I will say this about that Thursday Night Football game between the Colts and the Broncos: It made me feel a lot better about my pigskin heroes. Even at 1-3-0, I have yet to feel the Patriots were as bad at football as the dystopian glimpse of post-apocalypse football I witnessed last night. You know how they say after a great game that it's a shame one of these teams had to lose? Well, last night it was a shame one of those teams got to win.
It wasn't supposed to be like this, of course, but then, it almost never is. Maybe there are no second acts in American lives, after all. (Well, unless you're Tom Brady.) Both Russell Wilson and Matt Ryan were supposed to be getting that elusive second chance in 2022. I was even rooting for Ryan to have a big year for the Colts.
Quick Aside: I know. It's the Colts, one of the many green-eyed villains in Patriots' myth and lore. Yes, I watched till the thrilling end of New England's 28-3 comeback against Ryan and the Falcons in SB 51, but I also have some sympathy for Ryan and how he and the Falcons had to feel after that game. Not to mention all the times it shows up on "Greatest Games of All Time'' lists. Or all the highlight clips readily available to anyone with high speed internet. I mean, that's got to be tough. I'm not a monster.
Thursday night we were reminded once again just how difficult this game is (and even more difficult when you're down three starters on the offensive line). I suppose, for me, it was also a reminder that I was blessed as a football fan by the confluence of luck that led me, Bill Belichick, and Tom Brady to New England.
Early on, it did kind of suck, though.
The Red Sox were only worth watching Wade Boggs' at bats.
The Sidney Wicks-Curtis Rowe era Celtics were an abomination. Dave Cowens should be erased from those team pictures out of respect.
The Patriots were a laughingstock and somehow managed to maintain that reputation from their inception all the way to one of the most humiliating beatdowns in Super Bowl history. That was a tough ride on a hot day without air conditioning. To this day, hearing the "Super Bowl Shuffle" kicks my amygdala in the nuts.
I'm not much of a hockey fan so at least I was spared rooting for the post-Bobby Orr Bruins.
Now, I'd rooted for crappy teams all across the country during my peripatetic youth as an army brat, so I have to say, nothing seemed amiss during the Before Times.
Even in 2001, I figured the upset win in SB 36 was a one off; a $20 bill found in a jacket pocket, an acorn stumbled upon by a blind squirrel, a lottery ticket winner (a man can dream). An "every sports fan should get to feel like this at least once in their life" kind of feeling.
Everything ends but that feeling didn't end. Not for a generation.
It wasn't just the Patriots. The Red Sox reversed the curse. The Celtics proved that anything is possible. I'm pretty sure the Bruins hoisted the cup at some point in there but as noted above; not a hockey fan.
I have found that watching anyone who is an expert in their craft working their craft is fascinating. Woodworking, guitar making, glass blowing, painting, sculpture, cooking, music - those Wade Boggs at bats - and yes, football, when it's done right.
Unlike last night.
I know, because I've been a witness to great football.
And hope to be again.
Go Pats!
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