The sport of politics. The politics of sport.

When your team is in the Super Bowl, most of us are bundles of nerves during the days, hours and minutes leading up to kickoff. You try to distract yourself, to not think about what defeat would look and feel like, much less victory. You try not to think negative thoughts, but then you don’t want to get too cocky and think positive ones. Above all, you don’t want to mess with karma.

In order to try and preserve “good karma” for your team, many of us will do our best to stick with routines that have “worked” for our team: from engaging in particular activities at particular times of day to wearing, or not wearing, particular articles of clothing.

As a Patriots fan, I will admit I didn’t have a good feeling about this game all week. While I knew the Pats would be rested, I also knew that the Giants had the momentum of the “underdog bustin’ loose” going for them. The least the Patriots could do was to NOT mess with their own karma.

That’s why I got really disturbed when I saw the following things at the outset of the game Sunday evening:

No. 1: Giselle Bundchen finally showing up on camera in the Patriots’ viewing booth. Brady’s super-model flame had been kept out of sight (or, to be fair, probably kept herself out of sight) for the better part of the team’s regular season. With all the talk of Jessica Simpson’s appearances messing with Cowboys QB Tony Romo’s mojo, you’d think the Patriots would stick with what had been working and not tempt the hand of fate. But there she finally was, for all the world to see — a bad sign.

No. 2: Bill Belichick wearing a RED hoodie. If the GRAY hoodie had been working all year, why change to red for the most important game of all?

No. 3: Pre-game hype montage. The Patriots allowed their stars to be featured in a pre-game mini-ad where they declared that they were about winning, with Tom Brady looking into the camera, saying “We are the Patriots.” Why, after a season of eating Belichick’s “humble pie,” were the guys made to do this? It was an unnecessary bit of self-aggrandizement totally at odds with “The Patriot Way.”

No. 4: On the first play of their first possession, the Patriots tried to do an overly-creative reverse play that totally failed, thanks to the no-nonsense Giants rushing D. Having an innovative play stuffed back down your throat is a confidence buster. Rather than start off with a modest series of plays that allowed them to “hide their cards,” Patriots coaches got too cute too fast.

My greatest hope for the Patriots going into next season is that they will act like the most boring team in the world — keep their play-calling pragmatic , their personal lives veiled  and their playmakers out of the media spotlight. They may let a spark or two of brilliance, a flash of glamour, show here or there.

But above all, the Patriots must not mess with their own karma. The key is always to stay in the middle of the spinning Wheel of Fortune, to never fly to high or sink too low. Therein lies the sense of balance that can, slowly but surely, lay the foundation for ultimate victory.

I still like Brady-Moss in ‘08, and I still want that bumper sticker — even if I have to wait one more year to see my dream ticket earn its way into the record books.

Yours Truly, A.F. Cook