Never Say Die

Credit: nfl.si.com

“Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” – Hebrews 11:1

The New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos met last weekend for Sunday Night Football. The game featured Tom Brady and Peyton Manning battling it out for the 14th time as their teams’ respective quarterbacks. By then, Tom Brady' Patriots had a commanding 9-4 record over Peyton Manning-led teams. The Pats had the homecourt advantage but the Broncos were tagged as the favorites to win because of their plethora of offensive and defensive weapons. The Patriots were still fresh from a Monday night defeat the previous week against the Carolina Panthers. Furthermore, their two best defenders (Vince Wilfork and Jerod Mayo) were out for the season. The Broncos, on the other hand, had crazy momentum as they defeated the last unbeaten team in the league – the Kansas City Chiefs. Peyton even has longtime elite Patriot receiver Wes Welker on his side. The Broncos were favored by 2.5 points.

Boston Strong

Champions!!! | Credit: Fansided.Com

“…and by that, I also mean GG to my Boston Red Sox. Pasas mode na lang muna teams natin this year.” (Translation: Both Boston and New York will suck in baseball this year)

This was what I tweeted to my Yankee fan friend Teme early on the baseball season of 2013. The New York Yankees were hampered by injuries while my Boston Red Sox were fresh from being the worst team in the league. All I actually wished from them was to have a steady transition period.

Tough Times

Let's Go Red Sox! | Credit: Sports Illustrated

Do not blame me for my low expectations – being a Red Sox fan the past few years was tough. Things have gone south after they won the 2007 World Series. We had to watch the New York Yankees win it all in 2009. It being spearheaded by none other than Alex Rodriguez did not make it any better. In 2010, the Sox missed the playoffs. 2011 out-sucked it. I am both an Atlanta Braves and a Boston Red Sox fan. In 2011, both of my teams went into self-destruct/choke mode in the final month of the season. They had the wild card spots in sight with a 95+% chance of entering the playoffs at some point late August or early September of 2011 (Red Sox’ chance was at 99.6%. Not a misprint. 99.6%!!! on September 3). All you just need to do is win a few games or (Note: OR, not AND) you hope the other trailing teams lose normally as they should. Instead, both the Braves and Red Sox crumbled and lost in dramatic fashion. Yeah, they did win some games along the way, but the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and St. Louis Cardinals both caught fire as well. By the final day of the regular season, both the Braves and Red Sox’ playoff tug-of-war with the Cards and Rays respectively was up in the air.