This year’s Super Bowl was, save for the Rams’ amazing victory in Super Bowl XXXIV, my personal favorite. You see, I’m a Rams fan, and for the past six years I’ve remained bitter over my team’s crushing Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots in 2002.

I was completely distraught after that game. I took off my Rams jersey, threw it into a corner of my room and refused to touch it until the next season. The Rams entered that Super Bowl on the verge of a dynasty, with one of the greatest and most exciting offenses in NFL history. Instead, a different dynasty was born, and the Rams never recovered.

I hated the Patriots, though, not simply because they won. That entire game had the feeling that the Rams were being short-changed. Their wide receivers were being illegally held downfield throughout the entire game, without many flags from the referees, and to this day, I still hold that there were still a couple of seconds left after Vinatieri kicked that field goal for the win.

Beyond that Super Bowl, I had even more reasons. I was sick of the smugness and cockiness of the team. After the initial breaking of the “Spygate” story at the beginning of the season, New England coach Bill Belichick refused to apologize, explain or even address the issue. Earlier this season, as the Patriots were crushing opponents, they continued to run up the score, even attempting fourth down conversions when winning by multiple touchdowns in the game. Quarterback Tom Brady laughed when it was predicted by Giants receiver Plaxico Burress that the Patriots would only score 17 points in the Super Bowl, thinking it impossible for his offense to put up so few points against the Giant’s defense.

I also couldn’t stand the way that referees always seemed to give the Patriots the benefit of the doubt whenever there was a questionable call, preserving their undefeated season record (see Week 13 against Baltimore). And finally, I couldn’t stand ESPN’s sick obsession with everything Patriots. Day and night, sports fans were forced to sit through mindless discussions about whether or not Tom Brady was the greatest quarterback in history, the Patriots the greatest team ever or Bill Belichick the greatest genius in world history.

So, last week, when the Boston Herald reported that the Patriots had illegally taped the final Rams walkthrough before their Super Bowl, capturing many of the plays that the Rams planned to run in the game, my deep anger for the New England Patriots reached a level I didn’t know was possible. I instantly became one of the biggest fans of the New York Giants in the country. (All right, that’s an exaggeration, but I really wanted them to win).

Needless to say, I was a happy man on Super Bowl Sunday. Tom Brady proved that he wasn’t Joe Montana, as once he wasn’t given endless time to throw the ball by his offensive line, he fell apart. (By the way, how great was it that a guy named “Tuck” helped ruin Tom Brady’s game, Raiders fans?) New England’s cockiness finally did them in; going for it on fourth-and-13 instead of kicking the field goal in the second quarter ultimately cost them the game. Seeing the most unlikely of heroes, Eli Manning, pull off that incredible MVP-winning final drive was almost as exciting as Isaac Bruce’s 73-yard touchdown in the Rams’ Super Bowl victory was for me. And when it came time for the annoying “Brady magic,” he couldn’t produce. And finally, seeing Bill Belichick walk off of the field before the game was over (in his typical classless fashion) with his head down was a sweet sight.

My joy in the Patriots’ demise couldn’t erase the heartbreak of the Rams’ Super Bowl loss, but it sure helped. So I extend my gratitude to the world champion New York Giants for taking away what the Patriots took away from the Rams-a legacy. Thank you for crushing their overconfidence and their record and denying them even the consideration of being called the greatest team of all time.

Oh, and thank you for a great game, too.

Altin is a senior in Arts & Sciences and a Forum editor. He can be reached via e-mail at forum@studlife.com.

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