Now that Super Bowl XL has come and gone, bringing with it the usual thrills and chills - thrills for players and fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers, chills (not to mention shakes, headaches, and maybe even a sick call to work) for anyone who may have gotten a little too caught up in the whole Super Bowl party thing, what is a football fan to do until next season begins?

Sure, we have the Pro Bowl to look forward to this weekend, but that isn't the same thing as watching a real game, with real players playing with real emotion for a real outcome. The only way they can even get players to come to this event is by having it in Hawaii, but the draw of the tropical weather doesn't change the fact that the Pro Bowl is just an exhibition game and the main focus of the players, rightfully so, is to avoid injury.

So what to do? Some of us don't have the ability or the time to play Madden '06 continuously until we can manipulate the game to make our favorite team win the Super Bowl. In addition to holding down real jobs, we already have family members who look at us a little strangely, and besides, it's not half as much fun screaming at yourself for making a stupid coaching decision as it is pretending to know a play the real coach called wasn't going to work as you watch the replay of the actual game on TV.

Analyzing the upcoming draft is a possibility if you're so inclined. By so inclined I mean you enjoy other exciting things like watching snow melt and, of course, you already won Madden '06, since you clearly are immune to that "strange looks from family members" thing.

Well, if you are a long-time New England sports fan, you can console yourself by watching any of your three championship DVD's, or do as I have done, and look back over the recent past in appreciation of what, exactly, your local football franchise has accomplished over the past half-decade. This is especially enjoyable if you have a long enough memory to recall exactly what a joke this Patriots franchise was for so long.

Can anyone forget the head coach (Clive Rush) who was nearly electrocuted at his introductory press conference? Most head coaches at least get the opportunity to fail before being eliminated. How about the rinky-dink stadium, built over something like a single summer, for about what you would spend on one of those little sheds people put in their back yards? Before it was finally bulldozed into something appropriate, a parking lot, this stadium had had nearly as many names (Schaefer Stadium, Sullivan Stadium, Foxboro Stadium) as seats. Or the Lisa Olson controversy involving the female reporter who was famously harassed by players with their "Patriot Missile" comment during the first Iraq War?

Now, however, those days are long over. New England is looked at as a sports model, both in terms of success on the field and franchise management. It is that success on the field that most of us sports junkies, or at least me, enjoy. It is an example of how far this team has come that not at least making the AFC Championship game was viewed as unacceptable by both team management and players. The consistency of performance over the last five years has been eye-popping.

The last time the New England Patriots lost consecutive games, in a league constructed to achieve parity, was, incredibly, Dec. 16 and 22, 2002, a span of 1,144 days. This includes three seasons of playoff appearances and two Super Bowl championships.

This means the Pats have played 57 games since they last suffered back-to-back losses, a string of consistency unmatched in today's NFL. To put that number in context, it is nearly three times longer than the next-most consistent team, the Jacksonville Jaguars at 21 games. Here are the numbers ( I told you my family looks at me a little strangely):
1) New England Patriots - 57
2) Jacksonville Jaguars - 21
3) Seattle Seahawks - 18
Denver Broncos - 18
New York Giants - 18
Carolina Panthers - 18
7) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 9

I could go on and on, but then you probably already feel like I have. The point here is obvious, but I'll state it anyway. No one can win a championship every year, especially when the draft and schedule are constructed to prevent that. Consistent achievement, however, gives fans and players a sense that winning a Super Bowl is a real possibility every year. This is what keeps interest high, even when one season just ended, and it's six long months until the next one begins.