Druid's Aura
So I turned on the ESPN GameCast when the Pats-Chargers game was late in the third quarter, just in time to catch the Patriots kicking a field goal to make the game 14-13.
GameCast is the best I can do to follow the action here in this self-imposed exile to the island of professional darts. Seriously, darts are a spectator sport for the English. I caught some the other day. It was kind of like one of those weird dreams where you know you're dreaming so you can laugh at the stuff that's happening with a conscious detachment even though it just keeps going. It was a one-on-one dart match. It started with the two darters (dartsmen? throwers?) coming into the arena to their own entrance music as the crowd went wild. One guy who was known as the vampire or something came in wearing a cape. The other guy, Wolfie, didn't have anything except a crazy shirt on with Wolfie written all over it. I guess the closest thing I can compare their shirts to are bowling shirts: button up, funny colors and designs, ads all over them. The stage was really colorful and fancy too, all for just one dartboard. The stage announcer was really into it, and the higher they'd score each turn, the more pizzazz he'd put into announcing the score. The crowd was REALLY into it. To make things even more ridiculous, Wolfie absolutely dominated the vampire. It was a slaughter. So the vampire guy started getting all upset with himself, and once, after his first two darts were way off, he just kind of flung his third dart without even trying and didn't even look to see where it went. I've never seen such emotion in darts. This is the world I live in now.
But I digress. I came here to talk about the Patriots. I don't like them. I root against them every year. But I respect them. I love Tomlinson though, and when I saw the game he was having, I was very hopeful. When the Chargers jumped back to an eight point lead, I thought they were going to pull it off.
In the middle of the game-tying drive, around the seven minute mark, the GameCast stopped for a few minutes. It then that the San Diego interception and fumble back to the Patriots occurred. I didn't realize until later what had ensued. But when the GameCast did pick back up, the drive moved really fast. Before I knew it, the Patriots had punched it in to the endzone. Part of me thought that even if they tied it, they had left too much time for the Chargers to come back in score. But the wiser part of me knew that the opposite was true. The Patriots were going to win the game.
The Defensive Druid, as I like to call Belichick because of his old habit of wearing a hoodie with the hood up during games, is the greatest football coach I've seen in my lifetime. He's made Tom Brady into a hall of famer. He's overcome year after year of personnel change and injuries to keep New England in the top tier of the NFL. And this year, he's taken an offense with zero weapons to the AFC Championship game.
New England has an aura about it that I haven't seen in a franchise since the Chicago Bulls broke up. Everyone in their gut expects them to win. Of course San Diego was the better team on paper. New England just expected to win. And the key to their aura is, probably a lot of the Chargers did too, though they'd never admit it, even to themselves.
I really want to see the AFC Championship next week, if only for the same reason people watch car wrecks. I see it going one of two ways, both involving the Colts jumping out to a fast start. Their lead could last a while and New England could win it late. Or the wheels could fall off by halftime and the Colts could be blown out of the water with Manning throwing fourth quarter passes without even watching how they end up, like that dartsman I saw on TVu. Of course, I'm rooting for poor Peyton to make a Super Bowl. But something tells me it's not going to happen.
GameCast is the best I can do to follow the action here in this self-imposed exile to the island of professional darts. Seriously, darts are a spectator sport for the English. I caught some the other day. It was kind of like one of those weird dreams where you know you're dreaming so you can laugh at the stuff that's happening with a conscious detachment even though it just keeps going. It was a one-on-one dart match. It started with the two darters (dartsmen? throwers?) coming into the arena to their own entrance music as the crowd went wild. One guy who was known as the vampire or something came in wearing a cape. The other guy, Wolfie, didn't have anything except a crazy shirt on with Wolfie written all over it. I guess the closest thing I can compare their shirts to are bowling shirts: button up, funny colors and designs, ads all over them. The stage was really colorful and fancy too, all for just one dartboard. The stage announcer was really into it, and the higher they'd score each turn, the more pizzazz he'd put into announcing the score. The crowd was REALLY into it. To make things even more ridiculous, Wolfie absolutely dominated the vampire. It was a slaughter. So the vampire guy started getting all upset with himself, and once, after his first two darts were way off, he just kind of flung his third dart without even trying and didn't even look to see where it went. I've never seen such emotion in darts. This is the world I live in now.
But I digress. I came here to talk about the Patriots. I don't like them. I root against them every year. But I respect them. I love Tomlinson though, and when I saw the game he was having, I was very hopeful. When the Chargers jumped back to an eight point lead, I thought they were going to pull it off.
In the middle of the game-tying drive, around the seven minute mark, the GameCast stopped for a few minutes. It then that the San Diego interception and fumble back to the Patriots occurred. I didn't realize until later what had ensued. But when the GameCast did pick back up, the drive moved really fast. Before I knew it, the Patriots had punched it in to the endzone. Part of me thought that even if they tied it, they had left too much time for the Chargers to come back in score. But the wiser part of me knew that the opposite was true. The Patriots were going to win the game.
The Defensive Druid, as I like to call Belichick because of his old habit of wearing a hoodie with the hood up during games, is the greatest football coach I've seen in my lifetime. He's made Tom Brady into a hall of famer. He's overcome year after year of personnel change and injuries to keep New England in the top tier of the NFL. And this year, he's taken an offense with zero weapons to the AFC Championship game.
New England has an aura about it that I haven't seen in a franchise since the Chicago Bulls broke up. Everyone in their gut expects them to win. Of course San Diego was the better team on paper. New England just expected to win. And the key to their aura is, probably a lot of the Chargers did too, though they'd never admit it, even to themselves.
I really want to see the AFC Championship next week, if only for the same reason people watch car wrecks. I see it going one of two ways, both involving the Colts jumping out to a fast start. Their lead could last a while and New England could win it late. Or the wheels could fall off by halftime and the Colts could be blown out of the water with Manning throwing fourth quarter passes without even watching how they end up, like that dartsman I saw on TVu. Of course, I'm rooting for poor Peyton to make a Super Bowl. But something tells me it's not going to happen.
posted by Prof. A at 12:46 AM
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