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Patriots fans really need to find some perspective.
New England lost their first game since 2006 and all of a sudden Patriot Nation is in complete and total disarray. After winning 21 of the last 22 regular season games it appears that fans have forgotten how to react to a loss. The mass exodus at Gillette Stadium was absolutely disgusting, and don't think the players didn't notice.
"It amazes me, amazes me, how people react," Ellis Hobbs told the Boston Globe. "You would think that this organization hasn't won as much as they've won and hasn't been successful in the years that they have.
"Expectations are that high that we're not allowed a bad game or something like that. How many times has somebody had a bad day at the office? How many times has somebody missed a deadline and not gotten in the paper? Missing whatever, forgetting to fix their kids' lunch?"
It's hard to blame him for being upset. After all, looking around and listening to fans you'd swear a 'bad day at the office' now apparently means the season is over. Instead of trying to find something positive to focus on, fans instead are looking at whether or not Randy Moss is happy. They're also trying to say that head coach Bill Belichick isn't really a good coach and that the success of this team was because of Brady alone and that he's "nothing" without him.
You'd never know that the Patriots were 2-1. Sixteen other teams right now have a record that's worse, and only five other teams have a better record. Apparently years of success have erased the memories of how to deal with a loss, and the people who can't deal with it are coming out of the woodwork like roaches when the lights are turned on.
Let's face it, Patriot fans have been spoiled. New England hasn't lost two straight games in over two years, and are 28-4 over the past two regular seasons. The home crowd hasn't seen a loss since the 2006 season, yet they all stood up and began marching out of the building with the game still somewhat in reach on Sunday. The players have obviously come to appreciate the support, but to not stand by them through the tough times is something that could cause a rift between the fans and a locker room full of players who have obviously given them plenty to cheer about.
"I don't block it out. I accept it. I remember. I use it," said Hobbs. "I use it as a thing of 'remember this when you are successful.' That's how you keep it all in perspective. As soon as they're stabbing you in the back and they're booing, they're ready to pat you [on the back] again."
So it's time to take a step back and realize that it's going to be a tough season, and there will probably be more losses ahead. But being a true fan means taking the bad with the good, and it seems that many fans in New England need to try and figure out if they're going to be capable of that.
From Dictionary.com: per·spec·tive: the faculty of seeing all the relevant data in a meaningful relationship.
Apparently one game has given these people all the information they need. They're apparently smarter than the rest of us.
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