Has the Sporting Cosmos Returned to Homeostatis?

In the first decade of the new millennium, the sporting universe seems to have realigned itself: not only did the previously lowly New England Patriots become a perennial contender, winning 3 Super Bowls along the way, the Red Sox have won 2 World Series Championships. Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics - one of the all time winningest franchises in all of sports - have fallen on their head. Boston's entry to the NHL, one of the "Original 6" have all but disappeared after having had one of the longest playoff runs in all professional sports.

With the Super Bowl loss, as disappointing as it has been for Patriots fans, it seems that the universe may have righted itself and corrected it's historic course after this brief blip. We may be in for many a season of discontent. Many seasons of possible contenders, only to be heartbroken again.

The Celtics are on an historic tear through the first half of the NBA season. The "C's" won all but 1 of the NBA championships in the 1960's, won a couple more in the 1970's, and 3 in the 1980's - one of which was with one of the greatest teams in NBA history. Meanwhile, during that period of time, the Red Sox won 3 pennants and each time lost the World Series. In 7 games. After leading the fandom to the brink. 1975's game 6 will always be remembered for Carlton Fisk's "signature moment," willing the ball over the wall in Fenway in extra innings to force a game 7. The most dramatic instance of the universe working against the Boston fan was Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. Coming so close, yet snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, has been the hallmark of Boston sports.

The 2001 New England Patriots changed this. For one night, the universe had been rearranged. And that last second Adam Vinatieri kick knocked more than just the ball through the uprights - it knocked something out of align in the cosmos. True, the Red Sox suffered a colossal collapse in the 2003 American League Championship series - coming so close, only to have the run end dramatically on an Aaron Boone extra innings home run to send the Yankees to the World Series, but even that didn't signify a larger shift. The Yankees lost the World Series to...the Florida Marlins? New York may have gotten the best of the Red Sox, but that was dumb luck - the cosmos was not involved.

Proof? In 2004, on the brink of elimination - an elimination which may have indicated a universal shift - the Red Sox battled back, to force a game 7. A game 7 against the Yankees that they actually won. In convincing fashion. They advanced to the World Series and took home the championship with a 4 game sweep. The Red Sox? World Champions? Implausible. IMPOSSIBLE!

The Patriots again won a Championship. And again.

As late as October of 2007 the cosmos were still in misalign, but signs had been showing it had been correcting itself. The tell tale signs were there. The 2006 AFC Championship game (January 2007) saw the Patriots leading at half time, only to have the game slip away in the final minute. The Celtics pulled off a block buster trade, acquiring Kevin Garnett from the Timberwolves and began with a renewed sense that they could actually compete for the championship and win. The Red Sox did not face the Yankees in the ALCS, but were almost eliminated before advancing to the World Series. A world series in which they emerged victorious.

It is wise not to leap to overly broad assumptions while still in the moment. It would have been easy for a New England sports fan in 2002-2003 to have come to the conclusion the cosmos had corrected itself. However, with the resurgence of the Celtics the landscape is perfectly primed to repeat itself from the mid-1980's: In January 1986, the Patriots advanced to Super Bowl XX only to be annihilated by the Chicago Bears; the Celtics won their last championship; the Red Sox lost the world series. The Bruins advanced to the Stanley Cup finals not long after, but they too lost. Between the 1986 Celtics and the 2001 Patriots, there were no titles. The Yankees, meanwhile, won several; The Rangers won; the Mets won; The Giants won.

The New York Giants have once again won the Super Bowl and perhaps corrected the sporting universe's alignment to it's original setting. The Patriots were the most dominant team in NFL history, only to lose in the final two minutes of the title game. Fate's ultimate expression it has retaken control of the sporting universe. Only time will tell, but this author's fear is that the Boston fan may be in for more than one long season.