2016 NFL Playoffs

[infrared41]

3 hours ago, BringBackTheVet said:

I wouldn't want to see any "guaranteed" thrashing of the Patriots.  I simply don't hate them, despite being jealous of their fans.  

 

You're the second person to mention being jealous of Patriots fans. I swear I'm not trying be a smartass, but what does that feel like? Is it like being jealous when your significant other flirts with someone or something? I'm asking because the idea of being jealous of a fan base eludes me. Honest to God, in all my many years of being a sports fan, I've never felt even the slightest twinge of jealously towards fans of a successful team. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I simply don't understand it. Back in the day when I was a hardcore diehard fan of the original Browns and we had a real rivalry with Pittsburgh fans, I hated the Steelers and I hated Steelers fans, but I was never jealous of their success. Or maybe my idea of jealously isn't what you're referring to. 

[infrared41]

1 hour ago, Dolphins Dynasty said:

I just want to make it clear... I don't hate Brady (or Belichick for that matter) like I use to. It feels like ever since they beat those trash-talking Seahawks in the Super Bowl, 

 

FWIW, I was on the Patriots bandwagon big time in that Super Bowl. I think it's more fun when a "villain" is involved in the game. That's basically what I was getting at with my question. 

[BBTV]

9 minutes ago, infrared41 said:

 

You're the second person to mention being jealous of Patriots fans. I swear I'm not trying be a smartass, but what does that feel like? Is it like being jealous when your significant other flirts with someone or something? I'm asking because the idea of being jealous of a fan base eludes me. Honest to God, in all my many years of being a sports fan, I've never felt even the slightest twinge of jealously towards fans of a successful team. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I simply don't understand it. Back in the day when I was a hardcore diehard fan of the original Browns and we had a real rivalry with Pittsburgh fans, I hated the Steelers and I hated Steelers fans, but I was never jealous of their success. Or maybe my idea of jealously isn't what you're referring to. 

 

"Jealousy" is a gross exaggeration.  It's really no more than "man, I wish we'd get a parade one of these years."  I guess it's the same as I feel about every team that wins, they just happen to win way more often.  It lasts about a day or two after the SB.  Sometimes not even that long if I have a lot going on at work the next day.  It's amazing how much work and... well, life cut into the time available for sulking.  That's probably why I don't really care that much anymore* - so little free time (despite what my posting patters might indicate) that it's too valuable to spend doing things that don't feel good, like watching a losing sports team.

 

 

*I still care about how that fat loser Andy Reid and over-sensitive dumb-ass twit Donovan McNabb wasted away so many great opportunities to win and have something close to what the Patriots have.  Godsdamned a ssholes.

[Jimmy!]

13 hours ago, infrared41 said:

 

You're the second person to mention being jealous of Patriots fans. I swear I'm not trying be a smartass, but what does that feel like? Is it like being jealous when your significant other flirts with someone or something? I'm asking because the idea of being jealous of a fan base eludes me. Honest to God, in all my many years of being a sports fan, I've never felt even the slightest twinge of jealously towards fans of a successful team. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I simply don't understand it. Back in the day when I was a hardcore diehard fan of the original Browns and we had a real rivalry with Pittsburgh fans, I hated the Steelers and I hated Steelers fans, but I was never jealous of their success. Or maybe my idea of jealously isn't what you're referring to. 

 

This isn't football, but as a kid living in the PNW, I was a little jealous of those who lived in LA and got to see those great Dodger teams of the '70's and early 80's or Bostonians who saw the Red Sox teams of the same era (Yaz and Garvey were two of my favs back then).  Pro sports are a bit more spread out now, and I'm older so maybe that no longer applies.

[bosrs1]

16 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

I would rather see the Chargers in it, really. I used to get angry about the Pats always excelling, but at a certain point? I just sort of gave in and accepted the greatness. I still don't like them, but they're easily the greatest team of this era and Brady is the greatest QB of his generation. I have to respect that, even if I'm not a fan. So the Pats went from a team I actively loathed to a team I actually wanted to see succeed because of how cool it would be to say "yeah, I saw Tom Brady break Joe Montana's record." And now I get to say "yeah I saw the greatest Super Bowl of all time" and appreciate it for what it is without Sports Hate making things all rage-y.

 

Now that the Pats have slayed all the dragons? They're just any other team that's not the Chargers. They're just not a team I want to see in the Super Bowl. That's nothing against them as a team. The same applies to thirteen other AFC teams. If they do make it though? I'll just hope for a good game. I got that this year.

 

 

 

No offense, but after the Chargers turned traitor on San Diego I hope the only Playoffs they ever watch are the ones they see on TV every winter from their off season couches...

[infrared41]

14 hours ago, BringBackTheVet said:

 

"Jealousy" is a gross exaggeration.  It's really no more than "man, I wish we'd get a parade one of these years."  I guess it's the same as I feel about every team that wins, they just happen to win way more often.  It lasts about a day or two after the SB.  Sometimes not even that long if I have a lot going on at work the next day.  It's amazing how much work and... well, life cut into the time available for sulking.  That's probably why I don't really care that much anymore* - so little free time (despite what my posting patters might indicate) that it's too valuable to spend doing things that don't feel good, like watching a losing sports team.

 

 

*I still care about how that fat loser Andy Reid and over-sensitive dumb-ass twit Donovan McNabb wasted away so many great opportunities to win and have something close to what the Patriots have.  Godsdamned a ssholes.

 

Got it.

 

Sounds like you have a case of "Schottenheimeritis." I can't think of an original Browns QB who is comparable to McNabb, but I'm all too familiar with watching a head coach waste opportunities. Marty Schottenheimer was a pretty damned good coach...until the playoffs started.  His coaching philosophy in the playoffs was be as conservative as possible. The game plan on offense felt like it was just short of just punting every time the offense got the ball and it seemed like he'd start playing prevent defense at the beginning of the 3rd quarter. All these years later and it still drives me crazy. G-dsdamned ass-hole. 

[Lights Out]

I would argue that Marty wasn't even a good coach. A good coach wouldn't have spent the better part of three decades refusing to change their approach to playoff football despite the mountains of evidence that it didn't work.

 

Marty was the ultimate mediocre coach. He could drag a bad team up to mediocrity. He could drag a good team down to mediocrity. And he was never going to win you anything significant.

[Dalcowboyfan92]

17 minutes ago, Lights Out said:

I would argue that Marty wasn't even a good coach. A good coach wouldn't have spent the better part of three decades refusing to change their approach to playoff football despite the mountains of evidence that it didn't work.

 

Marty was the ultimate mediocre coach. He could drag a bad team up to mediocrity. He could drag a good team down to mediocrity. And he was never going to win you anything significant.

 

I would say Marty is the ultimate regular season coach. His teams were always strong, playing well during the games that in essence "didn't matter".

 

And then when they got to the games that mattered; he seemed lost. Almost as if the playoff spotlight was too big for him; and he always seemed to wilt under the pressure.

[infrared41]

6 minutes ago, Dalcowboyfan92 said:

 

I would say Marty is the ultimate regular season coach. His teams were always strong, playing well during the games that in essence "didn't matter".

 

And then when they got to the games that mattered; he seemed lost. Almost as if the playoff spotlight was too big for him; and he always seemed to wilt under the pressure.

 

That's a pretty accurate description. 

[infrared41]

29 minutes ago, Lights Out said:

I would argue that Marty wasn't even a good coach. A good coach wouldn't have spent the better part of three decades refusing to change their approach to playoff football despite the mountains of evidence that it didn't work.

 

Marty was the ultimate mediocre coach. He could drag a bad team up to mediocrity. He could drag a good team down to mediocrity. And he was never going to win you anything significant.

 

So without Marty, the 14-2 '06 Chargers would have gone undefeated? 

[IceCap]

1 hour ago, infrared41 said:

 

So without Marty, the 14-2 '06 Chargers would have gone undefeated? 

Yeah, I really don't see how anyone could argue that his tenure in San Diego was mediocre. And I still to this day haven't forgiven the team for firing him. Who loses their job after a 14-2 season?

 

Now if you wanna play the "he couldn't win the playoffs" card fine, but who did they replace him with? Norv Turner. 

And you look at those Chargers teams under Turner. He basically did all he could with Marty's team (losing to the Pats in the AFC Championship game was his "peak") and then slowly sank the team the more he made it his. 

 

Don't fire a coach who goes 14-2 if all you have to replace him with is Norv Turner is what I'm saying.

 

3 hours ago, bosrs1 said:

 

No offense, but after the Chargers turned traitor on San Diego I hope the only Playoffs they ever watch are the ones they see on TV every winter from their off season couches...

Well you pulled for the Pats, who ended the Chargers' two best chances at reaching the Super Bowl in this era, despite being a "loyal San Diegan" so you know...that's just your opinion

 

And while I wholeheartedly agree that the Chargers should be in San Diego? I have no alliegence to that city. I'd pull for the Chargers if they played in Sioux Falls.

Which might be a better option than LA now that I think about it...

[bosrs1]

6 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

Yeah, I really don't see how anyone could argue that his tenure in San Diego was mediocre. And I still to this day haven't forgiven the team for firing him. Who loses their job after a 14-2 season?

 

 

Don't fire a coach who goes 14-2 if all you have to replace him with is Norv Turner is what I'm saying.

 

Well you pulled for the Pats, who ended the Chargers' two best chances at reaching the Super Bowl in this era, despite being a "loyal San Diegan" so you know...that's just your opinion

 

And while I wholeheartedly agree that the Chargers should be in San Diego? I have no alliegence to that city. I'd pull for the Chargers if they played in Sioux Falls.

Which might be a better option than LA now that I think about it...

 

Agreed on Marty, still unbelievable to this day that they canned him.

 

I still pull for the Pats. I was a Pats fan long before I was a San Diegan. That said I pulled for the Chargers all but the twice a decade they crossed paths with the Chargers, so yeah I'd consider myself a loyal San Diegan under those circumstances. As for your allegiance, if you've no allegiance to SD, out of curiosity why do you root for them?

[IceCap]

4 minutes ago, bosrs1 said:

As for your allegiance, if you've no allegiance to SD, out of curiosity why do you root for them?

My dad's family wintered in San Diego when he was a kid, so he became a Chargers fan. Since that was the closest thing he, someone from Montreal, had to a "hometown" NFL team.

I became a Chargers fan because my dad was a Chargers fan.

[bosrs1]

5 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

My dad's family wintered in San Diego when he was a kid, so he became a Chargers fan. Since that was the closest thing he, someone from Montreal, had to a "hometown" NFL team.

I became a Chargers fan because my dad was a Chargers fan.

 

Fair enough. I mean I became a Pats fan because I had no local team growing up in the Bay Area either (my family doesn't root for SF based teams and the Raiders were in LA) and the Pats were my grandmothers' and grandfather's team. So I definitely understand the sentiment.

 

Still not sure I'd keep rooting for the Pats if they suddenly moved to New York or Philadelphia for no reason other than their owner was a cheap ass. I know my grandparents, who are all natives of Massachusetts, wouldn't have kept following them under those circumstances.

[BBTV]

6 minutes ago, bosrs1 said:

if they suddenly moved to ... Philadelphia for no reason other than their owner was a cheap ass. 

 

I just got a boner.

 

Discuss.

[IceCap]

Just now, bosrs1 said:

Still not sure I'd keep rooting for the Pats if they suddenly moved to New York or Philadelphia for no reason other than their owner was a cheap ass.

Well yeah, but Robert Kraft's a good owner. I'm desensitized to Spanos' stupidity

I mean don't get me wrong. The move to LA is a terrible idea! He gains nothing from it, and he could put whatever money he'd have to spend to get there to work on a serviceable replacement for Qualcomm. I may not have any allegiance to San Diego, but I have been following their stadium situation for over a decade at this point. And yeah, the blame's all on Dean on this one. Not the city of San Diego.

 

To me though? It's always been about Chargers football. San Diego's a great market, and I do wish they had stayed/not sabotaged every attempt to work something out. I would be lying if I told you my allegiances were connected in any way to the city though. I considered dumping the team when they left, and it just didn't feel right/real. Had they re-branded upon moving to LA? Sure, at that point there's nothing left for me to hang on to. They're still the Chargers though, and yeah. I just can't drop them. They're the team I've pulled for, for as long as I've been following the NFL. For better or for worse.

 

 

 

[infrared41]

8 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

Yeah, I really don't see how anyone could argue that his tenure in San Diego was mediocre. And I still to this day haven't forgiven the team for firing him. Who loses their job after a 14-2 season?

 

To be fair, I think Marty can be his own worst enemy. The Browns fired him after a 10-6 playoff season in which the starting QBs were a bunch of guys named Don Strock. (Starting QB Bernie Kosar was hurt on and off and only played about half the season.) According to reports at the time, Marty was fired because he refused to hire an offensive coordinator. Marty said it was because he didn't think he could resolve his differences with the team. If memory serves, one of the reasons the Chargers fired him was because he wanted his brother to be on the coaching staff or he wouldn't fire his brother from the staff - I don't remember which, but I know his brother had something to do with it. 

[bosrs1]

1 minute ago, BringBackTheVet said:

 

I just got a boner.

 

Discuss.

 

Looking to watch some championship football in Philly are ya?

 

 

[Lights Out]

That 14-2 season was one of the most deceptive records in recent memory. The truth is, the Chargers played against only three other playoff teams that entire regular season. One of them was the 13-3 Ravens, who had the best defense in the league. The other two were the Chiefs (twice) and Seahawks, two mediocre teams who went 9-7 and backed their way in. We didn't have to play the Colts. We didn't have to face the Patriots until the playoffs. And in our only games against real teams, we were a miracle game-winning drive in Seattle away from going 1-3. And then Marty promptly did his usual chokejob in the postseason.

 

I can't muster up any outrage over Marty's firing, because (a) the "he got fired after going 14-2!!!" talking point ignores how that record came against a cupcake schedule; and (b) he deserved it. People act like he was fired immediately after the loss to the Patriots. He was actually fired a month later for reasons that had nothing to do with winning or losing (which we all know the Spanos family doesn't give a rat's ass about). The reality is, Marty had spent the last three years being insubordinate and all but daring the Chargers to fire him. He stubbornly refused to give Rivers any garbage-time minutes in 2004 or 2005. He damn near got Brees killed in 2005 because winning his stupid pissing match with AJ was more important to him than anything else. And the final straw was when he interviewed his brother for the defensive coordinator job in 2006 after being told not to by the organization.

 

Don Coryell and Bobby Ross had legitimate gripes about the way they were pushed out of the organization. Marty never did. His firing was his own doing. He pushed his luck a few too many times off the field and then had to face the consequences.

[IceCap]

Just now, infrared41 said:

To be fair, I think Marty can be his own worst enemy.

I don't disagree. I just thing that, as a body of work, Schottenheimer's Chargers were on the right track. You don't replace the coach unless you know you have THE guy who will take them to the next level.

Norv Turner has never been, and never will be, THE guy.