NoCal Patriot

Let me preface my remarks by letting You all know that I attended my first Patriots Game in 1970 at Harvard Stadium on the day that Bob Gladieux was called out of the crowd to The Patriots Locker Room and 10 minutes later made the tackle on the opening kickoff.Prior to that the only connection I had to the Patriots was that Babe Parillli's Dad was my barber.He gave Me team photos and autographs from everyone including Ron Burton,Gino Cappaletti,Tom Yewcic,so it's fair to say with the exception of a few on this board my relationship with The Patriots goes back as far as anyones.
There has been much written in the past few days that Sunday's was the toughest loss ever.Respectfully,I must disagree.We have won Three Super Bowls recently and that lifts a great burden off of Our shoulders.To Me Our worst loss was The 1976 Playoff loss against Oakland.The Football World in New England was far different back then.There weren't anywhere near as many Patriots Fans back then.Playoff berths were also tougher to secure.
The 1976 Patriots under Chuck Fairbanks were really our first chance to compete on the highest level of the NFL.Remember,We only joined The NFL six year previous.The joy that "The Patriots and their 40000 core base fans celebrated when the Patriots secured their first NFL Playoff Berth was a day no one who was there will ever forget.Remember those days at Foxboro were more like the "Old West" than the sanitized Gillette Stadium is now.The crowd was College Students,Truckers,Roofers,Painters,in other words, a crowd with a real edge to it.As bad as some Patriots Teams have been ,the early 1970's were a real low.Chuck Fairbanks gave Us the first signs of hope that led Us to the 1976 Playoffs.We had a young,good,exciting team.They had rolled The Raiders at Foxboro in Week 2.We knew We were better and The Raiders knew We were better.When The corrupt Ben Dreith STOLE that Playoff game from Us it ended Our first "Great Ride"with The Patriots.It was a bitter pill that was very hard to swallow.
I carried this loss with Me for several years and it wasn't until 1995 that I finally let it go.My friend and fellow Patriots Fan,Tom and I found ourselves in the Hometown of none other than Ben Dreith,which happens to be St.George,Utah.We drove over to his Home and We pissed on his front lawn.
He ran out screaming,"What the Hell are You guys doing?"I responded,"Giving You the business!"which happened to be the words He used to describe what Ray Hamilton did to Ken Stabler..He shook his head ,swore and said' "Damn Patriots Fans!" The coward never came any closer than 20 feet from Us.He clearly got the message.
Tom and I left St.George,Utah and drove to Colorado wher we stopped and drank well into the evening toasting The 1976 Patriots.It took 19 years but I finally let it go.It made the 3 Super Bowl victories much sweeter.As bad as it feels tonight,there is closure out there if You know where to find it!

psychoPat

patriotspride

that is just to funny .i wish i could have done that .the pats not only rolled the raiders that year but if memory serves didnt they beat the steelers cowboys and the oilers that year ?

Ghost of Ben Dreith

Great story....did you have on any Pats gear? If not.....I wonder how many times it, or something similar was done before since he identified the source of his torment.
Maybe he was happy it was only liquids you left on his lawn

All the playoff losses hurt....some more than others...I got over this one much better and sooner than I would have thought during the game.

God, Life, and the Patriots.....its all good.

NoCal Patriot

Nem,It definitely was Harvard Stadium .It was the first year that I had Season Tickets and My friend Joe and I wanted to get good seats at The then "New Stadium " so We signed up a year early for Season Tickets.That season We got to see the biggest fraud in the History of The Patriots,Joe Kapp,BS his way through a completely forgetable season.The highlight of the year was the final game against The Minnesota Vikings when it snowed the night before the game and No one shoveled out Harvard Stadium.It led to one of the biggest snow ball fights in the History of The NFL.The Vikings were getting pummmeled by 15000 people throwing snow balls at their bench.The Public Address Announcer asked the stadium to refrain but all that announcement did was quadruple the velocity of Snow Balls!That is how our first year in The NFL ended! By the way that first season for Me ,season Tickets cost $ 60.00 .

Box_O_Rocks

I sort-of got over that loss in 2001 (at least the Ref made the correct call even if the rule is wimpy), it's gotten better each year since, and that includes this season. It was a great season that proved to me the dynasty is on a rock solid, healthy foundation. Go Pats!

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NoCal Patriot

Thanks for the link,NEM.Those early AFL days were really wild .I remember Chuck Shonta and Ron Burton doing a clinic when I was a kid and I thought that they were the biggest men I had ever seen.The early days at Foxboro were simply a circus.Wild times and great memories.Remember ,Schaffer is the one beer to have when You're having more than one!In those days We all had many more than one!

patsfan55

so, should i go piss on brett favre (still a lil pissed bout sb 31) and peyton mannings lawns???

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“My favorite ring? I've always said, you know, I always said the next one. The next one is the best,” Brady says.

NoCal Patriot

If it works for You, why not !

Tunescribe

I'd like to know where Polian's lawn is located.