It happened. For the first time in my lifetime while watching the New England Patriots, it happened.
Sure, when watching the Boston Red Sox in the postseason it’s never a game if it doesn’t happen. But last night during the Super Bowl, it happened.
Everything was fine. Tom Brady marched down the field and, while I did almost jump through the television when Brady overthrew Moss for a surefire touchdown, Brady connected with Moss two plays later for the go-ahead touchdown.
Then as I noticed 2:32 showed on the game clock, and it happened.
My hands went cold and my palms started sweating. Eli Manning and the Giants had the football down four points and needed a touchdown—not a field goal—to win the game. More importantly, plenty of time remained, and they had three time outs.
Why get nervous now? Adam Vinatieri needed to kick two game winning field goals as time expired to win two previous Super Bowls, and in my youthful ignorance and bliss I never doubted that he’d make them both. Last night, the Patriots had surrendered ten points through three quarters and surely the team of destiny would be able to make a stop now with the game on the line. They didn’t. The Pats lost. 18-1.
This is not like 2003. This was not Red Sox-Yankees ALCS. This really does not compare remotely to that loss. This was worse.
Baseball is my first love, although the NFL and college basketball are bridging the gap quickly. That being said, last night’s loss was still worse.
While the two Red Sox world championships since Aaron Boone’s walk off home run in the 2003 ALCS against the Yankees should have somehow softened the blow of that night, I can still remember the feeling I woke up with the next day. It was a feeling of disappointment, but not shame.
After all, we were the underdogs and put up a fight against the winningest team in professional sports history. In other words—had the Red Sox won in 2003, I feel today exactly what Yankees fans would have felt five years ago: unabashed shame and disappointment.
I am 18 years old (born in 1989) and from Massachusetts, and this is the first time in my serious-sports-watching-lifetime (circa 1997 especially since I did not have cable until 2001) that a local team has reached a championship game and failed to parade through the streets of Boston the following week to the delight of millions of locals.
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Had the Patriots not won in 2001, it would have been expected. Had the Patriots not won in 2003 it would have been understandable. Had the Patriots not won in 2004 it would have been upsetting. They went three for three in those Super Bowls however, and in their wake, the Patriots created a winning culture in my generation that simply does not exist in other generations of Boston sports fans.
Last night, for the first time in my lifetime, a local sports team let me down.
Veteran Bostonians have seen triumphs in the Celtics unlike that which my generation has ever dreamed about. Teams who boasted big names on championship teams as Walton, Russell, McHale, Bird, Parrish, Havlicek and Cousy. The best Celtics team of my generation touted a roster with the likes of Pierce, Antoine, Battie, Delk, and Rodney Rogers and Kenny Anderson.
But veteran Bostonians have dealt with disappointment from following the Patriots and Red Sox that I could not begin to describe- until last night at least. They had to watch the ’85 Bears steamroll the Patriots 46-10, and watch a young Brett Favre and Desmond Howard knock off the upstart Patriots team of 1996.
They not only had to deal with Boone in 2003, but they had to deal with Buckner in ’86 and watch as The Impossible Dream Team of 1967 came up just short to the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series.
Last night, the Patriots entered as both the best, and most hated team in football. All season long they have had a target not placed, but tattooed squarely on their backs. They were hated because of Spygate I and now II, because their head coach doesn’t give sincere post-game handshakes, and because they run the score up on the opposition.
I loved this team though simply because they are the best and tried to win both regular season games against the over matched Buffalo Bills by as wide of a margin as possible. This loss hurts. It hurts more than last year’s AFC championship game, more than the Red Sox 2005 ALDS series against the White Sox, and only slightly more than the 2003 ALCS against the Yankees.
Unlike baseball where it’s next to impossible to not miss a single pitch of an entire season, football you can sit down and watch the entirety of your favorite team’s season: a sport where each game counts the same in the standings as ten regular season baseball games. After going an entire regular season and two playoff games of that without seeing your team get tripped up once, you cannot rationalize how any team will beat them until it happens.
It happened. The-team-that-could-not-lose lost, and I’m not sure where to turn for solace.
The sports-hangover I woke up with Monday morning is the first of its kind in my lifetime and I’m sure the first of many I will experience as long as I continue to eat, breathe, and live Boston sports.
As I got out of bed this morning bleary-eyed and simply not ready to face the world as we know it on February 4, 2008, my dad was at the breakfast table reading a paper and watching local news anchors (aggravatingly) tried to sugar-coat the enormity of the loss the Patriots just endured.
He, unlike I, was able to watch the news and muster a smile towards my mother who, through 26 years of marriage, has come to understand and accept the silence that resonates throughout our house the following morning after tough losses.
So there my father sits, a few more grey hairs, maybe a tiny wrinkle now exists where there was not one before—but overall, no worse for the wear. Protected by over forty years of letdown by his beloved teams, he is able to wake up this morning and draw upon many other mornings just like this one to get through the day ahead.
So here I sit, struggling to put my thoughts on paper, envious of my father’s ability to cope with losses like this, and unsure of how to deal with the day ahead and the many Giants fans who will surely not let me forget of the previous night’s events.
The only thing you can do in times like these, is try to be gracious towards any Giants fans who brag about their win and try to keep looking forward because there’s no sense dwelling on the past; as hard as that will be to achieve.
I need to find something, anything, to keep me going on a day like this.
Fortunately…
12 days until Red Sox pitchers and catchers report.
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7 months ago
I myself am a 49ers fan. I've watched my team fall from the unbeatable to the cellar of the league. Sports teams definitely go in cycles, and you will see many of them throughout your lifetime. Relish the moments and the times that fly by while you're team is winning. Recognize that it will not always be good times and savor the victories that come your way.
That said, it is very disheartening as a football fan to see the way the Patriots handled the loss last night. I've never seen such disrespect as they walked off the field without shaking the opponents hand after a hard-fought loss with 1 second left on the clock. The head coach and offensive unit ran off in shame, leaving their defense to soak up the disappointment they all faced. The defense was the only unit that did a GREAT job last night, and they were the ones left to clean up the mess.
Now, Brady and Moss are not going to the Pro Bowl. They gave no reason for not going, but one can imagine that it is out of shame. I'd feel bad too after the way they pranced around the league all season, running up the score on teams all year long, Brady laughing at Plaxico's score prediction, and then refusing to shake Manning's hand in pregame warmups. The Patriots, although great football players, are the worst losers I've ever witnessed in professional sports. Shame on them for disgracing the game the way that they have this season. They deserve every ounce of hurt and shame that they feel right now. Although I once thought they might have been a dynasty...I no longer feel so. No team deserves that title with the disrespect they have shown to the game and the league this year. I'm sorry.
from 7 months ago
I have to respectfully disagree with this. First of all, Bill Belichick did shake Tom Coughlin's hand, and many of the offensive players remained on the sideline, including Randy Moss. The game was virtually over. There was nothing more Belichick could do. I don't blame him for not wanting to be there when all the confetti rains down celebrating his team's defeat. Secondly, the defense did not play that great. The Giants could have scored a couple more field goals at least had it not been for the penalties and the Asante Samuel interception. Secondly, there is nothing wrong with running up the score. The players are paid to play 60 minutes, not 55, 50, or whenever the game can be considered 'out of hand.' If a team doesn't like it, play some defense and stop them. The Giants did that. They played unbelievable defense and had an outstanding gameplan, and now they deserve to be called the Super Bowl XXII Champs. It doesn't change the fact that New England was the best team all year long. It just proves that any team can win on any day, and the Giants came to the Super Bowl more prepared and ready to play and it showed on the outcome.
7 months ago
Well Adam, I feel for you. I'm not a big fan of the Patriots, but I was pulling for them last night. I wanted to see history. I also knew how bad the players would feel if they had come all that way and lost, and what a big letdown it would be for the fans. And I confess, I wanted them to win in order to shut Mercury Morris up for good. But it didn't happen. Being a Colts/Bills fan, I should've been happy with a New England loss. The Giants were a feelgood story, Strahan got a ring, Peyton's brother Eli grew up in a big way, and coach Tom Coughlin saved his job. But I woke up the next morning depressed. It was mostly for the empathy I had for the players. They were UNDEFEATED, and favored by nearly two touchdowns. I truly feel for them. It sounds silly, but I used to have video game tournaments with my friends, and I was usually the favorite to win. One time I had a really good streak going but lost in the championship game. Yeah, it's not the same, but we took those games really seriously and the loss hurt really bad for me. I can't begin to comprehend the enormity of that feeling from the perspective of the players who put every bit of their beings into winning since the beginning of training camps.
But mostly I feel for you from the perspective of a fan. As a diehard Yankees fan, I can honestly say that the 2003-2004 baseball seasons were the worst sports memory of my life. As good as the jubilation of the '03 ALCS felt for me, we went on to lose in 6 to the Marlins. It was very disappointing, especially after the emotional miraculous win in the previous series left me feeling we were destined to win. But nothing could compare to the debacle in the following year's ALCS. Being up 3-0 in that series, I had the brooms out ready to walk around with one, and I was already planning World Series watching parties. But damn, watching that comeback by the Red Sox was just brutal. I got a little less comfortable after each game, and after Game 6 I wasn't confidant at all. What that series taught me though was to give respect to the better team, as well as realize that anything can happen. I saw them come back against the unhittable Mariano Rivera. I screamed at the TV not to pitch to David Ortiz, yet they did anyways, and he made them pay multiple times. It kills me to say it, but our beloved Derek Jeter is no longer the best clutch hitter in baseball. That honor belongs to the one they call 'Big Papi.'
Anyways, it's a bit different in the NFL, as the better team doesn't always win, it's whoever plays better on that given day. And without a seven game series, it throws in a lot of chance. That's why I still maintain that the Patriots were the best team in the NFL this season, while the Giants just got really hot at the best time. I know the pain hurts, but just keep telling yourself to look to the future, which is very bright for the Patriots. If you are interested, I wrote an article about what to look forward to, and where the Patriots can improve this offseason. And while there can be no greater opposites than Red Sox-Yankees, I respect you as a fan, and I certainly feel your pain.
7 months ago
Oh, you're such a pup. Two words: Jim McMahon
6 months ago
Adam,
I can understand exactly what you are saying, my first true failing for Boston sports was that ugly play in 86' (I still cant and wont talk about it even with 2 Championships) but I am also a NY Giant Fan (I live in Mass on the NewYork border) I cant believe we beat your Pats, who had and are the best team of the 07 season, it all came down to one very lucky play and the luck was on our side, if not for "the play of the season" you would be 19-0 with a championship ring on your finger.
Have no regrets and take it the way we take our Sox when they let us down. Stop, reflect, and move on...because you are a true football and patriot fan....
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