I’ve been derelict in my duties by not commenting on the greatest football game I’ve ever watched.
That being the 2006 AFC Championship game.

Man! What a game. I went with my brother to a local theater that was showing the game, pretty cool seeing it on a big screen.
The first half wasn’t the most fun I’ve had watching a game, that’s for sure. But I always try to remain optimistic, being the homer that I am. I looked at it this way, New England’s first touchdown was a lucky bounce off their own fumble, their third was off a dumb throw by Peyton (troubling but not a big deal as long as he didn’t turn the ball over anymore.) So, from my optimistic outlook, things were not that bad. The defense had only given up one TD. But they were also giving up some major run yardage. I wasn’t sure if they were going to show up in the second half.
The field goal at the end of the half gave me a glimmer of hope that they may be able to overcome the 15 point deficit.

The second half was a gut wrenching rollercoaster ride but, man, was it worth it. The high powered offense showed up and tied the game on a two-point conversion by Marvin Harrison. The defense stepped up and held off the Pats despite some terrible play by the Colts special teams.
Then the sea-saw portion of the game started. The Pats scored, the Colts scored, etc. A game of catch-up.
Then the Colts went 3 and out, Peyon hurt his throwing hand tumb. It wasn’t pretty and with Brady on the other end, I thought the game may have been slipping away.
Then the defense did it again, stopped the Pats cold with around 3 minutes left. Pleanty of time for Peyton.
When Addai walked through a whole in the Pats defensive line that a Mack truck could have driven through, the theater went nuts! High fives all around, and a feeling of reliefe. They had the lead for the first time, with one minute left. Dang! One minute is an eternity with Brady at QB. He was born to do this stuff. Mr. Clutch, Mr. Never-Lost-In-A-Dome, Mr. 12-1 In The Playoffs, Mr. Puppet-of-the-Evil-Genius-Belichick.
The defense stepped up once again. Mr. Clutch chocked and Marlin Jackson made the big play. Intercepted the ball, took a few steps before realizing that all he had to do was fall flat on his back, which is exactly what he did.
Again, the theater went nuts and I felt a certain sense of vindication. I’ve been a fan for 23 years and now they are going to the Super Bowl with the guy that “can’t win a big game.”

I can’t wait!

(I’ve got some more comments I’ll make later, particularly around the whole “the first two African-American coaches thing.)