Give Yourself to the Dark Side

They did it to me again. I swore I wouldn't let it happen again, but sure enough, I did anyhow. "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me", the saying goes. Well, it looks like it's shame on me at this point. "What exactly is he babbling about?", you might wonder. Allow me to enlighten you. As even the most casual fan of the NFL knows, the New England Patriots have been the dominant storyline all season. They started with big splash additions like Adalius Thomas and Randy Moss in the off-season. Then, they dominated the Week 1 headlines with the infamous "SpyGate" scandal, in which they were caught cheating by filming their opponent's coaches giving defensive signals. From Week 2 through Week 11, they dominated the NFL in a way that has rarely, if ever, been seen, racking up massive victories and drawing criticism about running up scores. The only small blip in that stretch was a close escape against the Indianapolis Colts, who were also undefeated at the time, and were playing at home. People began seriously wondering if this could be the first team since the '72 Dolphins to have a perfect season.

In the process, the team became one of the most polarizing figures the NFL has seen in recent years. Their sheer dominance, Coach Bill Belichick's perceived arrogance and attitude, the manner in which they seemed to be going out of their way to embarrass teams caused them to be hated by most all except their own fans. You either loved the Pats, or you hated them, there was no middle ground here.

I have counted myself among the "haters", although I don't harbor the kind of venom and resentment that many seem to have for them. I've just been rooting against them, hoping that they would finally lose. Obviously I've also been one to say "They are great, but they won't run the table, season is too long, someone will trip them up." The perfect season was beginning to seem inevitable, however, until last Sunday night when they took the field against the Philadelphia Eagles, who happen to be my favorite team. The Eagles came into the game at 5-5, hardly a challenge for the might Pats, and a 20+ point underdog. Now, I love football, but I have to get up at 5:30 am on weekdays, so I rarely stay up for an entire prime time game, even if the Eagles are playing. I expected a blowout, but the Eagles hung with the Pats, even leading late in the game, before ultimately losing. I was up till almost midnight to see a result that I expected, and that totally sucked.

So, I told myself last night as the Ravens, another mediocre opponent, hung with the Pats early that this was not going happen again. Unless they really took control of the game, I was going to turn off the TV and go to sleep. But foolishly I kept watching and once again I was left disappointed as the Ravens choked the game away at the end. Despite numerous opportunities to stop the Pats on their final drive, the Ravens made mistakes, committed penalties, and were victimized by perhaps the most poorly timed call of a timeout in NFL history.

So, this is it. I'm giving myself to the Dark Side on this one, and I suggest you all do the same. As much as I hate to say it, last night pretty much convinced me that of the "tragic inevitability" (to quote ESPN analyst Tony Kornheiser) of the Pats' perfect season. I hear everyone on the radio today saying "Look, they struggled against two mediocre teams in a row. They've been exposed, and they've got a much better Pittsburgh Steeler team yet to play." All of that makes perfect sense to me. And yet I don't care. "They got lucky last night, they should have lost", some say. Exactly, I respond. When you get stopped on a 4th down play that would have ended the game not once, but twice in a row and get redos both times, first because the opponent's coach had called a timeout just before the snap, and then because of your own false start penalty, that's enough to convince me it's your year. So, while many "experts" who were convinced 2 weeks ago that the Pats would run the table are now backing off of that certainty today, I'm now more convinced than ever that it will happen, and I suggest you come to that realization as well. It will save you a lot of angst over the last 4 weeks of the regular season, and throughout the playoffs.

So, 3 cheers for the Pats and their impending historical achievement! Bring it on, I'm all about it.

And if it ends up not happening, well, that's cool too, as that's all I really wanted in the first place. In that case, 3 cheers for me and my jinxing capabilities.