Inflated Numbers, Inflated Egos

The New England Patriots are the best team ever in the history of the NFL!

Or so say all the pundits and talking heads and other no-life sports writers. Why do they say this? It is because they have gone the entire regular season without losing a game. They are 16-0 and that is the first time in history that a team has gone 16-0 in the regular season so they have won the most regular season games, ergo the “Best Ever”.

Or are they? Did they really do something historic (as in never been done) or are the numbers just artificially inflated ?

Are they the first team in NFL history to win all their regular season games? Well actually they are the fourth. So as historic as the 4th person to fly the Atlantic Ocean solo (who was that? nobody knows or cares).

Back in 1934 the Chicago Bears went 13-0 in the regular season before losing in the championship game in the famous “Sneaker Bowl” to the New York Giants (so called because one of the Giants assistants went and broke into a gymnasium and stole a bunch of sneakers because the cleats were slipping in the icy Polo Grounds field).

The 1942 Bears went 11-0 (again winning all the games in the regular season, shortened because of World War II) but again lost in the Championship game (back then they didn't have three rounds of playoffs before the championship game hence no chance at becoming 16-0).

The 1972 Miami Dolphins went 14-0 in the regular season and 3-0 in the playoffs to include the NFL Championship Super Bowl. They are therefore the first team to go all the way to the end undefeated. So they are basically the Charles Lindbergh of the NFL, and the Patriots are down there on the list.

So why are they making such a hoopla over this? Well there is first of all the egotistical notion that the men and women reporting sports wanting to be part of history as if because of the Patriots achievement, they themselves become important. They are living vicariously through the Patriots as some parents who force their kids into doing things that they failed to do in their youth.

Of course we all talk about the numbers, but again the teams in the past didn't have the chance to win that many games, so one can never really say who is the best ever just because we inflate the season and dilute the talent. There are many more teams today and of course some think there seems to be enough talent to field them. However there is definitely a big drop off in talent between the good teams and the average and bad ones. Plus the rosters of teams have expanded so more players suit up for games then in the past. Free agency does help as well as teams can stockpile talent and take the disgruntled players from other teams and rent them for a year to make a “Super Team” and then let them all go for salary cap reasons.

The game has also evolved as rule changes and equipment have changed the game for better or worse depending upon one's point of view (they changed a lot of rules to allow for more offense and therefore making more interesting and wide open games, in theory).

Also there are way too many improvements in conditioning, diet, supplements (legal and otherwise) and lifestyles today. For instance the athletes of old had to work other type of jobs in the off season and didn't have access to the wonderful exercise equipment that athletes have today.

Lets face it players that were considered “huge” in the 30's, 40's and even the 70's are considered way too undersized today. So it is tough to compare eras and decades in any sports. But that doesn't stop these sportscasters as that would require research and that is too much work for the so-called “journalists” of this day.

None of this is of course New England's fault, and I am not taking anything away from their achievement. They earned their success and should be proud of it and celebrate appropriately. They are the best team of this era and if they go on to win it all, more power to them.

Let's just not go overboard and disrespect history and what came first. Appreciate the past, live in the present and embrace future growth.

Mahalo.