Let the vomiting begin.

Well, a horrible event that comes as no surprise is no more welcome than a horrible event that comes as a complete shock, merely by virtue of it being expected: even though I predicted it back before the first kickoff of the 2004 NFL season took place, I find nothing to celebrate in the return of the New England Stupid Patriots to the Super Bowl. Not even the fact that for the first time since I started blogging, in my third set of football predictions, that I got the two Super Bowl participants exactly right makes this any less nauseating.

Here's hoping that Donovan McNabb has the game of his life. Here's hoping that Terrell Owens returns now, and in something approaching full health. Here's hoping that Deion Branch, after that little "waving bye-bye" bit of taunting he just did whilst scoring on a reverse with two minutes to go, breaks his leg in eight places. Here's hoping that Sean has enough towels in his house to soak up all of his drool as his favorite fair-weather team grasps the Ring of Power one more time.

Stupid Patriots.

(Oh, and I think Phil Simms just channeled the spirit of Joe Theissman. In talking about how the StuPats tied an all-time NFL low for rushing attempts in the game they lost in Pittsburgh back in October, he said that "The Pats didn't fall into that trap today! They stayed patient with the running game!" Uh...Phil, it's as easy as pie in the NFL to stay patient with the running game when you're leading the entire game. Jee-bus.)