BOSTON WEAK

Nobody can put doom and gloom into a perfect chamber of commerce day like the fans
of Boston. They live in a world class city, yet sometimes act as if they reside next to Lake
Erie. Their sports teams seem to always play for championships and win most of them, but
they sometimes act as if they've had to watch the Browns, Braves, and Bluejackets their
entire lives.

Living in the moment is as foreign to them as a smile is to the face of Bill Belichick.
They'd rather obsess about the past and complain about the future.

Sunday was a perfect example of all of the above. A day that started like the ball going
through Buckner's legs ended up like one of Adam Vinitieri's kicks sailing through the
uprights as time expired in the Super Bowl.

But in between, Boston fans bitched, moaned, and complained as if the government shutdown
Facebook, Twitter, sports talk radio, iPhones, iPads, and the talent and heart of the Patriots
and Red Sox.

The Patriots were giving for dead against the Saints, especially after their 3-time Super
Bowl winning quarterback threw a terrible interception with under three minutes to
go in the game.

"Tom Brady! WTF? Is it time for the Ryan Mallet era?" tweeted one Boston fan.

"Way to man up, Gronk. If you had played, we would be 6-0.", posted another fan, forgetting
that WE and the Patriots are not one and the same.

Gillette stadium was about about half-empty as fans headed for the exits to beat traffic.

And of course, behind Tom Brady, whose had to throw to receivers smaller than Justin Bieber
and more unreliable than Spicoli, the Patriots pulled off a miraculous comeback, beating
the Saints with five seconds left. Brady to Thompkins was a beautiful thing to watch and that
caused reaction among Boston Strong only when its teams are winning, to change on a dime.

"I'm going to tell my grandkids that Tom Brady is the best QB I ever saw."

"Tom Teriffic! He's the man.",  tweeted that same man who had ripped Tom Brady for throwing
that inexplicable interception.

The Patriots miracle was a prelude to the theatrics at Fenway Park as the Red Sox battled
Detroit in Game 2 of the ALCS. Except there was no battle for most of it. For the second
consecutive  night, the Tigers pitchers were mowing down the Red Sox hitters. Max Scherzer,
like Anibel Sanchez, did in Game 1, took a no-hitter late into the game. Then the tweets started:

"The Red Sox have just run out of gas. It was a good season. At least we still have the Patriots."

Um, the second game of a best-of-seven series isn't through the 7th inning and you think it's
already over? A lot of Red Sox fans did. Even after watching the Patriots comeback and seeing
that a lot of them had left the game early, they did so as well.

Yeah, another Boston Strong fan did:

"In the history of the playoffs, only a few teams after ever lost the first two games at home
and come back to win."

Good, lord. Is everything a stupid stat these days?

Why can't they keep a stat for stupid tweets and posts on Facebook that were made by
Boston fans on Sunday night?

To the fans of the Red Sox, their team was a dead as the Buffalo Bills were when they trailed
35-3 to the Houston Oilers in the 1993 NFL playoffs. They were as dead as the Boston College
football team was to the Miami Hurricanes before Doug Flutie unleashed his "Hail Mary" pass.
They were as dead as the Red Sox were to the Yankees when they trailed 0-3 in the 2004 ALCS.

Boston, hello?!!!

It really is amazing to me that as historical and bright as the fans in Boston are, they seem
to get amnesia about great comebacks when their team is trailing by a few runs in GAME 2
of the playoffs. Game effin 2. The Sox pulled off the greatest comeback in playoff history
that October to a loaded Yankees team and they act like it never happened.

Greatness happened again on Sunday night when David Ortiz, as clutch as any player who
has ever suited up in Boston, tied the game with a grand slam in the 8th inning. The Red Sox
set off pandemonium an inning laser as Jarod Saltalamacchia knocked in the winning run.

What a beautiful moment. What a beautiful day in Boston.

Sunday night was great theatre for baseball and football. Too bad it had to be shared with
fans who live in the past but seem to forget about it.