Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

Timeline: Sunday February 1, 7:25 a.m. Superbowl Sunday is finally here.

If I hear the word “deflate” again I’ll freak out! So here’s the deal. We have our Chinese food order written down and ready to call in. The TV people they sent to Arizona ticked me off because while they were blabbing, I was in Somerville shoveling and shivering. They ran out of interesting topics days ago.

First of all, two weeks is way too long a time to wait for the Superbowl. Talk about milking something. I enjoyed wearing my Patriots shirt to work though, and it’s been fun talking about the game with my co-workers and friends. My problem is that I am now a nervous wreck.

Like many other Boston sports fans I take these games way too serious. I already see myself moping around for three weeks if they lose. So I am going to chronicle my emotions here in this article. I should be thinking about the big snowstorm that is barreling toward us but instead I am thinking about Tom Brady and his ability to bring another Lombardi Trophy home.

What does all the hype mean? For me it’s just another thing to stress out about. I know I’m not alone either. The way this story ends is going to determine how my next three weeks are going to be. I’m a crazy fanatic. I will celebrate like a nut, or mourn like an idiot. I know there are a lot of people out there who couldn’t care less about The Superbowl, and sometimes I wish I was one of them.

I used to have a five foot cardboard cut out of Tom Brady (see photo). It had a permanent place in my living room. But after the last Superbowl loss to the Giants, I put it out to the trash. To me, it was the reason they lost. I felt like I jinxed them.

Yes, I am one of those superstitious head cases. I used to have a little paper Patriots hat that my son made in school. It stayed on its perch atop the Bose speaker next to my TV until the Pats started losing Superbowls. It broke my heart but it’s … gone now. If I decide to wear my Pats shirt tonight during the game and they start to lose, I will remove it promptly.

Timeline: Its now noon on Superbowl Sunday and my stomach is topsy-turvey. Isn’t this whole rooting for the home team thing supposed to be … fun? Well, it’s not. It will be fun if and when they win, but not yet.

Timeline: Sunday night, 4th quarter. Pats are down 24-14 with 11 minutes left in the game and off comes my Patriots shirt. I threw it into my dining room in disgust. Yes, I lost hope and started thinking about the mourning process. All of a sudden the Pats come raging back and are up 28-24! But The Seahawks make it to the goal line with an apparent victory in reach with about 20 seconds left. My heart is thumping like mad! I am bumming out. But wait! A goal line interception by a little known rookie named Malcom Butler! I am jumping up and down screaming over and over, “Are you kidding me?” I could not believe what I had just witnessed.

Somerville Facebook people are going nuts! No one believes what just happened. The Patriots, led by three time Superbowl MVP Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick had just won their fourth Superbowl. I am now very happy. And to make it sweeter, no work Monday because of the snowstorm. I stayed up very late watching the coverage of the fantastic Superbowl win.

The Chinese food was great and my Patriots shirt is still on the dining room floor. I even have some leftover fried rice, lobster sauce and a couple of crab Rangoons.

Granted, some of us fans in New England are way too into our sports teams but none of that matters now. All the seemingly silly game day superstitions worked out this year. The New England Patriots are Superbowl winners! After what Boston went through at The Marathon, it will be nice to celebrate a sweet victory together.

But not everyone is into football. My cousins Freddie and Carol wait for the games to start before they go shopping at Market Basket because it’s usually deserted. However, on this Superbowl Sunday, Market Basket was mobbed with shoppers stocking up for the snowstorm.

My Facebook post summed up how it feels … my TV has stayed on all night! I have been watching the NFL Network while flicking back and forth to the local channels to get all the Patriot Superbowl coverage I could possibly get!!! Thank you Grandpa for settling in Somerville so I could become a fan of Boston sports!! And thank you Patriots!!!