Bully For You

I have a theory as to why so many people hate the New England Patriots. It is easy to say that it is because they win but that just doesn’t cut it. There have been other “dynasties” that have not inspired the same level of hatred that we have seen toward New England. I think it has more to do with the perception of being a bully.

Americans don’t like bullies. The Patriots play with a bully mentality that has served them well. And just for the record, I’m not a Colts fan even though I live in Indiana. (I’m a Lion’s fan, but we’re talking professional football here.) Other hated teams seem to have the same characteristic.

The Detroit Pistons, back in the bad boy days, suffered from the same problem. It wasn’t that they won, it was that they were perceived as bullies. Or how about the Oakland Raiders? People love to see them get beat even when they are a bad team because it seems like they are finally getting what they deserve.

So, as the theories fly about why people hate the Miami Hurricanes, George Steinbrenner, Mike Tyson or Bill Belichik remember the bully quotient. Americans don’t like bullies and we have a lot of them in society. From work, school, little league, and probably even church we have bullies and don’t like them very much.