At 9-0, isn’t it ironic that …?

By Os Davis  |   Tuesday, November 06, 2007  |  Comments( 2 )

New England Patriots
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In the wake of Super Bowl XLI½ and the New England Patriots' continuing quest for the perfect season, several ironies have come to the surface of NFL-related discourse. Isn't it ironic that ...

Perhaps beyond all other ironies is the reputation of the team. In under six seasons (and perhaps since exactly Feb. 4, 2002), the Patriots have gone from admirable, plucky underdog to universally despised champion. Said hatred seemingly stems simply from winning and despite the glaring, often-overlooked fact that they haven't been to the Super Bowl in two years, folks.

Somewhere in the pre-game hype for Super Bowl XXXVI, this writer recalls Paul McCartney commenting - and a bit of paraphrasing here, to be sure, after a half-dozen Sundays of beer and football - "Ever since I arrived here, all I've heard is 'Rams, Rams, Rams,' but I was thinking that wouldn't it be great if, after all this country's been through recently, that a team called the Patriots won?" Can you imagine the Beatle saying this these days? Pah! Belichick is probably reckoned to be down with the bloody terrorists, right?

(As for the concept of "Let It Be" and the concomitant ironies of hawking the piece through Starbucks and iTunes, that's another column.)

The amazing football these guys are playing is going relatively ignored. Unlike dominant forces in sports like the 1985 Chicago Bears, the Reggie White/Brett Favre Packers, Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls of the 1990s - teams that somewhat frequently scored more points than was absolutely necessary, it might be pointed out - the 2007 Patriots' play is rarely admired either in terms of intelligence or skill.

Maybe praising Belichick's game plans is old hat, but hasn't anyone noticed Wes Welker's brilliant moves after the catch? Isn't anyone interested in the swell season being put in by 38-year-old Junior Seau, former beloved advertising co-star of Dennis Hopper? Can I interest anyone in the incomparable Mike Vrabel, who is turning in of the scariest seasons at OLB in recent memory? And of course, there's...

Randy Moss and his season for the ages. Fantasy owners who picked up Moss know how brilliant the man has been this season, racking up points in the virtual game like a top-five halfback. Moss' 2007 is one for the Hall, frozen in poster form with the exuberant, one-handed leaping grab against the Colts. It's ironic indeed that Moss got more press when whining from the sideline with Art Shell's Oakland Raiders than while putting in numbers the grandkids'll ask us about.

While this writer still believes that a 19-0 season for the Patriots is good for the NFL due to certain image problems the league faced going into 2007, interesting to note is the damage done to New England's own rep by the whole "Spygate" thing. While the Patriots erasing Michael Who from public discourse is laudable, the perception that Belichick & Co. cheat is an ugly black mark on a silver Lombardi.

Speaking of the scandal, isn't it gut-wrenchingly ironic that, while the Pats forfeit their late first-round pick, they'll be getting a top-10 choice, thanks to the San Francisco 49ers trade? Ouch.

For all my baby boom-generation dad's life, the Boston sports sphere was known as a collection of heartbreakers, underachievers and - not to put too fine a point on it - losers, generally. Yet, this decade has seen the end of an 86-year-long curse and a four-decade-plus string of futility snapped by the burg's baseball and football teams, respectively. Today, my Generation Y son proclaims he's tired of Boston winning everything, as innocent of decades of losing as he is of the Soviet Union or the test pattern on local TV stations at 3 a.m.

The Patriots are disliked while applying a strictly businesslike approach to their game without the pomp and flair folks find annoying about T.O. types. New England players rarely brag, guarantee victory or get busted for steroid abuse in the media. Patriot team members have recorded few displays of public drunkenness or on-field dirty play. They may swagger some, but they don't dance (well, except for that Charger thing). Why hate a good old-fashioned American work ethic? These dudes may be carry a reputation for intelligence, but their style is blue-collar tough while meticulously detailed.

In the year that the Patriots just might go undefeated, the current incarnation of the Miami Dolphins franchise is looking at the reality of 0-16. Perhaps the 2007 Dolphins, if they go winless, implement a tradition in which team members drink a nice liter of vodka and Gatorade when the last NFL team wins a game during the regular season. Isn't that what the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers do?

And when the loss comes, it will be ironic, too. After all, it would have to be unless the time-traveling 1972 Dolphins actually come to Foxborough to settle the hash once and for all. Any win against the Patriots this season is an upset, and this team has been known for dropping a surprise game against a division rival before. Week 15 against the New York Jets, against Kellen Clemens - I mean, Roger Clemens? Or how about the oh-so-ironic possibility of a Week 16 loss to Miami at home?

Finally, in an age of ESPN-led hyperbole ("That was the greatest Week 7 showdown between NFC South teams with a losing record of all-time!"), we may be missing the forest for the biggest tree in the sports world of my generation's lifetime. This season may be unique. Appreciate it.

Don't you think?

RealFootball365.com, as ironic as that advice you just didn't take all year-round.
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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