Have you ever?

That was pretty bad. I'm kind of unfazed just because nothing can compare to 1) the ALCS in 2003 and 2) BC hockey losing the national title on a goal with 19 seconds left. I'm not as much sad or upset as I am stunned. Ya gotta love sports, even though they can be a b!tch sometimes.

It got me to thinking, though - where does this rank on your pantheon of sports heartbreaks?

I go: 1) ALCS '03, 2) BC Hockey '07, 3) Spirit going out of existence, 4) B's choking a 3-1 series lead to the Habs, 5) tonight.

I think. I must add honorable mention to: the Pats loss to Indy last year, BC football losing its perfect season against FSU then the ACCCG to VT, the Spirit's 3 game choke against the Jackals, and traveling to the MLS Cup with friends only to see New England lose.

LITHEN! COLTH!

Let's examine the evidence:

-Amazingly bad referee calls
-Piped in crowd noise
-Pats' coach-to-QB communication system was broken
-Bill "Conflict of Interest" Polian constantly gets the competition committee to change rules based on what benefits Indy and hurts the Pats
-Colts defensive players simulating Pats' snap count

I am not a Pats apologist - in fact, I wrote a column in The Heights about how Spygate and Rodney Harrison's HGH use tainted the team somewhat, and has tempered my enthusiasm and excitement about the Pats' season. But I think it's pretty funny that the ~holier than thou~ Indianapolis Colts also have some skeletons in the closet.

I think it's pretty obvious to anyone with a brain that the NFL is a vicious, ruthless league and you are naive if you think the Patriots are big, bad cheaters and the Colts are the innocent force of good, trying to win with 'integrity.'

Someone else put it best: the biggest impact of the punishment by the league over Spygate was that now, the Pats need to buy a camera with better zoom, so somebody can film the opponent from the stands instead of from the sideline (which, for the record, is not illegal -- the rule the Pats broke was having an unauthorized cameraman on the sidelines, not filming the Jets' coordinator). If the league were to stop the Colts from piping in crowd noise, it would actually directly impact their home-field advantage.

Who's tainted now?

UPDATE: Yes, the very audible 'glitch' from yesterday was supposedly a "CBS problem," but you're naive if you don't think the Colts are piping in crowd noise --- it's been accused for years. What the CBS glitch did was make the public talk about it.

8-0. 2-0. 7-0.

It just keeps getting better.