A week or so ago, I wrote that it had been some 4-years since I was as excited as I was leading up to the AFC Championship game and for that I took some grief.  I decided this was something I wanted to explore.

15 or 20 so years ago, I was excited EVERY WEEK for that weeks' Patriots game.  It was never about wondering by how much they would win - it was about IF they'd win, it was about the game.  A childhood friend of mine is Cleveland born and bred - don't ask then how we are childhood friends, just accept it to be true.  Each week he bemoans the sorry state of the Browns, and every week I assure him of two things: 1) the only way to truly enjoy the really good times is to be a part of the bad; 2) just enjoy the game, that's what it is about.

Sure, over the last 10 years, it's been pretty easy to be a Patriots fan.  Sure there have been some amazing moments, but my second thought after Adam Vinatieri's kick parted the uprights as the clock expired in Super Bowl XXXVI, was that nothing would be the same again.  Before that moment, every Sunday more-or-less I could count on Sunday at 1.  Before that moment, you had to be in New England to get your hands on a t-shirt or jersey.  

I was excited EVERY week.  I remember the way the 2001 season progressed - in the aftermath of 9/11, that season was one of the most magical seasons I can remember.  I went to the Rams/Patriots tilt at the old Foxboro Stadium, telling my wife that this game would be the Patriots Super Bowl and feeling pretty good that although they lost that game, they played well and could've won.  Patriots fans were allowed to be homers, because the team were losers and it just didn't matter.  Now, we're lumped in with those detestable 49ers fans of the 1980s.  I went to see the Pats play in Cleveland last season, a game they shouldn't have lost, but did, and basically had to show my Massachusetts credentials to Browns fans so I could demonstrate I had a "right" to wear the gear.

So, yeah, I view it as a loss that it had been that long since I had been excited about watching a game.  No, I don't see myself as a "spoiled fan."  Fans of the Lions, Browns, et al. have never had a Super Bowl to cheer - they have however had NFL Championships to cheer.  They're in a down time.  At this point in their histories, now is the time the true fan is born - see someone wearing Browns gear, and you know they're a fan.  See someone wearing Pats gear, you have no idea - make them show you their credentials.  I'm beyond happy to have had the opportunity to witness what I have over the last 10 years - don't get me wrong.  I do miss, though, having that excitement that on Sunday at 1, my favorite team was going to play.  If your team is in a drought, man up and cheer them on.  When their time comes, it will make that glory that much more wonderful.

I can't wait for kick off next Sunday.  I'm excited to see my team play in the Super Bowl.  I make no apologies for it - I haven't earned it, but I invested when stock was low and I'm sure as hell taking advantage of my stock options.  When your team's stock is low, BUY BUY BUY.  It makes the payoff that much more sweet.