Super Bowl Odds and Ends

The feeling of New England losing is quite possibly the best feeling I have ever had as a sports fan. Seriously. None of my teams have ever won anything big. Sure there are countless division titles and even a few conference championships (1993 Phillies, 1997 Flyers, 2001 Sixers) but ZERO championships in my 23 and 1/12 years. The best bet for a championship was probably the 1994-1995 Penn State football squad but the voters screwed them. Screw you Cornhuskers! Anyway, this really is a wonderful feeling. Not only did the Patriots lose, they lost the Super Bowl! Amazing. 18-1. Honestly, who cares? 18-1 means nothing. Sure there was the undefeated regular season but if you don't win the Super Bowl the 18 straight wins are moot. This was one of the greatest and most exciting Super Bowls ever. I can remember back to Super Bowl XXVI (Redskins/Bills). I had considered Super Bowl XXXIV the best I had witnessed (Rams/Titans) followed by Super Bowl XXXVI (Patriots/Rams). XLII may become the new number one. The underdog won and it was a tightly contested game. Brilliant. I had contemplated not watching but glad I did. So here are just a few things that XLII has brought to my mind:

• Feel free to read Bill Simmons' recap. It isn't too bad. Here is a nice quote:

Finally, can you guess the last thing we heard as we were walking (OK, hustling) out of the stadium right after the final play? That's right, it was the sound of euphoric Giants fans chanting, "Eighteen and one! Eighteen and one! Eighteen and one!" Yes, it's safe to say the Boston-New York rivalry has been taken to new heights. As a tennis umpire would say, "Advantage, New York."

Eighteen and one! Eighteen and one! Eighteen and one!

I can still hear them. I will always hear them.

• What will happen to the Patriots if it is determined they cheated before Super Bowl XXXVI? Does the Lombardi trophy get yanked and handed to the Rams? Does this call in to question the Patriots wins in XXXVIII and XXXIX as well? If evidence shows they cheated then are the Panthers and, gasp, Eagles the rightful champs? These questions must be answered. In my opinion, if there is evidence that the Patriots cheated by taping the walkthroughs then New England must forfeit their titles.
• Why did the media continue to place New England on a high pedestal? Did they not see that a majority of the country wanted them to lose? Cheating, especially at a game beloved by so man Americans, is not tolerated in our culture. So why did the media ignore that fact an pump up the Patriots? Why did they shove them down our throats? I will guarantee that most people outside of New England wanted the Giants to win. Hell, I know Cowboys, Redskins, and Eagles fans that wanted the Giants to win. A conglomerate of assholes is not well received by anyone...except the media, apparently.
• Speaking of assholes, Belichick actually left the field before the game was over. That sure is going to hep your image. I'm really tired of people backing him. He is an asshole. A rogue coach that no one seems to respect, even past coaches of his (see Mangini, Eric). The way he runs his team is pathetic. He may be a football genius. Maybe. But when you are an egotistical bastard that won't matter much.
• Karma won. 18-1. Super Bowl LOSERS. You got what you deserve.
• Another thing, to all those retards ripping on the 1972 Dolphins, stop already. I have seen Patriot fans call these old 'ballers classless, arrogant, assholes, etc. Oh really? I find nothing wrong with them celebrating that they are the only undefeated team ever. And for those of you that say they gloat, check how many times they decided to go public with their champagne toasts. Zero. They do it in private together with their families. The only reason you hear of it is because of the media. If you hate hearing about them tell the writers and broadcasters to stop interviewing them. The '72 Dolphins are the only undefeated team. Of course that should be celebrated! They have done something no one else has ever done! Wouldn't you be happy if you were the only person EVER to accomplish something? So stop with the excuses and stop with the putdowns. And the last people on Earth to rip on those Dolphins should be the Patriots organization and their fans. Classless? Arrogant? Assholes? Check the mirror.
• This is the demise of the Patriots dynasty. Sure they'll be good for a few more years but they won't win another Super Bowl with the current cast. Every team has an end. Bye bye New England. Who will step up from 2010-2019? (Please let it be Miami, please!)
• Can the Tom Brady talk stop now?

A great end to the 2007-2008 season.

18-1 forever. HA!

This is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read

Read this article.

I didn't think it was possible for me to hate a team/fan base more than the Yankees...and baseball isn't even my favorite sport! I now hate anything and everything that emanates out of Boston/New England. While it is the Red Sox fans and everything about the Patriots (fans, players, coaches, organization) that I HATE the most, I will never route for the Celtics or Bruins either. The amount of arrogance and "we're the center of the world" mentality is unbearable now. Just read this article by "The Sports Guy" Bill Simmons. He is an idiot. As is the rest of the Patriots fan base. Here are few quotes to whet your appetite:

In a 24-hour span last weekend, I watched "Victory" on cable and the Patriots-Colts battle on CBS. The two events had more in common than you might think.

Yep that's Bill Simmons comparing the Colts-Patriots showdown to a fictional movie about prisoners of war playing against a German soccer team during the German's occupation of France during WWII. The POWs plan to escape during halftime of the game. If the comparison of something revolving around WWII and the Nazi's to a FOOTBALL game doesn't piss you off, what will? Seriously "Sports Guy"? What is your problem? On to another quote from Bill...

Was everything that "happened" (for lack of a better word) in Indy just a one-time deal? Was it just an elaborate coincidence the Patriots couldn't buy a single break for the entire game? Was the NFL unveiling a new way of evening the score against New England because a $500,000 fine and the loss of a No. 1 pick weren't enough? Did the league decide no NFL team could conventionally stop the Pats, so they'll have to play against opponents AND referees for the rest of the season?

Here's that New England vs The World mentality that I love so much. You were caught cheating and everyone else is at fault for hating you? Wanting you to lose?

But if you're a fan of the Patriots, you've never felt as passionately about them as you do right now. The same "us against them" mentality that galvanized the coaches and players ended up galvanizing the fans as well. You should see some of the texts and e-mails I received from friends during Sunday's game -- genuine anger and incoherence from some of the most rational people I know -- or the remains of my living room remote control, which didn't survive a 95-mph throw across the room after the no-call on Faulk. Like everyone else who loves the Patriots, this season has become so personal that it's difficult to adequately describe. It's almost like watching a family member get raked through the coals...

Yep that's exactly what it is like, Bill. I bet the team really gives a shit about you. What have they ever done for you personally? I doubt most Patriots fan have coherence or are rational if they believe the propaganda and ridiculous swill you're spewing right now.

Upon my return home, I e-mailed a few Patriot friends to remind them that the 2-6 Niners had lost again and we were looking at a top-five pick. Just for kicks, I included Mel Kiper's top 10 prospects to whet everyone's collective appetite.

After a few minutes, one of them happily e-mailed back, "I love it, [bleep] everybody!"

For better or worse, that's our mantra for the 2007 season. After the legitimacy of the three Super Bowl titles was questioned, there was only one response: 19-0. The players keep saying they're taking it one game at a time; I say they're full of crap. They want to join the '72 Dolphins and destroy everyone along the way. Why? Because bleep everybody, that's why. After Welker clinched the Colts game with a crucial first-down catch, he defiantly hopped up and screamed at the poor cornerback covering him, "YOU F------ SUCK!" Unquestionably, it was the defining play of the season -- not just that the Patriots converted the exact same situation that killed them last January (when they could have clinched a Super Bowl trip with one more completion on third-and-short), but that Welker displayed such arrogant disdain after finishing the Colts off.

Normally, I hate crap like that. Not this time.

Once you enter "bleep-everybody" mode, it becomes a state of mind. You can't shake it.

Do I really need to say anything? You honestly support a player saying "You fucking suck!"? Or "I love it, fuck everybody!"? Wow. Classless and sad.

The players have always handled themselves with class, on and off the field. When everyone wanted them punished after CameraGate, they took their penalty without a whimper.

Yeah. The Patriots players are "classy". They didn't say anything. And you're right. They didn't. Wow. Good for them. Their coach gets caught cheating and they don't stand up for the sanctity of the game or for fair play, the exact basis for your entirely off-base article. I applaud them for being mute and sticking by a cheater. I really do.

If the undefeated season doesn't happen for the Patriots, let's hope it's because they were outplayed and not because of something more sinister. And let's hope this is the final time an NFL game gets compared to a soccer movie starring Sly Stallone and a bunch of Nazis ... and the comparison isn't a stretch.

Shut up, Bill. Just shut up. Remember, you're the idiot the brought up this comparison.