2002-08-05 - 4:03 a.m.

When I was a little kid, after the Patriots lost Superbowl XX in the most lopsided defeat in superbowl history (to this day�46-10), I remember riding somewhere in the car with my dad.

My dad loves those lighter side of sports kinda AM radio shows. Analysis, color, a little bit of shock jock (and this was in the comparatively bland days of Imus, not like I'm an expert or anything).

I remember this:

We're taking callers right now, so feel free to voice your opinions on Raymond Perry, the loss, next season, anything you wanna talk about... And here's Joey from Saugus. So Joey, whadda ya wanna talk about?

Hey. You know what stinks about the Patriots? I bet my house on it. All of my buddies laughed about it. My goddamn house.

And?

Well, I friggin' lost it, that's what!

(laughter in the background)

I lost my friggin' house, and I had to tell my wife today. She left, and took the goddamn kid with her.

That really sucks, buddy.

I really thought I had things goin' for me. I ain't no angel or nothin' like that, but I had my sweetheart, and a steady job, and then the Pats had to friggin' blow it on a sure thing. Fuckin' sucks, with those players gettin' all kinds of money just to lose a game like that, and here I am...

OK, Joey, we're gonna move to the next caller....

I really want to know what happened to that guy. I felt so bad for him when I was a kid. Is he back on his feet again? Did his wife really leave him and take the child with her? Or did she just buckle down and settle for a life with a loser? And did he really lose the house? Does he think, every day, about that one game, the moment where everything suddenly changed, and what his life would have been like if the heavily favored Bears had lost the game to the massive underdog Patriot squad?

Did he, like everyone else in New England, know how hardcore the odds were against him winning the bet? Did he think, by laying such a fearless and ridiculous wager, that he might actually help the Pats win the game?

Has he justified his decision? Has he done anything with his life more significant than losing his house (his house!) on a stupid bet? Like, perhaps, make a fortune on some kind of an invention?

Was it even a nice house to begin with?