Bill Simmons the genius sums it up well:
On paper, I’m not sure how they’re still chugging along. Their star quarterback has been pounded like Mick Foley in his prime. Their lead running back probably couldn’t outsprint Eddy Curry to a hot dog truck. Their best receiver was unemployed three months ago. They don’t have a single gamebreaker on the offensive side. They don’t start a single top-12 draft pick except for Richard Seymour, who doubles as their only Pro Bowler. Their linebacking corps is slower than a dial-up modem connection. Their defensive leader, Rodney Harrison, is fighting to return from knee and shoulder damage, and if you know anything about the guy, he’ll probably be in there on Sunday. They have a rookie kicker and two backups playing the safety spots. This team has no business winning a championship — none — and they’re two victories away from No. 4.
There is a lesson there, and another in his concluding comments:
See, we never feel safe. We never feel like we’re going to crush everyone else. We’re constantly astounded by what’s happening, and we never fail to appreciate the significance of it. There isn’t a single Pats fan who can’t vividly remember those first four decades of futility and embarrassment, as well as the nightmare season when the franchise nearly fled for St. Louis and rendered every one of our memories moot. Much like Private Ryan, we earned this.
GO PATS!
“See, we never feel safe. We never feel like we’re going to crush everyone else. We’re constantly astounded by what’s happening, and we never fail to appreciate the significance of it. There isn’t a single [Democrat] who can’t vividly remember those [previous years] of futility and embarrassment, as well as the nightmare [that is the Bush administration]. Much like Private Ryan (and our New England Patriots), we earned this.”
but I’d disagree a bit about the Pats. In the last Super Bowl run of 2004, they were a dominant team, and I had little doubt that they would whack everyone that they faced in the playoffs. They set a record by winning 21 consecutive games extending into that season, and they went into Pitsburgh and buried the Steelers 41-27 for the AFC title. The Eagles SB (nipplegate) wasn’t as close as the final score would indicate.
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This year? Yeah, the Pats are back on the high wire. Time for the Bears/Saints game.
with that old sod from Gillette Stadium. They took it to Chicago and installed it at Soldier Field. Slip ‘n slide.
The Globe sportswriter knows as much about football as Frank Phillips knows about politics!
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We win because we have a team that doesn’t point fingers when the going gets rough. Pissy Peyton has blamed his OL, his DL, and everybody else he can think of for his own failures.
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Peyton Manning goes to heaven. God meets him, and gives him a splendid mansion, with fountains and tennis courts, ablaze with Colts memorabilia.
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Peyton is feeimg pretty good about himself until he takes a stroll. Then, he sees a much more beautiful mansion, twice as big, with indoor-outdoor jacuzzis and waterslides, ablaze with Patriots memorabilia.
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Peyton gets that LOOK on his face and hunts down God. “Hey! I’M the PRO BOWL QB, I’M the one with all the awards and stats – why does TOM BRADY get a better house than me?”
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God smiled. “That isn’t Tom Brady’s house – that’s MY House.”
I suggest.
John Madden was in San Diego to announce a football game one weekend when he noticed a special telephone near the Charger bench. He asked Rivers what it was used for and was told it was a hotline to God. John asked if he could use it. Rivers replied, “Sure, but it will cost you $200.” John scratched his head, then thought, what the heck, I could use some help picking games. He pulled out his wallet and paid $200. John’s picks were perfect that week.
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The next week John was in Indianapolis when he noticed that same kind of phone on the Colts bench. He asked what the telephone was for and Peyton Manning told him, “It’s a hotline to God. If you want to use it, it will cost you $500.”Recalling last week, John pulled out his wallet and made the call. John’s picks were perfect again that week.
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The next weekend John was in Foxboro at Gillette Stadium when he noticed the same kind of telephone by the Patriots bench. He asked Tom Brady, “Is that the hotline to God?” Tom said, “Yes, and if you want to use it, it will cost you 35 cents.” John looked incredulously at Brady and said, “Wait a second, I just paid $200 in San Diego and $500 in Indianapolis to use the same phone to God! Why do the Patriots only charge 35 cents?” Tom looked at John and replied, “Because in New England, it’s a local call.”
What is that horrible, horrible noise in the background of the halftime panel? Halftime of the NFC championship, and the best they could get was a high school garage band covering Nirvana with the amp stuck on eleven?
Who was the genius who scheduled the Pats to play at 6:00pm? Waithing for this game is worse than waitning for 8:00pm on election night when the results begin to come in.
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At least on election day there are distractions, some people volunteer, and most of the rest of us have work/school, etc to keep us busy. But on a Sunday, forget about it. The Bears a playing the Saints and I still have to check BMG becuase that game, save the last 2 mins of qtr 2, was dreadfully boring.
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AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
the Pats game doesn’t start until 6:30.
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Bears/Saints boring? Wow. I’m digging it and thinking about who the Pats might play in Miami if all goes according well in Indy. Reggie Bush is electric, but it’s not looking good for the Saints.
…I guess I am in denial about waiting so long.
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Qtr 3 was good for about 15mins, especially Bush’s TD run. That is one fast guy.
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Now that the Bears just scored and picked Brees, just end it already.
It’s time for the Pats to work their magic. Maroney loves to run on the carpet, and Chad Jackson is dressing as the 4th receiver (according to Mike Reiss), so maybe it’s time for the rookies to shine! Let’s go PATS!
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The Pats had a three point lead and the ball with 2 minutes and change on the clock, and they couldn’t get first downs.
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Hats off to the Colts, they made an incredible comeback. Brutal.
What a nightmare. I knew there could be a serious problem when the HDTV box I had painstakingly set up, and tested no less than FOUR separate times in the afternoon, froze, crashed, and then permanently failed as the Pats took the field. So much for my wide-screen projector set up. A desperate, panicked search for a bar ensued by my wife and me. I don’t think we ever really got our rooting rhythm back, and it appears the team didn’t either. A very, very bitter pill especially to Peyton Manning. Good Lord. Go Bears!
That amazing lead made me so happy, seeing all the Colts fans and hater fans (ppl from Pittsburgh, Denver, Minnesota, and other teams jealous of our success) speechless as the pats crushed the overrated Colts. I seriously thought this game would finally give us the respect we deserved, burying the medias favorite team, destroying its pretty boy QB, and showing everyone that “northeastern liberal elitists” can destroy redneck midwesterners any day of the week. God damn them for dropping it so bad in the second half, forcing me to eat my words, listen to the Colts fans and haters insult me, and worst of all losing thirty dollars in the process.
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Luckily I live in Chicago (as a student) and now I can fully root for the Bears with 100% feeling, sadly though no more bets I’m just too shellshocked.
I said to friends – I don’t like this, we win when we’re 10 points DOWN not UP. I was pooh-pooh’d until the end of the 4th. Now there’ll be even MORE damn Peyton commercials….
Like Tom Brady!