Pats' Season 'Fun Ride' Regardless of Final Score

[Editor's note: This entry of Ralph Fatello's weekly blog, Ralph's Pic of the Week, was written before the Super Bowl was played.]

OK I can't stand it. The anticipation is killing me. I admit. The waiting. The not knowing. The millions of opinions and talk shows. The dissecting of coaches, players, owners, and fans. They have covered every square inch of this game. And then some. It is so hard for us mere mortal fans to wait around.

But then again. It's not that hard. Lords knows we should all be used to this by now. Our 6th overall trip to the big show. One would think we would of grown hardened by the 6 trips to the SUPERBOWL. That we would all seem to take this in stride. Not be affected by it one way or another. But who are we kidding?
We are New England Sports Fans. And we all know that anything can happen.

And we also know that we have no control of the game. Zero. Nada. Gulp.

It's like when we all board the Jet planes that whisk us off to far away destinations. We have no control of these large metal birds. We are helpless. We say silent prayers and peek into the cockpit to give the pilots that thumbs up sort of gesture. But we all know. We are at the hands of someone else. We put our very fate into the hands of modern technology, and the skills and talents of human beings who have been trained to fly us around the globe. Sheesh.

And God. We pray to God. And yes, we pray to God during sporting events.

Like God has picked our team to win? Or the other team? Like God has any team he favors over another? I mean, do I even bring up Tim Tebow again? Clearly God would be on Tim's side. He would have had the Broncos in the Superbowl instead of us. Yet we still all secretly pray. And we do more than pray during these gut wrenching games. We do all sorts of crazy antics to get our team to win. Wear certain clothes. Sit in certain chairs. Watch the game at weird angles. Let's face it, we get crazy.

And yet, we all know that what we wear, what we say, where we watch the game has NO bearing on the outcome of the game. Zero. Nada. But we do it. The wacky superstitious antics..."just in case." And what's that supposed to mean? You know, 'Just In Case' it does have some kind of cosmic affect on the outcome of the game. Maybe we are all just not aware of our roles. But they work?
Wouldn't we all be surprised if that were true? That when we all pass from this earth we find out that everything we did during these games DID in fact have some merit as to the outcome? Why I'll be a monkey's uncle if that's true.

Well I don't know about you, but I would have my little mind blown if that were true.

But let's be real for a minute. Come tomorrow, we will all know one way or another, We either won or we lost. And if we won, we did it because of the New England Patriots players and coaches. And if we lost, we lost because the NY Giants played better and had better coaching. It's that simple. Or is it...? Gulp.

So what is my gut feeling? Well, I think we win. And I'm not basing it on any one reason. I think that overall, we will be better prepared than the last Superbowl, and better prepared then the last game we played against the Ravens. It's a gut feeling. That's all I have. I have no "X's" and "O's" to share with you. I only have that gut feeling. And sometimes, that 's all I need to hang onto.

Regardless of the final score. It was a fun ride getting here. I enjoyed it. I'm sure you all have as well. Heck, it's always a treat to have your team play in any championship. We've been lucky here in New England. The Sox, the Celtics, the Bruins and the Patriots have all won Championships. It's been pretty exciting being a fan from these parts.

Speaking of fans. Chris, a friend of mine, is a surfer from Winthrop MA. He called me this week to say he had some posters he wanted to give to me. They were all posters of the Championship teams we've had in the last 10 years. Thank you so much Chris. You made my day. Here's the framed 3 Superbowl Championships we won...2001, 2003, and 2004 .

You'll note the Boston Globe framed of the very first Superbowl on the wall. That was 10 years ago Friday...that's hard to believe. I remember that game like it was yesterday. We were the underdogs all the way. We went on to win 2 more Superbowls. That's amazing. Here's to another ring tonight.

So wear your lucky clothes. Sit in your lucky chairs. Do whatever you have to do to help us win this game. Because my friends, we ALL play a role in this cosmic game of NFL football. All of us. Do your part.

GO PATRIOTS!

"Surfing Heals ALL Wounds..."




Now for some of my Weekly Global Observances:

74 people die in a soccer match in Egypt? What? Can you imagine if that ever happened here? I mean Good Lord. They even tried to kill some of the players? Soccer games are nuts in certain parts of the world. But for the fans to go and create that kind of mayhem over a game? That's wrong. So damn wrong. Pray for the souls who lost their lives at that game. (But sharpen your knives if the Giants win today). Speaking of games. The Volcom Pipe Pro that I watched on my computer this week was INSANE! That Final? Oh my God. That was drama. Heavy surf drama. With Jamie O'Brien in the lead and Jon Jon Florence in 3rd and needing a miracle, the final seconds ticked away. Suddenly there's a big set on the horizon.

JOB shadowed Florence as he paddled over to pick one off. Jon Jon went deep on a backdoor beast forcing JOB to back off and Jon Jon made this insane drop and held on by his toenails as he pulled off this whacked bottom turn and then pulled up and under this huge pitching lip. Well you know what happened next. That thing spit and out came Jon Jon with a perfect 10 from the judges, and the ultimate win at the buzzer.

So Heavy. So unreal to watch live on the PC as well. If you missed it? You missed an amazing FINAL at Pipe. I wonder if Jon Jon is a Patriots fan?

Mitt Romney must still be smiling today after taking Florida... Nevada is next.

OK we lost two ICONS this week. First up. Don Cornelius from Soul Train passed away by his own hand earlier this week. That man had a voice to end all voices. Deep soulful and so Soul Train...he was a classic. Lots of artists played Soul Train. Lots. And they can all thank Don Cornelius for helping to launch their careers.
REST IN PEACE don

Next up is Angelo Dundee. The consummate corner man for Mohammed Ali. Dundee was there for all of Ali's Greatest fights. He was in his 90s and he passed by natural causes. The two of them were inseparable. Ali and Dundee. Rest In Peace Angelo.

OK I've gotten back into American Idol after a two year hiatus. We wanted to see what all the noise was all about with Stephen Tyler. Well we know now. He is cooked. That man is hornier than Bill Clinton. Damn. It's almost embarrassing. I will say this however, his version of the National Anthem at the AFC Championship game two weeks ago was clearly embarrassing. Can I go on the record here, and say this once and for all? That song must be sung straight. In other words, DO NOT BASTARDIZE the National Anthem. SING IT STRAIGHT. Tyler your version was awful.

Good luck to Madonna today...and once again...
GO PATRIOTS...a Nation of fans are behind you.