Do you understand how painful this is for me? Do you realize that I had to cheer for a hated rival just to restore my faith in football? I was moments from giving up on the NFL for letting a band of cheaters win a fourth Super Bowl this decade when David Tyree made the most ridiculous catch since my beloved Eagles’ very own 4th and 26. And when Manning hit Burress for the go-ahead touchdown, I actually celebrated. The cheating Patriots had gone from debates about whether they were the greatest ever to whether it was the greatest choke ever. For a little while I could even smile…
And now I’m right back to where I was before: 11 Super Bowls in the NFC East – none for the Eagles. Sigh…
New Yorkers will never understand. They have no concept at all of what it’s like to have a true drought in sports. Sure, some teams go through dry spells, but someone else always picks up the slack. Since I’ve been following sports (the mid-80s) this city has seen the Mets win a World Series, the Yankees win 4, the Giants win 3 Super Bowls, and the Rangers win a Stanley Cup. For the folks out here in Jersey they’ve even got the Devils and their 3 Stanley Cups. That’s 13 championships in the 25 years since the last one in Philly.
Back in the late 80s when I really started to get into sports I never even believed it was possible for a Philly team to win it all. Somewhere along the lines, I started to believe it – even came to expect it. As of Sunday night, I no longer believe.
To be fair, it seems that nothing is harder than being a Jets fan. Poor Mike. I don’t believe they have been in a SuperBowl since 3! I don’t know – I don’t pay that much attention to Mike’s whining. I guess I’m going to have to start soon, though, since I vowed to be a Jets fan. My heart still truly belongs to the Giants, though.
Well, it could have been worse. Could have been the Cowboys 😉
Oh, and I just want to say that it’s awesome that you didn’t include thugball in your list.
Being a Jets fan is easy, you just have to have super-low expectations. It works for me, anyway…
Never give up the faith. The last few games of this season were beautiful. Even Donovan looked like he was smiling again. Although it was awkward to cheer on the Giants, it was fun to watch Peyton so happy and even funner to watch Brady laying on his back so much.
@Malina – There are always going to be single teams that are worse off, but a Jets fan can still enjoy other NYC parades. I could deal with the current Eagles drought (48 years since our last championship) if at least one of the other 3 could get it done.
@mizery – If it had been Dallas in there, I definitely wouldn’t have watched. And as for b-ball, that was our last championship. The only reason it wasn’t listed is because both areas have been pretty bad in that sport.
@Kathleen – I’ve tried. After the end of last season I though Reid had finally learned something – but he proved me wrong again this year. Maybe the next coach will restore my faith, but that’s a good 3 or 4 years from now.
Just remember this –
At least the Philadelphia teams play in Philadelphia!