Ask Not For Whom the Bell Tolls, Part Two

Now that the dust has begun to settle, New England fans are reclaiming their page as fans from Indianapolis, Green Bay, New York, Oakland and other parts unknown have scurried back to their own pages to examine the futures of their own teams.

I have never read such garbage in my lfe as some of the tripe posted on the Pats page since the Colts game.

Regular writers on our page could barely get a word in edgewise earlier this week, as bashers from around the league have taken over to spew some of the most ridiculous vitriol I have read in a long time.

Finally, these interlopers have begun to drift away, and we have our community back. Oh sure, we are all free to post articles on any page we choose, but I don't notice many Patriots fans publishing articles on pages other than our own. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

We could, you know. We could be telling a whole lot of people just how bad their teams are, but we don't, at least not right in their faces. So many teams suck so horrendously this season, they are ripe for the picking, but in general we don't bother them.

We know from memory how it feels to have a crappy team.

But when it comes to the Patriots, it is open season, and it seems everyone has an opinion.

The Patriots lose a game to the Colts. Belichick makes the only possible call, it doesn't work out, and suddenly the team I have loved since I was a kid is on its way to hell. They are doomed, the good years have come to an end and we as fans are all idiots.

But we are the ones who are viewed as arrogant. Yeah, right. Uh huh.

One game, friends. Say whatever you like, the discussion will go on for years to come, but we are pounding just one game into the ground.

I haven't been happy this week, and I know that any diehard New England fan has felt the same way.

But I am happy to remember suddenly that we are talking about one game. To view this whole scenario as the beginning of the end for the despised Patriots is to buy into the hype surrounding the game in the first place.

Do you really want to choke on ESPN Kool-Aid? I don't, and I won't. I don't think Belichick and the team will either. They're too busy getting ready for the Jets.

One game. The bell has yet to toll.