---
This catch has haunted me for the past four months. I still have nightmares about it. I've actually had nightmares about a football game...
February 3, 2008 was quite honestly the worst night of my life. What should have been a triumphant and joy filled three-hour Patriot football extravaganza was turned upside down by the New York Giants.
The day after the loss, I wrote the following note about the loss:
Yes, I died a little last night.
With 3 seconds left on the clock, surrounded by overzealous Giants fans and devastated New England die-hards, I thought I was going to A) vomit, B)pass out, and C) cry. I only did one of the three (I shall not disclose which), but my dear god...the f*cking Giants are Super Bowl champions?
In European "football" there are no playoffs, the team who wins the most games and has the best record wins the championship...I like this way of thinking...
The New England Patriots: the first team to go 16-0, and the first 18-1 team to not win the Super Bowl. The 1984 49ers and the 1985 Bears both went 18-1, but lost their 1 during the regular season. So where does this leave the Patriots? I can't answer that.
In January of 1997 I was 9 years old, the Packers beat the Parcells/Bledsoe edition of the NE Patriots in the Super Bowl, and I expected it. The Packers deserved to win, as did the Chicago Bears of 1985. But I fully believe that the New York Giants are a fluke team.
I'm not saying they didn't earn their victory on this night, but the Patriots already beat the Giants, as did the Packers, Jets, Vikings, Redskins, and Cowboys (twice!).
New England on the other hand went through half the pre-season, the entire regular season and two-thirds of the post season without one loss. Yet, the New York Football Giants get to call themselves the best in the world...
And as for the Manning-jersey-sporting-bandwagon riders of the world, I have one question: can you honestly say that you did not utter the words "Eli sucks" to yourself after one of their many losses this season?
Junior Seau deserved a Super Bowl ring, Michael Strahan deserves another deodorant commercial. Randy Moss deserves the title, Eli Manning deserves a shirt that reads "my brother's pretty good, and we sorta look a like".
Am I whining? Yes, partially, but I'm very aware of the absurdity of many of my arguments, I just really hate New York.
--
Time has passed, and my feelings toward the night have changed. When I wrote those painfully whiny paragraphs, I was in denial. In my mind, there had to be something wrong with the winner, because the losers were too good...
This was not the case. I've come to terms with the fact that the Giants outplayed the New England Patriots in Superbowl XLII. And I can now say that the Giants deserved the win. But it still stings...a lot.
I can also admit that my proposition of getting rid of the playoffs in the NFL is one of the most ridiculous ideas I've ever conjured up.
But really, what a year 2007 was for football. After a disappointing finish to the 2006 season, the Pats made history, and filled my Sundays (and the occasional Monday) with such unbelievable joy. And as we inch closer to opening day (still months away...jeez, Wayne, get a life) I'm looking forward to another great season of football, hopefully with a better ending this time around...
With 3 seconds left on the clock, surrounded by overzealous Giants fans and devastated New England die-hards, I thought I was going to A) vomit, B)pass out, and C) cry. I only did one of the three (I shall not disclose which), but my dear god...the f*cking Giants are Super Bowl champions?
In European "football" there are no playoffs, the team who wins the most games and has the best record wins the championship...I like this way of thinking...
The New England Patriots: the first team to go 16-0, and the first 18-1 team to not win the Super Bowl. The 1984 49ers and the 1985 Bears both went 18-1, but lost their 1 during the regular season. So where does this leave the Patriots? I can't answer that.
In January of 1997 I was 9 years old, the Packers beat the Parcells/Bledsoe edition of the NE Patriots in the Super Bowl, and I expected it. The Packers deserved to win, as did the Chicago Bears of 1985. But I fully believe that the New York Giants are a fluke team.
I'm not saying they didn't earn their victory on this night, but the Patriots already beat the Giants, as did the Packers, Jets, Vikings, Redskins, and Cowboys (twice!).
New England on the other hand went through half the pre-season, the entire regular season and two-thirds of the post season without one loss. Yet, the New York Football Giants get to call themselves the best in the world...
And as for the Manning-jersey-sporting-bandwagon riders of the world, I have one question: can you honestly say that you did not utter the words "Eli sucks" to yourself after one of their many losses this season?
Junior Seau deserved a Super Bowl ring, Michael Strahan deserves another deodorant commercial. Randy Moss deserves the title, Eli Manning deserves a shirt that reads "my brother's pretty good, and we sorta look a like".
Am I whining? Yes, partially, but I'm very aware of the absurdity of many of my arguments, I just really hate New York.
--
Time has passed, and my feelings toward the night have changed. When I wrote those painfully whiny paragraphs, I was in denial. In my mind, there had to be something wrong with the winner, because the losers were too good...
This was not the case. I've come to terms with the fact that the Giants outplayed the New England Patriots in Superbowl XLII. And I can now say that the Giants deserved the win. But it still stings...a lot.
I can also admit that my proposition of getting rid of the playoffs in the NFL is one of the most ridiculous ideas I've ever conjured up.
But really, what a year 2007 was for football. After a disappointing finish to the 2006 season, the Pats made history, and filled my Sundays (and the occasional Monday) with such unbelievable joy. And as we inch closer to opening day (still months away...jeez, Wayne, get a life) I'm looking forward to another great season of football, hopefully with a better ending this time around...
No comments:
Post a Comment