How much value do you put on being a "class organization"?

[GoPats]

I actually like it when NE fans joke around about SpyGate because it tends to diffuse the scandal completely & disarm people almost instantly. Look at Bill Clinton & the Monica Lewinsky scandal now: "I did have sexual relations with that woman" is almost a punchline of endearment now.

 

SW1 is not endorsing sexual harassment at all in real life. I am just pointing out that humor used in the right circumstance can elevate one's reputation as opposed to detract from it. That's all.   

 

Eh, it happened... I've come to terms with it. (Spygate, not Monica Lewinski, lol...)

 

I went to my first Patriots game in 1979. Watched 'em get stomped by the Dolphins. And that scene played out and repeated itself for more than 20 years before I got to root for a championship team. Short of some atrocious act against mankind committed on the part of the entire organization, they are my team, and I will root them on until I shuffle off this mortal coil. I went through a lot of bad, difficult years to get to where we are now!

 

So even though New England fans will forever have to deal with Spygate comments (thanks, Bill!), it's pointless to try to convert who try to make it a bigger deal than it really was, as well as those fellow NE fans who dismiss it entirely. The fact is the Patriots were fined in an unprecedented manner for their actions. But also factual is that they've actually won MORE games since then, and have gone back to the SB twice. In my opinion they've exonerated themselves and their three Lombardi trophies. But I realize that will not always be the case for fans of teams that fell to them along the way.

 

And if that doesn't work, I can always go back to my favorite line: "Kiss my asterisk!"    ;)

 

Cheers SW, you're one good dude, and that always comes across in your posts.

[southwest1]

When I hear fans brag about class and how they want a classy organization I always wonder how many of them would turn on the team if it was a classy organization that had some really nice guys, but were perpetual losers like the Bills versus have some bad apples here and there but continue to win championships.  

 

The Pacers were a great example after the brawl they really cleaned up their image and really went out of their way to find "classy" players, but they were terrible.  The fans still did not come even though the organization turned it around and became a classy organization.  The fans did not show up till the team started winning and that is what it all boils down.

 

Sure there will be fans that will stick to their guns about class, but most fans care more for winning than class.  

That is a very provocative premise  Thewholefnshow28. I like that approach actually. Toughness, meanness, cut throat, or whatever adjective you wanna put on it doesn't always correlate with polite, kind, & classy. Class is like the Golden Rule: "Treat others as you would like to be treated." No, not that one. This one: "He/She who has the Gold [or Championships] makes the rules. "

 

A sustained period of Lombardi success is always associated with class or should I say longevity or posterity throughout the ages. History is never written by the losers now is it? Well said! 

[braveheartcolt]

You can be good, hard, edgy, tough and be champions, and do it with 'class'. It all comes from the top down, from the owner, GM, coaching staff and vets. If you hold the correct values, and hold them through the changing years, the rookies and FA's will have no choice but to follow suit.

[southwest1]

Eh, it happened... I've come to terms with it. (Spygate, not Monica Lewinski, lol...)

 

I went to my first Patriots game in 1979. Watched 'em get stomped by the Dolphins. And that scene played out and repeated itself for more than 20 years before I got to root for a championship team. Short of some atrocious act against mankind committed on the part of the entire organization, they are my team, and I will root them on until I shuffle off this mortal coil. I went through a lot of bad, difficult years to get to where we are now!

 

So even though New England fans will forever have to deal with Spygate comments (thanks, Bill!), it's pointless to try to convert who try to make it a bigger deal than it really was, as well as those fellow NE fans who dismiss it entirely. The fact is the Patriots were fined in an unprecedented manner for their actions. But also factual is that they've actually won MORE games since then, and have gone back to the SB twice. In my opinion they've exonerated themselves and their three Lombardi trophies. But I realize that will not always be the case for fans of teams that fell to them along the way.

 

And if that doesn't work, I can always go back to my favorite line: "Kiss my asterisk!"    ;)

 

Cheers SW, you're one good dude, and that always comes across in your posts.

Thanks for the complement GoPats I appreciate that. Your club has surpassed the Spygate scandal on your 2nd SB appearance with the NY Giants IMO. If cheating in the form of videotapes led to their SB successes, then how do you account for their 2012 appearance long after Roger Goodell destroyed those tapes? No naysayers seem to have an answer to that question do they? Hmmm...Just remember Gopats, NE's continued success is always what ticks Patriots haters off the most & they're really not mad at your squad just that their team came up short. 

 

Perhaps your admiration for NE since 1979 reveals the best definition of class around...Loyalty through thick & thin regardless of a team's wins & loses season by season decade by decade. Class is how devoted of a fan base an organization has through the lean years as well as the glory years. I'll accept that wise description too. 

 

I might take some fallout for this, but here was my problem with the Monica Lewinsky scandal aside from the infidelity angle & taking advantage of a young woman & abusing your authority & power in such a poor capacity...The President Of The U.S. is the most powerful person in the world & that is who you decide to have an inappropriate relationship with? Raise the bar & aim a little higher that's all I saying. But I digress...