Saints Alive, I would never ask a fan to "get over" a heartbreaking loss. I am still pissed off at the phantom false start called on Tom Mack at the Viking 1 yard line. You don't ever have to forgive the refs.
I would say, however, that I am bewildered by fans who hate on us because a ref overlooked a penalty. Every team in the league breaks the rules 100 times a game. Some get called. Some don't. But it's not our fault if the ref misses one. We were just playing football. And Ram FANS have had their hearts broken so often by the league that many of us have a hard time lamenting a rare case in which one broke our way.
Now, the Pats … they really do seem to take things a long way toward intentional cheating. They get away with it, but the original sin lies with Belichek. I'll leave aside for the moment the question of whether he does it more or just more competently.
I guess I'll say 2 more things. Fan reaction is one thing. A HC not letting go … that's something else. It's unproductive. It shows poor leadership. And it may very well come back to bite the team.
The TEAM and its coaching staff had BETTER be over it this Sunday. If they're not, the vengeance project could flame out.
Finally, there is getting over it and getting over it. You never have to stop caring. But bitterness and eating one's own liver isn't healthy. I was in college and grad school during the heyday of the Ram-Viking wars, and I freely confess that I was unhealthily bitter about those games for years. I'll always have scars from those games. But I had to learn to grow up and heal from bitterness and resentment that weren't healthy.
I am not going to tell anyone where to draw that line. Your reaction seems entirely healthy to me. But I do wonder about some of the fanatics we hear about. Of course, all teams have them. I've seen plenty of Ram fans who can't get over "Beli-Cheat" in '02!
