Sports Then and Now

First and foremost, I am a Patriots fan and season ticket holder of 15 years. To say

the least, I am a die hard Patriots, but I DO NOT HATE the Colts.

I HATE the Steelers and Jets.

I want to BEAT the Colts.

There is a difference between hating a team and wanting to beat a team.

If you hate a team, you hate every player on the team and you hope they have a horrible season.

They may trash talk you and never can back it up.

Then there are teams you want to BEAT.

They don’t trash talk and they back it up on the field.

They are true professionals.

You want them to be competitive, so you have to bring you’re A game to beat them.

You don’t hate their players, you respect them.

You have to beat the best to be the best.

Because they are very similar to you.

The Patriots and Colts are carbon copies.

Hall of Fame quarterbacks.

Great receivers.

Great coaching.

Lombardi Trophy (Colts-1) or Trophies (Patriots-3).

They have been amongst the NFL elite over the last 10 years.

They are what the other 30 NFL franchises want to be.

They have to BEAT the other to achieve their championship goals.

If they don’t play each other in the playoffs and/or the regular season, it just isn’t the same.

Football fans and sports fans in general are cheated.

When the Colts and Patriots play, as Tedy Bruschi would say, “Its Full Tilt. Full Time.”

Every New England and Indy fan, player, coach, and team executive get up for this game like no other.

The cities could be invaded by alien life and no one would know (or care).

Everyone is in front of a TV in their favorite pub or amongst their friends in front of a spread of food and tasty beverages.

It’s Red Sox-Yankees.

It’s Rocky Balboa-Clubber Lang.

It’s Celtics-Lakers.

It’s Bird-Magic.

The games between these two teams become instant classics as soon as the game clock expires.

Here are some of the epic games between the best of the AFC, the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots.

November 30, 2003-Indianapolis, IN

The Patriots and Colts were both steamrolling their opponents and both stood at 9-2 before their clash. The winner of this game would probably have home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

The stakes were very high. Both teams would have to bring their best game and they did.

The Patriots jumped all over the Colts and had a 31-10 lead early in the third quarter.

Game Over?

Not even close.

Peyton Manning led his team back tying up the game 31-31.

I remember watching this game at my friends house and seeing the Patriots melt away in the RCA Dome.

Brady answered Manning with a strike to Deion Branch to give the Pats a 38-31 lead.

The Colts cut the lead 38-34 and then got the ball late in the game.

The pit in my stomach was the size of a sinkhole and antacid was flowing like a fine wine.

The Colts had the ball at the goal line and had not one, not two, not three, but four chances to punch it in.

No brainer right?

Patriots lose.

Not if the Patriots defense had anything to do with it.

I was sitting on the edge of my seat and praying if I remember correctly.

James run.

Stop.

James Run.

Stop.

Manning Pass.

Incomplete.

James Run.

Willie McGinest races around his blocker and nails James in the backfield.

Game Over.

Patriots 38 Colts 34

Patriots players sprinting down the field in jubilation.

My friend’s house covered in nacho cheese and Sam Adams beer.

Hands down one of the best football games ever.

The Patriots would go on to beat the Colts in the AFC Championship, 24-14 in snowy Foxboro.

The Patriots beat the best twice to be the best and capture their second Lombardi Trophy.

January 21, 2007-Indianapolis, IN

AFC Championship

Guess who?

You guessed it.

Patriots-Colts for all the AFC marbles.

My friends and I just witnessed the Patriots steal a win in San Diego.

All thanks to Troy Brown’s strip and the “magic cookie.”

Magic cookie, you ask?

We saved one chocolate chip cookie from being devoured during the game versus the Chargers.

Ever since the cookie was spared from certain digestion, the Patriots played well and won.

The cookie was frozen and thawed for the Patriots-Colts playoff tilt.

The game could not have started out any better for Patriots fans.

Asante Samuel picked off Manning and brought it to the house.

Patriots 21 Colts 3

The Colts just seemed like they could not beat the Patriots in the playoffs.

They had a better team.

Better receivers compared to the pile of spare parts Brady threw to.

Manning and the Colts seemed beat.

The RCA dome was deflating in front of my eyes and I LOVED it.

The Colts got an Adam Vinatieri (traitor!) field goal before the half to cut the lead, 21-10.

Insignificant right?

Not quite.

Then the jinx happened.

This girl named Lisa from Chicago called and said “Looks like Bears-Patriots in the Bowl!”

The kiss of death.

The bamboo under the fingernails.

The “magic cookie” began to melt.

The Colts seemed rejuvenated and the Patriots seemed fatigued.

Both teams exchanged blows like two prize fighters.

The exhausted Patriots even had a 34-31 lead late in the game.

However, as a Boston fan, this game felt like Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

Something bad was going to happen and it did.

Manning led his team down the field and Joseph Addai scored to give the Colts a 38-34 lead (sound familiar from previous recap?).

Brady got the ball back but he threw a un-Brady like pick.

Game Over.

“Magic Cookie” smashed and tossed out the window.

Lisa from Chicago’s jinx burning in my head.

I said goodbye to no one. I walked out and left.

There was traffic at 930pm on back roads.

It seemed that everyone left at the same time after seeing their favorite football team wilt and die.

The Colts made the adjustments and had superior personnel.

They deserved to win.

However, if the Patriots could have held on, there is no doubt they would have beat the Bad News Bears.

The sisters of the poor could have beat Chicago that year.

The Patriots and Colts have had epic battles.

You remember who you were with.

Where you were.

And how you felt.

Isn’t that what sports is all about?

Cheering on your team.

Building and sharing memories.

Tipping your hat to the victor.

You only tip your hat to teams you respect not teams you hate.

Tip of the cap to the Colts.

Can’t wait for the Patriots to beat you Sunday night!

Re-live some of the Patriots-Colts Memories:

The Goal Line Stand from 2003

Colts beat Demons and Patriots from 2007