Belichick is insane!

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

It wasn't a mere snowstorm. How many blizzards behave like hurricanes? This was nothing like NYC. People end up in car accidents, slide off overpasses & bridges, get trapped in snowdrifts & suffer hypothermia. There is a reason why the government gets on the airwaves to tell everyone to stay at home. To avoid risking your life & the lives of first responders. Have practice all he wants, but don't make people feel like their jobs are on the line. You don't circle your life around your job. You circle your job around your life. All you need is one person to lose their life to have it pounded into your head it ain't worth it.

Really - I'd still like to know what's wrong with planning and preparation - arrive before the storm starts you know?

Worried about your family? Take them to the Hotel with you.


Why is there no worry about hypothermia when the SB is played in sub zero temps? Oh right - people wear warm clothes and bring blankets and other such things. There's that silly "prepare and plan" notion rearing its ugly head again.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by ForeverRoyalKC

Here's another thought....what if you left in plenty of time and got caught behind a huge pileup? Belichick said he wasn't taking any excuses. I know these are "what ifs", but there is all sorts of dangerous, treacherous weather in the northeast at winter. Risks do have a way of catching you.

Right - it's a what if and doesn't belong in this discussion. Pileups can happen at anytime of the year, not just in snowstorms.

This is such a none issue, even the major media outlets in Boston made little or no mention of it. The players aren't complaining either, read the article at NFL.com. They even said themselves - "Leave early, there's 2 hotels".

I've only been around for a little more than 60 yrs, but it's been my experience in life that if you plan and prepare, you can avoid risks.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

Really - I'd still like to know what's wrong with planning and preparation - arrive before the storm starts you know?

Worried about your family? Take them to the Hotel with you.


Why is there no worry about hypothermia when the SB is played in sub zero temps? Oh right - people wear warm clothes and bring blankets and other such things. There's that silly "prepare and plan" notion rearing its ugly head again.

When has the SB been played in sub zero temps? I'll wait....................

Meanwhile........it's not about freezing temps. It's about freezing temps, plus, white out conditions plus, high winds plus, flooding plus, the authorities begging people to stay home. Not too mention wearing warm clothes alone doesn't offset hypothermia. Why do mt. climbers get frostbite? They climbing Mt. Everest in Bermuda shorts? There are a number of tragic situations when people were stuck outside in the elements too long & died.

And Belichek would have the audacity to not only expect his players to uproot their lives, but then expect them to drag their whole families out of the home so that they can be available to watch tape? That's the thinking of a psycho despot.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

When has the SB been played in sub zero temps? I'll wait....................

Meanwhile........it's not about freezing temps. It's about freezing temps, plus, white out conditions plus, high winds plus, flooding plus, the authorities begging people to stay home. Not too mention wearing warm clothes alone doesn't offset hypothermia. Why do mt. climbers get frostbite? They climbing Mt. Everest in Bermuda shorts? There are a number of tragic situations when people were stuck outside in the elements too long & died.

And Belichek would have the audacity to not only expect his players to uproot their lives, but then expect them to drag their whole families out of the home so that they can be available to watch tape? That's the thinking of a psycho despot.

SB - Regular Season - matters not. Go to GB in Dec/Jan. My point is, the game gets played in extreme cold every year and it never seems to be a fuss.

Funny, but the coaches, owner, league, media, and players all don't have a problem with this, but yet you run around screaming that a football coach is endangering his players lives by expecting them to fulfill their responsibilities.

You talk about circling your job around your life - must be a nice job you have. In case you haven't noticed, there's far more unemployed than there is jobs these days, and when you get a good job today, you're expected to toe the company line, or you'll find yourself toeing the unemployment line. Sux but it's true.

When your job expects you to be somewhere at a certain time, and you're given plenty of notice, you don't use the weather as an excuse. You're expected to accept some responsibility when you take a job and apply a little common sense - plan and prepare.

[ForeverRoyalKC]

Bluenoser, a couple of points in your argument falls flat. Extreme cold is one thing. White out blinding conditions, flooding and 70MPH winds are another!

PLUS...the NFL itself has moved game days, times and locations because of hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, SNOW.

On December 26, 2010, a Sunday Night Football game between the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia was postponed to Tuesday, December 28, due to a severe snowstorm. It was the first Tuesday NFL game in 64 years.

In 2014, a severe snowstorm that hit the Buffalo area forced a New York Jets-Buffalo Bills game, originally scheduled for November 23, to be moved to Detroit's Ford Field on November 24.

Soooooo, Beli-nut couldn't have rescheduled practice?! If the "Patriot Way" is so important, then he could've had the players wait a day before they took their break.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by ForeverRoyalKC

Bluenoser, a couple of points in your argument falls flat. Extreme cold is one thing. White out blinding conditions, flooding and 70MPH winds are another!

PLUS...the NFL itself has moved game days, times and locations because of hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, SNOW.

On December 26, 2010, a Sunday Night Football game between the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia was postponed to Tuesday, December 28, due to a severe snowstorm. It was the first Tuesday NFL game in 64 years.

In 2014, a severe snowstorm that hit the Buffalo area forced a New York Jets-Buffalo Bills game, originally scheduled for November 23, to be moved to Detroit's Ford Field on November 24.

Soooooo, Beli-nut couldn't have rescheduled practice?! If the "Patriot Way" is so important, then he could've had the players wait a day before they took their break.

Lol - if you can't accept the responsibility that comes with your job, don't take the job. It is NOT asking anything out of the ordinary for an employee to be somewhere at a certain time. The onus is on the employee to make the necessary arrangements to ensure he will be there on time - such as arriving before the storm starts.

He wasn't asking them to go and play in it either, he was asking them to be somewhere on time. And he wasn't asking them to drive through it, he was asking them to be somewhere on time.

This isn't specific to football - it's specific to life. Get out in the world and into a career and see if the company doesn't place certain expectations on you, including being responsible and using common sense. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know his work schedule and look at the forecast to see if there's going to be a conflict and if some "planning and preparation" should be done ahead of time.

It's only the most important part of their job year about to start. I guess one of the reasons the Patriots have won so many SB's is because they plan and prepare, and they make results happen instead of excuses.

Like I say - he did not ask anyone to go out in that storm - they are all grown adults capable of planning and preparation.

[Splitter24]

I'll weigh in here with a couple of clarifications because I split my time between my place just outside of Boston and my place up in the hinterlands of NY. I'm in MA right now. Also, a little context might be helpful to this discussion.

1) It was a pretty serious blizzard. No doubt.

2) The real issue was for people who live right on the coast. The high tides and the resulting flooding were what caused all the damage.

3) If you don't live on the water, this was just another major snow event like we get at least once a year.

4) It didn't start snowing until about 8:00 AM, and didn't get blizzardy (sic) until about 10:00 AM.

5) Foxborough is nowhere near the water. Most of the Patriots players have homes within a few miles of the stadium, for obvious reasons. Traffic is obnoxious in MA when it is sunny out. So you might as well live close to work.

6) It sounds like practically all of the players simply drove to the stadium before the storm actually hit and made a hotel night of it.

[Ragnar]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

When has the SB been played in sub zero temps? I'll wait....................

Meanwhile........it's not about freezing temps. It's about freezing temps, plus, white out conditions plus, high winds plus, flooding plus, the authorities begging people to stay home. Not too mention wearing warm clothes alone doesn't offset hypothermia. Why do mt. climbers get frostbite? They climbing Mt. Everest in Bermuda shorts? There are a number of tragic situations when people were stuck outside in the elements too long & died.

And Belichek would have the audacity to not only expect his players to uproot their lives, but then expect them to drag their whole families out of the home so that they can be available to watch tape? That's the thinking of a psycho despot.

Ok, I'm going to nitpick here. The Ice Bowl. That was the actual NFL Championship game, equal to today's Super Bowl. The game played afterwards was a bragging rights game between two separate league's. It really didn't count for much. Nor did SBs 2, 3, and 4. Only after the two league's merged did the SB actually count as the NFL Championship game.

As far as poor conditions, my primary job is to plow snow under any conditions, and stay there until it's over. I didn't go on this last one but those that did were there from 9pm Wednesday until 8am Friday morning. We get called in early. Am I supposed to worry about these millionaires? I wish we got called in to practice football.

They had plenty of time to get there before the storm began.

[Cobra Mgr]

I'm about done w/the convo cause it's not about changing minds. It's about expressing opinions. But I will close with this:

Not all occupations should be expected to be available during extreme weather. I packed a bag to be available because, again, I worked in a hospital. Medical personel are expected to be there during the worse conditions. That's when they are needed the most. Same for those in government, 1st responders, snow plow operators, emergency operators etc. That's the career we chose.

Football players, restaurant workers, sales employees and the like shouldn't be expected to be as available. Because their positions aren't essential to society during natural disasters. It's not about Belichek being within his rights. It's about him not doing right by his players. It's one thing not to be sentimental in making roster decisions. It's another to not give a darn about any increased risk to lives or any potential hardship to those he has oversight. He shows himself to be an uncaring, paranoid, selfish, control-freak.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Ragnar

Ok, I'm going to nitpick here. The Ice Bowl. That was the actual NFL Championship game, equal to today's Super Bowl.

I know about that. Bluenoser wants to continuously make it about frigid temperatures when no one suggested practice should be cancelled for extreme cold. He's arguing with himself on that point and ironically still managing to lose the debate on that topic. So the whole issue was a waste of time on that front. It's like he keeps shouting MJ is the GOAT when everyone is debating if LBJ is the best in the NBA today.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

I know about that. Bluenoser wants to continuously make it about frigid temperatures when no one suggested practice should be cancelled for extreme cold. He's arguing with himself on that point and ironically still managing to lose the debate on that topic. So the whole issue was a waste of time on that front. It's like he keeps shouting MJ is the GOAT when everyone is debating if LBJ is the best in the NBA today.

Lol - What's wrong, have you run out of adjectives and drama to describe the travesty of the Natural Disaster that's taken place?

My point is pretty clear, nobody was or needed to be put at risk in order for the practice to happen. You went on and on about how lives were being endangered, etc etc.

No argument from me - just facts:

1. Nobody was told to risk their life in a "Natural Disaster"

2. Nobody was told to drive in it.

3. Nobody was told to practice in it.

4. Employees were told what every single employee is told by their boss - where to be and when to be there.

5. It is possible for this practice to be held as scheduled without risk.

[Ragnar]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

Lol - What's wrong, have you run out of adjectives and drama to describe the travesty of the Natural Disaster that's taken place?

My point is pretty clear, nobody was or needed to be put at risk in order for the practice to happen. You went on and on about how lives were being endangered, etc etc.

No argument from me - just facts:

1. Nobody was told to risk their life in a "Natural Disaster"

2. Nobody was told to drive in it.

3. Nobody was told to practice in it.

4. Employees were told what every single employee is told by their boss - where to be and when to be there.

5. It is possible for this practice to be held as scheduled without risk.

You know what, the Cobra has a point when referring to non essential personnel. A distinction I didn't think of with my last post. It's also not just about the players safety, yes they can get there safely, but their families are without them, and for what, football practice?

Right now I am a road maintenance employee and considered essential personnel. When I was a toll collector for 16 years I called out sick every time it snowed.

[Déjà Bru]

Suddenly . . . SUDDENLY do I find myself interested in this thread after reading the headline below. No, No, NOOOO!!

https://www.newsday.com/sports/footb...nts-1.15862196

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by Ragnar

You know what, the Cobra has a point when referring to non essential personnel. A distinction I didn't think of with my last post. It's also not just about the players safety, yes they can get there safely, but their families are without them, and for what, football practice?

Right now I am a road maintenance employee and considered essential personnel. When I was a toll collector for 16 years I called out sick every time it snowed.

I get what you're saying, but they're not leaving their families out in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere without power. I've never in my life seen so many adjectives, colour and drama used to describe a snowstorm and situation. People are equipped to deal with these things, far more so in this day and age then even 20 years ago.

Football Teams are a big family, the families get together. Nobody is going off and leaving their family at risk. It's that funny thing I mentioned earlier, "planning and preparation".

Considering the time of year it is for them, the most important time of their job is happening, the playoffs. There are ample ways and means to mitigate any and all risks, some of which I pointed out.

The bits I could find to read on it indicated the players had no problem with it. The league had no problem with it. The team, owner, coaches had no problem with it. I'm unaware of any member of the Patriots or their families raising a fuss that there was a practice. All the resources and means are there for this practice to occur without risk. The players know the importance of this time of year. I know I would make sure I was there, and I wouldn't use a snowstorm as an excuse when there ample resources available for me to do so. It's not like this practice was an unexpected surprise, nor was the storm.

The players prepared, the families prepared, they made sacrifices for their job. Sacrifices they were more than willing to make. No, their job isn't essential, but they seem to feel it is essential enough to have practice at this time of year. Funny thing I've noticed in life - people who are willing to make sacrifices generally tend to be more successful at what they do.

So maybe Belichick is "insane", or maybe he just realizes that the reason he's won 5 SB's is because he and his team were willing to make sacrifices in order to have success. I won't pass judgement on that, as others have. I'll only say what I said all along - there's nothing wrong with having this practice, it can be easily accomplished without any risk through simple planning and preparation.

As I read this today, I get the impression that if the Vikings had done this, then the thread would never have been started. It's only because of some peoples disdain for the Patriots and Belichick that it was even started. I mean seriously - the thread title in itself is a personal attack.

Cheers
Bruce

[Déjà Bru]

Fine. Keep him in New England, please.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Fine. Keep him in New England, please.

Yup - as far away from my fav team as possible - after all this you'd think I'm a Pats fan lol. I'm a Raiders fan who's still peeved about the tuck rule believe it or not. If anything, I should not be defending that team.

[cephasjames]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

It's only because of some peoples disdain for the Patriots and Belichick that it was even started.

This, really.

[Déjà Bru]

Guys, I know this is a non sequitur so I apologize but I needed to come back here again and share with you today's headline on the possibility that I talked about above. Same newspaper, mind you, but different writer.

You say to yourself "What was that about and why are they wasting my time?" I don't go for that "fake news" stuff - this is just two guys sharing their speculation in order to earn a buck - but it does point to the need for keeping a healthy perspective and skepticism when indulging in media these days.

End of non-sequitur.

https://www.newsday.com/sports/colum...nts-1.15913293

[ForeverRoyalKC]

Wrong, Blue and cephas, it was NOT started for disdain and dislike for the Pats. I would think this, period, with any NFL coach.

I just find it funny that, the NFL, who could have prepared and planned and gotten so freakin' ready when those snow storms came and everything could have went on as usual, but they didn't. They postponed or changed places for S-A-F-E-T-Y.

I dare you to tell me the logic in why the NFL could postpone GAMES for safety reasons when Belichick couldn't postpone a PRACTICE with a break coming the very next day?! I didn't say, at all, that the earth was ending and Armageddon was coming. I just believe that if the Patriot Way is so d*mn important, why could they not have scheduled it the v-e-r-y next day??

[TheMaus2]

Why couldn't they have scheduled it for the very next day?

Because the Patriot Way is so important.

You answered your own question, FRKC.