After years of hearing the chatter about this topic on sports shows I just had to vent this out one way or another. My birthplace is in New England and I always grew up a fan of the Patriots (and the Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics but football is more my sport of choice and the one I follow closer). All of my childhood I understood that the Patriots were a bad team. That changed when Parcells came to New England with Belichick in tow in the early 90s (I think 93 but it doesn’t matter really). Fast forward to 2000 when they brought Belichick back as head coach and he would begin to build their dynasty. I say ‘their’ because it may take two to tango but it takes a f#$@ load more to build an NFL dynasty! The Patriots were competitive at this point and had been to the Super Bowl in ’97. They had some great players like Ted Johnson, Willie McGinest, Teddy Bruschi, Lawyer Milloy, Matt Light, Joe Andruzzi and Ty Law (you know some of the other great players that helped Brady and Belichick build the dynasty). They had Drew Bledsoe and Brady was just drafted. Yes that’s right Brady was drafted and developed under Belichick and other’s tutelage (I swear when I hear some talking heads talk about Brady they act like he has been a undeniable superstar for 20 years!). Maybe I’m wrong but most of them in the early 2000s would not stop talking about how he was a system quarterback and Belichick would succeed with anyone behind center worth a shake of salt. The 2001 season was special because it was the foundation of the culture and the mentality that fueled the organization to greatness. Team traits like their resourcefulness, discipline, analysis, accountability, toughness, grit, focus, and also appreciation for the game and its history. All things that even I could see as a teenager at that time were instilled and cultivated by coach Belichick. Many talking heads always seemed to miss on these points (if not then they certainly do now). The point I am trying to get to is that Super Bowl Championships are won by football teams not a coach and not a quarterback. The Patriots since they came out of the Super Bowl 36 tunnel as a unit in the 2001 season have been the example of what it means to be a team. There are countless great players and coaches like Troy Brown, Rob Gronkowski, Rodney Harrison, David Patten, David Givens, Deion Branch, Julian Edelman, Wes Welker, Richard Seymour, Ty Warren, Nick Caserio, Romeo Crennel, Charlie Weis, Ernie Adams, Dante Scarnecchia, the list goes on and on as to why the Patriots dominated for so long and won so many division titles, conference titles and Super Bowls. Oh yeah and how about Adam Vinatieri? He’s responsible for clinching multiple super bowl and playoff victories during the 24 year run! How this debate has gone on for so long with professional sports reporters endlessly arguing over just these two people is beyond me. Whether it is Belichick’s record before and after Brady and then what Brady did in Tampa without Bill. To me what Brady did in Tampa just reflected what he brought with him from New England and what he developed in New England and he had a hell of a team and coach in Tampa Bay too. So who’s better? Who’s more responsible? I don’t know but neither of their portions put together would come close to outweighing the rest of players and coaches who were on those championship rosters. It is an inconclusive and inconsequential question because it never comes down to one person in football. Belichick was the head coach and built a tremendous supporting staff of players and coaches that would become the greatest dynasty in the NFL to date. It was a harmonious collective accomplishment orchestrated and conducted by Belichick but as he always said it is a players game and the players deserve the credit. It bothers me that the talking heads so rarely seem to acknowledge the team aspect of the game. At the same time broadcasters have a job to do and need to get eyes and ears on their shows. So I guess the debate will go on as long as people want to listen to it. But to me there is no debate on who’s better between these two just twenty magic years of football to reflect back on.
“Joe Rogan is a hack” video opinion.
http://(https://youtu.be/LXVzuTWZ838?si=u7_pOj9FQs5m0BGr)
I feel like left wing internet show hosts need to do themselves a favor and stop covering Joe Rogan clips. As a Rogan listener myself I just have to wonder how many are like me and don’t actually put any weight or merit to his political or social opinions at all (or medical for that matter). He has some interesting guests and covers some interesting topics (sometimes). He also has MMA fighters like Bo Nickal in this case who I like listening to in order to get some insider perspectives on the sport. A sport which was made fun of in this video for being gay which seemed oddly homophobic coming from a left wing voice 🤔. Anyway, I have seen multiple videos from left leaning hosts (like this one) criticizing Rogan in the past and in this instance. It’s like they’re trying to catch him in this big gotcha moment but the actual moment is just utterly meaningless, nobody cares! Maybe I’m wrong but I don’t think anybody’s vote got changed during that two minute spat in this interview. It was just a stupid laugh-away moment because neither of them knew what the hell they were talking about in the first place. I obviously don’t disagree that he was totally wrong and maybe somewhat embarrassed after getting fact-checked but it just doesn’t matter because nobody cares what Rogan and Nickal’s opinions are on Trump and Biden. If they do they were probably supremely disappointed in that episode as the topic was barely covered. I think highlighting this inconsequential 2 minute part of a 2+ hour episode does a disservice to people on the left because they’re covering Rogan in a way that makes him look like something he is not and makes them look a little ridiculous. Joe might be uninformed and expresses silly opinions at times. However most left wing hosts who aren’t familiar with Rogan’s shows or his opinions end up making themselves look uninformed and silly to a moderate listener of Joe Rogan. I say this only to say that you can do better. I’ve heard the sentiment brought up (in this video and others) that during the pandemic Rogan cashed in on conservative conspiracies and made himself a millionaire in the process. Maybe Rogan did cash in on the conservative COVID-19 misinformation money train but if that’s true then all you’re doing with these kinds of videos is cashing in on the Joe Rogan money train which came from the same station.
The National anthem protest
A current issue in America right now is the national anthem protests in the NFL. Which of course stem from the chain of civilian deaths at the hands of law enforcement officers. The general consensus seems to be that the players choosing to kneel during the anthem are somehow disrespecting our flag, our country and our soldiers. Not only do I disagree but I am concerned at the blind nationalism people feel we should have towards our country. Our country is not inherently “great”, it has become “great” (subjectively speaking) because people have stood up for justice and freedom. These anthem protests are like a finger pointing to the moon and most Americans are missing the message.
The people who are upset about the protests are focusing on the finger rather than the large issue it is pointing to. When innocent people are being killed by law enforcement officers and there seems to be no due punishment then we as citizens have every right to say this is an issue. If people are turning a blind eye, being indifferent or apathetic to this problem then an individual might feel the need to bring attention to it. For instance a professional football player might get the idea to do something drastic to get noticed, like take a knee during the national anthem. The irony of the whole thing is that if the people who are so upset about the NFL players protesting were just as concerned for the American citizens who have been killed, players would probably feel no need to kneel for the anthem in the first place. It is odd, there is much concern for the honor and respect of fallen soldiers but not so much for the death of the civilians at the heart of this issue.
There is no law against kneeling during the anthem that I know of. In fact, I am pretty sure we have fought wars against countries who have the types of laws that reinforce that sort of blind nationalistic fervor (a pretty strong characteristic of just about any fascist society). A big argument I hear is that it is disrespectful to the soldiers who have “died for our flag”. The soldiers didn’t fight and die to be honored by us standing for a piece of cloth (which is all a flag is at the end of the day) or a 2-3 minute song before a sporting event. American soldiers fight and die for freedom and the ideals of the country that the flag stands for. Coincidentally, the very same freedom and ideals that these players are demonstrating on a weekly basis. Soldiers have fought and died so we could be free. Free to question our leaders, protest when we feel it is necessary and speak out for justice.
I want to be clear that I am not saying it is somehow wrong to stand for the anthem or show respect to our military, our leaders or our country as a whole. It just doesn’t seem at all American to essentially force people to stand for the national anthem and/or flag in some mass act of blind respect. However, to use our freedom boldly and bring attention to an important issue in our country is to me a very patriotic thing to do. The former is nothing more than a collective pat on the back, whereas the latter carries weight. The protests actually reinforce what our flag really stands for and honors what America’s soldiers have fought and died for.
American Consciousness 