Last night the Patriots ended a perfect season in a very exciting game. Good deal. They are a great team that did it by knowing how to win even when they played poorly. Even at a party, I had to watch as much of the game as I could. Congrats definitely have to go out to the Patriots.
However, I was bugged this morning reading an article by Don Banks at Sports Illustrated. He’s already doing what I expect a LOT of pundits to do, compare them to the 1972 Miami Dolphins even though the season’s not over. He thinks what the Patriots have done is more special than the Dolphins because of the parity rules that exist today that didn’t then.
That’s garbage.
To put it in my perspective, there are several things substantially different than the parity rule that have to be taken into consideration. Now, the big difference that he cites, the parity thing, only applies when drafting. It doesn’t apply to free-agency and all that. What set the Patriots over the top this year was Randy Moss joining the Patriots just to win something big. That’s not the parity Don Banks speaks of. What that means is next year the Patriots won’t be able to draft very high. So, what happens is teams stock up on talent just to win something big, and then implode over the next few years. Where are the 49′ers now? Where are the Rams now? For that matter, where are the Bears? That didn’t happen in 1972. Players stuck with teams for the most part. Teams groomed them until they peaked. What was the blockbuster trade that set the ‘72 Dolphins over the top? There wasn’t one.
Secondly, the 72 Dolphins and the 07 Patriots both played in otherwise extremely weak divisions. I think Don Banks could have spent a little more time focusing on that fact than tearing down the 72 Dolphins to prop up the Pats.
And, there were fewer teams which meant the top tier talent wasn’t nearly as diluted as it is today. When a team is solid top to bottom, as both of the undefeateds are, then what they do is exploit the other team’s weaknesses. With 20% more teams today, it can be argued there are more than likely 20% more vulnerabilities.
I don’t buy this parity rule meaning squat. Look at the Bengals and 49′ers. What good has parity done them? The Bengals have had top draft picks for a decade and it hasn’t done them squat. The Patriots have had no top draft picks. They just recruit experienced players not happy where they’re at. Parity squarity.
If the Patriots finish it out, they’ll be considered a great team. They’ll be put on the same pedestal as the Dolphins. That in absolutely no way at all diminished what the Dolphins accomplished.
And if they don’t win out, they’ll be forgotten in ten years and this entire issue rendered moot.
!’ in Dallas. It may happen, but they disappear shortly after it does. So, I just can’t see how they could hope to pull off having someone from New Jersey faking a Texas accent and style. So, they gave up when people from some place near Texas said it wasn’t working. Smart move. Who do they mention next? Ben Stiller. Wanna guess where Ben’s from? Try 
