Alright Pats fans, it’s now time to hike up your bootstraps, and get ready for a real season. No more of this Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, San Antonio Spurs fan crap of just kind of lolly-gagging through the regular season and waiting for the playoffs. It’s the NFL again, not the elitists league. Look, it’s not good that Tom Brady got hurt, but maybe we as Pats fans needed this reality check. Something that makes last year’s Super Bowl loss that much sharper and more painful. Maybe we can appreciate football again instead of expecting to win every week. Remember that feeling you used to get when Drew Bledsoe was about to get sacked from behind as patted the ball to death? Remember hoping that Steve Grogan’s neck brace would hold up for one more game? How about praying that Tony Eason wouldn’t wilt under the pressure of a blitz just one time in his career? That lump-in-the-throat-holy-crap-he-better-not-fumble-stomach-ache you used to get when Leonard Russell was fighting for extra yardage and you knew he was going to fumble? That’s what football is all about, and we as Pats fan had lost touch with this. Things always have a way of balancing themselves out, and Brady’s knee injury only confrimed this. So go to NFL.com and get your Matt Cassel jersey, this kid has been waiting for an opportunity since high school, who is to say we can’t have a fairy tale ending again? The odds are not in the Patriots favor, but hey, at least there is a question every week. Instead of “How much do they win by?” it’s now “I hope they win”. The spark is back and the fire has returned Pats fans, so get on the truck and strap yourselves in, because it is going to be a bumpy ride. More importantly show the league and the world we aren’t the 4th worst fans(as ranked by Fox Sports last week) in the league. Show up to games on time, cheer your asses off, and rearrange your schedule around Pats games. Give Time Warner hell for not having NFL Network when the Jets and Pats play in November. We are the underdogs again, and let’s face it, was any Super Bowl win sweeter than when we were the underdogs in Super Bowl 36? Let’s do this Pats fans, let’s do this. Besides in a worst case scenario, we might get a really good draft pick next season.
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The Maine Sports Blog 