I
Ian Pike Hammer
Guest
ROFL
"Bottom Feeder" Goophs beat MSU by 25
- Thread starter Luftgekuehlt67
- Start date
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Of course Rhodes did more than just hit threes in that famous 1987 game. He seemed to grab every loose ball, he ran the floor, crashed the boards, played all 45 (OT) minutes, may have even ushered and sold popcorn during media timeouts. He scored 54 and grabbed 14 boards. He was everywhere.
He played possessed. It was like watching Kellen Winslow in that famous 1980's playoff game at Miami (and I was a Dolphin fan in my youth) Winslow caught passes, ran end arounds, blocked field goals, defended a Hail Mary, forced a fumble after an interception, competed in Jai Alai (ok an exaggeration). There was a famous photo of him having to practically be carried off the field with exhaustion by two teammates, a pose that some Dolphins believe to this day was excessive drama.
BILLBUCKNER
Well-Known Member
Pats have benefited greatly playing in the horrible division.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Pats have helped make that division horrible all these years.
But to be realistic Brady never had a QB anywhere near his equal in that division.
No Ben, no Rodgers, no Manning, no Mahomes.
Luftgekuehlt67
Well-Known Member
Ah, yes, the Patriots - the team you love to hate! I get it, I'm a casual Broncos fan myself. The Patriots have won a lot over an impossibly long time period when you consider the amount of parity in the NFL. For my money, they may be the greatest American sports dynasty of all time.
Obviously, Brady was a big part of that. He's one of the all time greats and, as anyone who's watched even part of an NFL game over the past 20+ years could tell you it's all about QB play in the modern NFL. But I think you have to give Belichik loads of credit, too. There haven't been a lot of Brady tier QBs, but there have been a few over this same era and they haven't won championships at the rate the Patriots have. You gotta give Belichik props for that, he is a true coach/GM who has made really smart personnel moves and kept both sides of the ball loaded with good value (i.e. high production to salary ratio) players that fit exactly what they want to do on both sides of the ball.
You don't have to like it, but I think you have to respect it.
Obviously, Brady was a big part of that. He's one of the all time greats and, as anyone who's watched even part of an NFL game over the past 20+ years could tell you it's all about QB play in the modern NFL. But I think you have to give Belichik loads of credit, too. There haven't been a lot of Brady tier QBs, but there have been a few over this same era and they haven't won championships at the rate the Patriots have. You gotta give Belichik props for that, he is a true coach/GM who has made really smart personnel moves and kept both sides of the ball loaded with good value (i.e. high production to salary ratio) players that fit exactly what they want to do on both sides of the ball.
You don't have to like it, but I think you have to respect it.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
UCLA basketball was pretty good too.
Luftgekuehlt67
Well-Known Member
Yeah, definitely. Greatest American sports dynasty is an interesting (and never ending!) debate, but Wooden-era UCLA hoops is definitely in the conversation.
My argument for the Patriots is that I think you have to take into consideration the constraints under which they've operated. What the Patriots lack on their "greatest ever" resume is the three/four/five-peat type runs a lot of franchises/programs have pulled off...but, I think you have to take into consideration the kind of parity the NFL has seen in the modern era. The league is designed to really shuffle the deck from year to year, so to see one team continually bubble to the top over a nearly 2-decade era...something is going very right.
If my math is right, over an 18 year period the Patriots have won a third of the Super Bowls and half of the AFC championships. Look at the kinds of ups and downs most NFL franchises have been through over that same timespan...for the Patriots to win at that level with that kind of consistency is almost staggering. No wonder everyone outside of New England hates their guts.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Thats a good point. Of all the pro sports the NFL in particular is set up to prevent such dynasties from happening.
Wooden could stockpile talent, control scheduling, and had (ahem) assistance from boosters like Sam Gilbert.
Dean Smith and coach K have had their teams in final fours in four different decades which is impressive as well, considering they were competing against each other for close to twenty years.
BigD
Well-Known Member
Lol, it’s funny how things cycle. I too am sick of hearing about New England, but there was a significant period of time when New England was one of the worst franchises in the NFL (for you older fellas like me).
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Yeah Pete Carroll didn't work out too well there.
Also late eighties through the pre Parcells nineties. They were as grungy as the music being played at the time.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
They can win it all this year.
