On Brady

It goes without saying that we’re among the most Tom Brady-hatin’ people you’ll ever know – although we’ve always tried to pepper our commentary on “Poopie” by acknowleding our insane jealousy regarding his superior looks and talent.

Brady is the Field Marshal for the Evil Empire – a.k.a. the New England Patriots – a team that has stolen more joy from us than we care to think about right now, all while consistently relegating our beloved Indianapolis Colts to second fiddle in the National Football League.

Brady has not only beaten our beloved Horsies consistently, but he’s consistently beaten them down. We’re talking authentic emotional distress and psychological distress.

Anyway, you might think we’d be pleased as punch that Brady’s gone for the year – suffering a season-ending knee injury Sunday in the Patriots first regular season game of 2008.

After all, assuming Peyton Manning and the Colts can get healthy and the O-Line get their blocking schemes down, Indianapolis is probably the new Super Bowl front-runner despite a poor opening-night showing against Da Bears.

What’s not to cheer about, right?

Wrong.

As much as we can’t stand Brady, the fact of the matter is that his injury is just plain awful news – not just for him personally, but for the sport of football.

Brady can be arrogantly annoying and aloofishly bombastic off the field, but he’s still the best big game quarterback in football when he steps out between the white painted lines.

And you can say whatever you want about his off-field celebrity status, but at least it was earned by dating gorgeous women as opposed to running a dog-fighting ring.

And so Brady’s loss – as much as it may ultimately benefit our favorite team’s chances of competing for another Super Bowl Championship – is not something we’re celebrating.

Indy’s Super Bowl XLI victory was so special to us because it was preceded by the greatest pro football game of all-time – a showdown between Manning and Brady at the height of their careers that will live forever in football lore.

Sadly, Brady’s injury means we won’t get to witness such high theater this year.

It’s certainly a feat to win a Super Bowl under any circumstances, but going through the Patriots to do it means you truly beat the best, and as much as we love our Colts there’s no denying that Brady’s Bunch is the best team to take the field in several decades.

Anyway, here’s hoping Brady will be back in action and playing at 100% as soon as possible.

As much as we love to hate him, the game just isn’t the same without him.