From the Dark Side

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

First off, I congratulate the New York Giants and all of their fans for an incredible Super Bowl victory. I hope every Giant fan is relishing the moment and enjoying the win to the very fullest. I remember quite well how I felt back in 2002, when I was watching then-surprising Tom Brady lead his team down the field during the last minutes against the Rams team that no one, including this fan, ever thought the Patriots could beat. But just like that, with time expiring, Adam Vinatieri kicked the Patriots to their first Super Bowl crown, and the fact that it was such an unexpected victory is the reason that that first Super Bowl win for the Patriots remains my favorite.

Now fast-forward to 2008...

As a long-time Mets fan, Devils fan, and Patriots fan, I thought long and hard in trying to come up with a moment or series of moments as painful as watching my team lose Super Bowl XLII. A lot of them came to mind:

The heavily favored Mets (who had lost just one out of eleven games to the Dodgers in the regular season) losing in seven games to the Dodgers during the 1988 NLCS. The worst moment of that series: Mike Scioscia, not exactly known as a power threat, hitting a home run off Dwight Gooden in Game 4 - a game that the Dodgers would eventually win to tie the series up 2-2.

Games 6 and 7 of the 1993-1994 Eastern Conference Championship Series between the NJ Devils and NY Rangers. I don't need to explain that one.

Losing to the Avs in 2001 after taking a 3-2 Stanley Cup Finals lead.

The Devils not making the playoffs after the '95 Cup win.

Kenny Rogers walking in the series-clinching run against the Braves in '99.

The Mets losing to the Yankees in 2000, although that was kind of expected. As was the Patriots losing to the Bears and the Packers in their first two Super Bowl appearances.

I could list more for sure, but none of them compare to what I'm feeling right now. After I left my friend's party I couldn't say a word on the way home...I wasn't feeling angry so much as I was upset and stunned. Not so much as a wink of sleep that night either. I think what hurts more than anything else is what was at stake...this team had an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime shot to make history, to do something no other team had ever done: go 19-0 in winning the Super Bowl. Sure, teams have won Super Bowls and as long as there's an NFL, teams will continue to win Super Bowls. But this one could have been that much more special, that much more incredible, and now they'll never, ever get that chance again. Even if the Patriots somehow get over this, they'll likely lose two or three games (maybe even more) if they find a way to win next year's Super Bowl. Obviously I'll go crazy if they pull it off, but that still won't take the sting out of watching this great opportunity to instill themselves as immortals and all-time greats go by the wayside.

It's also now the second straight year that this team appeared to have a game wrapped up in the playoffs, only to watch the other team's offense march right down the field for the winning score. As we all know, you don't get to keep going to the dance...eventually the party ends, and that "window of oppotunity" starts to close. That's also what hurts right now...it's becoming more and more obvious that this Patriots defense is getting old in a hurry, and this season might have been their last hurrah. Can this group, with their ages and mileage, possibly squeeze out another performance, game after game, to get to another Super Bowl? I think this was the year...maybe their last. To see it all slip away...it still stings and will continue to. I can't listen to a sports show or watch ESPN. I can't go down to my sports room (I've posted pics of it up). This is the first time I've really been able to talk about it, outside of congratulating my closest friends who are Giants fans. Everytime I think about it it's like someone keeps picking at the same scab.

Obviously plenty of football fans would kill to get to four Super Bowls in seven years and see their team win three of them, but none of that is making this any easier right now...that's for damn sure. To think that the Patriots are going to have to start all over come September...

Oh well...congrats again to the Giants fans who got to see a historic victory, even though it ain't the kind I was hoping to see. At least the Devils had a nice comeback win against the Penguins last night. What else can you do as a rabid sports than try to move on?

Edited February 5, 2008 by Colorado Rockies 1976