For a sports fan like me, November's a pretty predictable month.
For me, it's the same every year. I complain about the lack of MVP and Cy Young votes being handed out to my Red Sox. I rediscover the mediocrity that is the 21st-century Celtics franchise. I try, and always fail, to make myself care about the Bruins. And I realize that the Patriots, despite their obvious flaws, are still good enough to win at least 10 games against lackluster competition in the AFC East.
This year is the same. I'm pulling for Jonathan Papelbon to win the Triple Crown of Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and MVP (and perhaps, a Nobel Peace Prize next month), but I'm probably 0-for-4 in that department. The Celtics and Bruins are a combined 4-11, and the Pats are winning every game except the challenging ones. In a way, it's a bit depressing.
But these past two weeks have been fun, even if not entirely successful, weeks to be a Patriots fan. Sunday night's Pats-Colts game was exciting, with the constant back-and-forth of turnovers and explosive plays on offense. And the week before that, when God smiled down upon 495 South and decreed that my on-campus TV should somehow get ESPN for one night, Monday Night Football was amazing.
Yes, Tom Brady threw for four touchdowns, and yes, the Pats thrashed the Vikings, 31-7. But what really made my night was a brief exchange between Joe Theismann and Tony Kornheiser midway through the third quarter. You may not remember it, but I do - I've been thinking about it for a week. The issue in question was this: who's the most popular sports figure in Boston: David Ortiz or Tom Brady?
Say what you want about Tony Kornheiser. Those of you who know him from his MNF career to date are probably not big fans of the guy. From the corny jokes, to the self-deprecating humor, to the stupid hyperbole (no, Junior Seau is not 1,000 years old), the man can get annoying. But he can also be just plain brilliant. I spent 16 years of my childhood in Virginia and was a faithful reader of his Washington Post columns for years. I'm a proud Kornheiser devotee.
This is why I'm proud to say that Kornheiser gave the right answer on ESPN last week. He argued that Brady, and not Papi, was the king of New England sports. And he's right.
Or ... at least he should be. Unfortunately for Brady, we live in an area where the Red Sox are gods. There are probably a million people in New England who care more about what Doug Mirabelli's favorite breakfast cereal is than whether the Patriots win the Super Bowl. It's just the way our culture is wired, and I don't ever see it changing. The Red Sox reign supreme, and David Ortiz is king.
But Tony got it half right. Here's the realization that I had Sunday night, a sudden epiphany that came to me as I watched Brady's fourth interception of the night fall into the hands of Cato June:
The Patriots live and die with Tom Brady.
He's unlike any other player in all of sports.
With all due respect to David Ortiz, he's got nothing on Brady. The Patriots went from 5-11 to 11-5 the year Brady took over for Drew Bledsoe; the Red Sox signed Ortiz in 2003 to platoon with Kevin Millar and Jeremy Giambi, and they won 95 games instead of 93. Not exactly a booming impact.
The beauty of the Red Sox is their supporting cast. Simply put, $127 million goes a long way. The Red Sox aren't a team of David Ortiz and 24 supporting actors - they're a team of Ortiz, Manny, Schilling, Beckett, Papelbon, Varitek, Youkilis and a dozen more semi-stars. You could even make the argument that Ortiz isn't even the team's MVP. Who led the Red Sox in OPS in 2006? I'll give you a hint - it wasn't Big Papi.
The Patriots are completely different. There's an undisputed king in that clubhouse, and it's Brady. The Pats are a team that's been through countless overhauls. Just look at how that offense has changed over the past five years. They've had wide receivers like Deion Branch, David Givens, David Patten, Terry Glenn, Tim Dwight and two Johnsons - Charles and Bethel - come and go. Their running game was centered around Antowain Smith, and then Kevin Faulk, and then Corey Dillon and now Laurence Maroney.
I could go on, but I won't. I'm only writing one column, not the entire paper. But hopefully, you see my point: Tom Brady is the only constant.
I watched the Patriots terrorize the Vikings last week. I saw Tom Brady complete 29 passes to 10 different receivers, four of them for touchdowns.
I then watched them fall short against the Colts a week later. Brady threw for zero touchdowns and four interceptions; his completion percentage was way lower, as was his total yardage. That's how Brady and the Patriots operate - they live together, and they die together. It's that simple.
It's a lot different being a Red Sox fan. With the Sox, you never have to rely that heavily on one man. Ortiz gets all the hype for being the king of "clutch," but there are a slew of other guys in that lineup quietly winning games every year.
It's a strange comparison to make between Tom Brady and David Ortiz. One is a part-time Gap model who gets his hair dyed, and the other is a big, scary Dominican man (who can't possibly be telling the truth when he lists his weight at 230 pounds). They're a veritable Beauty and the Beast - but in this case, there is no villain. We Bostonians root for them both, and we're proud.
Evans Clinchy is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major.
