The Pats' long march towards immortality took a temporary detour last night when an apparently demonically-possessed AJ Feeley nearly led the Eagles to what would have been a huge upset victory -- had Bill Belichick not realized in the second half that running the football was actually allowed, I might be wearing black right now. (Actually, I am wearing black, but not in mourning. So it doesn't really count.)
As it happens, I was there to see it.
What's mildly ironic about my presence - besides the fact that it was my first Pats game in Foxboro (and, therefore, the last one I'll ever see, as I'm clearly Brady kryptonite) - was that long before I magically got my hands on tickets last week, I'd actually discussed going to this game with my friend KK back in September. KK is an insane Eagles fan, by which I mean that all through college she slept with a Randall Cunningham poster over her bed, a Randall Cunningham action figure standing on her bedside table (which later perished in a tragic microwave incident), a Randall Cunningham jersey on her skinny little carcass, and the sincere belief in her heart that she and Randall were destined to be together. Fifteen years later, she's a terrifyingly successful corporate VP -- and beyond the fact that she's transferred her unhealthy obsession to Donovan McNabb, nothing has changed at all.
I'd tried to lure her up to Boston with the promise of a phenomenal Thanksgiving dinner and a phenomenal ass-whupping four nights later, but she ultimately declined for reasons too stupid to go into.
However... that didn't stop me from annoying my friend and fellow shivering Pats fan Swoosh by text-messaging KK periodically throughout the game.
Me: (8:53pm: Pats up 7-0) FYI -- I'm at Foxboro right now. And you suck.
KK: (8:59pm: 7-7) I suck, as in the Eagles suck? That is not very sporting.
Me: (9:01pm: Pats up 14-7) You suck because yr not here to watch the Eagles suck in person.
KK: (9:07pm: 14-14) Tom Brady is a little girl. 14 all.
Me: (9:08pm: 14-14... I send her the phone camera pic above)
KK: (9:11pm: 14-14) That's nice of U to send me a photo of us recovering an onside kick.
Me: (9:22pm: tension mounting) I wish u were here so I could wound u.
KK: (9:33pm: Feely keeps completing impossible passes... Eagles fans in my section getting much too confident... Pats fans all feeling very confused by what they're seeing) You guys are so overrated.
Me: (9:37pm: I attempt to reclaim the moral high ground by taking a personal shot) Who knew how good u could be without Donovan to hold you back?
KK: (9:40pm: KK turns delusional) With Donovan, Brady would already be crying in his milk.
Me: (9:44pm: halftime, Pats hanging on by their fingernails after Gostkowski somehow blows a 32-yard field goal attempt) 24-21.
KK: (9:47pm: still halftime) But you're scared.
She was right, but that was beside the point.
The important thing is that, in the end, the good guys won and I didn't get shanked while walking back to my $40 parking spot by a disgruntled Philadelphian.
