplish anyway? Why even care what someone else thinks? The day of vindication would have come. And in the meantime most people around here would not have felt all that threatened or felt angry enough to get triggered.

And Brady swaggers a bit. Not too badly. But he does it. In public. A little in your face about his success. And there is his glamour personal life.

It was a diff time, but here the big stars mostly had exactly one spouse or partner they had kids with, and they mostly stayed with that person and those kids quietly and with conviction. And the biggest after hours concern was “Am I a decent Dad, neighbor, and hubby?”

Plenty of players still live that way. I would like Brady better if we knew a lot less about his private life because there was less to know.

Which doesn’t mean he’s a bad person (afaik he’s decent enough) or that I condemn him. And as an athlete he is - well, you know what he is. No taking that away. He just doesn’t conduct himself the way an old school Texan would prefer. He’s ok I guess. There’s just too much media about non-football and too much cause for such media.

I don’t condemn the Pats or their fans. Or Brady. You gotta do what you gotta do here.

It’s just - the Pats office’s way and Pat’s fans’ way of handling all this - or what I see of all those ways of handling it - are not the only ways.

A Texan from that old school would tell the Pat’s and their fans to: stand your ground, don’t back down, keep about your business, be rather taciturn, don’t worry about what people say or think, live quietly, make your best case where is matters, let the best people make the case, don’t wage a media war unless you absolutely have to, don’t get distracted or riled up or defensive or argumentative, do things on the field and in rest of life well and focus on them, and let time and justice and the quality of your play win the day for you.

Media BS and image and public Q crap and fighting over every public remark and all that blather is such a big deal now that maybe the old way is a bit obsolete.

But, tell you what - it ain’t obsolete here yet.
Or it ain’t obsolete as long as JJones or some other loudmouth isn’t involved in the conversation.

@f00l

This is what I was talking about though, the world was massively different in the 70s and the 90s when the Cowboys enjoyed their success. Social media wasn’t a thing, click bait articles to drive ad revenue weren’t a thing (headline cover stories not withstanding, quantity difference is palpable), and people were forced to interact with people face-to-face which led to far less daring things being said that might get you a fist to the face at the bar. You can have all the faith you want in the Cowboys’ management of yesteryear but I think the world has changed far too much to be willing to accept that their behavior of the past is in any way indicative of how they’d behave in today’s social climate.

As far as Brady’s personal life, what major celebrity’s personal life don’t we know far more about than we’d like? The news media is driving this, don’t you think Brady would prefer not to live under a media microscope airing all of his dirty laundry to the world? It wasn’t that affairs didn’t occur back in the 70s, it was that they weren’t talked about, they weren’t socially acceptable. Like it or not Brady is the helm and face of the most successful team in the NFL for the past two decades, he lives in a fish bowl and is put under far higher scrutiny than 99% of the other players in the NFL, you can’t blame him for that. We know about his life because the culture we live in has decided that prying into celebrities’ personal lives is okay and the media feeds this culture.

As for the taciturn, quiet, dignified act, the Patriots tried it. Robert Kraft publicly vowed to accept the NFL’s punishment for the joke that is Deflategate expecting the NFL to do the right thing and back off Brady who should never have been gone after in the first place. He got kicked in the gut for doing so, so why the hell would he keep it up? The NFL decided to drag the Patriots, Brady, and Kraft through the mud in a media circus to make themselves look better after going soft on domestic violence, and nothing they’ve done since has made up for it. Since Deflategate similar allegations have been brought against other teams and quietly swept under the rug, if the NFL won’t represent the interests of the whole NFL, the Patriots included, then doesn’t it behoove the Patriots to do it for themselves?

@jbartus

Kinda agree with some of your points. But …

1st Brady contributed and still contributes just a wee bit to the interest in his personal life. Just a wee bit.
And you know he does, so admit it. And he appears to enjoy it ever so slightly. There are still plenty of people who don’t live that way and don’t kinda show off every so often that they’re living that way. No he’s not evil. Yes he count have a bit better taste in how he publicizes himself.

2nd if shit happened to the Cowboys under JJ - or under, say, someone like Cuban, who is a loudmouth but a far more loveable one (because he hasn’t singlehandedly fucked up his own team and is willing to let players and coaches be the stars instead of sucking all the oxygen himself): in that case you’d get a lot better d remarks and a lot of media crap going on from here.

But if Landry and Schramm and Murcheson still were fit and still ran the team and this happened, you’d see much what I described above. There are plenty of people who ignore clickbait and social media and prevail, both in the system, and in public opinion. No one has to respond to all that shit most of the time - with some exceptions. There are plenty of people who still don’t fight that way and still can’t be drawn out, and still do fine. You just have to be able to turn your back in the abuse and keep going. And too vigorous and strident a defense over every little provocation sometimes just makes the defenders look weak.

There’s not only one fair way to deal with bad shit, and not only one effective way. I dont live in NE and I haven’t seen what happened first hand so there’s that. I have some relatives who think NE is awful. Haven’t talked it out in detail and don’t know what their argument is, but these people usually try very hard to be fair minded, and usually succeed at that. I don’t buy the guilty verdict. The prosecution would need way more hard evidence to convince me.

But there are choices and paths. I hope people give some thought to the ones they choose. If NE just shut up and played and let the sports writers and sports talk and lawyers do the defense, you know what? You guys would all be just fine. Except the fans would all have lower blood pressure.

@f00l just what are you referring to Brady and or the Patriots doing? Examples? I feel like you are accusing the players and organization of going on tirades or something when largely they are closed lipped.

@jbartus

Being at a distance - and not watching tv or the sports pages of seeking sports info, beyond the Longhorns - I pick shit up accidentally on the web.

And I have, for years, seen pix of Brady where he was clearly strutting a bit. On and off the field. And he takes pieces of his home life public, deliberately, a bit. He could keep way more private if that were really the goal. Even with a rabid press. You act boring and invisible and eventually they find someone else to chase even if you are the biggest athlete playing.

You don’t act boring, you tweet, you show up being the best-dressed at a lot of events, you show off your style, you release home photos and …,. It’s a different choice. Not my pref but not evil either. Matter of taste.

He obviously could have avoided strutting if he’d wanted to. So I assume it’s somewhat deliberate.
Perhaps fine. Just not my style.

As for the Pat’s office, I gather what little I know of their conduct from occasionally catching a headlines (very rare) and the rest (most of what I know) from reading rants written by Pat’s fans. My biggest impression of the team’s attitudes comes from the fans.

I presume the two are related. Perhaps that’s unfair.

Anyway I never meant to trash them. If it came off that way, then I put it badly.

@f00l I am more bothered by your impression of Brady to be honest. I don’t feel like he should have to be a hermit because he’s a celebrity, or dress shabbily, I don’t get that at all.

@jbartus

Neither do I. But I think he doesn’t just be not-the-hermit or dress well.
He struts. I bet a lot of people agree with me, including NE natives. If you disagree, perhaps two diff minds see two diff things. Not the first time. It’s cool

And if I met him I’d prob like him.

The Staubach types are just a bit more my personal preference. That’s all.

@f00l Have you seen Brady’s mattress commercial? I would rather listen to that stupid Manning Nationwide jingle a hundred times than see the mattress commercial again.
http://www.beautyrest.com/dream-in-black

@sammydog01 that’s the director’s fault and such though, Brady just accepted a check and showed up.

@sammydog01

No. Not seen it. Cause I watch TV like 3 times a year or less. Nothing against TV - just not so high in the List.

My fav NFL-player commercials gotta be

Joe Namath wearing pantyhose

Jim McMahon’s Taco Bell commercial, became the stupid NFL fined him for missing a stupid Super Bowl press conference and so he made a big deal out of trying to pay the even stupider NFL fine with Taco Bell coupons.
The NFL totally deserved the embarrassment they got. As usual.

@f00l Click the link I posted above. I dare you.

@sammydog01
That’s a great commercial.

The production values are insane. And the sets! Wow.

@sammydog01

@sammydog01 @jbartus I am in PA. Local TV ad just before Jeopardy…

Get your AFC championship Steeler gear at the local sports shop.

Made us giggle here. I wonder if it is discounted or not this season? Maybe I entered the Twilight Zone and in my parallel universe the Steelers won?

@speediedelivery
Steelers fans are pretty loyal.

@speediedelivery I like that alternative universe. The celebration would be amazing.

@sammydog01 yeah that unsportsmanlike conduct flag is totally worth the celebration.

We have enough going on on the field to enjoy without needing excessive celebrations to keep us interested.

@jbartus Just saying this is why people love the Steelers and hate the Patriots. And, yes, those penalties were totally worth it. Especially the William Gay one.

Here’s the full version:

@sammydog01 When you say ‘people’ you mean Steelers fans right? I know an awful lot of people (outside of New England) who can’t stand you guys and have terrible towel-related PTSD.

Also I have to agree with the commentators, he took excessive celebration to a whole new level.

@MrGlass oh shoot. I’ll try to find your email address and get that over to you!

@MrGlass I haven’t forgotten, promise!

@MrGlass email sent!

@gak0090 They usually have good TV sales before the Superbowl, so I am sure Big Ben & Co will take advantage of it to watch the big game in style.

@mfladd Maybe they’re at Disneyland.

@gak0090 four of those titles are from forty years ago. What’s your point?

@jbartus My point is Brady loves {coloring} and you and your Patriot nation would gratuitously {wink} him while simultaneously providing {a warm shower}. hopefully that helps clarify my point.

{Mad Libs have struck again! Stop using sexual references for shock value. ~TC}

@gak0090

@mfladd I seriously can’t understand how he could miss my point, so I had to spell it out for him. You are absolutely correct there is nothing wrong with that as long as it’s consensual, and in the Patriot nation not only is it consensual, it’s how they express devotion.

@gak0090 so just to summarize your point was that the Patriots have had the kind of success the Steelers could only dream of in more than a quarter of a century? Very interesting.

@OldCatLady please, there’s no profanity in anything I said- I was merely stating fact

@OldCatLady thanks for the tag.

@Thumperchick I wasn’t using sexual references for shock value I was purely stating the relationship between the Patriot nation and their quarterback. I’m sure the passion generated by this relationship has much to do with success of their quarterback. They honor Tom in the best way they know how. It’s how they show affection, who am I to judge- I just report the truth. When they do it with love can we really judge this as sexual? I’m getting offended on behalf of the Patriot nation.

@sammydog01
Evil soul.

I spoze if the game was going the other way, …

@sammydog01 I’d like to give you another star.

@sammydog01 I did enjoy the game, yes. A game lasts four quarters as we’ve learned the hard way twice against the Giants. I kept the faith and was rewarded. Any so called fan who shut the game off will rue the day they missed the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.

@jbartus
Who TF would do that anyway? I don’t know anyone who does that.

@f00l so-called fans.

@jbartus
Lame fans. Who all need soul-wheelchairs for their lame souls.

Thanks @Ignorant. Glad to know someone here can give a proper congratulations without taking a shot.

@jbartus
Like moi.