Super Bowl 2012: The Fear of a New England Patriots Fan

I always have been and always will be a Boston sports fan.  Business has been good.

Since January 2002, the Patriots have won three Super Bowls, the Red Sox have two World Series titles, the Celtics defeated the Lakers to become NBA champions and most recently, the Bruins have won the Stanley Cup. 

It has been an incredible decade for Boston sports; the Patriots have acted as the anchor with the most consistently dominant play. 

Despite this, the Patriots have the longest championship drought of all the professional Boston sports teams. 

It's been seven years since the Pats won the Super Bowl, and quite frankly, I am disappointed and angry that it's been that long.

I know that I shouldn't feel this way.  I know that I should be elated with the three Super Bowl rings the Patriots won from 2002-2005 and not complain about the lack of championships the past seven years.

Boston fans had to wait 86 long years for the Red Sox to win the World Series and there is no good excuse to be angry and disappointed with the Patriots for making me wait seven years for another Super Bowl win.

Yet, I still manage to carry these feelings with me every time I think about the Patriots.

Since the last time the Patriots won the Super Bowl, they have only missed the playoffs once and that season was an 11-win season that didn't see Tom Brady play one full game due to injury.

In six different seasons since 2005, New England has entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the AFC. 

They have now been to the AFC conference championship on three different occasions and even made it to the Super Bowl in 2007—a day which I will avoid for the moment.

My point being that the Patriots have been the dominant team in the NFL the past seven years and almost every preseason they are favorites to win the Super Bowl. 

And how many Super Bowls have they won in those seven years?  Zero. 

One could easily see why Patriots fans are getting frustrated. 

This all brings me to the big event on Sun., Feb. 5—Super Bowl XLVI: The New England Patriots vs. the New York Giants.

Round two.  A rematch for the ages. 

Its predecessor, Super Bowl XLII, is one of the greatest Super Bowl games of all time.

The 2007-08 undefeated Patriots were on their way to becoming the best team in NFL history, but just had to face off against the ultimate underdog first.

It's a game that will haunt my dreams for the rest of my life.

Everyone knows what happened.  The Patriots were the biggest Super Bowl favorites in history entering that game.  They were 18-0. 

Tom Brady and Randy Moss broke the single season touchdown records for quarterbacks and wide receivers.  They had already beaten the Giants that season.  What could go wrong?

Answer: Ridiculously illusive Eli Manning and David Tyree's super-glued helmet.

Once, a friend told me that Manning was like a big jar of mayonnaise.  He added something good to the sandwich (the team in this case), but was so bland. 

As funny as the joke may be, this jar of mayo out-dueled one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, leaving the Patriots with one less Super Bowl ring.

Now the Patriots have to face off against the Giants yet again.  Manning is back with a better set of wide receivers to go against Tom Brady and his dynamic duo of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski (assuming Gronk is healthy and plays). 

I don't know about the rest of the New England fans out there, but this game scares the hell out of me. 

This isn't just a game against any NFC team; it's against the Giants—the team that ended our perfect season.

The team that shattered the dreams of so many New England players and fans in February 2008. The team that must lose on Feb. 5.

The Patriots are finally ready to reclaim their title as the best team in the NFL.  They lost to the Giants in the regular season like the Giants lost to the Patriots in the regular season of 2007.

It's time for New England to turn the tables on New York and get revenge for the game we lost five years ago.

There's no Patriots game in recent memory that I have been more nervous for.

But I know that despite how many times my roommate claps loudly and cheers when the Giants make a good play, the Patriots will be ready to respond. 

There's no screwing around this time.  New York's nightmare ends next Sunday.