Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Greatest Team Ever? Just Enjoy It!

I am so sick of all of this nonsense about whether the 2007 Patriots are the Greatest Team Ever. Leaving aside the fact that changes in physique (and 'supplements') make it impossible to compare individual football players of different eras (cf the whole stinking controversy about baseball doping - it's only because the nerds want to be able to say someone was 'the best ever' and they need to know that no one cheated in order to do that), what is gained from all of this comparison and speculation? You can't make the past fit into the present, and if there are degrees of impossibility then it is even more impossible to make the present fit into the past. What we are witnessing is a great time in football - we are watching a team of excellent players working very well together in a quest to go an entire season without a loss. When their opposition is subpar, their flawless execution is beautiful to watch, and when someone makes a game of it, wondering how they will pull this one out remains exciting. We need to exist in the present and love this moment for what it is worth, and cease the endless chatter about 'greatest ever.' They are the greatest team right now, and we need to sit back and bask in it.