Would Phil be a realistic depiction of a Boss? Or would he be too much of a hothead even by LCN standards to be a Boss in real life? What's your make on his character--is he truly old school, a real old school guy, or overly vicious?

Who is more worthy of respect--Tony or Phil? Who has more respect for La Cosa Nostra?

Well philly did 20 years in the can that would earn him a lot of respect in the lcn, and even phil points out in the show that tonys never done real time. I think that phil was first introduced i thought he seemed like the most old school type in the show but i think towards the end they started to get a little carried away with his character like after doc santoro got killed and phil became the offcial boss they had that ridicoulous party/ceremony for him, then he decides to go to war over one little dispute. I dont think either of them is truly old school which was one of the big themes of the show, showing how the modern day mafia has lost its class and its no longer like the godfather, to show how theyre not to be romantisized but that theyre just criminals.

Disagree with you Della. Philly was cosa nostra to the core. Tony was a middle class dude who became upper class and enjoyed a very sweet lifestyle. He never did any real time and had he got pinched (for something serious, hard rico time) it was about 50/50 odds he would have flipped.
Philly didn't go to war with Tony for one little dispute.
1, Tony Blundeto capped Phil's brother in what was a huge violation. An associate killing a made guy because he had killed a friend of Blundetos. That was not Blundetos right, he was completely in the wrong.
2. Tony never let philly get proper revenge.
3. Tony Beat the shit out of PHilly when he wasn't forthcoming with Tony's money. A captain. You cant beat the shit out of a captain I don't care who you are.
It was a long time waiting, and quite frankly, Tony deserved to get killed for the way he behaved if you go by the rules.

Vinnie, Agreed 100%. Phil was actually a better Boss. I liked Tony as a Boss, but Phil was better and more true to Mafia protocol. No Question.

As far as the issue with Blundetto,Phil put it aside out of respect for Johnny Sac and the best interests of the Lupertazzi's,and even during the sitdown with Phil, Tony, and Little Carmine,he appeared to be OK with moving on,(until Brainless minimized the killing of Phil's brother).
Phil did try to get permission for revenge,and coupled with the sacrifice of twenty years of his life in the can,I would have to call him more old school and more respected than Tony.

Tony broke pretty much all major mob rules and Phil didn't really do anything against the LCN code of honour. Tony was a rat (he ratted out Feech LeManna, a stand up guy who did his time, and a couple of Muslims), was seeing a shrink and had affairs with other made guys' women.

Overall IMO Tony was a horrible boss. He killed some of his top guys and earners for minor things while he was harbouring Chrissy and Tony B (eventually through time he realised his mistake and killed them both) to the resentment of the rest of the family. He was an insecure guy who was only respected by few guys from his original crew and those in the family who were younger than him. That's why guys like Richie, Ralphie, Feech and others often tested him and didn't really fear him. I doubt they would be pulling the same antics if a guy like Philly Leotardo was their boss. Just look what Tony turned the once prosperous family into. In season 6 their top earner is that old fart Carlo making 3 times less money than guys before him and they have a joke like Bobby as an Underboss. Compare that to the family he inherited, with 5 solid crews and plenty of earners. He more often than not treated his made guys like shit (with the exception of morons like Tony B, Chrissy and Bobby who were promoted) and would surely cooperate with the FBI if facing serious time (he had a good relationship with agent Harris already).

Phil was right about Tony, he stepped over his own uncle to become the boss. The war with NY was in many ways Tony's fault, he was testing Carmine's patience time and time again and told Johnny and Phil to go fuck themselves. Phil wasn't really boss material but was at least a respected stand up guy who did his time.

That said, I love Tony Soprano as a character in the show, but speaking from LCN perspective he wasn't a real mobster.

And I think the only reason he held respect from his older crew members (Pussy and Paulie) is because they were inherited from his father's crew. Of course they're going to be loyal.

definitely phil...

Phil without a doubt..that's why everyone hated him so much. As been discussed on other forums the real lcn guys are some serious scumbags not the romanticized movie guys. Phil is that to a t. Tony on the other hand, like slava said, broke almost every cardinal sin there is..only reason her got away with it is because #1 he was the boss and #2 it was fiction

Not got much to add but definitely Phil as everyone else has said.

Definitely Phil. He fits the role

Phil never wore shorts as a don.

It's a TV Show and TONY ate himself to death just like John Candy

"i mean the man harbored a fag! cmon!" -phil leotardo LMAO

Yea tony had a habit of putn his hands on made guys from n.y. the guy deserved it for touchn meadow but there shoulda brrn a sit down

tony had a bad habit of hitting made guys in general. he hit chris a few times, beat up and stapled a parking ticket to mike palmice, beat up the guy from new york who insulted his daughter, hit ralphie then later killed ralphie. I think he punched phil after the car crash trying to get his money. There might even be a couple other instances i'm forgetting.

Phil. He stuck to the real way of doing things. He always saw the weakness in a guy. Thats how it realy is.

Phil was a grade A prick but he was LCN to the bone.