IBC

Z, I wasn't taking a shot at Brady's preperation for games or anything like that. I was saying that Pats fans that say, "Hey he's just a normal guy" are full of crap.

I can see why some people don't like Peyton, that's fine but I'll defend Peyton forever. I have no problem with you defending Brady forever Bren, but you need to see that, if you're not a Pats fan, there's a lot not to like about the guy.

As for media whoredom, nobody can top Michael Jordan for that

Brady isn't a 'normal guy' he's a star QB with 3 SB rings who supermodels ogle. But he does come from a pretty normal background. He was never handed a starting job in college, he had to fight for it. He was a sixth round pick, not some uber-stud expected to make it to the Canton from draft day (which does come with it's own difficulties to be sure, but also with more open doors). His background is fairly middle class. He's not a rich boy acting modest, he's a guy from an average background who still looks like he's amazed to find himself in the situation he's in.

What is there to not like about Brady? Seriously? Hating him for beating your team i can 1000% empathize with (and yes, i meant 1,000%). And defending Peyton forever I'd expect (unless you were a Philly fan, those guys are brutal) and respect. But please, give me a list of stuff this guy does that makes you think he's some kind of bad person or what there is to not like about him as a person or as a player.

Agreed on Jordan, wholeheartedly. Please go away Jordan, and take all your shitty $150 sneakers with you.

Here's a guy I don't miss at all...
Gerry Callahan
This ****head is (or was, but probably still is) the host of one of the least insightful sports radio programs out there, WEEI's morning show Dennis and Callahan. The sheer stupidity this guy and his ***hole in crime John Dennis spewed every morning was nauseating. I used to have my clock radio set to play them every morning to incite me to get out of bed, cross the room and turn them off.
There are some real sleazeball pieces of **** covering sports in Boston, this guy is by far the biggest.

One thing that really gets under my skin is when he throws a tantrum when a call doesn't go his way or he doesn't get a penalty called in his favor. Maybe thats him being firey like JP claims, but to me it comes off like a kid throwing a fit in KMart because he can't get the toy he wants. I realize Peyton politics with the refs plenty, but he never stomps around and screams like Brady does. After the AFC title game last year, he walked straight off the field and didn't shake hands. Whenever Peyton got beat by the Pats, I never remembered him doing that

RedSox wrote:Brady isn't a 'normal guy' ...

Three quarterbacks, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, and Tom Brady, go to heaven to visit God and watch the Celtics play a game. God decides who will sit next to him by asking the boys a question...

God asks Peyton Manning first: "What do you believe?" Peyton thinks long and hard, looks God in the eye, and says, "I believe in hard work, and in staying true to family and friends. I believe in giving. I was lucky, but I always tried to do right by my fans." God can't help but see the essential goodness of Manning, and offers him a seat to his left.

Then God turns to Brett Favre and says, "What do you believe?" Brett says, "I believe passion, discipline, courage and honor are the fundamentals of life. I, too, have been lucky, but win or lose, I've always tried to be a true sportsman, both on and off the playing fields." God is greatly moved by Favre's sincere eloquence, and he offers him a seat to his right.

Finally, God turns to Tom Brady: "And you, Tom, what do you believe?" Tom replies, "I believe you're in my seat."

Cardinals wrote:One thing that really gets under my skin is when he throws a tantrum when a call doesn't go his way or he doesn't get a penalty called in his favor. Maybe thats him being firey like JP claims, but to me it comes off like a kid throwing a fit in KMart because he can't get the toy he wants. I realize Peyton politics with the refs plenty, but he never stomps around and screams like Brady does. After the AFC title game last year, he walked straight off the field and didn't shake hands. Whenever Peyton got beat by the Pats, I never remembered him doing that

I can't say I ever remember Manning ever shaking Brady's hand after a game. I can't say I cared either. This is something of a pet peeve of mine, so I'm gonna rant here.
The midfield handshake of the coaches, and the attention around it, is pretty stupid. Might be the stupidest thing going on in the NFL right now aside from letting the coaches call timeouts right before a FG attempt.
Game's Over, but you can't celebrate yet, you have to fight your way through the press to go shake the hand of either the poor schmoe that lost to you or the guy that just beat your team, knocking you out of the SB hunt when all you want to do is get the hell off the field or get back to the brief moments you're going to have for celebrating before starting to work on next week's opponent.
A few years ago, a bunch of little league kids tried to get the Yankees and Red Sox to shake hands after each game. It was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard and I'm glad it fell by the wayside. If you want to shake a guy's hand, go for it. If you don't, then don't and the media and fans shouldn't give anyone shit over it. It's stupid enough making the coaches do it, expecting the QB's to do it too? How about the defensive captains? The kickers? The punters? Why not the whole squads? Everybody get in line and shake hands! Or better yet, let's have a group hug! *gag*
Would I expect someone I'm competing with for a job or an architecture contract to shake my hand if I got it? Or if I didn't get it? Heck no. So why should I expect someone in another profession to do so? There's nothing wrong with the handshake in general. The expectation and the stupid commentary if it doesn't happen are what I dislike.

On the other subject, everyone lobbies and yells at the refs, hell you have to yell to be heard in half the stadiums in the NFL.

Honestly Aaron, if that's all you've got, that's some major grasping at straws.

I agree to a point. The teams don't need to shake hands, the coaches do though. They represent their teams and its a show of respect to meet in the middle of the field after a game and shake hands. Its tradition and its the right thing to do.

Actually, you'd be rather surprised at how 'ok' most people are about that stuff.

For one, in the MLB they don't shake hands - the Little League kids were literally trying to make the Red Sox and Yanks do something that's not even a part of what happens at the MLB level.

Playing college baseball in the NESCAC, I had a lot of guys I played against in high school playing in my conference (hell, my best friend in the world, the guy I grew up next door to played at Amherst). After the game, win or lose, it was always nice to talk to them on the field as we went back to the locker room. People in a lot of pro and college sports are the same way. Everytime Steve Nash is in Dallas, or Dirk is in Phoenix, they have dinner together and can always be seen talking for a long time after the game.

Now, if you don't WANT to shake someone's hand, by all means, don't do it. It shouldn't be something that's forced - though I agree with Gabe - each coach should do it.

If I was pissed off about a loss, I would either just wave and head to the locker room or just do a quick handshake. At the end of the day, sure losing sucks, but it's just a goddamn game. I'm as competitive as the next person, and probably moreso, but never at th expense of friends.

Agreed, if you're friends, that's one thing. But I also thing a real friend would appreciate that when you lose a big game like that, the last thing that's going to be on your mind is "I have to go shake his hand". You're probably thinking "What could I have done differently?" or even just in shock.
As for tradition, it's not that old a tradition. Some coaches have been doing it for longer, but the expectation is not traditional.

Since it's clearly my blog and since the last comment was clearly stupid I deleted it.
Welcome to my world.

whatever you need to tell yourself

Ah so once again, someone doesn't agree with Bren and so its just erased from history. Who else did that? Oh yeah, Stalin

There's a theory that sooner or later all internet discussions will result in some asshole comparing some other poster to Hitler/Stalin/Fascism.

Congratulations on being that Asshole, Aaron!

Yeah, between me and you, I'm the asshole. Keep tellin yourself that Bren. But, you are the only person that's ever right about anything in your own little world you live in so what else is there to expect. Also, learn to take a joke. Maybe you should get some of that sand outta your vagina

Very original Aaron! Next up, Aaron will be telling me how he's rubber and I'm glue, anything I say bounces off him and sticks to me (the rhyme only works the other way around).
Maybe you should relax Aaron if you can't pick up on the sarcasm or can't handle making a crack and having it thrown right back at you.

BTW, You really bring a lot to the discussion Jake, way to go!

i like the sarcasm, i just dont understand why u had a problem with my statement.

Well here's the thing about football that differentiates the post-game meetings in football from baseball:
1) Every player in the NFL comes from like 4 conferences and 3 states - so players are BOUND to know people on the other team.
2) Football has far and away the most players of any pro sport - meaning that not only do they only come from 4 conferences and 3 states, there's 80 zillion players on the sideline for each game
3) Baseball and Basketball players play FAR more games and are forced to travel MUCH more - meaning that, a lot of times, teams don't have time for post-game pleasantries, they need to get the hell out of there (both sports, most times have "road trips" meaning they eat up a lot of travel in straight shots - e.g. "West Coast Swings")
4) There are far fewer pro basketball players and far more represented countries, so the chances of you really knowing someone on the other team isn't high at all, and baseball players come from all 50 states, other countries, high schools, DI Colleges, DII Colleges, DIII Colleges, JC's, NAIA, etc. so their chances of knowing someone is remote as well

For all those reasons, and I'm sure many, many more, the football handshake is a big deal, because it's the most consistently visible show of sportsmanship in all of organized sports. Of course it's not, nor should it ever be, a requirement, but most athletes really do actually enjoy it. If I were Romo in the playoffs in either of the last two years, would I have made the handshake? I can't imagine I would.

Hot damn I'm good - Unfortunately no one's going to care about it...

Brewers wrote:i like the sarcasm, i just dont understand why u had a problem with my statement.

1 Part annoyance at the pointlessness and total wrongness of it. Anything that gets THAT much press CAN'T be underrated.
1 Part tiredness

The hockey handshake doesnt get a lot of press.

WTF is hockey?

Typical mainstream sports fan.

Hockey is great in person. On TV, I'd rather watch golf. And i HATE golf.

Haha, on that not (the irrelevent sport note), I actually went curling a couple times this weekend.

Giants wrote:Haha, on that not (the irrelevent sport note), I actually went curling a couple times this weekend.

Haha! I've actually got friends that admitted to doing that up in Anchorage during the winter. They said it is a great drinking sport. Bar room Curling must be taking over the "bar room darts" scene.