Wow. Rough night for the ol' Pats, eh?

At the end I consoled myself briefly, thinking, "well, at least we won't have to listen to endless acrimonious debate about that frakin asterisk."

But the funny thing about sports (and politics) is that people never let a big loss or a win like this go.  Not only will Belichick's third-quarter decision to go for it on fourth-and-13 rather than kick a field goal be painfully parsed for years to come, along with his leaving the field with one second still on the clock, but those last moments will forever bring Pats fans inexpressible pain and Pats-haters incredible pleasure. 

The narrative from the Pats' perspective is not quite as nuanced as from the Giants', though.  For the Pats, it's a question of how the well-oiled machine malfunctioned at The Moment of Truth.  From the other side, the poetic irony of the Giants as David to the Pats' Goliath is only one take on the events of the night, but it captures the near Biblical proportions of this game to many. 

In the eyes of Belichick-bashers everywhere, the Giants' last-minute victory was the sweetest moral vindication imaginable, and proof positive of the Hebrew God's intense interest in American football, and His desire to impart a valuable lesson to football-loving children all across the land: "Cheaters never win!*"

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*Of course it would be irresponsible not to put an asterisk after that.