Pats going to the SB!

[AmericanEagle]

As a huge Patriots fan,
I am so psyched they are going back to the Super Bowl.
 

[donlyn]

We're on to Houston!

We'll get to see if BC grad and presumptive MVP Matty Ice is really the MVP.
(However, he was the BC Eagles MVP in college.)

[zeebow]

championship round was pretty boring but happy for the pats. my best friends team is the pats so i'm rooting for them by association

[donlyn]

Patriots had fewest points scored against in league this year, about 17 per game.

Hmmm, just what Pittsburgh scored today, 1 point more than Houston last week.

Seen the Malcolm Butler and Antonio Brown commercial? Julio will be seeing a lot of Malcolm and friends in a couple of weeks.

[NavyChap]

GO PATRIOTS!!!

[Jersey tuning]

Chocolate is delicious but after a while it gets to be too much.  Too bad I'll have to rely on Atlanta to beat the Patriots -- then again only the Giants have their number.

[timfitz63]

Color me disappointed after the Steelers' loss, but they just looked flat; one of those games where one team can't seem to put it together, and the other team is firing on all cylinders...

Even though it would be traditional to root for one's home conference, I can't support the Patriots...  Just can't...  Lookin' to see the Falcons come out on top.

[donlyn]

File under 'sometimes haters just gotta hate' ? 

C'mon man.

[Jersey tuning]

File under 'sometimes haters just gotta hate' ? 

C'mon man.

Hey, I really don't hate the Patriots.  Just tend to support the less entitled when my own team is not involved.  Boston fans have had more than their share of successful teams to root for over time--Bruins and Celtics with 23 championships between them, Red Sox recent successes, Patriots 9 super bowl appearances.

I only actually hate the NY Yankees.

[timfitz63]

File under 'sometimes haters just gotta hate' ? 

C'mon man.

I'm hoping your comment was meant facetiously, because I don't see how that kind of rhetoric is relevant to any discussion, much less one about sports teams.  I've got my team and I support them unwaveringly -- as apparently you do as well.  I'm glad you're excited for your team.  But from a third-party perspective, there are teams that just leave a bad taste in my mouth for whatever reason -- kind of like Brussels sprouts.  So I don't partake.  It's just that simple...  You don't have to take it personally; I choose to root for the Falcons.  That's the end of it as far as I'm concerned.

Some people don't like the Steelers either; I don't worry about it one way or the other.  It's all the same old Martin vs. Taylor; Ford vs. Chevy; Coke vs. Pepsi; etc., etc., etc. debate.  Everyone's got their opinion.  And ultimately, whichever team wins Super Bowl LI, it frankly won't make or break my Monday morning after; I fundamentally don't even have a dog in the fight...

[donlyn]

I only actually hate the NY Yankees.

Jersey, you are forgiven for any transgressions forever in my book after that. 

* * *

Tim, of course it's facetiously, as you have every right to announce your support for anything including football teams and Taylor 12 string guitars (I like 12 stringers too). It seems many people out there actually really do irrationally hate teams, even their local ones.

A long time ago in a thread far away, you mentioned something about your "Pittsburghese", which established your connection to that city.  I gather you don't like the Patriots much, which is your right, of course. And perfectly OK with me either way.

And the phrase "C'mon man" is a reference to a TV schtick on some sports channel, ESPN if I were to guess. It is a humorous segment to most viewers including this one.

Don

[timfitz63]

... Tim, of course it's facetiously, as you have every right to announce your support for anything including football teams and Taylor 12 string guitars (I like 12 stringers too). It seems many people out there actually really do irrationally hate teams, even their local ones.

A long time ago in a thread far away, you mentioned something about your "Pittsburghese", which established your connection to that city.  I gather you don't like the Patriots much, which is your right, of course. And perfectly OK with me either way.

And the phrase "C'mon man" is a reference to a TV schtick on some sports channel, ESPN if I were to guess. It is a humorous segment to most viewers including this one.

Fair enough, Don!  I was sincerely giving you the benefit of the doubt, but it's often difficult to determine tone through e-mails and forums; so I just wanted to ensure we weren't going the wrong way in communicating.  I guess I'm not familiar with the "C'mon man!" catch phrase; I don't get to watch much TV these past few years...

And I do wish your team good luck in the Super Bowl, despite the outcome of the AFC Championship game.  The Patriots played the better game, and I always respect that.

Oh, and guilty as charged:  I'm a native Pittsburgher...

Switching gears for a moment:  Hey, "Jersey!"  If you want to get a Yankee fan's goat, just mention two words to him:  Bill Mazeroski.  Yankee fans are still grousing about the ending of the 1960 World Series...

[donlyn]

And I do wish your team good luck in the Super Bowl, despite the outcome of the AFC Championship game.  The Patriots played the better game, and I always respect that.

Thanks, Tim. And I do think Big Ben got the short end of the receiving stick on a lot of key plays yesterday. He deserved better. I watched the KC/Pitt game and was rooting for the Steelers to come to Foxborough. Andy Reid wasted most of the fourth quarter on the last drive. No sense of urgency, when the best he could hope for was to tie. He deserved to lose. Again.

[timfitz63]

And I do wish your team good luck in the Super Bowl, despite the outcome of the AFC Championship game.  The Patriots played the better game, and I always respect that.

Thanks, Tim. And I do think Big Ben got the short end of the receiving stick on a lot of key plays yesterday. He deserved better. I watched the KC/Pitt game and was rooting for the Steelers to come to Foxborough.

Thanks, Don.  Like I said:  from my perspective it was just one of those games when nothing seems to go right, despite one's best efforts...

The Steelers spent the whole game pushing on a rope in an effort to get something together, and it just wasn't happening -- probably due in part to the Pat's defense absolutely stymying our running game, and Ben's sporadic progress with the passing game.  We couldn't even routinely get our place kicker into field goal range like out in KC...  And he even missed a point after...  Then there was some baffling play calling from scrimmage by the coaching staff... First and goal on the 1-yard line and we end up with a field goal...?!  Can't win that way...

*SIGH* Just a really unimpressive showing in the game by the Steelers...

[donlyn]

A thought for Superbowl Day:

Jersey mentioned,

Chocolate is delicious but after a while it gets to be too much.

Well not to a starving man. Took 3 decades of NFL fan frustration to even reach Patriot's first superbowl, and another two decades to win the first one. I attended the first ever home game of the AFL Boston Patriots (which they of course lost to the Denver Broncos), so I rather enjoy this latter day largesse.

So win or lose,
Superbowl Day . . . shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.

. . . Old men forget. . .
it never gets old.

And a tip of the hat to Old Bill.