It’s official, I’m bitter. I pride myself on not being a typical Philly fan. As the name of this site suggests, I’m optimistic about my teams. I try not to be unrealistic, but I generally expect good things. I like to like my teams and root for the players on those teams, not against them (a novel concept, I know). I’ve always been this way and I’m pretty sure I always will be.
I became old enough to actually follow sports around 1988, which means I’ve hit the unofficial 20-year mark as a Philly sports fan. As everyone knows, I’ve seen a lot of losing, and I’ve seen zero championships. There are silver linings to the situation. Die-hard Philly fans carry a badge of honor at this point. You don’t come across any fake fans with a Phillies hat on. There’s a lot to be said for enjoying the journey and not just the destination.
All that being said, I realized this afternoon one of the negative effects of 20 years without a champion: I’m now a bitter 
sports fan. I came across a poll on ESPN.com that asked “What Super Bowl matchup do you want to see?”. I picked the Chargers-Packers and was a little surprised to see the vast majority of fans want to see the Patriots win on Sunday. Is everyone else not as bitter as me? The average fan is rooting for a team to win its fourth Super Bowl in the last seven years? Most people will be disappointed to see the perfect, almighty, best-team-in-history Pats fall flat on their faces in the AFC title game? Not me!
Honestly, I don’t want to see anyone get too much of something that I haven’t gotten any of. I know that’s a bit selfish, but not totally. Even though the Brett Favre coverage would get really annoying, I would be really happy for the fans in Wisconsin if they got another Super Bowl win. I had no problem at all with the Colts and Steelers winning championships the last two years, because those fans deserved it. What does Boston deserve at this point? I think something resembling the past 20 years in Philadelphia might be a good start. So, on Sunday, I’ll be hoping Phil Rivers and Ladainian Tomlinson are healthy, rooting for every call to go San Diego’s way, and praying that every tipped Tom Brady pass drops softly into the arms of a Charger defender. This is life as a bitter sports fan. It’s not that bad. I just wish they weren’t so damn good.
I’ll be rooting for them too…I’ve got $1,000 on the line.
But, you’re right, Doogan, it’s getting more and more difficult to root for anything from Boston. These days I even find myself rooting for Michael Bolton to kick the crap out of Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting. F BOSTON!
The majority of people will be rooting for the Pats because 1) stupid people are frontrunners; and 2) people who are never going to do anything with their lives think that being alive to see the Pats have a perfect season makes them special.
My rooting interests are clear – GIANTS!, and if they lose then, in order, the packers, chargers, and patriots. Brett Farve playing this well at this stage of his career is incredible and it’s such a good story that if the Giants have to lose, then go Green Bay. Chargers over Pats because F the Pats.
Now let’s talk about my dream scenario. Giants/Chargers Super Bowl. Giants down by 1 with 4 seconds left. Lawrence Tynes comes in and kicks a 56 yard field goal that hits two uprights before bouncing over. Giants win, everyone rushes the field, and Michael Strahan holds up a sign that says “Cim is $1000 poorer because of us.” Awesome.
I’m sick of the Pats, and Pats fans, and wanted them to lose in the regular season. For what it’s worth, Paige has wanted them to win every game and then lose in the Super Bowl.
My rooting interest is for the Packers and Chargers for completely selfish reasons – the Super Bowl is in Arizona this year and if we’re going to be overrun with visitors for a week (or more), I’d rather they be Wisconsiners or San Diegans than New Yorkers or New Englanders.