turning the tables in boston

the sports guy over at www.espn.com is doing a super blog for the superbowl for the next few days, which is always a good time. also known as bill simmons, he is one of my favorite writers, and hands-down my favorite sports writer. he trancends boundaries, however; you really don't have to know much about sports to enjoy what he writes.

as for the superbowl itself, i have only a passing interest in it, mainly due to the fact that i once again have money on the numbers(though not as much as last year, when my friend sarah and i staked a large sum on winning the superbowl pool at our job, "in the name of all that was right and good". apparently that wasn't enough. we got no love; thanks, universe) and because i am always interested to witness whatever surreal spectacle will comprise the half-time show.

i do want the patriots to win, as it will be a large step in the long, perhaps impossible journey of boston fans toward understanding the other side of the yankee-hating coin. ah, fuck understanding...it will just show them up as hypocrites, which is even better. i'm talking about the fact that the patriots, if they win again this year, will have crossed that line into the realm of "dynasty", and will likely start to recieve the sort of backlash that has followed the yanks since the late nineties. it's a peculiar paradox, eliciting derision as a result of doing something consistently well and reaping the benefits, but it is alive and well, especially in sports. the sports guy has recently begun dropping hints that this epiphany is in motion, at least for him, although he will still try and explain eight ways to sunday how it is not exactly the same thing. but it is. very much so.

greatness is hard to swallow in the present tense, especially for people looking in on it from outside, or worse, looking at it from the losing side. more often than not, the response is to downplay the real reasons why the "dynasty" exists and pin it on less desireable and sometimes downright derogatory factors. in the case of the yankees over the past nine years, they have been one of the most humble, hardworking and talented group of athletes to ever play pro sports, and this is something that is not in dispute, even from those outside the yankee camp. bill simmons will admit it; he has acknowledged this in one way or another many times. as for yankee fans, who are loathed universally for their perceived obnoxiousness and elitism, well...it is hard to back up a sweeping indictment of thousands of people, not to say that there aren't yankee fans that fit that description. but i think in most cases, especially with our boston redsox fan counterparts, we are no more obnoxious than anyone else dedicated to the success of their team. either way, the fans are another issue entirely. when you're talking about teams that win, teams that become "dynasties", you aren't going to find yourself talking about teams that don't deserve to be there. tom brady and the pats are going to the superbowl again because they have been traveling a sure and steady course for an extended period of time. they are in the zone, they have their shit together, and when those factors are on full thrust, they become unstoppable. it's not because they are a bunch of assholes being shepherded by satan. i suppose it's unfortunate that not everyone can appreciate something like this in real time, but that's sports. competition. rivalry. whatever. in the future, when the pats are no longer in their present position, people can watch the nfl films footage and wax nostalgic about the greatness of this team, if they so desire.

as for me, and as for the patriots fans who are loving every second of this, we don't give a shit what everyone else thinks. when your team is kicking ass and taking names and steamrolling over the opposition with the greatest of ease, it feels good. and we won't be making any apologies for it, either. go pats.

*shout out to my sister, aimee l. agnes ball...i have written this to keep her amused at work, so she doesn't feel the need to eat poison.*