It's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. I believe that statement to be true. I think the original version used "Tis", but I really don't say "Tis" much so I'm using the updated version.

Anyway, the NFL version of that statement would be: "It's better to have to have made the playoffs and lost than to have not made the playoffs at all." I believe that statement to be true, as well. But I really don't want to hear it right now, not at 5:42am on Sunday, January 11 as I write this. Roughly six hours ago, I was in Foxboro, MA, watching the New England Patriots end the Tennessee Titans' season, 17-14.

The Patriots are very good and played hard and well. They were deserving winners.

The Titans also played hard and well and had their chances to win the game. It wasn't to be for Tennessee, but there was no shame in the effort. A 13-5 record certainly is a good year in the NFL.

To some teams, it would be a great year, but not to the Tennessee Titans. Our goal is the Super Bowl every year, so when we don't make it, we can't classify our season as great.

It's not a bad year. The Titans certainly aren't failures. But it just isn't what we had hoped for, starting with coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Floyd Reese and going all the way down the line.

Including the broadcasters.

That's why at 5:47am on Sunday morning after the game, I'm writing this column. The season is over and I'm already feeling the loss and the disappointment. The good news for me is that it will get worse for the next 60 hours.

I'll get up later today slept-deprived, grumpy and still cold from last night's record lows in Massachusetts and I'll be tempted to tune in the other NFL divisional playoff games. If I watch, it will make me bitter that we are out of the playoffs. If I don't watch, it will make me bitter because I'm probably doing some task that I had promised to do "when the season ended", which it now has.

On Monday, I'll go to work and all of the guys will be huddled in one room, talking about the loss at New England, our salary cap situation, the draft, Jevon Kearse, free agency and the like. Talking about all of that is good, but the fact that we have time to talk about all of that is depressing. For the past five months, we haven't had time to breath and now we have time to sit and chat for a moment. We don't really want to have the time to sit and chat, but now we do so we will.

On Tuesday, all of the work to clean up the season will really start. Plenty of fun paperwork to fill out, forms to get signed and charts to updated. I'll even straighten up my office for the first time since July. All that stuff that I didn't have time for while we were playing, I now have time for. Man, I can't wait for that!

Before this starts totally sounding like an episode of the thoroughly-depressing "Curb Your Enthusiasm" show, things do pick up on Tuesday night.

We'll do the Jeff Fisher Radio Show at O'Charley's in Brentwood at 6pm and some of the best fans in the world will come out just to thank the Coach for a wonderful season. Their feelings are sincere and their words are heartfelt, making the night really special. That takes away some of the bitterness.

On Wednesday, an old college pal has me going to Austin Peay State University in Clarksville to speak to a group of Montgomery County's best high school students about my career. I'll bring a tape and some of my spotter's charts and we'll do some mock play-by-play---with students playing the role of Pat Ryan and me playing the role of me. I hope that I'm as good as me as they are as Pat. If it's like it was last year, it will be a blast.

It reminds me of why I love being in broadcasting.

On Thursday, I hit the road to start helping to sell the Tennessee Titans all over again. Fortunately, we have a lot to sell: 61 wins over the last 5 seasons (most in the NFL), four playoff appearances, two division titles, two AFC Championship Game appearances, an owner committed to winning, a great coach and general manager, a Co-MVP of the league, four Pro Bowlers, 53 straight sellouts in the Coliseum, 77 radio stations on our network (second most in the NFL behind Denver), tremendous TV ratings and more.

When you have a great product, it is not hard to sell. And when you love your product, that makes it even easier. I certainly love what I do for the Titans.

So the end of the season hurts, especially losing a tough game to New England. For the next two days, I may be a bear to be around. I hope those who are around me will forgive me. I'm asking this in advance, at 6:00am on Sunday, January 11.

I promise to be better by 6:00pm on Tuesday, January 13. By then, the start of the Jeff Fisher Show, the fans will have reminded me that it is MUCH better to have made the playoffs and lost than to not have made the playoffs at all.