Watching The Patriots Become A Terrible Team Isn't As Much Fun As I Had Hoped
I thought all of this would be a lot more fun.
Watching the New England Patriots win Super Bowl after Super Bowl after Super Bowl all while living in New England as a Jets fan left emotional sports fan scarring on me. Before Bill Belichick wrote a resignation letter on a cocktail napkin, I didn't even hate the Pats that much. I kinda liked them even as a Jets fan. Drew Bledsoe was a fun quarterback to watch and whether it be Belichick, Bill Parcells or Curtis Martin, it was kind of funny how we kept stealing all of the best things about Foxboro.
The Patriots somehow were an even worse franchise then the Jets and it was quite enjoyable watching them fuck everything up. They almost moved to St. Louis and then almost went to Connecticut! That was just in the 1990's! Before Kraft, they literally had an owner that lost the team because of a failed Jackson 5/Michael Jackson tour. I kid you not.
Then this happened and everything changed.
During the greatest stretch by any team in modern sports history, it was unbearable. Patriots fans became these cocky and brash fans who loved nothing more than laughing in the face of the Jets. As the franchise I loved became more and more inept, it became even easier to shit on the Jets fan who lived in New Hampshire. Thank God I had moved to New York when the Butt Fumble happened.
After two decades, Tom Brady finally left and in a wild coincidence, Bill Belichick's genius left with him. As a Jets fan, I would have enjoyed the Mac Jones Era Of Mediocrity more if the Jets weren't a mess of their own. Tough to laugh too much at Mac when Zack Wilson is falling on his face.
So now the Patriots are the team with the best odds (+320 on DraftKings) to have the Fewest Regular Season Wins. The over/under for them is 4.5 wins. On Picks Central, I called out Doogs for being too optimistic. So, if the Pats win 6 or more games, I have to get a tattoo of Belichick's resignation letter "I Resign As HC Of The NYJ". If the Pats win 5 or less, Doogs has to get "Belichick w/o Brady: 83-101" tattooed on him.
I don't know if it's because I'm in NYC or if it's like when the dog finally catches his tail, but the Patriots being really shitty isn't as fun as I thought it would be. The Jets have been horrific for so long that I realized so much of my joy during an NFL season was when the Patriots would lose. That just doesn't feel the same. Of course, they will lose a ton of games. They are supposed to. They suck. The New England Patriots are really, really terrible.
Hopefully, the Jets don't see the season fall apart before the 5th snap this year. Maybe they can actually make the playoffs for the first time since The Green Hornet was in theaters. They've been to four AFC Championships in my lifetime and lost every one. The Jets, not winning, but just making a Super Bowl would be such an incredible thrill.
It's probably healthier that I'm not obsessing about hating something anymore. That can't be good. Even if it's sports, it's still negativity and wishing badly on people. That can't be great for the psyche.
Belichick is gone. The Patriots are a hallow and dreadfully boring team that plays lackluster football on the very field where so many great things happened. Pats fans know that things will never be that good again for as long as they live. Maybe they'll win another Super Bowl here or there but that was an incredible run that will never be matched. They are left with nothing more than memories. Great memories, of course. But there is something quite sad about knowing the best will never come again.
That hatred I had will also never be back. I'm 44 now and I don't think I can have that same passionate anger for a sports franchise again. I love shitting on the Yankees but even that lost a step for me once Roger Clemens and A-Rod left and George Steinbrenner gone. I'll never feel that exact kind of vitriol again.
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Instead, I'll just have to watch the New England Patriots lose game after game and laugh at their sad fans that will always have hope in their hearts, not because of potential but because of what was.
I guess that will have to be enough.
