That was then: Celebrating what was

soxhop411

news aggravator
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Dec 4, 2009
46,277
Here are about 80+ Patriots ring/ sports porn pics

Part 1

Some highlights:
















Part 2

Click both links to view the rest of the PHOTOS.... And make sure to have tissue(s) ready


 

SumnerH

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Dope
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Jul 18, 2005
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All championship rings are ugly at this point. Just absurdly gaudy.
The NFL ones look like they're made by Josten's. Which I think they might actually be.

Which is inscrutable, because a) Snake from the Simpsons mocked them 25 years ago; and b) Even before that the shitty designs they have were enough to dissuade everyone I went to high school with from buying class rings.

We had the taste of early 1990s Mainers who idolized Cinderella and White Lion, and even we knew they were garbage back then.
 

normstalls

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drbretto

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Is there a better winning percentage in any decade in any other major sport? Or should that title be amended?

Edit: In baseball terms, they averaged 125 wins per season for a decade. So I'm pretty sure not Baseball anyway.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Oct 1, 2015
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Gronk showing where he dented the Lombardi this year is one of the funniest things I'll ever see.
I mean, they could almost certainly have another one made instead, but that dent is now pretty iconic. No way they're swapping that out for a "better" one.

Those guys definitely don’t look like they’re having much fun.
I know, right? Playing for the Patriots must S-U-C-K.
 

CantKeepmedown

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Gronk had that look of a kid waiting to see how his dad is going to react to something he broke. Belichick says, "nice job" and Gronk just loses it. So good.
 

drbretto

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2 more for Belichick, 1 more for Brady. Then they can retire and I probably won't need to watch another football game again in my life because there will never be anything like the two of them ever again.

edit: That order doesn't work, you get the idea! lol
 

Brand Name

make hers mark
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Moving the Line
The NFL ones look like they're made by Josten's. Which I think they might actually be.
Yeah, their HQ is about 20 minutes down the road from where I went to high school, so they successfully used the Patriots rings as a big motivator to get class rings in the assembly. Few interesting moments that came of it:

-Personally asking a rep how much a SB ring would be to purchase. My response?Have to be on an SB-winning team.

-It was 2007, so the Scottish Game hadn't happened. Fairly sure this was the week of the Eagles game. But they made a point to say they were working on Patriots perfect season SB rings at the time. I will forever continue to blame them for what happened that evening in Glendale.
 

Dollar

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One of my favorite things from that video was it showed, right in the middle of everyone putting on their rings and showing them off, Belichick already taking his off and putting them away. About 30-32 seconds in.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Oct 1, 2015
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Through nine years....

- 113-31 regular season
- 16-6 postseason
- 9 division titles
- 9 first-round playoff byes
- 8-1 in divisional round games
- 8 AFCCG appearances
- 5-3 in AFCCGs
- 5 Super Bowl appearances
- 3-2 in Super Bowls
- Outscored their opponents during the regular season by 1477 points over 9 seasons (164.1 per year, or just over 10 points a game)

I mean that is just unfathomable.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
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Jul 15, 2005
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Random one but I was watching LIII again and Nantz mentioned that the Pats went 20 straight drives IN THE SUPER BOWL without punting. That was 5 drives vs Atlanta, 13 vs Philly, and 2 vs the Rams I think. That is absurd.

That they lost a Super Bowl in which they didn’t punt does suck and seems incomprehensible though.
 

RoDaddy

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The ring ceremony was a beautiful moment for the team and Pats nation. "Celebrating what is" is this perfectly titled thread, but man, when it's also about SIX SUPERBOWL WINS, this moment of "is" is right up there with the best Boston sports celebrations ever
 

InstaFace

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It's beyond a Boston thing for me, long since beyond. It's a gift to watch B&B do their thing, like watching Randy Johnson at the peak of his craft. You shouldn't have to be a fan of their team to gaze in wonder anymore (when they're not beating your own team, at any rate). I can't watch a Barca vs Whoever match and NOT root for Messi, even if I always spiritually identify with the underdogs.
 

reggiecleveland

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Just watched mic'd up again.

Love Aaron Donald's highlights are him watching Michel zip by, bitching about no 1 on 1 matchups, him promising a stop interwoven with clips of Edelman catches.
 
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BuellMiller

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Mar 25, 2015
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Just watched mic'd up again.

Love Aaron Donald's highlights are him watching Michel zip by, bitching about no 1 on 1 matchups, him promising a stop interwaeved with clips of Edelman catches.
At least he recognizes that he finally got a 1-on-1 with Thuney in the TD drive, didn't do anything, and then accepted the blame.
 

Preacher

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The ring ceremony was a beautiful moment for the team and Pats nation. "Celebrating what is" is this perfectly titled thread, but man, when it's also about SIX SUPERBOWL WINS, this moment of "is" is right up there with the best Boston sports celebrations ever
Have they shown anything official? I’ve seen small clip highlights and anything longer is shitty vertical filming from cell phones.
 

reggiecleveland

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At least he recognizes that he finally got a 1-on-1 with Thuney in the TD drive, didn't do anything, and then accepted the blame.
I wonder if it feels artificial wearing a mic? I mean are you trying for sound bites? Do you need to confess after an ineffective game like he did? Are you less natural? Edelman comes across as saying things for the mic'd up portions, especially on the sideline. Maybe these guys are so used to the fishbowl it has no effect.
 

Euclis20

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I thought one of the big overlooked stories of the game was how Donald was pretty much a non factor. Great scheme, great work by the OL, or just a no show by Donald?
I mean, his numbers weren't great but he was double teamed for most of the game and his teammates did a good enough job to hold NE to 13 points. If the Pats D didn't have an A+ game, the story would be how Aaron Donald and the Rams D almost completely shut down Brady and the Pats offense.
 

Bergs

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Jul 22, 2005
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I mean, his numbers weren't great but he was double teamed for most of the game and his teammates did a good enough job to hold NE to 13 points. If the Pats D didn't have an A+ game, the story would be how Aaron Donald and the Rams D almost completely shut down Brady and the Pats offense.
Seriously. No one on the Rams D has anything to apologize for. They were fantastic.
 

snowmanny

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I thought one of the big overlooked stories of the game was how Donald was pretty much a non factor. Great scheme, great work by the OL, or just a no show by Donald?
What did Watt do against the Patriots? What did Mack do? What did Bosa and Ford and Chris Jones do in the playoffs? I think the evidence is that it wasn’t a Donald no-show.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Tremendous work by the OL, especially Thuney.

If Mankins has played that well, we wouldn’t call it The Scottish Game.
Agreed. But Mankins, if I recall, was playing on a torn ACL that day. Heroic, gutsy, call it what you want. But it certainly didn't help him slow down Justin Tuck.

-sigh-
 

SMU_Sox

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Jul 20, 2009
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I've rewatched it a few times now. I think without Hekker this would not have been close. Major hat tip @Super Nomario who wrote about this on ITP.

Patriots had 22 first downs. Rams had 14
Patriots had 407 yards vs Rams 260.
Patriots averaged 6.0 yards per play vs Rams paltry 4.3.
Rushing yards: 154 vs 62.

Double-teams and schemes helped against Donald. In general though the offensive line had one of the better playoff stretches in Patriots history and they've had some good ones.

If Hekker gives them average starting field position from where they punted from I think it would look more like 20-3 or 24-3. The best team to me won this game which isn't always the case in a SB.
 

tims4wins

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Hekker got pretty lucky on a couple of those too. He had one 38 yarder that was too short for Edelman to field then it rolled 27 yards.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Oct 1, 2015
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Last three Super Bowls:

First Downs
SB 51: NE 37, Atl 17
SB 52: NE 29, Phi 25
SB 53: NE 22, LA 14
TOT: NE 88, Opp 56 (NE +32)

Total Yards
SB 51: NE 546, Atl 344
SB 52: NE 613, Phi 538
SB 53: NE 407, LA 260
TOT: NE 1,566, Opp 1,142 (NE +424)

Time of Possession
SB 51: NE 40:31, Atl 23:27
SB 52: NE 25:56, Phi 34:04
SB 53: NE 33:10, LA 26:50
TOT: NE 99:37, Opp 84:21 (NE +15:16)

That's a whole lot of on-field domination, even if it didn't result in an overwhelming edge in points (NE 80, Opp 72).
 

wiffleballhero

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Mar 28, 2009
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In the simulacrum
Hekker got pretty lucky on a couple of those too. He had one 38 yarder that was too short for Edelman to field then it rolled 27 yards.
It is better to be lucky than good, but the good also tend to be the ones getting lucky. I'm not willing to take anything away from Hekker in that game. Or rather, since Feb. I've been thinking about the same thing as SMU -- that Hekker was one of the small group of variables that blocked this from being a Pats beat down, but he did his job, for sure.
 

SoxinSeattle

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Mar 6, 2003
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The NFL ones look like they're made by Josten's. Which I think they might actually be.

Which is inscrutable, because a) Snake from the Simpsons mocked them 25 years ago; and b) Even before that the shitty designs they have were enough to dissuade everyone I went to high school with from buying class rings.

We had the taste of early 1990s Mainers who idolized Cinderella and White Lion, and even we knew they were garbage back then.
This is fantastic. It describes me but I unfortunately purchased one of those ugly ass things. Though it looked good with the yarn on my girlfriends finger.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Oct 1, 2015
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Just saw this on Reddit. Amazing.

https://i.redd.it/265xqn1nu6531.jpg
Wow. Since then...

- 6 Patriots' championships (9 appearances)
- 4 Red Sox' championships (4 appearances)
- 1 Bruins' championship (3 appearances)
- 1 Celtics' championship (2 appearances)

12 titles in 18 appearances in the championship round of their respective sports over a 19 year period. At least one title in each of the four major sports. Absolutely incredible.
 

loshjott

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For several years until Feb 2002 Boston trailed only Philly in "most years since a championship" for cities with the big 4 sports. 1986 for Boston and 83 for Philly.