what is this weird sensation?

[burnunit]

Oh yeah, the most beloved team from my childhood is the super bowl favorite. I couldn't pin it down exactly, it's this sort of weird giddy optimism pierced by intense moments of petrifying doubt. Example: having proven that they cannot be stopped in the event they somehow needed to score any more, and holding a lead that more than doubles their opponent (41-20 over the long long LONG hated division rival Denver Broncos who more than once put me in tears) San Diego chooses to go for a totally superfluous touchdown which would give Ladanian Tomlinson sole possession of the single season record for individual touchdowns, a record he would have three more games to break in a season when multi-TD games come to him as easily as oxygen comes to the rest of us in the air we breathe. My prediction, intoned direly at the TV "Don't! Don't do it! You'll risk injury to for an individual record? The football gods will punish you for this." The hands-down favorite for league MVP went in standing up, never at risk for any kind of injury unless someone was going to stab or shoot him or if his teammates dropped during the end zone celebration. The 48-20 final (and except for the third quarter, it wasn't even that close, really) is now almost an afterthought. Jeez, is this what New England fans feel like all the time, knowing that their team is possibly an unbeatable juggernaut with the near-perfect combination of youth and skill? No wonder San Franciscans keep electing Ms. Pelosi and Texans elected W governor twice. The citizens were wasted after all the super bowls their teams won in the 80s and 90s.

This theory does not explain Pawlenty.