"I've never been more crushed as a sports fan than I was after those games against Tampa Bay or Carolina, but I've also never been happier -- as a sports fan -- than I was during that era as a whole." This is an important point. Daniel Kahneman has proffered the peak-end rule, whereby an experience is subjectively judged by (a) the peak, but more generally (b) the end of the experience. Moreover, there are two separate judgments, one during the experience, and one after it. As you rightly point out, the all-too-human judgment by the "remembering self" of going 12-4 and losing an NFC championship is often qualitatively negative in retrospect, whereas the "experiencing self" really did enjoy those 12 wins, although that fleeting mind-state is seldom remembered ex post.

Incredible stuff, Derek. Just a heroic amount of work, and it shows. Thanks for the hours you put in.

One thing I love about Tommy is that he combines solid empiricism with a sunny disposition which is so rare in our fan base. I find it endearing. Re: truth regarding Vick, he accrued a lot of goodwill with me after the 2010 Miracle at the New Meadowlands and the Redskins game. He's squandering it now.

I read this in google reader, and the rare Iggles Blog post shows up right below Iggles Blitz. I read the whole thing thinking "wow, Tommy has really taken this loss hard. I can't believe he's this despondent..."