EDITOR’S NOTE: If you’ve been following along, you know I’m the world’s worst blog promoter. Like me on Facebook, and I’ll try and update there when I post something new.

Monday morning, I was greeted at work with pretty much the worst timed email ever.

A little background: I don’t know this guy from Vinateri.  I probably talked to him about 3-4 times in 17 months.  He didn’t know I was from the Commonwealth or that I was a Patriots fan.  Sunday night, I got about two hours of sleep.  Last I remember seeing the clock, it read 3:59am.

You can imagine my disdain when this was the first email I receive at work:

From: [Raider Fan]
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2012 8:54 AM
To: Mike
Subject: Re-order

Hello Mike

We talked about some demands we at (douchebag’s company) had with you at the end of 2010, and….

(cutting out the boring part)

So I have a PO attached and if all is well in the world (and it is since the patriots lost) this should be good enough to get the material we need.  If there are any questions, problems, unconsolable patriot fans impacting the supply chain, or whatever, let me know.

Thanks & Best Regards
[Raider Fan]

After receiving this masterpiece, I just sat at my desk staring at the screen.  It was an incredible gut punch.  One of the few nice things about being on out-of-market sports fan is that when you don’t want to talk about something, it’s pretty easy.  I’ve had many friends say that they didn’t want to text or email me after the Super Bowl.  They were too afraid of upsetting me or what my reaction might have been.

Granted, this douchebag did apologize profusely after I told him I was a diehard Patriots fan and season ticket holder.  He apologized multiple times, both via email and on the phone.  He also said that he didn’t know what caused him to write that stuff out of the blue.

And people wonder why I hate the Raiders?

Writing here has always been therapeutic for me, so like a long, lost friend I return.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Ahhh, my old familiar refrain. Thanks (again) Charles Dickens.

The Patriots just lost Super Bowl XLVI. As that last pass attempt bounced hopelessly away, I shut off my phone.  I didn’t want to talk to anyone.  I also certainly didn’t want to read any text, tweet, email or Facebook post about the game I had looked forward to so, so intently.

In the grand scheme of life, Super Bowl XLVI is pretty menial. There are wars, atrocities and horrors on this planet that I can’t even imagine. There are also deaths, real loss and real heartbreak. These are tangible things, things that don’t fade X days after the confetti in Lucas Oil Stadium has hit the ground.

Furthermore, to me Super Bowl XLII was worse. It was like Superman 2, when Superman gives up his powers and becomes human. The New York Giants pass rush made Tom Brady become human on February 3, 2008. It’s not like this is a bad thing, either. He set a super-human level of expectations after his first three Super Bowls.

People are going to blame Wes Welker. Losing the Super Bowl wasn’t Welker’s fault. Whenever your team loses, it’s human nature to look for someone to blame. This season, Wes Welker had 22% more catches that any other receiver in the league. He can play on my team any f-ing day of the week. My friend Rach blames Gisele. Hell, Gisele is a much more justifiable blame than Welker in my book.

In this case (as it usually goes), the winner earned the victory. I don’t get how it is so hard for people to give credit where credit is due. The Giants were tough as nails and made the plays the Pats didn’t. Simple as that. I don’t think any quarterback has terrified me like Eli Manning does, not even his brother. Who the F are these people who dog this guy? He’s the truth.

Every day, I thank God that I am a Patriots fan. There is no other sports team on the planet I’d rather have as my favorite team. There’s no other team I’d even consider being a season ticket holder of from over 3,000 miles away. We’re so, so lucky to be Boston sports fans too. We’ve had a run over the past ten years that other cities can only dream about. Most fans are happy with one championship. We’ve seen 7 over the past 10 years. Seven!

A fourth Super Bowl win for Brady and Belichick is the only thing remaining on my sports fan bucket list.  Over the past two weeks, I tried to envision what my life would be like if it happened. Would I even care about sports anymore? (Probably. Certainly not as much, though.) Even if never happens, I’d go to the grave feeling like the luckiest sports fan in the world. Save for an Ohio State NCAA hoops championship, I have literally seen it all in my lifetime. Furthermore, I’ve pretty much attended them all too.

Maybe it’s better that the Patriots didn’t get #4. There’s still something to root for, to pine for, to hope for, to think about and to dream about. It could very well happen and could even happen next year. The Pats are stocked with extra draft picks and have a boatload of salary cap room. Again.

At this moment, there’s only one word I can say that gives me hope. It got me through the doldrums after Super Bowl XLII and it will be my security blanket until I’m over Super Bowl XLVI.

SEPTEMBER

It will be here before you know it.

EDITOR’S NOTE: So much for one entry per week! Sorry for the delay this week.

If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, it is here.

NEW PROVIDENCE, NJ – 2/6/2005: I watched the third Patriots Super Bowl at my cousin Erwin’s house. This was the day the Pats truly became a dynasty and it was even sweeter because they beat the Philadelphia Eagles. Philly fans might be the worst fans in sports. Seeing your favorite team win three championships in four years is an inexplicable experience.  It didn’t set in until I heard Bill Belichick call into the Howard Stern show the next morning on the drive home.

DENVER, CO – 10/28/2007: Thanks to Tony, I was able to actually witness the Red Sox win the World Series. Being in Denver for that game was surreal. I remember having to go to the bathroom (sit down, not stand up variety) late in the game and it created quite the dilemma.  I didn’t want to go, but realized that I may miss some of the celebration if I didn’t unload before the end of the game.  While taking care of business, I missed Bobby Kielty’s home run in the eighth inning.

One of my favorite memories of the day was sharing a post-game beer with my future NorCal roommate Mike after the game at the Blake Street Tavern.  We just sat there in mostly exhausted silence, sipping our beers with silly “did we really just see that” grins on our faces.

BOSTON, MA – 6/17/2008: Thanks to Chris the Grouch, I was able to see the Celtics win their 17th NBA Championship.  I drove into town with E-Man and his cousin Dan.  I can still remember E blasting Phil Collins (”In The Air Tonight“) and meeting Bill Simmons in stairwell heading up to our seats.  Hearing the New Garden shake as we screamed “SEV-EN-TEEN, SEV-EN-TEEN” and lighting up a Red Auerbach victory cigar while leaving the building was almost as cool as watching the Lakers sulk all game.

It was quite the night.  We stayed out all night while walking the streets of Boston. I didn’t get any sleep until I dozed off while waiting for my train in North Station at around 6am.

FREMONT, CA – 6/15/2011: If it wasn’t for Mike, my move to NorCal probably wouldn’t have happened as smoothly as it did. It was only fitting that I watched games six and seven of the Stanley Cup Finals with him.  This Bruins team will go down as one of the most memorable teams in Boston sports history.  They played with that same grit and determination that many of the previous champions of the decade had shown.  They had three game seven wins (one over hated rival Montreal), were missing two top scorers in the finals, and swept the team that embarrassed them just last year in the playoffs.

It was an amazing run and one of my favorites. The 2010-2011 Bruins epitomized what I love about watching sports.  To top it all off, when it comes to sports excitement, playoff hockey is at another level.

My victory photo after the Bruins win will always be tainted by a Raiders sign above. I thought it was an apropos part of the shot considering that the decade of dominance all began with a victory over Oakland.

EDITOR’S NOTE: I am writing this one mostly for me, so I can document these memories somewhere.

Boston sports fans have been unequivocally lucky over the past ten years.  We went from “Loserville” to “Titletown” during an unprecedented run for a city.  We can never complain about sports again.  Boston achieved the “city grand slam” (a championship in all four major American sports) within a span of seven years.  This blog entry chronicles where I was for each of the seven Boston championships over the past decade.

FOXBORO, MA – 1/19/2002: I have to mention this game because, for me, the story actually starts here.  It was the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Oakland Raiders (a.k.a. the “tuck rule” game).  It’s fitting that this journey begins with a game against a team from near where I live now in Northern California.

I went to the game with a co-worker and we sat in the company seats.  We were six rows from the field and I still had to watch the reaction of the people behind the goal posts to know if Adam Vintateri’s final two field goals went through the uprights.  Entering the stadium that day was unlike than any other game I had been to up to that point.  There was an energy in the crowd that I had never felt before and I knew that this time, things were going to be different.

Here’s a funny (well, funny looking back now) story I have never shared:  As everyone knows, it was really snowy that night.  Foxboro Stadium was a nightmare to get out of, even worse than the Blade (which is really bad also).  I drove to the game by myself because my co-worker lived south of the stadium and I was coming from the north.  Because the wait was so long, (while I was waiting for the traffic to move), I cracked open a couple of beers to pass the time.

In my over-joyous and over-excited state, it wasn’t until I was driving through downtown Boston on my way home (on that old, elevated, huge green monstrosity of a highway) that I realized that I had been drinking and driving the entire time.  There I was, in the middle of a snowstorm, so giddy that I didn’t even realize that I was drinking from a beer in my car’s cup holder.  However, I wasn’t drunk.  I was just so euphoric about the outcome of that game that I didn’t even realize what I was doing.

NEW ORLEANS, LA – 2/3/2002: Thanks to Mr. Baseball, I got to attend Super Bowl XXXVI.  There is nothing like attending a Super Bowl.  The Super Bowl city buzzes for a week and there are celebrities and players everywhere.  I sat at the very last row of the Superdome with Mr. Baseball’s brother-in-law Jeff and we got to see U2, Paul McCartney, the Boston Pops and most importantly, the Patriots win their first Super Bowl championship.  On the way up to our seats, we met J.R. Redmond’s father and the Andruzzi brothers – NYC firefighters who were in the Twin Towers before they collapsed.

When Vinateri’s 48-yard, game-winning field goal went through the uprights, I slumped down in my seat and began to cry like a baby.  It was so bad that the guys sitting next to me (2 firefighters from Worcester) leaned over and asked if I was ok.

It was the greatest weekend of my life.

WOBURN, MA – 2/1/2004: A bunch of my family members and I watched the Patriots win their second Super Bowl at my cousin Euell’s condo.  I remember our friend Kato yelling “It’s a rout!” long before the game was decided.  His statement wasn’t as crazy as me screaming “DYNASTY” numerous times like a Tourette’s patient after the winning field goal.

I still laugh about that from time to time.

BURLINGTON, MA – 10/27/2004: I attended 2004 ALCS Games 3 (19-8 debacle), 5 (14-inning gut-wrencher) and 7 (the night we danced in Yankee Stadium), but watched this one at my old house in Pleasantville.  I never thought I’d see the day when the Red Sox actually won the World Series.  When Keith Foulke flipped that final out to Doug Mientkiewicz, everyone looked at me to see my reaction.  I remember just sitting motion/expressionless in disbelief and thinking to myself, “Did that really just happen?”

This game changed everything.  It changed what it meant to be a Red Sox fan and it was a game that I had dreamed about seeing ever since I started watching sports.

(Oops. Looks like this one has run much longer than I like my blog entries to be. Stay tuned for Part 2…)

….because I’ve been here for years.

Last Wednesday, I told a few folks that if the Bruins won Game 7 I would restart the blog.  As promised, here I am.  You may be wondering where I’ve been for the past seven months.  I think I needed time to adjust to my new life in NorCal and time away from here.  I got really burned out and I always told myself that when writing felt like it was becoming a chore I would stop.  After 500 posts, I needed a break.

The magical, exciting, inspiring (fill in 1,000 more adjectives here) run of the 2010-2011 Boston Bruins has re-ignited my desire to write.  If you are a fan of this blog, you have those guys to thank (cough *Klemmer* cough).  Speaking of thanking, I’d like to thank everyone who has asked about the blog during the past seven months.  I am incredibly humbled that some of you actually expressed that you missed coming here.  It means more to me than you will ever know.  From the bottom of my heart (and the top of my keyboard)…

THANK YOU!

There is going to be a few changes to how I write.  I am only going to write one blog entry per week and it will go up every Monday.  Hopefully, by cutting back I won’t get burned out again.  Along with the promise of one blog entry a week, I’m going to try and make Truth About Mike better than it has ever been.  Quality over quantity is going to be the goal.  If the mood strikes, I may post more than once a week but it certainly won’t be the norm.

What I have I been up to for the past seven months?  Well, we have a lot of catching up to do.  I will say that I’m finally starting to feel like a Californian (whatever that means) and moving here is one of the best things I have ever done.  I don’t miss Titletown as much as I thought I would.  However, I miss my loved ones back there more than I ever imagined I could.  Miley is well and is as mischievous as ever.

Lastly, a note to my blog heckler:  I know who you are and I’ve always known.  It is rather pathetic that you continue to leave nasty comments on here.  I don’t know what I ever did to you.  Keep firing away, though.  Your sophomoric attempts to get under my skin are always good for a laugh.

To everyone else, thanks again for coming along for the ride.

Until next week…

Is this thing on?

Stay tuned…

(happy birthday Allie and Tupac!)

Sorry I haven’t written much lately.  I’ve been busy with work and adjusting to life in my new place in NorCal.  Thanks to everyone who keeps checking in.

I’m going to take a break from writing for a little while.  I think I may be burned out.

Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone!

1) There is this amazing dog park right near my new place.  One thing that is really great about this area is that there are a ton of dog parks.  Many of them have fenced-in areas where the dogs can run free.  Some even have separate areas for big dogs and smaller dogs, all fenced in.

2) Speaking of my new place, I absolutely love it.  It is close to work and in a really great area.  Literally any store and any type of restaurant (good or fast food) you would ever want is nearby.  Miley is adjusting well to her new home and top it all off, work is going well also.

3) The one bad thing about the new place is that I don’t have TV yet.  DirecTV is coming Saturday and it can’t get here soon enough.  I watched exactly three outs of the last two games of the World Series.  I listened to a lot of it on the radio.

As the Giants were taking the field for the bottom of the ninth last night, I was on the way to my old place to pick up some stuff.  During the top of the ninth, I pulled out of the traffic and off of the highway to find a place to catch the end of the game.

I ended up in some taqueria with about four people in there.  I saw the TV through the window and walked in as the bottom of the ninth was starting.  It was a pretty cool way to see the end of a great World Series, IMO.  I was among five complete strangers.

Giants fans talk about this 56 year long World Series drought:

1) It is nothing compared to the Red Sox drought.

2) Don’t think me moving out here and the drought ending within three months isn’t related.

October 30, 2010.

No matter what happens between now and 12/31, it will be the best day of the year for me.  If you’ve been reading along, by now you know the reasons why.  It was the day I got the keys to my new place and more importantly, the day I got my dog back.  It is the literal and figurative day my life finally got put back together.

I dropped Miley off at the kennel on July 23rd.  To be honest, I wasn’t 100% sure I’d ever see her again after that.  Of course the plan was to see her again, but realistically speaking I wasn’t completely sure.

Chuck told me that Miley was very nervous when he dropped her off.  This had me worried throughout the day.  After her flight took off, I must have tracked it about 50 times on the American Airlines website.  Each time, it showed an arrival that was running a few minutes behind. Flying coast-to-coast is a long flight for someone who knows what is going on.  I can’t imagine what was going through her head during those six hours in the air and during the two hours spent in the airports.

I arrived at the AA cargo desk not really sure where to go, but a kind Filpino woman assured me I was in the right place.  When the flight landed, they announced the corresponding baggage claim carousel a bunch of times.  Each time, I’d look over to the cargo area to see if Miley had been brought out.  Sensing my anxiety, the Filipino woman came over and checked my ID to speed up the process.  After hearing the carousel announcement for what seemed like the 50th time, she looked over to me and held up ten fingers to signify that Miley would be out in about 10 minutes.

Those ten minutes felt like 10 years.  After that time, she smiled and waved me over and there Miley was.  Immediately, I crouched down to make sure she was ok.  She looked shaken and confused as to what was going on.  Once she recognized me, she instantly was taken out of her “travel trance” and seemed very happy.  I must have been in the way because another employee annoyingly said something to the effect of, “Sir, after you sign for her you can take her.”

After signing for her, he helped me load her crate onto one of those luggage carts that you can rent in baggage claims.  As we weaved our way through the travelers waiting to pick up their bags, many people looked in, “oohed and aahed” and remarked at how cute she was.  There’s something about a dog in an airport terminal that melts people’s hearts.  Maybe it is because dogs are a reminder of home for people away from home.

During the ride home and until she woke up this morning, Miley seemed very sluggish.  This morning, she was bright-eyed, bushy tailed and back to her young self.  I’m guessing the airplane ride was quite stressful for her.  All it took was a good night’s sleep and to get back on solid ground (or at least as solid as ground can be directly over the San Andreas fault) for her to get back to normal.

For about three months, I wondered when (and if) I’d get her back.  For three months, we lived on opposite coasts with over 3,000 miles setting us apart.  Not today.

I can now safely say that all of that worrying about the move and if everything would work out is gone.

That was yesterday.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Today is the six year anniversary of the Red Sox winning the 2004 World Series.

This one going to be short and is probably going to be all over the place.  I’m spent and have an early meeting tomorrow.

I’ll start with two quick sports blurbs:

1) The World Series starts tonight.  I don’t really care who wins.  What I would really like is for the series to go seven games.  I’ll explain why later.

2) Great win by the Celtics tonight.  It was pretty much expected that the C’s would take the first game against the Heat.  Both teams have a lot of improving to do to get to where they want to be at the end of the season.

I was overwhelmed by all of the well wishes on my first day yesterday.  I wasn’t kidding when I said I was a lucky guy.  Thanks everyone!  Work went fine.  It was your typical first day and it was great to be back in an office.  What wasn’t great was the traffic this morning.  I left really early to get a jump on traffic and still walked in exactly at 8.  Also, I brought bagels in for everyone in the office.  Obviously, you never get a second chance to make a first impression and I think the bagels were a great call.

I left the office at around 7pm tonight (we had a “team-building” exercise after work) and the traffic was still terrible.  Thankfully, my new place is a lot closer to work.  I only have to really deal with a bad commute until Friday.  The traffic in this area is just awful.

Now that my first day of work is out of the way, I can focus on the next big thing this week.  Miley had her “pre-flight” checkup at the vet yesterday and she passed with flying (pun intended) colors.  She is all set for her flight on Saturday to the west coast.  The one thing that prevented me from going postal in all of that traffic today was thinking about getting Miley back on Saturday.  It is going to be so great.

To quote Hannibal from the A-Team:

I love it when a plan comes together.