Not everyone is going to want to read this but personally it’s an article I had to type. It’s almost like seeing a psychologist- it’s basically therapy for me. If I have any chance of jumping back into the C’s and Sox anytime soon- I’ll need to cleanse myself and a get the following off my Irish chest…

In this very space, I penned the following last year on January 23^rd:

“All in all, it was a great year. This team, in my opinion, overachieved and overcame a ton of adversity, especially the defense. Hey Rodney, if you’re listening- we’d love to have you back for another season. Hopefully, in the off-season, we can get Brady some more weapons and truthfully, I don’t see why we can’t be right back here next year. Our foundation of core players is that strong. Indy deserved it. Peyton deserved it. I’m not sure about that roughing the passer call, but as Berman would say, “Hats off to Peyton Manning and the Colts!” I wasn’t one of those people who could hit the hotel bar after the loss. Not me, I needed some alone time back in the room in front of the tube to fully debrief. I needed a controlled environment in which I could guarantee silence and be assured that I wouldn’t cross paths with any more Colts fans. Seeing Brady speak after the game was devastating. I mean he just looked so lost and hurt. He looked completely spent and just mentally and physically drained. I must say the fans were gracious for the most part even after the win as we dodged trouble left and right trying to find a cab back to the hotel. I can’t say that about some of the other places I’ve been to see big games and wound up being on the losing end.”

Its funny isn’t it? A lot of what I wrote last year is still true for this year’s 2007-08 Pats team. They overcame a ton of adversity and say what you want but they really did overachieve. Who else has ever gone 18-0 before losing their first game? No one! Granted the ending sucked, but what can you do- this team made us smile and high-five from July to February! Like last year, we’re all pulling for Rodney to finish out the last year of his contract and all indications point towards him doing so. The phantom pass interference call on Hobbs last year in the Dome… well… that was ruled a bad call last June in a personal letter from the league to the Pats corner. It’s too bad he won’t get one this year to take some of the pain away from Burress’ game-winning TD. (On a side note, that play still burns me… Everyone knew who the ball was going to… It was like leaving Larry Bird open with 4 seconds left in the game with the Celts down 2. Come on, BB… Plexi-glass and Eli have been doing that since the malcontent showed up in Jersey.) The above lines about Brady looking ‘lost and hurt’ as well as being ‘mentally and physically drained’ also stands true today. Until Super Bowl Sunday, I had never seen him more pressured or on his back more in his entire career. The guy never got comfortable and it almost appeared as someone else was wearing his uniform. He was basically lifeless. And believe it or not but the Giants fans were actually cool about their triumph- at least the ones in Zona were- I can’t really say that’s true about all of their fans, especially from what I’ve come home to. But hell when you knock off the best team to ever step on the gridiron what was I to expect anyway…

As you can tell, the game was eleven-plus days ago and I still can’t get over it. I came home and didn’t even watch Sportscenter or ESPN until yesterday and that was only because I was working from home and the Texas Con-Man was being barbequed on an open fire. Besides attending the Spurs game, I haven’t watched the C’s or even read a single Sox article yet. I’m just not ready. In the past, I had no problem switching gears and jumping head first into the Sox but this year is different. Let me ask you all something… If the sports-gods gave you the option to trade the 2007 Red Sox World Championship for a 4^th Lombardi trophy- would you do it?

I would. I wouldn’t even need three seconds to even think about it… But something tells me that’s not going to happen anytime soon. The worst part about football being over is no more tailgating til’ September. I think that’s the biggest and one of the only problems I have with Fenway- there’s no tailgating! Instead of firing up the grill and diving into a fresh 30-pack, we jam into dive bars and pay $6 a freakin’ beer. Imagine if people partied like this outside of Yawkey Way…

My buddy took this shot outside of the Brewers home opener last season. Can you say 12-person beer bong? Unreal… I still can’t believe that it’s been almost a year so far and none of my friends have tried to construct their own. Regardless, I had a helluva year tailgating. Of course, there were the 10 games at Gillette. There was the trip to Dallas and then to Jersey to see the perfect season, followed by the game in Phoenix. All of which, I thought would culminate in the ultimate prize but somehow our boys fell 39 seconds short. By now the luge has melted and so are my hopes of adding a 4^th trophy to next year’s tailgate …

I tried on these five rings in Dallas and a guy yelled, “Look at the Pats fan wearing our bling, he wants to be one of us!” To which I immediately responded, “Naaah dude, I just want to know what it’s gonna feel like in 2 more years!” The crowd broke out laughing and after the 48-27 drubbing we gave them I was convinced that we were well on our way. I even thought that it might have had something to do with the fact that I was maxing and relaxing since the very moment I stepped into Texas Stadium…

But once again I was wrong! Then a last minute trip down to Jersey sealed the impossible as we became the first team to go undefeated at a perfect 16-0! The media converged on the Pats at midfield like we had just won the Super Bowl.

In retrospect it’s funny… actually, it’s not that funny at all. At halftime of the Giants game, I got into the bathroom, decked in Pats gear when a few people started chanting “Scoreboard… Scoreboard… Scoreboard.” Like that was some kind of dig or something because we were trailing 21-16 at the half. Defending my Nation, I quickly finished my business and jumped on top of the urinal and proclaimed, “Don’t you people get it? It doesn’t matter! We’re the sixty-minute men!” Shocked that no one threw anything at me, a Giants fan yelled, “You almost lost to Baltimore!” I laughed and left the bathroom, shaking my head. Didn’t these people realize that we play a full sixty minutes? It didn’t matter what the score was until the final gun sounded- that is the only score that counts. Then the Super Bowl happened… so much for playing sixty full minutes!

And so much for the so-called LUCKY Junkyard Dog rubber wrestler… Remember this story from last week… This dude I ran into outside the Super Bowl found JYD on the ground outside the old Foxboro Stadium back in 1990 and ever since JYD has been a good luck charm. He’s brought JYD to every game since and as a result the Pats are like 40-1 with the one loss coming last year to Miami. Footnote: JYD helped us triumph in the snow game! Looks like JYD now has two losses on his resume!

Between him and the trophy- we struck out big time in the desert! So now that I’ve gotten all of that off of my chest, it looks like its finally time to turn my attention towards the C’s and Sox. I feel so much better now… thanks! Hopefully, come Halloween I’ll be looking constipated yet again rocking around Boylston Street. Go Celts/Sox!

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