Fans have always loved their teams, but how has the fan experience changed over the years? Let’s take a look. 

Supporting A Local Team

Sports are about more than what happens on the field; they’re closely intertwined with local pride, especially in some corners of the world. Local fans of the Boston Red Sox don’t just have an interest in their team because of their love for baseball; rather, it’s also a chance to show off their local pride. Indeed, sports teams with a solid local presence function as more than just another sports organization. They become pillars of the community, around which the local culture is based. In the past, this happened mostly because it wasn’t possible to support teams in other parts of the country or world due to the lack of information available.

Backing A Team to Win

The quality and professionalism of the action on the field have improved over the years. But some elements of the fan experience are the same today as they were in Roman times, two thousand years ago. The origins of gambling date back to the gladiator battles and chariot races held in those famous coliseums and, while we thankfully got rid of the bloody battles, the gambling stuck around. People will always want their teams to win for more reasons than just the initial glory. Sometimes they have a financial stake in it, sometimes it’s regional pride, and sometimes it’s because of how much they dislike the opposition.

Building A Life Around the Action

Is there a hobby that is as all-consuming as sports? People have various interests, but few can match the utter commitment and devotion that sports fans show. The time that fans dedicate to their teams extends far beyond the several hours on matchday. Indeed, the action that takes place at that time is just a springboard for the first half of the following week, when fans spend countless hours discussing the results and consuming related media. The second half of the working week is built around the upcoming game. And then the weekend itself is built around that game. Fans have always been highly passionate about their teams, so that’s something that hasn’t changed. In fact, it’s actually grown more consuming, thanks to the digital tools available.

Digital Tools 

Fans in the past consumed all the action and news they could get their hands on. The issue was that there wasn’t all that much to consume. These days, things are different. Thanks to the rise of the internet, there’s not a moment when fans can’t indulge in their passion in one way or another. They can listen to a sports podcast on their commute, watch highlight videos on their phones, and discuss their team on Twitter whenever they please.

Reduced Connection Between Players and Fans

The increasing amounts of money in professional sports have undoubtedly led to an increase in quality -- and, as a result, an improved fan experience. But they have also created a divide between the players and the fans. Sports stars have always been viewed as de facto gladiators but, in the past, they were sports stars among the general public, i.e., they would still take the bus to the game. The significant salaries that players now earn largely cut them off from the community. 

Global Appeal

We talked earlier about how fans support their local team but, in the olden days, if you didn’t have a local team, then you were more or less left out of the professional sporting experience. Thankfully, that’s not the case today. Due to digital multimedia, no matter where you live, you can follow a major sports team with just as much insight and passion as a local fan would. 

We all knew this was coming, but we didn’t want to believe it.

As era has come to the end, as Tom Brady, regarded as the greatest Quarterback in the history of the game officially retired, concluding an era of dominance that we might never see again.

Arriving as a sixth rounder from Michigan in 2000, Brady took over as the Patriots’ starting Quarterback early the season after following the injury to the incumbent QB, Drew Bledsoe.  Brady would go to the Pro Bowl, and take New England to their first Super Bowl win.

Over his nearly two-decade tenure as the Patriots' starting QB, he would not only win six Super Bowls but bring them to four others.  With New England, Brady was a four-time Super Bowl MVP, Brady won three AP MVPs, and went to the Pro Bowl fourteen times, with three years as a First Team All-Pro.  

Brady stunned the world when he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, leaving Bill Belichick behind, and leaving fans wondering if he could win without him.  All doubters were proven wrong, with Brady winning his seventh Super Bowl and fifth Super Bowl MVPs, breaking his both of his existing records.  After another playoff year and a 15^th Pro Bowl Selection, Brady’s career is now over.

Brady leaves the National Football League as the all-time leader in Approximate Value (316), Quarterback Wins (243), Pass Completions (7,263), Passing Yards (84,520), Touchdown Passes 624), Playoff Pass Completions (1,165), Playoff Passing Yards (13,049) and Playoff Touchdown Passes (86),

Brady is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2027, and will enter immediately on his first ballot.  With Ben Roethlisberger already retiring, and Rob Gronkowski looking to follow suit, this will be a loaded group for 2027.  This is especially clogged if Adrian Peterson retires too.

We wish Tom Brady the best in his post-playing career, but he won’t need any luck from us.

Thank you, Tom!

Giants Want To Retain Patrick Graham As Defensive Coordinator

On Friday, the New York Giants hired former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll as their new head coach.

Daboll may be replacing Joe Judge, but the Giants are planning to keep one of their valuable assistants for the new head coach.

Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Giants will retain defensive coordinator Patrick Graham if he doesn’t get hired for a head coaching position elsewhere. Graham is a candidate for the Minnesota Vikings’ head coach job, Rapoport noted.

But if the Vikings go in another direction, Daboll and company won’t have to worry about filling Graham's position.

The Giants fielded the NFL’s 12th ranked defense as well as the ninth-best scoring defense in 2020. The defense regressed considerably this year, ranking just 23rd in scoring. Still, Graham has done excellent work with very limited talent on the defense side of the ball, and it’s no surprise that New York is planning to keep the 43-year-old.

Only five NFL teams currently have lower odds of winning next year’s Super Bowl than the Giants (+6500). Several New York sportsbooks promo codes are currently offering $1,000 in risk-free bets to customers.

Andy Reid: “Nobody Looking At Pat Mahomes Cross-Eyed From Our Side” 

While the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams prepare for their Super Bowl LVI meeting, the Kansas City Chiefs are trying to comprehend what went wrong on Sunday afternoon.

A sluggish second half from Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City offense saw the Chiefs fail to clinch a third consecutive Super Bowl berth. 

Mahomes had two costly picks and coughed up the football in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter, but offensive lineman Joe Thuney managed to recover the ball before Cincy could clinch the game.

Following the Chiefs’ heartbreaking loss, head coach Andy Reid refused to critique his franchise quarterback. Reid made it clear that the coaching staff still has full faith in Mahomes.

“I think he was one half away from going to his third Super Bowl in a row, and that's pretty impressive," Reid said on Monday, per NFL.com’s Nick Shook. "You've been around this a long time as a lot of us have, and that's pretty impressive. Most of these teams that are getting this far have good quarterbacks, that's just how it works. We're fortunate to have him. There's nobody looking at Pat Mahomes cross-eyed from our side and I would anticipate our fans feel the same way.”

Two seasons ago, Mahomes led the Chiefs to a Super Bowl LIV victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Their bid at a repeat was thwarted by Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who cruised to a 31-9 victory inside their home venue of Raymond James Stadium.

This Kansas City team may have tasted championship glory not too long ago, but it’s hard not to think that they’ve already underachieved under Mahomes. Four straight AFC Championship Game appearances at home, and they only have the one Lombardi Trophy to show for it.

The Chiefs led the Bengals 21-3 late in the second quarter, and the lead was cut to 11 before halftime. Through the first two quarters, KC was firing on all cylinders, and the Bengals’ high-powered offense couldn’t get much of anything going.

But Cincy flipped the script entirely in the second half. They held Kansas City to just three points over the final two quarters and overtime. Burrow, Joe Mixon and Ja’Marr Chase went into a new gear and led Cincy to 14 unanswered second half points. It took a last-second Harrison Butker field goal for Kansas City to force OT.

Mahomes’ final opportunity to play hero in overtime was ripped away by Vonn Bell, who picked off a deep pass intended for Tyreek Hill. That set up Cincy with a short field, and Evan McPherson’s 31-yarder sent KC to the Super Bowl.

Packers Promote Adam Stenavich To Offensive Coordinator Position

The Green Bay Packers announced Monday that offensive line coach and running game coordinator Adam Stenavich has been promoted to offensive coordinator.

The 38-year-old Stenavich replaces Nathaniel Hackett, whom the Denver Broncos hired as their new head coach last week. Stenavich was solely the offensive line coach in 2019 and 2020 before having the running game coordinator position added to his duties in 2021.

Before Matt LaFleur hired Stenavich to his staff in 2019, the latter served as an assistant offensive line coach for the San Francisco 49ers under Kyle Shanahan from 2017 to 2018.

The future of likely 2021 MVP Aaron Rodgers has been a major talking point since last year’s draft. Rodgers hasn’t announced yet if he’ll continue playing football in 2022, and if he’ll return to the Packers following a dramatic offseason that saw him look for a trade.

If Rodgers decides to stay, it will certainly make Stenavich’s job that much easier.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our pre-2022 revision of our top 50 Philadelphia Phillies.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National League. 

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

The Phillies did not make the 2021 Playoffs, nor did anyone crack the top 50, however there was movement among one active Phillie.

As always, we present our top five.

1. Mike Schmidt

2. Robin Roberts

3. Steve Carlton

4. Ed Delahanty

5. Pete Alexander

You can find the entire list here.

The only elevation is Starting Pitcher, Aaron Nola, who advanced one spot to #38.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.