Boston hangover

No bottle required. Only the phrase "wait till next year," after (justifiably) high expectations the night before.

They're a hazard in Boston, along with cold weather and waiting too goddamned long for the bus because I swear the only time you can be sure that fucker isn't going to come is the time printed on the schedule.

The sports bar atmosphere and the waiting in the cold amplified the effect.

As I remember it, not many of those who read this are sports fans of any stripe. And I understand some people's disdain for professional sports. On the other hand, they play a role in collective culture, which is a phrase that's meaning less and less nowadays. Of course, I'm hardly a neutral party where that's concerned. In Boston, being a sports fans is not a hobby. It's a birthright. Uptight legislators were banning baseball in public lots here long before Abner Doubleday "invented" the sport in Cooperstown. The first World Series was played on what is now a part of Northeastern University's campus. And you don't even need to be a sports fan to have at least some idea of Red Sox lore. Basketball was invented in the Springfield YMCA, and the Celtics have 16 championships, more than any other franchise. I was there for game 5 of the last one, at 5 months old. And my father has used it as a bragging point that I was paying attention. We're born junkies of the one opiate with no lethal dose.

And the Patriots have been dealing us some crazy shit in the past six years. A seemingly eternal underdog status despite a 12-2 playoff record under this management, including three Super Bowls, and six last-minute come from behind wins. And managing to look Peyton Manning look like an overpaid asswipe every time we met him in the playoffs, no matter what the odds seemed to be. Until now.

I'm more than willing to blame a bullshit pass interference call that went their way and put them on the one, and another that robbed us of a touchdown. Yes, I'm a sports fan blaming the officiating after a night gone awry. Sue me.

I'll be back later today with a post for Blog for Choice Day. Cooper's hits the mark, as always.

In case anyone was wondering about my absence, it has a lot to do with my laptop's uncanny ability of late to just die right before I publish a post, which is then completely lost to me. Because I tend to post at, shall we say, unconventional hours, I often find myself in no mood to write the damned thing all over again. Should I see this coming after it's happened for the third time in a week? Probably.

Anyways, I'll see what I can do about getting back into the swing of this all. I'll see you later