– by Megan Rilkoff.
So, if you must.
Take your jabs at our man Brady, claim that Gronk is a baby, call Welker butterfingers.
It’s not like we ourselves haven’t given the team heat since our 21-17 Super Bowl XLVI loss to the New York Giants on Sunday. We’ve all had a few days to let it sink in, but even four days later it feels just as raw. It is not easy to forget the hard work of an entire season that comes short of the trophy by just four points & a final quarter.
As is typical after such a heart-wrenching, gut-busting loss in the final four minutes, fingers are pointed, names are dropped, players and coaches are blamed. Even Gisele Bundchen, the sexy supermodel wife of Tom Brady, lashed out at heckling Giants fans on her way out of the stadium: “You have to catch the ball when you’re supposed to catch the ball. My husband cannot (bleeping) throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time. I can’t believe they dropped the ball so many times.” Although her logic isn’t flawed and the ball was definitely dropped, Gisele goes against the number one rule of true Boston fandom: never turn against your own.
We love a woman who stands by her man, but we respect a woman who stands by her team.
Barstool also reiterates this golden rule: “This is just something the Patriots don’t do. They don’t point fingers” (http://boston.barstoolsports.com/featured/gisele-gets-taunted-by-classless-giants-fans-and-then-promptly-blames-the-loss-on-wes-welker/). Yes, Wes Welker and Deion Branch missed some crucial catches at the end of the game, but we can pinpoint multiple mistakes and game-deciding plays throughout the game that could (and did) account for the loss (Brady’s safety in the first quarter, two unrecovered fumbles we forced from the Giants, the defensive breakdown in Bradshaw’s touchdown…) And in the end, it is the combination of these mis-executions that cost us the game.
That is what happens when two good teams come to face off for the final game of the NFL season. With equal heart, skill, and drive, it all comes down to execution. And that is what anyone who watches the Super Bowl expects – not to see a given team win but to watch a great game that could go either way. And this year ended so that our next victory over the Giants will be that much sweeter.
Besides, who could harass Welker after seeing the post-game conference where he nearly broke down in tears when asked about that fateful dropped ball with four minutes left?
In the end, it is a team that wins together, and a team that loses together. And the fans stick together all the same. In the aftermath, each fan has found his or her own way to cope, reminisce, and prepare for the next chapter. I myself had my roommate strip off my chipped Cherry Pop nail polish and stain my nails Mourning Black, before I tugged on my Kevin Garnett jersey and climbed into bed. Two episodes of Parks and Recreation later, I actually let out a chuckle.
Looking ahead, we definitely have some crucial resigning to do with Wes Welker, Benjarvis Green-Ellis, Andre Carter and Deion Branch to name a few. We still have Tom and Bill leading the pack. Next season is looking good. I agree with Bob Kraft, the owner of the Patriots who claimed that “we have set a level of expectation here that is high. I’m very happy with that…” And it is because of this high level of expectation that all Boston fans have to WIN, that makes the defeat that much harder. But, we can’t forget that it is the same players who did not execute in those final plays who got us all the way to the Bowl in the first place.
So this winter, the duck boats are still docked, hoping to travel down Causeway Street this summer with green and white or yellow and black confetti. See? We can be good sports, too – so I would like to congratulate the Giants & all their fans…with a bucket of purple Gatorade dumped over their heads.
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