I stood there at the consistently mediocre Beef O’ Brady’s, tugging my hair and shouting expletives while my eyes laid glued to the AFC Championship game. The game itself had begun just like any other Patriots Colts postseason matchup, with the Pats dominating every aspect of the game, something that I had gotten quite accustomed to over my years of following the patriots. The second half was a complete meltdown of the patriots secondary, and for that matter, a changing of the guard in the AFC. It was almost as if the Peyton Manning and the colts had just watched that 70’s movie Network, assuring themselves they were “mad as hell, and not going to take this anymore!” The colts turned the table, forcing Brady and the Pats to several three and outs and converting on plays when it mattered. I walked out of the restaurant fittingly name “Beef O’ Brady’s” in total shock of the game my team had just played. I thought about the loss for days; losing sleep and almost going on a hunger strike in disapproval of the loss. It was without a doubt, the most heartbreaking loss I have endured as a fan of any team. One of my friends tried comparing it to USF’s loss, a game which receiver Amp Hill dropped a sure two point conversion to prevent USF from upsetting the no. 15 team in the nation at the time. I saw no similarities to this loss because I was just so proud of the season that USF had that year to even compare to the Pats loss. As I thought about it more, I came to a similar realization; realizing that even though the Pats will not be in the Superbowl this year, (FUCK!!!) they had a terrific season. In the face of countless injury and roster depth problems, the Pats managed to beat some of the elite teams in the NFL and finish with a respectable 12-4 season. Have I been spoiled as a patriots fan? Absolutely. However, I am optimistic of our future; realizing that we tore apart defenses with guys like Reche Caldwell and Jabar Gaffney and shut down offenses with cornerbacks and safeties off the street. I guess what I am trying to say as long as we have number 12 and that grumpy coach in the cutoff sweatshirt on the sidelines, the rest of the league should not only fear but show respect to the team of the decade, the New England Patriots.

ON THIS NOTE....GO BEARS!!!!!!