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| Nobody is stopping Aaron Rodgers | Credit: Bleacher Report |
For the past four years, I have enjoyed at least a championship victory from one of my favorite teams. In 2007, the Boston Red Sox notched its second World Series win of the decade. In 2008, the Ateneo Blue Eagles took the league by storm by blowing past their opponents by going 13-1 in the elimination round and 3-0 in the postseason. 2009 seemed to be the 2008 mirror image for the Blue Eagles except for the Game 2 loss. Either way, they repeated. Last year was probably my favorite year in sports as the Duke Blue Devils and the Ateneo Blue Eagles won their respective collegiate basketball crowns. Technically, I enjoyed three championships last year as my WNBA team – the Seattle Storm won. But since I did not follow them (as I was busy studying for certification then), I will not be counting them in my personal list. Yup, I am a lucky S.O.B. when it comes to sports. However, there has always been that chip on my shoulder – my favorite teams do not seem to peak at the right time.
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| Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson | Credit: Bleacher Report |
You may ask, what about the 2002 Ateneo Blue Eagles? They were the classic ‘peaking at the right time’ team. Yes, they were, but those have become distant memories as the De La Salle Green Archers erased them from 2004 to 2005 (and 2007). Those green teams had sloppy starts but they found ways to win with huge momentums in the end. Wishful Blue Eagle fans like me were crushed when the Green Archers swept the Hail Mary Squad in the Final Four in each of those years. The most ‘punch-in-the-gut’ memory was in 2007. I thought that the tables have turned in our favor. Cardona and Yeo were out of the team while the Blue Eagles had a promising squad filled with role players. During that year, the Eagles started slow but eventually picked up the pace in the second round – just as peaking teams do. It climaxed when they swept the Green Archers in the elimination round. UE was headed for a regular season sweep but when I learned of the schedule, I realized that it would be better to be the second-placed team (as there won’t be a rust factor during the Finals). The Blue Eagles were set to gain that after defeating strong teams like DLSU and UST. Our last elimination round game was just NU.
It was a Saturday afternoon when the Blue Eagles faced the perennial cellar dwellers. I was seating comfortably in front of the TV as I was confident that Ateneo will easily bag the W. Unfortunately, the players also shared that same thinking. NU launched three pointers that diminished the Ateneo lead. By the time the Blue Eagles were back in their senses, the Bulldogs already had the hot hand which shellshocked the Loyola community. The upset forced the improbable tie-breaker game with the Green Archers to which they finally won. It proved to be costly as DLSU gained the twice-to-beat advantage which enabled them to reach the Finals as they won the second game in the semi-finals against Ateneo. I was right – the second placed team that year would end up winning the Finals trophy. Unfortunately, it was La Salle. My Ateneo Blue Eagles went from being the team which was supposedly peaking at the right time to the team that lost momentum. The harsher fact was that our archrivals ended up to be the team that was peaking at the right time. Again!
Through the years, I have experienced to be on the wrong end. LeBron’s Cleveland Cavaliers always had a dominating regular season only for them to squander it in the playoffs. The league-leading Ateneo Blue Eagles (again) lost to a red-hot UST Growling Tigers team in 2006. I believed in ‘peaking at the right time’ theory for the underdogs but I did not have fate that my teams could pull it off. OK, the 2010 Blue Eagles peaked at the right time but I never believed that they were underdogs as the media branded them last year. Thus, that does not count.
Winning gives you confidence. It gives you the necessary swagger. But even if I celebrated constantly for almost half a decade, the ‘peaking at the right time’ thing has always been the chip to my sports fan armor. I always ended up at the wrong side that I do not know how to understand when it was exactly going to happen. I do not know how to react when it happens in my favor.
This year was the first year I religiously followed NFL from the start up to the end. I have watched the past two Super Bowls but I never had strong rooting interest in the participating teams then. After all, I was not a huge NFL fan. The only things that I remember about NFL were: I liked the Dallas Cowboys in the 90s and the Green Bay Packers are cool. When I played Madden in 2008, I chose Green Bay as my favorite team (for weird reasons…hey, I am entitled to handpick a team anyway). The only thing I remembered was that Favre was their main guy. I set Madden aside as I was more interested on NBA 2K8 and Bioshock. When I decided to finally follow the sport recently, I handpicked two teams: Green Bay and New England. I picked the Pats because they are in Boston. It is one of my favorite sports cities so it just made sense. Rooting against Peyton Manning and the Colts also added to the reasons on why I should be a Patriot fan.
For some coincidence, both of my teams were playoff teams last year. For some coincidence, they got eliminated too early as well. I ended up just rooting against Peyton and seeing him lose in the Super Bowl was enough for consolation for a new NFL fan.
It was a Saturday afternoon when the Blue Eagles faced the perennial cellar dwellers. I was seating comfortably in front of the TV as I was confident that Ateneo will easily bag the W. Unfortunately, the players also shared that same thinking. NU launched three pointers that diminished the Ateneo lead. By the time the Blue Eagles were back in their senses, the Bulldogs already had the hot hand which shellshocked the Loyola community. The upset forced the improbable tie-breaker game with the Green Archers to which they finally won. It proved to be costly as DLSU gained the twice-to-beat advantage which enabled them to reach the Finals as they won the second game in the semi-finals against Ateneo. I was right – the second placed team that year would end up winning the Finals trophy. Unfortunately, it was La Salle. My Ateneo Blue Eagles went from being the team which was supposedly peaking at the right time to the team that lost momentum. The harsher fact was that our archrivals ended up to be the team that was peaking at the right time. Again!
Through the years, I have experienced to be on the wrong end. LeBron’s Cleveland Cavaliers always had a dominating regular season only for them to squander it in the playoffs. The league-leading Ateneo Blue Eagles (again) lost to a red-hot UST Growling Tigers team in 2006. I believed in ‘peaking at the right time’ theory for the underdogs but I did not have fate that my teams could pull it off. OK, the 2010 Blue Eagles peaked at the right time but I never believed that they were underdogs as the media branded them last year. Thus, that does not count.
Winning gives you confidence. It gives you the necessary swagger. But even if I celebrated constantly for almost half a decade, the ‘peaking at the right time’ thing has always been the chip to my sports fan armor. I always ended up at the wrong side that I do not know how to understand when it was exactly going to happen. I do not know how to react when it happens in my favor.
This year was the first year I religiously followed NFL from the start up to the end. I have watched the past two Super Bowls but I never had strong rooting interest in the participating teams then. After all, I was not a huge NFL fan. The only things that I remember about NFL were: I liked the Dallas Cowboys in the 90s and the Green Bay Packers are cool. When I played Madden in 2008, I chose Green Bay as my favorite team (for weird reasons…hey, I am entitled to handpick a team anyway). The only thing I remembered was that Favre was their main guy. I set Madden aside as I was more interested on NBA 2K8 and Bioshock. When I decided to finally follow the sport recently, I handpicked two teams: Green Bay and New England. I picked the Pats because they are in Boston. It is one of my favorite sports cities so it just made sense. Rooting against Peyton Manning and the Colts also added to the reasons on why I should be a Patriot fan.
For some coincidence, both of my teams were playoff teams last year. For some coincidence, they got eliminated too early as well. I ended up just rooting against Peyton and seeing him lose in the Super Bowl was enough for consolation for a new NFL fan.
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| Go Pack Go! | Credit: Yahoo! Sports |
When the 2010 season began, I was set to follow America’s favorite sport. I had no idea on which teams would be dominating but I had a hunch on the Indianapolis Colts and the Pittsburgh Steelers to dominate. The Saints did not have the make of a dynasty and for a franchise that has won its first-ever title, I thought that they would have a bad season. I am not an experienced NFL fan but I could not help but have such instincts (whether they are right or wrong). As for the Patriots and the Packers, I really did not know what was going to happen to them. It seemed bleak when the Pats decided to trade superstar receiver Randy Moss. Favre was still in Minny so I was not that excited for the Packers’ season yet (even if they were the pre-season Super Bowl favorites). Either way, I knew that there were still decent chances that my teams would end up in the playoffs this season.
Then, unexpected things happened. Dallas Clark of the Colts got injured and they had a very rough start. Tom Brady led the low profile Patriot receivers (except for Welker and Branch… that is, if you thought he was not yet washed up at that point) to consecutive wins. On the NFC side of things, the Vikings were struggling but the Bears were on a roll. Either way, Green Bay was still winning sufficient games. Things looked good for both of my teams.
The regular season became frenzy when New England started stomping on strong teams like Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears. Suddenly, my Pats are the #1 team in the league. Green Bay, on the other hand, struggled on keeping pace with the Chicago Bears. It became dark when the Packers lost to the Detroit Lions and Aaron Rodgers suffered a concussion. Things got worse when they had to face my other favorite team – the Patriots. I was actually psyched when I watched the New England-Green Bay game. Both of my favorite teams are playing so one of them would surely win. In the end, the Patriots won.
I got to read some of the articles after that game and that was when I realized that Green Bay’s playoff chances were bleak. Some players were interviewed and they mentioned that reaching the playoffs might not be in their hands anymore. In that same day, there was another huge headline. Philadelphia mounted a huge comeback in 7:18 remaining to defeat the New York Giants. As it turned out, this game was a bigger game for the Packers. Had the Giants stood ground in that game, the Packers could have been eliminated long before they had a shot. Instead, it gave them a glimmer of hope.
The wild ride of evading elimination began when Green Bay dominated the New York Giants. That game instantly changed things in favor of the Packers. That win gave them control of their fate as they just needed to win the last game (regardless of the result of the Giants’ next game) in order to advance. Their next opponent were their archrivals – the Chicago Bears. It was a non-bearing game for the Bears who already clinched the NFC North. However, they played all their starters up to the end. Fortunately, Green Bay was able to escape with a score of 10-3. The Pack is back at the playoffs. Green Bay vs. Elimination: 2-0.
When Green Bay entered the playoffs, I was already satisfied as a fan. They were in sixth place, so their opponents were expected to be very tough. The Packers faced the Michael Vick-led Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round. My buddy Ferdie and I were talking about potential Super Bowl teams way back in December last year and the top picks then were Philadelphia and New England. I could not argue against Philly either. They were racking up W’s. Their huge comeback against New York put them as easy favorites. Then, they lost to Minny and Dallas. Vick was not 100% and pundits were suddenly counting him out. There was even news that Packer fans were advised to book their flights to Atlanta instead of Philadelphia as the Packers would surely win against the Eagles. Being a Green Bay fan, of course, I changed stance before the game as I hoped that the Packers can upset the wild Eagles. And upset they did. Green Bay mounted a strong first half lead and had the defense carry them in the second half. 3-0.
Next up: The NFC first-placed team, the Atlanta Falcons in Georgia Dome. Tough order, as I said. The Packers had to face a team that has been dominant at home for a long while. The game was getting ugly for Green Bay at the start. Atlanta drew first blood by scoring a touchdown. When the Packers finally scored a TD of their own in the early second quarter, the Falcons responded quickly by a huge kick return for the 14-7 lead. I was tweeting about having a possible horrible day (which was obviously a reverse jinx). Guess what, my reverse jinx worked. Green Bay scored 28 in that second quarter as Aaron Rodgers efficiently moved the ball inside that dome. The Packers were tremendously good that game as they scored 48 points. Aaron Rodgers completed 31 of his 36 passes – a completion rate that I have never accomplished (when passing over 30 attempts) when playing Madden. Even on rookie mode. The most fascinating thing happened at the end of the game. The Green Bay Packer fans that traveled to Atlanta were shown chanting “Go, Pack, Go!” It appeared to be a Green Bay home game. It just goes to show how dedicated Packer fans are. 4-0.
For some twist of fate, the Packers were slightly lucky that the Seahawks shocked the Saints. Thus, the cheeseheads were facing the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship. Do not get me wrong, the Bears are great but it would have been a very tough match had the Packers met the Saints. Sean Payton won’t let Drew Brees sit down even if he gets injured. There was just a different dynamic to the Saints as compared to the Bears. New Orleans defeated the highly touted Atlanta Falcons after all. But then, the game would have been played on a domed stadium. Thus, Green Bay would still get their fifth straight win just like they did against a Chicago squad which had to rely on its third string quarterback to put points in their scoreboard.
Then came last weekend. After being the sixth-seeded team, Green Bay was the slight favorite to win it all. Yes, the same squad that I thought would not make it some weeks ago. The same squad that was riddled with injuries that I had to shift most of my focus to the Patriots which had a hell of a season. The young Aaron Rodgers is leading the Packers against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yes, you read it right. The New England Patriots were eliminated by the New York Jets. It was a story that further blemished my confidence on my teams peaking at the right time because the Pats were on a huge winning streak before that humiliating defeat to the Jets. Thus, the idea of ‘peaking at the right time’ never came to my mind when the Packers faced the Steelers.
Then, unexpected things happened. Dallas Clark of the Colts got injured and they had a very rough start. Tom Brady led the low profile Patriot receivers (except for Welker and Branch… that is, if you thought he was not yet washed up at that point) to consecutive wins. On the NFC side of things, the Vikings were struggling but the Bears were on a roll. Either way, Green Bay was still winning sufficient games. Things looked good for both of my teams.
The regular season became frenzy when New England started stomping on strong teams like Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears. Suddenly, my Pats are the #1 team in the league. Green Bay, on the other hand, struggled on keeping pace with the Chicago Bears. It became dark when the Packers lost to the Detroit Lions and Aaron Rodgers suffered a concussion. Things got worse when they had to face my other favorite team – the Patriots. I was actually psyched when I watched the New England-Green Bay game. Both of my favorite teams are playing so one of them would surely win. In the end, the Patriots won.
I got to read some of the articles after that game and that was when I realized that Green Bay’s playoff chances were bleak. Some players were interviewed and they mentioned that reaching the playoffs might not be in their hands anymore. In that same day, there was another huge headline. Philadelphia mounted a huge comeback in 7:18 remaining to defeat the New York Giants. As it turned out, this game was a bigger game for the Packers. Had the Giants stood ground in that game, the Packers could have been eliminated long before they had a shot. Instead, it gave them a glimmer of hope.
The wild ride of evading elimination began when Green Bay dominated the New York Giants. That game instantly changed things in favor of the Packers. That win gave them control of their fate as they just needed to win the last game (regardless of the result of the Giants’ next game) in order to advance. Their next opponent were their archrivals – the Chicago Bears. It was a non-bearing game for the Bears who already clinched the NFC North. However, they played all their starters up to the end. Fortunately, Green Bay was able to escape with a score of 10-3. The Pack is back at the playoffs. Green Bay vs. Elimination: 2-0.
When Green Bay entered the playoffs, I was already satisfied as a fan. They were in sixth place, so their opponents were expected to be very tough. The Packers faced the Michael Vick-led Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round. My buddy Ferdie and I were talking about potential Super Bowl teams way back in December last year and the top picks then were Philadelphia and New England. I could not argue against Philly either. They were racking up W’s. Their huge comeback against New York put them as easy favorites. Then, they lost to Minny and Dallas. Vick was not 100% and pundits were suddenly counting him out. There was even news that Packer fans were advised to book their flights to Atlanta instead of Philadelphia as the Packers would surely win against the Eagles. Being a Green Bay fan, of course, I changed stance before the game as I hoped that the Packers can upset the wild Eagles. And upset they did. Green Bay mounted a strong first half lead and had the defense carry them in the second half. 3-0.
Next up: The NFC first-placed team, the Atlanta Falcons in Georgia Dome. Tough order, as I said. The Packers had to face a team that has been dominant at home for a long while. The game was getting ugly for Green Bay at the start. Atlanta drew first blood by scoring a touchdown. When the Packers finally scored a TD of their own in the early second quarter, the Falcons responded quickly by a huge kick return for the 14-7 lead. I was tweeting about having a possible horrible day (which was obviously a reverse jinx). Guess what, my reverse jinx worked. Green Bay scored 28 in that second quarter as Aaron Rodgers efficiently moved the ball inside that dome. The Packers were tremendously good that game as they scored 48 points. Aaron Rodgers completed 31 of his 36 passes – a completion rate that I have never accomplished (when passing over 30 attempts) when playing Madden. Even on rookie mode. The most fascinating thing happened at the end of the game. The Green Bay Packer fans that traveled to Atlanta were shown chanting “Go, Pack, Go!” It appeared to be a Green Bay home game. It just goes to show how dedicated Packer fans are. 4-0.
For some twist of fate, the Packers were slightly lucky that the Seahawks shocked the Saints. Thus, the cheeseheads were facing the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship. Do not get me wrong, the Bears are great but it would have been a very tough match had the Packers met the Saints. Sean Payton won’t let Drew Brees sit down even if he gets injured. There was just a different dynamic to the Saints as compared to the Bears. New Orleans defeated the highly touted Atlanta Falcons after all. But then, the game would have been played on a domed stadium. Thus, Green Bay would still get their fifth straight win just like they did against a Chicago squad which had to rely on its third string quarterback to put points in their scoreboard.
Then came last weekend. After being the sixth-seeded team, Green Bay was the slight favorite to win it all. Yes, the same squad that I thought would not make it some weeks ago. The same squad that was riddled with injuries that I had to shift most of my focus to the Patriots which had a hell of a season. The young Aaron Rodgers is leading the Packers against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yes, you read it right. The New England Patriots were eliminated by the New York Jets. It was a story that further blemished my confidence on my teams peaking at the right time because the Pats were on a huge winning streak before that humiliating defeat to the Jets. Thus, the idea of ‘peaking at the right time’ never came to my mind when the Packers faced the Steelers.
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| Clay Matthews gets his championship belt WWE style! | Credit: WWE.com |
Two proud fanbases battled in this year’s Super Bowl. After all, they boast of numerous titles. The Green Bay Packers have won the most NFL championships while the Pittsburgh Steelers won the most Super Bowls. It was the battle for America’s team as these storied franchises battled in the grandest stadium of the present time – the Dallas Cowboy Stadium. Just like how pundits had it, Green Bay was off to a strong start. Their receivers were blazingly fast while Aaron Rodgers was passing with precision. He advanced the ball quickly that even if it seemed that Pittsburgh was controlling the game by eating most of the possession time, Green Bay was leading 21-3. I guess the most memorable well-timed pass was Rodgers’ pass to Jennings for a touchdown. The Steeler defender thought that he was about to intercept the ball but his timing was a split second short as the football zoomed past his hands. In a normal scenario, he would have caught it. He was in total disbelief that he was not able to pick the ball. Aaron Rodgers’ passing made Defensive Player of the Year Troy Polamalu an ordinary safety.
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| Nick Collins' awesome pick-six | Credit: Bleacher Report |
When Green Bay got the 21-3 lead, I thought that I am off to having another championship team this year. That is a huge lead in football standards! Then, Ben Roethlisberger squashed my joy by scoring a quick touchdown before the first half ended. Green Bay was still leading by more than a touchdown but I was anxious as I watched the Black Eyed Peas’ halftime show.
My anxiety got worse when the Packers opened the second half badly. They rarely drew penalties all year long but several flags were thrown as Pittsburgh scored another touchdown to put the huge lead down to four. It really shook me. Shown were the reasons why:
1) They are the Pittsburgh freaking Steelers. In the last Super Bowl that I watched them, they defeated the Arizona Cardinals on a clutch touchdown.
2) Green Bay suffered several injuries to key players. Charles Woodson is not anymore wearing the green jersey. Donald Driver has the medical boot on. There was no way in hell that they could return.
3) Pittsburgh had the ball longer than Green Bay did. Analysts always say that defenses get picked apart in the second half as the quarterback would have read them better that time around. And in this game, the quarterback that the Packers faced is one the most clutch QB’s right now – Ben Roethlisberger!
4) The penalties showed some nerve concerns for the Packers. It does not help that Aaron Rodgers has been showing some frustration after the dropped passes by Jordy Nelson and company.
5) Reason #1. Pitt-Baltimore was still fresh in my mind. The Ravens started the second half with a 14-point lead – three more than Green Bay had in this game. The Ravens lost.
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| Credit: Bleacher Report |
Third Quarter was a battle of who would blink first. No team was able to score after the early Steeler touchdown but the momentum was on Pittsburgh’s side. Then, the Steelers lost two crucial plays. The first was the long field goal attempt. It gave Green Bay good field position in a quarter where the Packers had issues advancing the ball. Had the Packers started below 10 (assuming the punt does not result to a touchback), they would have been forced to run the ball. Steelers defend well against the rush so the possession could have shifted back to the Steelers then. Well, they did get the ball and the next crucial play happened. Clay Matthews tackled Rashard Mendenhall who fumbled the football. The Pittsburgh momentum got blemished with that third turnover. Aaron Rodgers advanced the ball towards the end zone where Jennings got his second touchdown of the night.
The Steelers, even if they trailed during this game, were always a threat. Big Ben answered quickly by scoring a touchdown of his own. Furthermore, they were able to convert for the two points. I was scared shit when that happened. I was accustomed to seeing Pittsburgh’s offense having the ball the whole game that I was unsure if Aaron Rodgers can deliver in the next drive. That drive started with a nasty sack. Uh-oh…
During the third down, Aaron passed successfully with a long one for the first down. BAM! Let’s keep the clock moving. The Packers moved the ball methodically as the minutes started to slip by. We are getting this one. By the time they reached the red zone, I was on my heels. This is it! Please do not let them intercept the ball, Aaron. The Packers elected to pass. Wow! Seriously?! But because they were able to complete the first two attempts, I forgave them for doing such. After all, this Pittsburgh rush defense is really good. Then, my live streaming stopped during the third down…
NO!!! Not now!
By the time my live stream resumed playing, I learned that the Packers did not score a touchdown. I do not know what the stopping of the live stream did to me but even if Green Bay scored three points, I was still scared. After all, Big Ben has two minutes to work with to advance the ball to the end zone. I could easily score a touchdown in Madden in less than two minutes, what more for Roethlisberger who has been there. The Santonio Holmes catch in 2008 flashed in my mind. NO!!! It also did not help that I watched a video clip of the Green Bay Packers while Kanye West’s Amazing was playing in the background. It was my jinx song last year! Aaaarrrrggghh!
NO!!! Not now!
By the time my live stream resumed playing, I learned that the Packers did not score a touchdown. I do not know what the stopping of the live stream did to me but even if Green Bay scored three points, I was still scared. After all, Big Ben has two minutes to work with to advance the ball to the end zone. I could easily score a touchdown in Madden in less than two minutes, what more for Roethlisberger who has been there. The Santonio Holmes catch in 2008 flashed in my mind. NO!!! It also did not help that I watched a video clip of the Green Bay Packers while Kanye West’s Amazing was playing in the background. It was my jinx song last year! Aaaarrrrggghh!
Funny, how a fan who has celebrated championships in a constant basis can be this pessimistic. I guess I just had my guard up in case a stomach punch from nowhere happens. Why does it always have to end this way? Green Bay survived final drives from Philly and Chicago (twice). We may be running out of cards. Please, not now. Green Bay fans are awesome fans who care a lot for their sports team. We do not deserve the largest comeback defeat in Super Bowl history. Green Bay is anything that is anti-‘rich owner greedily getting boatloads of cash.’ I avoided to use Big Ben’s rape thing as a reason because that would have backfired on me.
You know what, the football gods gave us, Green Bay fans, what we wanted. The Lombardi trophy is back in Titletown.
But more importantly, God answered our prayers. Funny, how things happen. On a Super Bowl before a looming lockout, it was an important reminder that the champion team belonged to a corporation owned by fans.
You know what, the football gods gave us, Green Bay fans, what we wanted. The Lombardi trophy is back in Titletown.
But more importantly, God answered our prayers. Funny, how things happen. On a Super Bowl before a looming lockout, it was an important reminder that the champion team belonged to a corporation owned by fans.
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| Aaron Rodgers finally gets his championship belt | Credit: Yahoo! Sports |
Five straight years. Boston Red Sox (2007). Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles (2008, 2009, 2010). Duke University Blue Devils (2010). This is the best stretch for sports in my life. I could not ask for more. If there is one thing that fans of dynasty teams earn, that is the confidence and swagger that their team can do it. I had that with Ateneo. But there was the monkey on my back that my teams could not peak at the right time.
Not anymore.
Green Bay Packers (2011)
6-0. Bitch.
Not anymore.
Green Bay Packers (2011)
6-0. Bitch.
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