Shocked

Editor's note: Brian Jalbert is a Dartmouth, MA resident, avid Boston sports fan and a friend of The Sports Brief. Moving forward, Brian will join TSB as a contributing writer and content specialist. Due to his intense passion and fervor for Boston sports, we here at TSB thought this would be a good opportunity for BJal, as we call him, to vent and share with you the frustration and depressive nature of yesterday's loss that ensued. We hope you enjoy as much as we did...

Let's flash back about 4 and a half years ago. There I was, a college student at Bridgewater State College, sitting in my dorm room with a few select friends, watching Game 7 of the ALCS. Yankees, Red Sox, it couldn't get any better. Leading 5-2 going into the 8th, we were a sure lock to finally get back to the World Series and erase the curse. Then, with the blink of an eye, it was tied, and, well, the rest is history. Aaron Boone sent us into year 86 of The Curse with one swing of the bat. There I sat, on a Thursday night in college, in my dorm room with one of the worst feelings I had ever felt in my entire life. I had relationships end, arguments with my family, and fights with my friends, yet nothing had felt quite this awful. Of course, we all know, a year later, the Sox completed the greatest comeback in sports history and all was well in New England.

Flash forward now to the current time. I sit here, a day after the New England Patriots lost the Super Bowl to the New York Giants, and I have that same awful feeling that I had in 2003. Did it really happen? Did a New York team really just take away a championship from my beloved New England team? Yes, it did happen, except this time it's different. This time, it's worse.

The Patriots can't comeback next year and win a Super Bowl and cure every awful feeling we have right now. They have to come back and do what no team has ever done before, and no team will be doing for the foreseeable future. They have to come back and go 19-0. That's the only way this feeling can go away. This wasn't just another championship for New England, this was "The One". This was the one that would cement them into the history books forever. This was the one that would have everyone saying "Greatest Team of All Time" when their name was mentioned. This was the one that nobody could ever top. The first team to go 19-0.

We're left with so many questions, so many "what ifs", and never will we get any answers. What if we held onto Eli on that 3rd and 5 late in the game? What if, on that same play, his receiver wasn't able to make one of the most amazing catches I've ever seen in my entire life? What if that ball doesn't slip through Asante's hands? What if the offense had shown up at any point other than the last drive? All these questions, and no answers at all.

But, give credit where credit is due. The Giants played a great game, and they deserved to win. There were no questionable calls, there was no dirty play, just a hard fought football game that was won by the team that played better that evening.

I'm sure I'll get by just fine. Baseball season will come, the Red Sox will get me through the summer, along with the re-energized new look Celtics. I just can't seem to get that awful feeling out of my stomach. All the "what ifs", and all the questions of there ever being an undefeated season.

This was "The One", it got away, and we can realistically say that there may never be a chance to get it back.