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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 26, 2018 22:55:51 GMT -5
I always find it interesting how much hatred there is for the Patriots outside New England... I mean, I get wanted to see someone different, but the great efforts of ESPN and others to cast them as villains is crazy to me. I mean, I grew up in the 80s.. I hated the Lakers with all my heart, but I never thought they cheated or anything, even when weird stuff happened. Maybe because my Celtics were a equal foil? I suppose if you go back to the Yankees dynasties there was always talk about them rigging the league rules and using other teams as farm teams from guys like Bill Veeck, but that doesn't have nearly the juice of the various fake cheating stories the Patriots have out there. It was the Yanks and the Kansas City A's, and those stories of finagling were very justified. It was Veeck who described the KC A's as a Yankee farm club. The Pats have nothing on the Yankees of that time. In brief, business man Arnold Johnson bought Yankee Stadium in 1953 as well as Blues Stadium in Kansas City, the home of the top Yankee minor league club. But he wanted to own a team. Johnson bought the Philadelphia Athletics thanks to the Yankees' support, and moved them to Kansas City. (The Yanks very generously refused to accept the indemnity Johnson paid to each team as the price of relocation. This, even though the Yankees held the MLB rights to the KC area, as they had maintained their minor league club there for nearly 20 years. He had to sell Yankee Stadium, though. He promptly sold the Blues' stadium to Kansas City and it was the KC municipal government that upgraded, expanded and generally brought it up to MLB standards. (Sound familiar?) Of course, the A's fled for Oakland after the '67 season. In the five seasons that Johnson owned the A's, KC and NY made 16 trades, involving 56 players, including, among others, Clete Boyer, Ralph Terry and Clete Boyer. In fact, no fewer than ten former A's were on the Yankees 1961 team. Boyer, btw, was the most notorious example of a frequently used A's-Yanks scam; the A's signed him as an amateur to a nice bonus, kept him on themajor league roster for the mandatory period and then swapped him to the Yanks when he was ready for the real big leagues. Several other AL teams formally protested to Commissioner Ford Frick (he of the infamous asterisk), who promptly did nothing. Derek Jeter's Marlins have become the new A's, according to some, with Giancarlo Stanton having been produced as Exhibit A. |
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Post by String on Jan 27, 2018 11:59:31 GMT -5
Vikings at home for the Super Bowl would have made for a much more interesting game. But this, meh.
I will root for the Eagles simply because I hate the Patriots. It would be more worthwhile to watch if the commercials were good but even those have been rather lackluster over the last couple of years.
But I'm rooting more for Janet Jackson to make an appearance on-stage with Justin Timberlake during halftime.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 27, 2018 12:14:06 GMT -5
Yeah, I read Veeck's autobiography not too long ago.. good stuff. I mean, the transactions at the time speak for themselves, but Veeck was also pretty bitter, so his version is certainly a little biased. I do feel bad for the guy, though... they really should have just let him have a team in Milwaukee  Back on topic, I agree having the Vikings get the home Superbowl would have been awesome (and another good notch for the Patriots when they won), but alas, it wasn't to be. I agree the commericals have been lousy the last couple years.. I actually showed my daughter all the Bud Bowls from back in the day last year. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 27, 2018 22:35:03 GMT -5
Just curious, but how will the Patriots-Eagles be dull? (Would anyone have preferred Titans-Rams?)
Granted, the Patriots are in theiir seventh SB since '01-'02 season, remarkable in a parity-driven league, but it's not as if they blow out their opponents with regularity, especially in the Super Bowl.
Every one of those seven games has come down to the wire. They've lost two by 7 points total and won five by 19 total, only one of those by more than four points.
Their last two wins have been record-setting comebacks in the fourth quarter; in the postseason, Brady and the Pats have staged eight comebacks and three other fourth-quarter or game-winning drives.
Hate them if you must, but they play exciting games. Why will this one be any different?
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 3, 2018 12:59:15 GMT -5
When people say 'dull' they mean 'I'm tired of the Patriots winning'. There is a fair contingent out there that want 'anyone but New England', but yeah, the football will be better this way (unless Foles lays an egg, which is a possibility)
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 4, 2018 4:06:45 GMT -5
(...) Super Bowl is enough of a big deal globally that a dedicated thread is OK. (...) Define "globally" in this context. I can tell you, as an American who's lived in Europe since the early '90s, that pretty much nobody outside of North America cares a bit about, much less watches, the Super Bowl, and if they even know about it, it's because of the extensive media focus on the ads and the half-time show... |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,201 
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Post by Confessor on Feb 4, 2018 6:02:12 GMT -5
(...) Super Bowl is enough of a big deal globally that a dedicated thread is OK. (...) Define "globally" in this context. I can tell you, as an American who's lived in Europe since the early '90s, that pretty much nobody outside of North America cares a bit about, much less watches, the Super Bowl, and if they even know about it, it's because of the extensive media focus on the ads and the half-time show... I don't think that's true nowadays, though it may've been in the early '90s. The NFL gets a lot of coverage over here in the UK, for example -- NFL teams even play at least one, if not two, proper NFL league games a year at Wembley Stadium in London. There's also been dedicated TV programs over here following the NFL since at least the early '90s, if not the late 80s. We even have our own American Football League -- I used to play for my local team, The Chiltern Cheetas (I was a Corner Back). As for the Super Bowl itself, it's always been shown live on TV in the UK and it always makes the mainstream national news here too. So, while American Football and the Super Bowl aren't anyway near as mainstream in the UK as, say Football or Rugby, it has a pretty sizeable following nonetheless. Outside of the UK, I do know that the NFL has a pretty big following in Australia and New Zealand from things friends who've lived there have told me. Other than that, I can't be sure, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that the Japanese and Canadians have an interest in it too. As for central Europe, this list of countries that carry the U.S. NFL broadcasts includes many in Europe and seems to suggest that, even if it's a cult following, that following for the NFL and the Super Bowl is indeed global. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Feb 4, 2018 16:10:34 GMT -5
Loved this skit on SNL
Although I think they missed an opportunity to reference a great past skit if they had had John Goodman bust in with, "Da Bears!" "Who is he?
"Some fur trapper from beyond the proclamation line, he's always going on about some tribal leader called Ditka."
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2018 16:18:33 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2018 20:13:23 GMT -5
22-12 Halftime Score ... I was totally unexpected of this performance (by the Eagles) and that trick play at the end of the 2nd quarter on 4th and goal was something else by the Eagles.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Feb 4, 2018 20:37:55 GMT -5
Some really entertaining football so far but the commercials have been disappointing so far.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Feb 4, 2018 22:17:46 GMT -5
No joy in mudville
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2018 22:26:07 GMT -5
Eagles Prevail, 41 to 33 ...
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Post by Warmonger on Feb 4, 2018 23:12:38 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2018 1:07:44 GMT -5
Wow, they played more and better defense in the Pro Bowl than they did in the Super Bowl.
-M
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