American sport is dominated by just one topic this week - the ‘Path to Perfection’, writes blogger Tim Walters.
The New England Patriots can complete the perfect season with an unblemished 19-0 record if they beat the New York Giants in Sunday’s Superbowl.
As with all things American it has been met with much hyperbole and soul-searching with fans immersed in the debate as to whether or not this is the greatest team of all time.
For the record they’re not - Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Chicago and San Francisco have all produced teams that were superior to this one - but suffered from tougher scheduling.
What is remarkable though is the Patriot ‘dynasty’ - Sunday’s appearance will be their fourth in seven years and they’ve won their previous three.
That’s during a time of salary caps, free agency and flies against the draft system which sees the weakest team getting the first pick of each year’s college talent. To have achieved what they’ve done against that scenario is some effort.
But the whole “are they the best” debate got me thinking as to which teams football fans on our patch would vote as their greatest of all time.
Wolves fans of a certain age would say that nothing got better than the great Stan Cullis team of the 1950s, while younger ones hark bark favourably to the Dougan/Richards side of the 1970s.
Over at The Hawthorns, some would go with the Ray Barlow side of 1953/4, others the Jeff Astle cup-winning team while younger ones the Ron Atkinson side featuring Cunningham, Regis et al.
Villa fans would be hard-pressed to find anyone arguing that the European Cup winning side of 1982 was not the club’s finest - not even those who can remember the triple title-winning side of the 1890s!
At Walsall, the club’s greatest teams are probably both of recent vintage - the Alan Buckley team that reached the semi-final of the League Cup or the Ray Graydon promotion-winning side of 1998/9 - or perhaps some might even put the current side up alongside them.
Blues fans would probably look no further than the Bob Latchford/Trevor Francis team of the 1970s.
Agree with me about this or the Patriots? I thought not. Let me know your club’s greatest team - or even your thoughts on the Superbowl - by posting your comments below.
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9 Comments
the best blues team without question is the 1950,s team of
G MERRICK.J HALL.R GREEN.L BOYD.T SMITH.R WARHURST.G ASTEL.N KINSEY.E BROWN.P MURPEY.A GOVERN.
i now live in thailand but still follow the blues on the net
Tim
Quite right, i don’t agree with you
about the Pats not being the best
ever.
If you`re reason for the other 3 teams being better is regular season
scheduling…..then i see your point, but they are where they are
the AFC east is the Patriots division, geographically that cant change, and agreed the AFC south
is much tougher.
What cannot be overlooked however,
is the Patriots won on the road
against Dallas, The Giants,
and Indy.
The bookies rarely get things wrong
and the point spread for all of their games has slaughtered previous
“favourites”
How many records have they beaten
this season ?
Brady 50td`s
Moss 23td receptions
most points ever 578(i think)
there are more, cant recall at the moment.
Cant wait for sunday Go Pats!
pardon exsqueeze me making powder???????????????????????????? who cares what the yanks do its not even a proper sport get more excited watching bowls!
2. Totally agree
they will be the best of all time if they win
also a streak of 21 games in a row in the regular season
they also beat baltimore away in a tough one.
American sport. As intersesting as watching dry paint to see if it gets wet again (Wolves boo hoo-boy, possibly more interesting than your hobby of watching empty seats.) To sum up, it’s netball for freaks, rugby for nancies and rounders with dirty knees. Who gives a flying flip.
aussiewolver
Thanks mate, i had forgotten the Ravens, the demolition of the Steelers too.
TRB
To be honest mate,
i give a flying flip.
I love the NFL and New England in particular, i find it a very exciting sport.
Personally, i cannot stand Rugby,
in any form of the game, and i would`nt watch it for payment,
however i do respect skill and
true athleticism in any sport.
5 The Real Bully:
Having just read your views about American sport, I can only agree.
Sport wise what have the Yanks given us?
Excluding Motor sports & Pool (poor mans snooker), NOT A LOT!
We (U.K.)gave the World Football (Soccer to the dim Yanks)Rugby, Cricket,Golf + numerous others.
I don’t really care who won the “World Series”. I have to use that term loosely as its a predominate US Game.Neither do I care who’s going to win the “Superbowl” (Rugby for wooses,all that padding!).
But show me a decent football match & i’ll be there!
The Patriots have had a tough schedule, don’t get me wrong but no team is even close to touching them. I thought perhaps it was going to be the fairytale year for Favre to beat the unbeaten set favourites but it was not to be
I am a Patriots fan, so I am biased but look at the receiving core…under with Welker and long with Stallworth and Moss..
Faulk is so under-rated and our defense is immense.
Let’s not forget our offensive line…
I can see your point against teams of past, but when you have the league salary caps and the way drafting is arranged, you have to respect the business Patriots did, beyond that you have to respect their ruthlessness and when you look at their point spread, you got to be amazed.
Whether you like the sport or not, respect the training and athleticism that goes into it, I spent a couple of training sessions with the Bulls last year and it is the hardest thing you’ll ever do…now, think about how hard they push you in the USA…when it actually mean a 100 times more and you’re expected to do alot more…
Ignorance is bliss, sure but why dismiss a sport because you find it boring.
If any sport requires bashing for its boring nature and underwhelming athelticism, then its Cricket ;)
Nice one Dave
What is also overlooked, is the Patriots won 3 superbowls without
the stellar receiving corps they
have now,
and you are 100% about Kevin Faulk,
the guy is immense.