{"id":7127,"date":"2017-02-07T06:39:38","date_gmt":"2017-02-07T11:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=7127"},"modified":"2017-02-07T06:46:32","modified_gmt":"2017-02-07T11:46:32","slug":"an-ode-to-tom-brady-and-objectivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=7127","title":{"rendered":"an ode to tom brady (and objectivity)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"yevmwuusghi-michael-eggerl\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s face it:
\nGrowing up in Indy, it was kind of hard to like you.
\nMaybe it\u2019s how Baltimore felt, when their Colts
\n\u2014 the team they had rooted for and relished for 30 years \u2014
\n(\u2026 yes, 30<\/strong> years\u2026)<\/em>
\nSailed away on that Mayflower in the middle of the night.
\nOne feels justifiably spurned.<\/p>\n

In Indy it was all about Peyton\u2026
\nTom\u00a0vs. Peyton.
\nSo many years your Patriots were the hump we couldn\u2019t get over\u2026
\nThe obstacle in our way\u2026
\nThe blocking of what we wanted most\u2026
\nAnd I\u2019m not sure that it was because you were
\nSo evil or mean or some other severely negative connotation
\n(\u2026 or that Coach Belichick seems totally unable to smile).<\/em>
\nBut we couldn\u2019t get what we<\/em> most wanted,
\nIf you got what you<\/em> most wanted.<\/p>\n

And so it felt disloyal, dishonorable, or dis-something<\/em><\/strong>
\nTo root for you\u2026
\nOr better yet\u2026
\nTo acknowledge how good and incredibly talented you are.<\/p>\n

Granted, a few curve balls came our way\u2026
\nI don\u2019t really know what you did or what your role was
\nIn some of that ambiguous, questionable activity.
\nSometimes you seemed dishonest.
\nBut the truth for me is best found in my first phrase:
\n\u201cI don\u2019t really know.\u201d
\nMy lack of knowing provided one more reason to dispute how gifted you are.<\/p>\n

And then came Sunday night:
\nSuper Bowl 51.
\nDown by a ton of points,
\nWith the Falcons owner already on the sidelines
\nAnd champagne bottles moving into the Atlanta locker room,
\nYou did the unthinkable\u2026
\nYou did what hadn\u2019t been done all game long\u2026
\nYou led your team back,
\nSending the first Super Bowl ever into OT,
\nAnd dramatically won the game.<\/p>\n

As my son and I sat there on the couch,
\nSerious sports fans with eyes glued and jaws dropped,
\nWe both thought the exact same thing:
\n\u201cThis<\/strong> is impressive. Brady<\/strong> is impressive.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

There I said it.
\nAfter all these years.
\nAfter all these years that my objectivity was skewed\u2026
\nAnd I couldn\u2019t see it.
\nI absolutely could not see it.<\/p>\n

And it wasn\u2019t because I\u2019m stupid or ignorant
\nOr some other insult that my Patriot fan friends have graciously
\nWithheld from calling me
\n(at least publicly).<\/em>
\nIt was because I had other loyalties and reasoning that had gotten in the way \u2014
\nThat had blinded me from seeing any other perspective.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t mean I was wrong about everything.
\nIt doesn\u2019t mean I now have to be a fan.
\nBut it does mean that there are
\nThings I could not see.<\/p>\n

I think about the amazing, past calendar year in sports\u2026
\nVillanova over North Carolina…
\nLeBron over Stephen\u2026
\nThe Cubbies over the Indians\u2026
\nAnd Clemson over Alabama during New Year\u2019s\u2026
\nAll victories that went down to a dramatic, climactic wire\u2026<\/p>\n

But if I was so focused on my loyalties and loss,
\nI would miss the unprecedented contest that each was.
\nI would miss the objectivity.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s to you, Tom Brady\u2026
\nTo your Patriots and New Englanders, too\u2026
\nWell done.
\nYou simply played incredibly.
\nEnjoy your well earned break\u2026<\/p>\n

May you bask in the joy of extraordinary accomplishment\u2026
\nMay you find gratitude and humility in the sweetness of success\u2026
\nAnd know we look forward to\u00a0seeing you again next year.<\/p>\n

(P.S. Go Colts\u2026 Bengals and Packers, too…)<\/em><\/p>\n

Respectfully\u2026
\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s face it: Growing up in Indy, it was kind of hard to like you. Maybe it\u2019s how Baltimore felt, when their Colts \u2014 the team they had rooted for and relished for 30 years \u2014 (\u2026 yes, 30 years\u2026) Sailed away on that Mayflower in the middle of the night. One feels justifiably spurned. … <\/p>\n

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