I’ve been avoiding the internet like a plague all day, albeit a plague that I would desperately like to get a piece of. Writing about a super bowl that has already occurred but of which I don’t know the outcome is a bit like apologizing a couple minutes before unfurling a massive fart.

Anyway, I’m feeling cautiously optimistic about this game that has already happened (is there a term for this? Post-causal optimism?). I haven’t breathlessly followed every minute’s Gronkowski update, nor do I know the name of Tom Brady’s childhood goldfish, but I’d like to consider myself an informed supporter. And I think the Pats, with or without Gronk, match up favorably with the fighting Coughlins.

The biggest reason (and I don’t think enough writers have covered this) is the revenge factor. The 2007 Super Bowl was the most painful moment in my life as a Boston sports fan. (So painful, in fact, that I slugged a hole in my wall after Plaxico Burress burned Ellis Cobbs on the final play.) The loss left a putrid taste in my mouth and I can only imagine how it tasted to Belichick and Brady, neither of whom has been known to take a loss lightly. This year's rematch features quite a few holdovers from the 2007 game, from both teams. While the Pats have never been a team to publically engage in smack talk, I would wager a goodly sum that there was a surplus of motivational profanities being hurled in the locker-room, pre-game speech. You can never discount the effect and power of the more-motivated squad, especially on the grandest stage.

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