So Sunday set itself up for a repeat of last week... going to the Connecticut Yankee (see other post) to watch the Patriots game with a bunch of other crazy Patriots fans. Unfortunately, Neil had to work on Sunday and it looked like he was going to have to miss the entire game. Well, I decided that I would drive him in to his office and then go watch the game on my own.
It was a perfect day on Sunday, 68 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Zach had on his Tom Brady jersey and after we dropped Neil off at his office, we then hung out and spent some time by the water getting ready for the big game. I drove back into the city and dropped Zach off at Carrie's house and headed off to the Conn. Yankee.
Everything was going great... Patriots were up 21-3 and another trip to the Super Bowl was on the way. Now, I am a bit superstitious and I had calculated that the Patriots were outscoring their opponents 42-10 while I was watching the second half of the SD game and first half of the Indy game. Then, I got a call with about halfway through the 2nd quarter from Neil, telling me that he would be finished earlier than expected. Unfortunately, there was nobody in his office coming back into SF and neither one of us is really familiar enough with the transit system to know how he could get back into the city (bus? ferry? hitchhike? rent a bike?) without me picking him up. While these were all suggestions that I was contemplating telling him to consider, it wasn't like it was a 10-10 game or anything... so I decided to go pick him up.
Of course, I listened to the game on the radio while driving. Well, after the Pats let up a FG to make it 21-6 at halftime, I still felt comfortable with the decision to leave the Conn Yankee. However, after picking him up and driving back into the city, it just kept getting worse and worse as we drove. By the time I picked him up, it was 21-13. By the time we were on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge, it was 21-21. At this point, it was too far to drive back to the Pats-only bar and I didn't want to risk stopping off at some random sports bar, so we headed directly home.
I've watched enough football games to know that by the time that Reche Caldwell dropped that wide-open pass and the refs then failed to call pass interference in the end zone later in the same drive, the game was over. Both literally and figuratively. Well, by the time that all was said and done, a few expletives were dropped, some money was lost, and somehow the Colts are going to Super Bowl. Definitely not like last week. Definitely not like we've grown accustomed to as Patiots fans.
Am I overreacting to the bad karma I cause? Well,
I'll never forget the time, 20 years and 3 months ago when I prematurely opened a bottle of champagne (although it may have been sparkling grape soda) in the 9th inning of the Red Sox-Mets game 6 (the Bill Buckner game) '86 world series. Against all logic and reason, I blamed myself for jinxing the Red Sox that October night. As did millions of other Red Sox fans (just check out Bill Simmons' Now I Can Die in Peace), I'm sure. Well, against all logic and reason, I am blaming myself for leaving the Conn. Yankee and all my fellow Pats fans that were there. At least we could have drown our sorrows together.
The silver lining in all of this... at least I won't have to endure the Boston media and ongoing coverage of this heartbreaking defeat on a daily basis this week. Also, did someone say that it's less than a month until pitchers and catchers report for spring training? I hope so.
One thing you can be sure of, if I am watching any Red Sox playoffs games there next October... I will have the bus schedule, ferry schedule, and bike rental places in Sausalito all memorized by then!
actually, it was me that caused them to lose; and then perhaps you.
Posted by: mofo | January 24, 2007 at 06:40 AM