Ed Hillel said:
Spends a paragraph equating Dan Shaughnessy as the voice of the Patriots fanbase. :barf:
AFC Championship Game: Indy @ New England
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Spends a paragraph equating Dan Shaughnessy as the voice of the Patriots fanbase. :barf:
https://twitter.com/holderstephen/status/556612086126870528Mark Schofield said:
link to tweet
It's funny and embarrassing for him, but he was inactive last week and has not been part of the revamped OL so not a big loss for the team.
He is also their only reserve tackle. So if he goes down they will have guys playing out of position.
Mark Schofield said:
Which would be the same as last week, when he was inactive.
Meanwhile ...
MikeWellsNFL Mike Wells
Chuck Pagano should be focused on game prep for New England, not dealing w legal issues, sulking player and a player missing team plane.
I hate this piece of shit. He is good fodder for such a boring-ass Indy team and fanbase:
Love Tanguay going at him. Amazing.
http://www.csnne.com/new-england-patriots/doyel-explains-why-patriots-are-hated-around-country
Love Tanguay going at him. Amazing.
http://www.csnne.com/new-england-patriots/doyel-explains-why-patriots-are-hated-around-country
Long time Colts fan here (since back when players like Gary Hogeboom) were the Colt's quarterback. (I live in Indiana, so that explains it.) Most of the people I talk to think the Colts have very little chance...so they are being realistic in my opinion. I'd be very shocked if they win. Luck forces some bad passes at times, and we have plenty of other issues. Also, Bill Polian is a prick, and most people here that follow football that closely would agree.
Good luck guys.
Good luck guys.
Stop trying to make is more difficult to hate the Colts' fan base.Wings said:
I think the vitrol on the NEP fan side of this rivalry stems from what seems to be a large segment of Indy's fan base claiming some kind of moral superiority. Even ignoring spygate it comes across as thinking the organization is better because they're not gruff meanies. Of course my read on this is skewed by my wife's family who are not knowledgeable at all and turn it into more of a Midwesterners are better people than New Englanders so therefore the Colts are superior. With Doyel as their spokesman (all signs point to this) how prevalent is this line of thinking? Along those lines how much of the fan base would be considered "knowledgeable" compared to other fan bases?
koufax32 said:
This is all my speculation, so here goes.
I definitely think there is some of the "moral superiority" among some Indy fans..or at least there used to be back around spygate and the year of 2007 when the Patriots were demolishing everyone and "running up the score" (which, I mean...it's professional athletics people...this is not little league) Heck, ESPN's Greg Easterbrook promoted that narrative in this article. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/071023 (Google/Evil) but I think to some degree that has blown over. I haven't heard of spygate in forever...but that's just me.
Belichick, as others have mentioned, sometimes isn't super engaged with the media (from my understanding he's a lot more open to the local media), so that casts a light on him (not that he cares, nor should he IMO) that can rub people the wrong way here "in the good ol' Midwest."
Plus the Patriots have been super successful. One can argue that if a few things go differently (2003 Indy vs Pats at the RCA dome when Edgerrin James was stopped at the 1 yard line in the regular season game...leading the Pats to have home field advantage in the AFC champshion game) that things could have turned out much differently for the Colts
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=1674752 I think there is frustration that the Colts could have been the team of the 00's except the Pats were in the way. (Michael Jordan says hello to the New York Nicks, Pacers, Jazz, Trailbazers, Suns, etc.)
I think all regions of the country have narratives about them...west coast people are "laid back", mid-western people are "family friendly hard working", east coast people/News Englanders are "rough' / 'gruff' and not friendly....blah blah blah...if advertisers/media can get people watching/talking about it then they earn money.
I also think most of the non-Patriots fan (at least the ones I interact with) are tired of the Patriots because they win so much. But that is the case with most franchises who win a lot. Re: Doyle...I've heard of him before, but had no idea he is the local guy. I tend to ignore most that stuff, but I'd be surprised if 20% of Colt's fans knew him...maybe it's because he is newer to the area.
[SIZE=14.3999996185303px]How much of the fan base would be considered "knowledgeable" is hard to say. I do think you're exactly right, however. The people that know less about football tend to focus on those things, and not the X's O's, etc.[/SIZE]
Wings said:
This is all my speculation, so here goes.
I definitely think there is some of the "moral superiority" among some Indy fans..or at least there used to be back around spygate and the year of 2007 when the Patriots were demolishing everyone and "running up the score" (which, I mean...it's professional athletics people...this is not little league) Heck, ESPN's Greg Easterbrook promoted that narrative in this article. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/071023 (Google/Evil) but I think to some degree that has blown over. I haven't heard of spygate in forever...but that's just me.
Belichick, as others have mentioned, sometimes isn't super engaged with the media (from my understanding he's a lot more open to the local media), so that casts a light on him (not that he cares, nor should he IMO) that can rub people the wrong way here "in the good ol' Midwest."
Plus the Patriots have been super successful. One can argue that if a few things go differently (2003 Indy vs Pats at the RCA dome when Edgerrin James was stopped at the 1 yard line in the regular season game...leading the Pats to have home field advantage in the AFC champshion game) that things could have turned out much differently for the Colts
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=1674752 I think there is frustration that the Colts could have been the team of the 00's except the Pats were in the way. (Michael Jordan says hello to the New York Nicks, Pacers, Jazz, Trailbazers, Suns, etc.)
I think all regions of the country have narratives about them...west coast people are "laid back", mid-western people are "family friendly hard working", east coast people/News Englanders are "rough' / 'gruff' and not friendly....blah blah blah...if advertisers/media can get people watching/talking about it then they earn money.
I also think most of the non-Patriots fan (at least the ones I interact with) are tired of the Patriots because they win so much. But that is the case with most franchises who win a lot. Re: Doyle...I've heard of him before, but had no idea he is the local guy. I tend to ignore most that stuff, but I'd be surprised if 20% of Colt's fans knew him...maybe it's because he is newer to the area.
[SIZE=14.3999996185303px]How much of the fan base would be considered "knowledgeable" is hard to say. I do think you're exactly right, however. The people that know less about football tend to focus on those things, and not the X's O's, etc.[/SIZE]
I also live in Indianapolis, and have for the past 11 1/2 years. I moved here right at the beginning of the 2003 season. So I have "experience" with this rivalry beginning with the epic '03 AFCG beatdown in New England (followed by Polian's complete meltdown, especially on his local radio show), through SpyGate and RCA Dome Noise/Gate, through the majority of the Manning Era, and now the Luck Era.
I agree with the majority of what Wings is describing, but would add the following:
- The moral superiority angle is very real, fueled a little by regional self-perception, but more (from a football standpoint) by the hyper-competitive Polian and the unctously sanctimonious Dungy. It is now a baked -in part of this rivalry.
- This feeling re the Patriots wasn't initiated by SpyGate (though this will forever be the maraschino cherry on the sundae), but rather from the defensive mugging of Marvin Harrison et al in the aforementioned AFCG. SpyGate is merely the supporting evidence for always labeling the Patriots en masse as cheaters.
- SpyGate is thrown in my face every year these two teams play, without fail. Every year. I interpret it as a coping mechanism for the general anxiety that comes with playing against the Patriots, largely because the average fan does not even know what SpyGate was about. In fact, most hard-core Colts fans don't know what SpyGate is about.
- Pagano and Irsay are sympathetic figures in Indy, and their benevolent personalities fit well with the culture of the area. Belichick is viewed as a criminal mastermind (literally), and the media here is (unsurprisingly) willfully ignorant with respect to portrayals of the Patriots and Belichick.
- Wings hit the nail on the head when he said that the Colts could have been the Team of the Decade if the Patriots weren't in the way. That is the crux of it here in Indianapolis. They see the Patriots/Belichick/Brady in their ninth AFCG during the Manning/Luck Era and it's very disheartening.
The average Colts fan believes deep down that the matchups don't favor the Colts and that the Patriots, on paper, should win. Average fans express this doubt via the "Cheatriots" meme... hard-core fans know that there are fundamental match-up challenges and view things a lot more objectively.
This is all fueled by the fact that the local sports media here is horrific. Mike Chappell is a compotent football reporter. Other than that, there is no one I can stand to read or listen to for 5 minutes. They are, without exception, enormous homers, and most barely know what's going on in the sports they cover outside of the Indy teams.Dick Pole Upside said:
Dick Pole Upside said:
Yeah, I definitely think the culture comes into play to some degree. That being said when Bob Knight was winning big (before the mid to late nineties) most people from Indiana didn't care about his treatment of the media and if he was a jerk.. He wasn't *perceived/accused/etc. to be breaking rules (using Spygate as an example on how people throw that in the Pats face) but really, when a team is successful a lot of that moral superiority goes out the window.
Anyway, good luck Pats. Pats 38 Colts 20 is my prediction.
Nor did they care about "Mr. Polian's" arrogance and contempt for the Colts' fanbase until he started drafting poorly.Wings said:
Did you guys ever listen to his call-in show on 1070? I would occasionally because he was such an over-the-top dick that it was sort of amusing, particularly when the walls were closing in on him in 2010 and 2011. There is a reason that the Krafts, and not BB, are the primary face of the franchise when it comes to interacting with fans.
Irsay has implied several times that the Polians' arrogance and shabby treatment of other Colts employees was a major factor in his decision to can them. For all the crap he gets for his substance-abuse and his bizzare Twitter ramblings, Irsay seems like a pretty decent dude who earnestly cares about the fans. The polar opposite of his father.
I have heard his show. When he insulted fans (the year the Colts were 14-0) and could have gone for it all, is when things turned against him. And he was trying to have his son takeover for him, and the draft picks for the Colts weren't very good the last few years. I think this brings up a question. How good was Polian in Indy? He had some great picks (Mathis/Freeney/Beathea/etc.) but he also had Manning to carry his team. Freeney was a first round pick, Mathis was a 5th round pick, Bethea 6th round. Might be an interesting topic forum.
I think Irsay is a decent guy. He has his demons, but I think he tries to do the right thing. He is weird, however, and should probably have one of his daughters be the face of the team, or something.
I think Irsay is a decent guy. He has his demons, but I think he tries to do the right thing. He is weird, however, and should probably have one of his daughters be the face of the team, or something.
This thread really should have been locked after this comment. It sums it up nicely and we have the game ball thread for discussion.Old Fart Tree said:
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