New England Dominance - A Sports TL

Hello everyone. I’d like to introduce myself before posting a timeline/storyline out of the blue. I have probably lurked for some time and have enjoyed all aspects of this board (I remember when AHP went by JP). I really enjoy the various viewpoints and enormous amounts of historical knowledge gathered in one place, and in that respect, I’d much rather read and learn. However, something I have seen a bit of lately has made me reconsider and post my first ever TL about a passion of mine. I have enjoyed seeing some of the NFL and other sports related TLs and made me think of creating one of my own that I’ve been kicking around for a while (well, I’ve got a few others, but they’re actually about my favorite team the down but not out Kansas City Chiefs).

Patriots wank…if every break had gone their way (I’ll limit it to the playoffs – semi-realistic).

In 1996 the New England Patriots and the Green Bay Packers were playing in Super Bowl 31. Desmond Howard returns a kick that breaks New England’s back. In this TL Howard is tackled and fumbles. New England recovers which allows quarterback Drew Bledsoe to immediately pass for what would eventually be the game winning touchdown to Troy Brown (this of course butterflies Brett Favre, but, Dan Marino was a great quarterback that never won a Super Bowl either). Bill Parcells still resigns opting for the better gig, he already set sail regardless of the outcome. Remember OTL he’s always been a roamer, in ATL I think he’ll be even more so. Think about it, first coach to ever win two rings with two different teams from two different conferences. If his Hall of Fame ticket wasn’t already punched it would be signed, sealed and delivered now. Pete Carroll still coaches team for next few years, but is canned, as is the case with so many that follow hall of fame coaches, after not living up to expectations (although he did make the playoffs-albeit the following year with many of the same players from the Super Bowl team.)

After miring for the last few years the 2001 Patriots win the Super Bowl against the St. Louis Rams. 2002 follows OTL, as well as 2003 and 2004(both Super Bowl wins). The Patriots now possess four Super Bowl victories and one loss.

In OTL 2005 New England lost in the playoffs to Denver. In this TL New England quarterback, Tom Brady doesn’t throw an interception in the end zone, but instead scores a touchdown taking the lead in the third quarter, 13-10. Adam Vinatieri later does not miss a 42 yard field goal and increases the lead, which would eventually be the game final, to 16-10. New England then advances to AFC Championship game against Pittsburgh, and puts an end to Pittsburgh’s miraculous run (this was the year Pittsburgh made history by becoming the first six seed to ever win the Super Bowl). New England then goes on to win an unprecedented third championship in a row against Seattle.

In OTL 2006 New England lost the AFC Championship to the Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots had a 21-6 halftime lead. Quite simply, they don’t blow it. They go on to win the unheard of fourth championship in a row. The Patriots now own six championships in all.

2007 was the greatest season ever and can only be said that the Patriots go on to become only the second team in NFL history to have an undefeated season (finishing 19-0) when David Tyree drops a juggling pass from Giants quarterback Eli Manning. This Super Bowl win is a fifth championship in a row. The Patriots are now the NFL team of history owning seven total championships.

2008 saw only the second team in NFL history record an 11-5 season and not make the playoffs. There are countless things you could change about this season (including not losing quarterback Tom Brady in the season opener for the remainder of the year). This TL the Patriots win their division but must slog its way through the playoffs. The NFC picture ends up the same way and the Patriots meet the Cardinals in the Super Bowl. The Patriots easily handle the Cardinals (as they had earlier in the regular season) and forever leave their mark in sports history by winning their sixth championship in a row and eighth overall (8 championships in 13 years, surpassing the San Francisco 49ers record of 5 championships in 15 years).

Remember, however implausible this seems, consider the Boston Celtics won 11 NBA championships in 13 years, eight in a row. So many fun butterflies in this one, I don't even know where to start (poor Peyton/Eli, poor Brett, poor Ben).
 
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wormyguy

Banned
Ahhh . . . If only . . . ;)

(We Massachusetts sports fans mustn't let ourselves be spoiled, you know).
 

Vince

Monthly Donor
As a Jets fan I must say this is total ASB and should be moved to the appropriate area. :p
 
Back in the old days of professional sports when the Celtics were always winning, or the Montreal Canadiens were always winning, or even when the Yankees were always winning, there were far fewer teams in the competition. For instance the NBA had only 8 teams from the 50s to the mid 60s, and only 14 teams as late as 1970. the NHL only had 6 teams until the late 60s. And baseball didn't start expanding until 1960.

So it was much easier for certain teams to become dynasties when they only had to worry about a few other teams.

That is why it is so remarkable what the Bulls did in the 1990s. 6 championaships in 8 years in the NBA of the 1990s was a much greater accomplishment IMHO than the Celtics run in the 1960s.

The NFL has been the hardest professional league to maintain any type of dynasty. The Steelers of the 70s are really the only team in my mind to be the best (or almost the best) for an extended period without any lulls in between. Even the 49ers of the 80s and 90s had periods of lulls and didn't make the playoffs every year during their runs. Plus during that time you had really good Redskin teams, Giant teams, and at the end of their run, Cowboy teams. New England of this decade has been very good, but you can't really call them a dynasty in the traditional sense. Three championships in 4 years is great but isn't a dynasty. Perhaps if they hadn't blown it last year, we would look at them differently. But teams in the NFL have been too evenly matched over the years and that really prevents one team from being uber-dominant over an extended period.
 
Thanks for the feeback Sam. I don't disagree, but have often thought that the reverse could be true. More teams have diluted the overall talent pool. Free agency has crippled the ideas of dynasties (imagine those Steeler teams of the 70s if they'd have lost Mean Joe or Mel Blount to Free Agency).

My biggest question for a TL like this is, with this kind of dominance, Spygate could get really ugly.
 
You bring up an interesting point. Back in the early days of professional sports, the franchises with the most money had the most power and were able to control much of their teams' destinies. The Yankees were so powerful during the 20s, 30s, and 50s because it was by far the richest franchise in baseball. Occasionally a Cleveland, or Washington, or Detroit would sneak up and win a pennant, but then Yankee ownership would go out and buy the best player out there and so the next year the Yankees would be back on top. I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the Celtics were the richest NBA franchise back in the 60s.

Today, with so many more teams in each league, and with rules like revenue sharing, etc., preventing one team from acquiring to much money and power, I think that is another reason it is hard to sustain a dynasty. But imagine what the other owners would do in a situation where one NFL team (we'll use your example of the Pats) sustained a significant dynasty of 4 super bowls in a row. Demands for rule changes, different free agency rules, and greater scrutiny than ever. Spygate could have resulted in significant penalties of huge fines, lost draft picks, even forfeits. Iff the entire league ownership wants to bring an owner and franchise down, what could stop it?
 
You bring up an interesting point. Back in the early days of professional sports, the franchises with the most money had the most power and were able to control much of their teams' destinies. The Yankees were so powerful during the 20s, 30s, and 50s because it was by far the richest franchise in baseball. Occasionally a Cleveland, or Washington, or Detroit would sneak up and win a pennant, but then Yankee ownership would go out and buy the best player out there and so the next year the Yankees would be back on top. I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the Celtics were the richest NBA franchise back in the 60s.

Today, with so many more teams in each league, and with rules like revenue sharing, etc., preventing one team from acquiring to much money and power, I think that is another reason it is hard to sustain a dynasty. But imagine what the other owners would do in a situation where one NFL team (we'll use your example of the Pats) sustained a significant dynasty of 4 super bowls in a row. Demands for rule changes, different free agency rules, and greater scrutiny than ever. Spygate could have resulted in significant penalties of huge fines, lost draft picks, even forfeits. Iff the entire league ownership wants to bring an owner and franchise down, what could stop it?
Celtics were far from the Richest team in the league. They just had an owner Walter Brown, who had some money but wasn't the richest owner, who accepted he knew nothing of basketball and let Red Aurebach run the organization. I mean Red was pretty much in control of the team from 1950 to 1997(when pitino took over) and then Again once Pitino left. Brown supported Red on every move he made until his death and even supported him when Aurebach in his first draft decided that he would draft Chuck Cooper in the Second round, the first time a Black Man was drafted in the NBA. The reason for the Celtics Dominance, is that they didn't have any big ego players, they accepted the team concept but knew that there were some who would carry the team(Russell) When you have consistency in your Front Office and Coach and for a good amount of time Owner you will be successful. I mean look at the steelers. One Family has owned it for the longest time, and they have had 3 coaches in what like 30 + years. that's how you remain dominant Consistency.

Also doesn't hurt to have the public support i mean Aurebach was set to go work for the Knicks because he couldn't stand owner John Y. Brown, but the public revolted, Brown sold the team and Aurebach stayed
 
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