Pigskin Mentality

There are no meaningless games to those who are playing.

I'm sure some smart guy said something like that once upon an upset.

I often wonder why people act against their own best interests. Well, maybe not often but certainly in moments like this where I consider the fact that I will be rooting for the Patriots to win this Sunday in Buffalo, even though that can only hurt the Patriots' chances for a Top 3 draft pick (not to mention hurting my wife's entire family, who are all die-hard Bills' fans, and yes, the Brady years helped me to understand empathy whether I wanted to or not). The Patriots need the draft pick more than they need the win and the Bills need the win to stay in the playoff hunt where I'm counting on them beating teams that I hate much, much more than Buffalo (yes, I'm looking at you, Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, and Kansas City Chiefs - you'll all be on my personal pigskin enemies list forever).

Still, it feels bad losing. If the good citizens of Patriots Nation had forgotten that, we've had more than enough opportunities to refresh our memories in  2023.  

And that's just the fan's perspective.

It's been a long time since I played any competitive sports but I still remember moments from those days. Huddling under the stands late in the year at halftime of a rivalry game with Watson High that we were losing big, watching my best friend crying after breaking his ankle in the first half, feeling like I should be hearing cannon fire and explosions all around me, and that I'd be putting on my helmet in a few minutes to go back out on the field to take even more punishment - physically and emotionally - in the second half.

Losing sucks. 

The coaches and players on the Patriots do not want that feeling. They've had enough of that feeling. We've all had enough of that feeling.

I'm sure the Bills will have something to say about that this Sunday, of course.

Maybe playing for the future is never in anybody's best interests. Maybe the only thing that even makes the future possible is what we do in the here and now. 

Maybe temporal physics is hard. 

I don't know if Robert Kraft will fire Bill Belichick. I don't know if Bailey Zappe is the answer at quarterback. I don't know if next year's #1 pick in the draft will be a Hall of Fame stud or the next Hall of Fail bust. 

I do know what I'll be doing this Sunday.

Go Pats!