Living in Philly now, I've been getting both barrels of Pats hate, even before Deflate Gate. The Eagles were one of many teams beaten by the Pats in a big game pre-Spygate, and as such their fans feel they had one-- their one and only-- ripped from them. Even my wife will joke "the Pats have 'won' how many Super Bowls?", and the truth is, as Pats fans, we have to wear that. It's a reality as Boston sports fans we have trouble facing: a once routinely heartbroken city that faced letdown after letdown now has the one team everyone loves to hate. Forget the Yankees, forget the LeBron Heat, the Pats are smug cheaters, they're our number one wrestling villain. For me it's worse though: this most recent allegation is beyond ridiculous, it's embarrassing. How can I root for a team that consistently has shown they can't help themselves from cheating like it's a bad compulsion? In 1986, and 6-year-old-going-on-7 me made a $5 bet on Super Bowl XX with my dad. I didn't know much about football then, but I loved the Bears. Refrigerator Perry had a GI Joe figure, their black uniforms looked awesome, and then there was the Super Bowl Shuffle. It would be the last time I ever rooted for another team against the Patriots. Over the next ten years we had 1-15 seasons and local black-outs, the latter of which forced my dad to hook up the rabbit ears to watch the team play on the Portland station, because Maine wasn't considered the local area for Boston sports then-- this was before the new Sox ownership declared all of New England the local area for Boston teams in the 2000s. In the mid-90s things looked good for a second. Bill Parcells and Drew Bledsoe got us back to the Super Bowl, but before we could celebrate losing it, Parcells left for the Jets because he wanted to buy the groceries. Things got so bad for all our teams, that in 2001 we celebrated Ray Bourque winning a championship with another team! Then came Brady and Belichick. Out of nowhere they break the curse of the ball going through Buckner's legs. I still almost cry when I hear Gil Santos yell "it's good!" as Vinatieri kicks the game winning field goal. Yes, there was the Tuck Rule, and later Spygate, but that kick sparked a 15-year run that has seen all Boston teams get at least one title, and the Red Sox break their 86-year old curse. Not to mention the Pats have won the division all but two years since, and finished a combined 0 games out of first the two season they didn't; plus 9 trips to the AFC title game and now six trips to the Super Bowl. The reality though is that people don't hate the Pats because they win, they hate them because they're shady. So again, that begs the question: why would you root for a team that's shady? Because I've invested too much in them to not enjoy this Sunday for every bite of junk food, every bad commercial that hurts my sensibilities, and every minute of the halftime show I won't be watching. If they win, it might be tainted like the other championships, and I'll just have to wear that like all the others too; but for right now it's about 1-15, rabbit ears, and Super Bowl XX, and about how far away that all seems, and how not far away it could be.
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