Dear Boston and the New England Patriots,I have to thank you. You have proven one of my lessons about the Epic Hero.
Before I explain, let me just add one thing:
You can suck it.
For weeks, the world has had to listen to the fans in Massachusetts talking about how Boston is, "The new Title Town," and how the Giants are just cocky and would lose big.
Simulations were run which showed that the Patriots would walk away with the game.
Pundits screamed about how boring the game would be.
And then there were the New England Patriots, who went out and not only trademarked the term "A Perfect Season," but also had 100,000 copies of a book printed called 19-0.
This is the classic example of the underdog, and it is an even better example of hubris. Let's start with the former.
For some reason, humanity loves an underdog. We always cheer for the little guy to overcome the obstacles. We develop a pathos with the underdog team or person or athelete or whatever, and we truly feel that we understand how that person feels.
"I've overcome obstacles, too," Joe or Jane Doe thinks. "That person (or team) is just like me. No one gives me credit either."
Even in The Bible we have an underdog. Matchups, like tonight's Super Bowl, are considered similar to David and Goliath.
If the pathos is not developed, then we still look at the underdog in an existentialist way. "I was wrong. The other team/person/etc. did have a chance." At the same time, the underdog also defines Existentialism. We look within ourselves to see what we should believe. If we think that the person being given little chance deserves more, then we are tied into the underdog.
Let's just say that somewhere Sartre is laughing.
As for hubris. Ah, the very essence of what's wrong with most heroes. New England got cocky. Bill Belichick, the coach, likes the play games when it comes to answering questions. Tom Brady felt that the predictions of anyone other than New England were silly. Boston fans and sports pundits felt this was a slam dunk.
And yet New York won. Wonder how Mitt Romney feels about this?
When we are on top of our game, regardless of the field, we feel indestructible. That feeling of never losing, never not winning, and then shouting that feeling at others is hubris. It's modern term is egotistical.
You were full of hubris, Bostonians and Patriot fans. You were so sure that New York would get killed. "45-21," I heard one guy say on the radio, "because the Patriots are the best team EVAH (accent included)."
The Epic Hero, such as Ajax, can become full of hubris, and it will lead to demise. Ajax believed he was above the law of the gods, and he paid for it with his life.
The Patriots believed they were better than everyone else in the NFL and walked with a swagger that was almost sickening...and yet they paid for it.
18-1.
Somewhere the 1972 Dolphins are laughing, because they are still the only true undefeated team.
Somewhere bookies are laughing at the amount of money lost by people who thought they had that sure winner in the Patriots.
Somewhere in Boston, a man in a Tom Brady jersey is crying into his beer about an NFL conspiracy and how "The Pats will be back."
And deep in their locker room in Arizona, the Patriot players are realizing that a team that doesn't win the championship and guaranteed they would is nothing more than a pretender.
Odysseus paid for his hubris in being lost for years and having to defeat over a hundred men after his wife. Achilles died partially due to his hubristic nature. Ego is healthy, but too much will kill you.
We usually forget the loser of the Super Bowl. This time...we'll remember the loser more than the winner.
This proves that there is no such thing as perfection. We have perfect moments, but those are short and last only in our memories. The Patriots have shown the world that perfection is truly divine and not for us.
So thank you New England Patriots and Boston. You're arrogance has allowed me to not only feel good about the chances that underdogs have in the modern world, but it allows me to instruct others on what happens and how we deal when our ego is suddenly deflated.
Thank you for showing the world that sometimes the best and brightest cannot predict the outcome. That sometimes our foibles get the best of us.
Of course, by not cheering for the Patriots...does that mean I'll be considered a terrorist?
And, of course, what do I know? I'm actually a Jets fan. I could be wrong.
Signed,
A guy who loves to see the underdog win.
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