When I'm 100 years old, I can envision my great-great-grandson coming to me and saying: “Grandpa, who won the Super Bowl in 2008?”

I’m sure I’ll think for a while and then reply, “You know, I really can’t remember, Eli. But I know the New England Patriots lost!”

Yes, it was that big. Normally nobody ever remembers who loses Super Bowl games, although I know the Cleveland Browns have never lost one. But everyone will remember the Patriots losing.

New England came so close to immortality. A win would have given them a perfect 19-0 record and vaulted them into the status of one of the elite teams of all-time. Man, I can hardly hold back the tears.

Instead, the Miami Dolphins are still the only NFL team in modern times to go undefeated. Then again, don’t forget that the Browns went undefeated (15-0) in winning the All-America Conference in 1948. And that league wasn’t too bad. The two leagues merged in 1950 and the Browns played in the NFL championship game for 6 straight years, winning 3.

How bad was losing for the Patriots? It was so bad that coach Bill Belichick didn’t even wait for the end of the game, leaving with 1 second left. Then again, maybe he had to beat everyone else to the locker room to destroy some tapes.

The Giants deserve all the credit for that win. Their defensive line was phenomenal and didn’t give Tom Brady time to get off a good pass. And Eli Manning did everything he needed to do to pull out the victory. Of course when seldom-used receivers are catching balls with their helmets, you know that fate has a hand in it.

It has to go down as one of the most exciting Super Bowls of all time. I love defense, so I don’t care about those high-scoring fiascoes. That game was very special.

The only problem now is that not only will we see Peyton Manning in almost half the ads on TV, we’ll also see his little brother. To the victor go the spoils, as they say.

Meanwhile, you can bet there will be a drop-off on sales of gray hoodies. (I still say part of the loss was because Belichick broke tradition and wore that red hoodie in the Super Bowl. All of a sudden the guy got fancy.)

Fans are taking the loss hard. I don’t know if it’s true, but I hear that Red Lobster has taking New England Clam Chowder off the menu and is only serving the Manhattan variety. I prefer the red stuff anyhow!

How bad is it? Boston fans have forgotten who Bill Buckner was! Stephen King is going to write a horror story where aliens devour a villain named Bill Belichoke! Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft has raised the price of cheese!

Then again for most of us who don’t like coaches who cheat, it’s a case of “all’s well that end’s well.”

Lynn Saternow is sports editor of The Herald