Patriots Get AFC Championship Rings, Giants Laugh in Their General Direction

We're less than three weeks away from the start of the 2008 season, and for the Patriots, it can't come soon enough. After the humiliating Super Bowl defeat at the hands of the underdog Giants, and the subsequent Spygate investigation (as well as other, more nefarious* rumors), the organization is ready to put 2007 behind them and get back to the business of DOMINATING opponents.

And maybe this season, they'll do it 19 times in a row. But there was still one loose end to tie up from last year's ultimately disappointing effort: the presentation of the 2007 AFC Championship rings. And, yes, it's a lot less glamorous than it sounds.

In the end, after declaring the season the fourth-greatest achievement in team history, [Patriots officials] elected to have a private ceremony to commemorate it last Monday at Gillette Stadium.

Owner Robert Kraft and team president Jonathan Kraft presented the players with rings. On one side of the ring, it reads "16-0 -- perfect season." On the other, it reads "18-1, AFC Championship."

Bill Belichick added: "It was a very special and historic year, and I want them to look back with pride when they look at the ring and remember the week-to-week approach." Translation: "This thing is going in the garage with my Cleveland Browns butterfly collar coaching shirts. Last year was a monumental waste of time. Eric Mangini's ass is grass."

Too bad this was a private affair; NFL Network could've charged $49.99 and fans of the 31 other teams would've happily paid it for a hour's worth of schadenfreude-tastic television.

* "nefarious" = "eyeball-gouging and vomit-inducing"