“Live in perfect harmoneeeeeeeeeee.” Uh, sorry.

On the day I finally order a plasma HDTV, the Patriots actually lose a playoff game and make tee times. Yeah, the Panasonic turned out to be backordered potentially for months, so I cancelled my order and opted for a 42” NEC 42XR4A. Even without the Pats, I’m looking forward to the Conference Championships this weekend. Based on what I saw this weekend, look for the Steelers and Panthers to meet in the big copyrighted game.

I’m not sure what it is about us New Englanders, but sometimes we take as much pleasure in the failure of other teams as we do with the success of our own. Case in point was my glee in seeing Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts fail once again. After being compared to the ’72 Dolphins while tearing up the regular season, the “Dolts” returned to form and spit the bit in the playoffs. If they couldn’t win it all this year, they may never… EVER! I mean, the football gods conspired with the referees to personally escort Indy to the Sup… uh, big game, and they still lost! First, their nemesis, the Patriots lost, then the refs take away a Steeler interception (today repudiated by the NFL)… Finally, the football gods intervened and Jerome Bettis coughed up the pig on the 2 yard line with Pittsburgh trying to put the game away. Only a saving tackle by Ben Rothlisberger saved a winning Colt touchdown. Ah, whatever. The Colts choked big time. After the game, Manning took it like a man and blamed his offensive line, “I’ll give Pittsburgh credit for their blitzes and their rush, but we did have some protection problems.”

As for the Patriots, there’s no reason to believe they won’t contend for another championship next season. The fires still burn. After the loss, Tedy Bruschi was asked by a Denver reporter if the Patriots still had the ability to be “competitive” next year. “Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?” asked Bruschi. “Think about what you just asked me, man. Think about who we have in this locker room. Take that question and get out of my face.”