The Tao of Rube

For many New Englanders, today is a tough day. The events of Super Bowl XLVI will not soon fade from minds; the miscues, near-misses, and defeated imagery have cast a shadow over this otherwise spectacular February day. There are a number of coping strategies that would be perfectly fair to implement in this situation: denial (pretending nothing happened and everything is still OK), rage (preferably at anything related to the Giants, although several Patriots are fair game as well), or the "blackout" (completely ignoring anything and everything that could bring you into contact with a story about the game) are some popular choices. I, however, have chosen a different tack. I am going with what I like to call "the Rube Baker."
Who the hell is Rube Baker, you ask? Well, as the above clip will show you, he's a man who lacks basic intelligence (and the ability to throw the ball back to the pitcher), but also utilizes his simple mind to shed light on the most complicated of problems. He also happens to be a character in the movie "Major League II" played by legendary actor Eric Bruskotter, whose other credits include "Starship Troopers" and one episode of "Franklin & Bash."
Without ruining the pitch-perfect delivery of the story, the gist of the clip above is that when something bad happens to you, it is important to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Sure, it may feel catastrophic at the time, but in the grand scheme of things there are worse things that could happen than losing a football game.
Bringing a game that happened less than 24 hours ago into perspective is, obviously, easier said than done. But let's take a quick stab at it anyway. Here are the facts:
-The Patriots lost the turnover battle
-They did the one thing they said they could not, which was commit dumb mistakes that led to either points for the Giants or points off the board for the Patriots
-They uncharacteristically managed the clock poorly on the final Giants drive, costing themselves two timeouts and about a minute of game clock
-They were out-gained in both passing and rushing yards
-This was by far their weakest of the five Super Bowl teams they've had since 2001
Now, in spite of all this, the Patriots still had the ball with a minute to go, one timeout, and the greatest quarterback in NFL history leading them, needing only a touchdown to win the game. Considering the sloppy game they played (particularly on offense), this was not a bad place to be. If you were offered this scenario in the preseason, wouldn't you take it every time? Obviously the drive did not turn out as desired, but the fact is that the Patriots just didn't quite peak at the right time (unlike the Giants), and more than anything else that is what cost them. Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you.

Yes, the season is over. Yes, it is probably the last way most fans would have chosen for the season to end. Yes, it hurts. But the reality is that this team is far from done. They have two picks in both the first and second rounds next year, potential assets they could use to trade up and take a stud WR like Justin Blackmon. They still have Tom Brady, who will be back with a vengeance next year. As cool as he plays it, there is no way that being denied at least a tie with his idol Joe Montana for Super Bowl titles by a QB doesn't eat at him. The defense is young, and when healthy, proved that they can occasionally not suck. Gronk and Hernandez are redefining the tight end position. They've got most of the pieces already in place for another Super Bowl run, which is better than most teams can say.
As hard as it is to do, we need to back up and avoid the typical panic that sets in when a team's season comes to an end. We need to resist doling blame and trying to find scapegoats for the ultimate failure of the 2011-12 Patriots. This isn't like the Red Sox collapse; Vince Wilfork and Logan Mankins weren't sitting in the locker room eating Popeye's and slamming Buds at halftime. Hopefully. And even if they were, I'd be way too scared to tell them to stop.
Sometimes, you just lose. It's the inherent cruelty of sports, but it's also the reason why we watch. If the result were always certain and your team always won, what fun would it be?