neuronet

I am stuck down in Durham NC where most everyone hates the Pats. They have forgotten the drought years, they only remember the team that has dominated the NFL in the 21st century.

They don't understand the heart of the lifetime Patriots fan, the fan whose hopes were raised so high with great talent like Grogan and Bledsoe, only to be dashed for more than two decades. This season has taken on a surreal, transcendent feel to it. Everything I see and read now is painted by the hues of this crazy season. By week nine, my emotional cadence each week was set by how many days until the game. By week 13, I had tracked down everyone at work who knows anything about football to talk shop with them. Every week I call my uncle to go over the game, the good and bad plays, the miraculous come-from-behind wins.

My football buddies, guys I get together with every week to watch games, have a hatred for the Pats that has grown each week. One, an Eagles fan, has never gotten over their loss to us in the SB. It's fun watching with them, but I really want to see the final game (assuming they make it!!!) with family, with others that have the heart of a Patriots fan. With others that have chanted 'Sam Bam Cunningham!'

So, to make a long story longer, after watching the San Diego game, I bought a plane ticket so I could come watch the superbowl with my family in New Hampshire. Assuming the Patriots can beat a tough San Diego team (NOTHING can be taken for granted), it will be wonderful to share in the historic game, win or lose (win!) with the people that imbibed me with my love of the region and its sports as I grew up in Ambesbury (MA) and South Hampton (NH).

This is a season we lifetime New England fans will never forget. The NFL will never forget it either, if we win the next two games. No matter what happens in the next two games, there will be a place in all of us that will never extinguish, a place of pride and astonishment at the raw talent, brains, and poise that went into this impossible season.

Go Pats!!! Don't make me regret buying that ticket. Win for me next week. Win or lose in Week 19 (win!), I know I'll be watching you from the right place. I just wish my dad were still around to witness this. At least he saw the Red Sox destroy the curse.

(Incidentally, there are really cheap tickets to Pease International Airport if you fly Skybus. Pease is near Portsmouth NH: I got round trip between NC and NH for 112 bucks, so anyone else thinking of coming home for the game, it is relatively affordable).

__________________
Ice_Ice_Brady writes:
The difference is that Brady calmly calls audibles while Manning flaps like a chicken, barks 11 code words, and makes sure every camera in the stadium has documented his once-in-a-generation (and patented, I believe) ability to see a defensive formation and change the play. Both have the same effect, but Manning transcends measurable human intellect while Brady merely chooses a different play.

neuronet

I put even more on the next game. I bet my boss Pats would win by 10 in good weather (7 in bad weather). Whoever loses has to wear a hat given to him by the winner for the entire day at a huge (30,000+) conference we go to every year for our job.

I'm gonna give him three foot tall Patriots foam hat

__________________
Ice_Ice_Brady writes:
The difference is that Brady calmly calls audibles while Manning flaps like a chicken, barks 11 code words, and makes sure every camera in the stadium has documented his once-in-a-generation (and patented, I believe) ability to see a defensive formation and change the play. Both have the same effect, but Manning transcends measurable human intellect while Brady merely chooses a different play.

italia44

shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Disco Volante

You cannot jinx the New England Patriots via a message board or plane ticket.

Enjoy Glendale.

__________________

angelaf

Man, the Carolinas are BRUTAL! I was down in Columbia, SC during '04 and they wouldn't let up about Super Bowl 38 YET those same folks cared little about the Panthers when I was down there in '03.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

neuronet

Well, I'm just watching with my family in NH, but thanks

BTW, that new sig pic is just awesome. The Tomlinson corner gollumn is hilarious.

__________________
Ice_Ice_Brady writes:
The difference is that Brady calmly calls audibles while Manning flaps like a chicken, barks 11 code words, and makes sure every camera in the stadium has documented his once-in-a-generation (and patented, I believe) ability to see a defensive formation and change the play. Both have the same effect, but Manning transcends measurable human intellect while Brady merely chooses a different play.