The Pats are in the Super Bowl.

Yeah.

YEAH!

YEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAH
YEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAH
YEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAH
YEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAH
YEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've wanted to do that all day. For a satisfactorally mature adult, I've spent most of the day wanting to run around like an idiot screaming at the top of my lungs. I'm a little sad that I've lost the impulse to actually do such a thing, but happy that there are still moments in sports that make me feel this way. Nice to know that all the drug arrests, labor actions, and generally loathesome behavior haven't completely killed things for me.

I could link you to something like three dozen stories about Drew Bledsoe's triumphant return from the bench, or the miracle of the Pats' run, but how much can you say? Bledsoe's return specifically is burned on the collective psyche of the New England sports fan for all time. Orr's diving goal, Havlicek stealing the ball, Carlton waving his homer fair, and Drew leading the team to the Super Bowl after 4 months of not playing at all.

Troy Brown, who made it very clear that he should have been on the Pro Bowl team to start, proved two things on Sunday. First, that he's the best player in the NFL from Marshall University. Don't even get me started on this guy (another example of Herb Brooks' million dollar body and ten cent rat fart for a brain). Troy Brown went from not wanted to invaluable through hard work, determination, and an unshakable belief in himself.

He also put himself in my Pantheon. No gods in mine (regardless of the literal meaning of Pantheon), but rather athletes who, by virtue of the way they played showed themselves as people equal to their physical prowes. Troy joins:

Raymond Bourque Ridiculous work ethic, stuck by a team that clearly didn't care if it won the Stanley Cup or not until finally asking if he could go somewhere that did. It says something about Ray that a very small minority of fans held him to task for that. And that several thousand showed up at Boston City Hall Plaza to see him and the Cup after the Avs won it.

Robert Parish The silent partner of the Celtics' Big Three. Bird won the MVPs, McHale the Sixth Man Awards, and The Chief just kept working. Even after his partners in crime left, he was out there doing battle with the new generation (perhaps a little too long). Nothing flashy, nothing that made you shake your head in disbelief. Just rock solid play. I'll admit some tarnish here given his marijuana rap (which in today's NBA is hardly worth noting) and alleged domestic abuse. But I still think the positives outweigh.

Trot Nixon At a Sox game a few years back Jon Couture and I jokingly tabbed him The Franchise or something similarly ridiculous. Now all of a sudden he's the most consistent player on the team, and one of the few not to pack it in when the team imploded in the wake of Jimy's firing. He's the sort of player the Sox rarely have and almost never appreciate: a player whose work ethic is almost as strong as his character and leadership. There are plenty of stars, but Trot's got himself in the position to lead.

John Hannah I've made it clear that I'm partial to the big uglies in the trenches, but it's hard to discount what Hog Hannah meant to the Pats. I remember him as a lot like Parish, except that he completely dominated opponents and was OK (though not brash) about telling you that. Add to the master of his position his post-football financial career, and you'll see the brains under the brawn.

Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong Both in for similar reasons. Both grew to stardom in a sport almost no one in the US follows, both faced medical problems that could have killed them (Armstrong's cancer and LeMond's accidental shooting) and returned to dominate. Unbelieveable mental toughness. And to be able to ride that fast on a bicycle? I can't even get my ass to stay on one nowadays, never mind doing 60 on a twisting Alpine road.

Edwin Moses Carl Lewis won his golds, Mary Decker Tabb Slaney Etc. had the fan base and the Olympic jinx. Edwin Moses focused on his event, the 400 meter hurdles. And won. A lot. I watched him every chance I could get. I saw the race he lost to break his 122 race win streak. I don't know much about him personally, but always admired his constancy and his humility in setting a mark that's track's equivalent to DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak.

Mia Hamm Many of the athletes above dominated their position or their sport. Mia's had to do it while being a role model to countless girls and the standard-bearer for women's sports in the US. Plus, she's dominating the world in a sport, like LeMond and Armstrong, that isn't much favored by Americans (though we're coming around). And she's apparently landed Nomar, which adds a whole new dimension of her personality that's awe-inspiring (and think about the kids they'd have!).

Nomar Yeah, probably should have been in before Nixon, but I think my respesct for Nomar is harder to define, as he's a pretty big star whose dedication to baseball is often clouded by other stuff (see above, for example). Jeter gets more press, A Rod makes more money, but I'd still rather have Nomar on my team. Don't have to worry about him getting into a scrape with P. Diddy's "people" or being worried about the location of his merchandise tent at spring training. His return from injury last season helps cement his place here, though the jury's still out on his leadership style. I'm hoping he'll meld performance with clubhouse presence, but fear that he may opt for the detached star posturing so many others take.

Bill Bradley For showing you can be intelligent and a world-class athlete. And for having the principles to run against Al Gore when the party was clearly against him. I can't see him running again, but hope he does.

Roberto Clemente Never saw him play live, of course, but I can't help but respect him. You can say he was foolish for getting on the plane taking aid to victims of an earthquake in Nicarauga, but it's a measure of him that he'd care so deeply for people he didn't know or fully represent (being Puerto Rican). And he was a hell of a ball player, based on what I've read and seen on ESPN Classic.

There are probably others, but these are the folks who are clearly in. I'd run a separate list of athletes on my shit list, but I think Blogger limits the amount of space I can use.