The End

 So close, yet so far away. To get to the Superbowl is a feat, but to lose the game is a blow to every New England team. How did this happen? If just one play went the other way. If they recovered at least one of the two Giant fumbles? If they didn't forget to count and had the correct number of men on the field when not having the right number meant giving up yardage? If Eli Manning wasn't so accurate? If one of their receivers didn't make a phenomenal catch? If one of our receivers didn't drop a pass? If the Hail Mary worked?

We ate our carrots and celery sticks. Dipped our veggies into the yogurt dip. We munched on pizza. Drank wine. Visited our next door neighbor's Superbowl party. I even kept my fingers crossed during the last four minutes-- to no avail.

Loss is visceral. Loss is palpable. But tomorrow we'll all be thinking of our other teams and wondering if they can climb to the peak. Tonight is too early to move on.