Diehard New England Patriots fan are having trouble coming to grips with the New York Giants’ 17-14 Super Bowl win that ruined the chance for a perfect season.

They still can’t believe New York’s Eli Manning escaped a sure sack and David Tyree hung on to his pass against his helmet with Rodney Harrison draped all over him.

The bottom line is the Giants were the better team and deserved the win.

The Giants’ defensive line won the line of scrimmage.

Still, the Patriots rallied to take the lead 14-10 and the Giants had to go 83 yards in 2:42 to win it.

They did as the Pats defense couldn’t make a play in that final drive.

Take solace.

As bitter as the loss might be, it isn’t nearly as painful as some other games that local Boston/New England/University of Maine fans have had to endure.

One: Remember 1986? The Boston Red Sox came one pitch away from winning their first World Series in 68 years on three different occasions against the New York Mets. But the Mets, trailing 5-3 with two outs in the bottom of the 10th in Game 6, strung together some hits, catcher Rich Gedman allowed the tying run to score when he didn’t move his feet on Bob Stanley’s slider in the dirt and then we all remember Bill Buckner’s five-hole blunder. The Sox took a 3-0 lead in Game 7, but the Mets rallied for an 8-5 triumph.

Two: In 1978, Bucky Dent’s three-run homer in the seventh inning of a one-game playoff erased a 2-0 deficit and gave the New York Yankees the American League East Division title 5-4. The Red Sox squandered a 14-game lead and Red Sox fans, to this day, can’t say the names Bucky and Dent without an expletive between the names. Dent hit just 40 homers in a 12-year career with 4,512 at-bats.

Three: In 1975, the Red Sox took a 3-0 lead in Game 7 of the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds at Fenway Park. But the Reds tied it and won it on Joe Morgan’s bloop single off Jim Burton in the ninth inning. In Game 6, Carlton Fisk had hit his dramatic 12th-inning homer off the left field foul pole to force the deciding game.

Four: In 2003, it was Game 7 of the American League Championship Series and the Red Sox had a 5-2 lead in the eighth inning. But manager Grady Little left starter Pedro Martinez in the game in the eighth inning instead of following his normal routine of going to the bullpen in that situation and the Yankees rallied to tie it before winning it on Aaron Boone’s homer in the 11th.

Five: It was 2002 and the University of Maine men’s hockey team had a 3-2 lead with less than a minute to play in their national championship game against Minnesota in Minnesota. But the Bears iced the puck and on the ensuing faceoff to the left of Maine goalie Matt Yeats, Matt Koalska wound up with the puck and his wrist shot along the ice somehow bypassed a passelof legs on its way to the back of the net with just 52.4 seconds remaining. Minnesota won in overtime 4-3 on a power-play goal by Grant Potulny.

Six: It was 1986 and Maine led Arizona 7-1 with two outs in the bottom of the eighth in their College World Series opener. A pair of homers off reliever Marc Powers cut it to 7-5 and then, in the bottom of the ninth, Dave Shermet hit a two-out, three-run homer off Mike Ballou on a 3-2 pitch to win it. Arizona went on to win the CWS.

Don’t fret. The Patriots will win another Super Bowl within the next five years.

And, as we learned through the Red Sox, the next title will erase the memory of 2008.

lmahoney@bangordailynews.net

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