Stories Wanted: Sick lengths you've gone to watch a Patriots game

[castlelong1]

I was in college in Quincy, Illinois for Super Bowl XX. I was surrounded by Bears fans telling me how they Bears will get another shut out. Then the fumbled kick-off and Franklin's FG. Then Rozelle canceling the Super Bowl. IT WAS CANCELLED!! IT WAS!! IT WAS!!!

sometimes when I forget my medication, i have a hallucination that it wasn't canceled.

Anyway, I was saying something. it was good too.

 

[Taxed in Maine]

I was in the National Guard for a few years. It was the first game of the season, and my wife was very pregnant. It was a small town and everybody knew. So about 12:15 my wife calls the armory claiming she is having contractions. I'm standing in the chow line when the ops seargant comes sprinting out, yelling for me to get home NOW. I burn out of there as fast as I could...... As soon as I was out of view of the Armory I was in the store buying a twelve-pack, and I was home by 12:45.

 

[Marshy]

I paid around £600 alltogether (So around $1200?) to fly from England to Boston last December and see the Jets@Patriots playoff game which is crazy enough in itself, but the story is even better.

We had to get a connecting flight, we'd fly out to france and then hop on another plane which flew to the airport in Boston - easy enough! However the plane left England late and when we arrived in France the plane had already taken off despite pretty much everyone still being on the other plane.

We were told by the French airport people that we could either spend the night in France and get a plane in the morning, or they could fly us to CANADA in a few hours and we get a flight straight from there to Boston. Of course we took the Canada option and flew out to Montreal. When we got there, we were told that not only had the plane already left for Boston, but they had no idea where any of our baggage was!

Therefore they had to put us in a dodgey hotel in Montreal (In December remember, bloody hell it's cold out there) and then flew out to Boston the next morning, still with nothing apart from our hand luggage.

We didn't get our luggage for the four days we were over there, so had to trundle around the shops and Quincy Market to get warm clothes for the game.

You know how strict and scary American airport control people are (especially after everything that's happened), so we had a tough job explaining that we wanted to fly out of America with absolutly nothing apart from a carrier bag! We finally got our luggage back around 3 weeks after we got home.

Needless to say, we won so it was all worth it!

 

[Lifer]

This is not my proudest moment.
It was 2001 and the patriots were going to be playing the raiders on that saturday night. Earlier in the week I got a phone call from my dad telling me that my grandmother (who was 94) had passed away and that the funeral was going to be on that saturday. My grandmother had been sick for quite some time and at that age, most people were more relieved than sad that she had passed, because in all truth, she was much better off, as bad as that sounds.

Anyway, I made the 7 hour drive home for the funeral and everything, but the thought of the game was in the back of my mind. My cousins and everyone were hanging out and talking since we had not seen each other in quite some time, but we still had a couple hour drive back to my parents house and needed to leave soon if we were going to make it on time for the game.

Thinking of a way to get out of talking to all these people I barely knew, I told my parents that I needed some time to myself and was going to take off for home so I could collect my thoughts. Of course they were concerned, and I hated doing that to them, but that is what I did to watch probably the greatest game of all time.

I am a sick bastard, aren't I. Do not hate me or think less of me.

this one is my favorite! Its got that George Costanza "Its not a lie if you believe it" style. Bravo!

 

[Patjew]

I was in the National Guard for a few years. It was the first game of the season, and my wife was very pregnant. It was a small town and everybody knew. So about 12:15 my wife calls the armory claiming she is having contractions. I'm standing in the chow line when the ops seargant comes sprinting out, yelling for me to get home NOW. I burn out of there as fast as I could...... As soon as I was out of view of the Armory I was in the store buying a twelve-pack, and I was home by 12:45.

I love that one.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

I went to Philadelphia - nuff said.

September 26,2005 NE v Pitt. I had just spent 15 days in Mississippi helping out with disaster relief after Katrina. We were living 40 to a tent in 95 degree/100% humidity weather eating MREs (meals ready to eat) with a hole in the ground/portapotty for bathroom and a garden hose for a shower. We were rotating home on that Sunday when the next hurricane (Rita) came thru disrupting flights. I made my first flight to Memphis when I got stranded for 6 hours ....right at the start of the Pats-Steelers game. They offered me either of two flights, one in an hour and one in 6 hours. I took the later one to watch the game. I got to watch the entire game (AV kicked the winning FG with 0:01 left) gourging on Memphis barbeque and gourging some more in the airport.......My wife is still trying to figure out how I gained weight while I was away....The first flight they offered me,ending up getting canceled so I made the right call....

 

[theONLYJerseypatsfan]

I went to Philadelphia - nuff said.

tell me you didnt wear a pats jersey! If so I bow to you brotha

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

You know how strict and scary American airport control people are (especially after everything that's happened), so we had a tough job explaining that we wanted to fly out of America with absolutly nothing apart from a carrier bag! We finally got our luggage back around 3 weeks after we got home.

Needless to say, we won so it was all worth it!

I think we're beginning to get over that 1812 thing now

 

[Spicy Meatballs]

After flying over from the UK in '93, I found a shopping mall off Sagamore where I could leave the missus to roam contentedly between the ailes of Osh Kosh, Gap and Anne Klein. There was a high mounted small tv set just outside the aforemention Osh Kosk which was screening a dismal 6-9 defeat at Indy. I sat on the floor watching every single down except one series when I had to give my learned opinion of a particular pair of shoes.

She never bought the shoes, and we went 1-7 on the season at the time.

 

[NYCPatsFan]

Last season when we played the Fins at home:

I had already committed to one ticket (great seat) a few weeks earlier to a fan coming from abroad. However, I had a high fever on Saturday and to make it worse, the forecast mentioned the possibility of heavy rains later on Sunday evening/night.

Since I didn't want to miss seeing us play a historic regular season game, I popped a few Tylenols, wrapped myself in water-proof clothes, drove from NYC to the stadium on Sun afternoon, saw the whole game, and decided to drive back home after the game because I thought I would feel better once I reached home instead of staying in a hotel there.

However, I hit some heavy rains on 95S (thank goodness it didn't rain during the game) and by the time I reached my NY apartment around 3.30 AM, I was exhausted as the slow drive and the fever had taken its toll.

Lucky that Monday was a holiday.

So, driving for 9 hours with a fever and thru heavy rains at times in the middle of the night is my contribution to the sick length (quite literally) I have gone to watch a football game.

 

[12+81=TD]

The sickest lengths I *used* to go to was sneaking into games...

Pre-9/11 I would drive up to Indy (I live in So. Indiana) on gameday against the Pats..when the Colts were in the AFC-E...every year. I would wear all my Patriots stuff and go to the Circle Center Mall, 3rd floor where there are bars.
I would watch the first half of the game at the bar, getting blasted (By colts fans and on beer ) then when half-time would come I would walk across the street to the Dome.

I would stand in the huge crowd outside that came out to smoke, when half-time was over and everyone walked back in I would just follow suit...walked right in with no ticket or anything and found an empty seat as close to the 50 yard line as I could, they never checked anyone..lol!:rocker:

I probably saw 10+ live NFL games that I didn't pay a cent for...I was young and didn't have the money to afford the tickets..

Since 9/11 this can't be done anymore as they check everyone coming and going. It was good times, but I would never do anything like that now even if I could.

 

[signbabybrady]

THis is a good one. Not me but my father.

I was alot younger at the time (a kid). It was one of the first years of the stupid Patriot experience thing with all the bouncey?fun house things. well there was one stupid one that you ran over and jumped down the other side. Well when I jumped down I caught my ankle and rolled it. I got off and limped away not thinking much of it and started back to the car. before I got to the car I started to realize there was more to this injury. I got back to the car and took my shoe off and poof the ankle blew up. My pops was off wandering around so I just waited it wasn't too long when he returned and we tried to head over to a medical tent for a check up and ace bandage. By this time I could not walk on it and I was hoping on one foot. We made it half way to the tent when security stoped us to see if we needed help.

They had an ambulance come over to check me out and the nurse determined it may be fractured and suggested I go to the hospital.

Here is where it gets good.

They loaded me in the ambulance and My father shut the doors to the ambulance tapped on the back (like in the movies when the secure the doors) and waived by and went into the game.

I had a fracture in my ankle and was in a cast for four-five weeks.

I went to 2 games in the cast.


My mom wound up meeting me at the hospital and i had a soft cast on in an hour or so still with time to make the game and I would have gone to if she had let me. I always tell her that I am still upset she made me miss the game even though I could have made the kickoff. But the truth is if I had crutched in I would have been in too much pain. The game that got away.

 

[godef]

Before I was a season ticket holder, I once decided to drive down from Maynard go see a preseason game on the spur of the moment. Of course, I didn't consider the traffic issue and missed the entire 1st quarter. This turned out to be the late 80s game where the Patriots lost 3 key starters to season ending injuries (vs Green bay?) and began the descent to the deep abyss of the worst years of Patriot football that would last for some 5 years.

 

[Urgent]

Not me, uh, but there's this guy I know...

During a business conference, a number of, uh, this guy's clients wanted to go to a bar for gentlemen. Apparently it's really warm in this place, because the ladies have like, next to nothing on. Anyway, it's a Monday night, and the Patriots are playing the Jets. And this guy spends the whole evening away from his clients, watching the game on the big screen. Both parties had a good time.

Again, not admitting it's me, but just this guy I know...

He had a friend who worked in the World Trade Center and died on 9-11. A week later, there are all the funerals in New York. He goes down to NY for the morning funeral, it's on a Sunday (the friend was Jewish) and sees all sorts of old business school friends and so forth who are going out after the funeral. However, this guy, my friend, has tickets to the Patriots with his father, back in Mass. So he politely makes his way through the receiving line, and races up the highway, parking way up past the old Funway Cafe another mile, runs down Route One to the stadium, missing the flyover and kick-off and the big flag, but making most of the game. After all, which was more Patriotic?

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Not me, uh, but there's this guy I know...



He had a friend who worked in the World Trade Center and died on 9-11. A week later, there are all the funerals in New York. He goes down to NY for the morning funeral, it's on a Sunday (the friend was Jewish) and sees all sorts of old business school friends and so forth who are going out after the funeral.

Um....didn't the NFL cancel the games on the Sunday after 9/11?

 

[signbabybrady]

Um....didn't the NFL cancel the games on the Sunday after 9/11?

They did play a couple of seasons since than.

I imagine the guy meant the weekend following when games started back up. I imagine there were funerals for weeks/months following the tradgedy.

 

[richpats]

tell me you didnt wear a pats jersey! If so I bow to you brotha

I wore a SB36 champs shirt - either way my cheering made my allegiance pretty obvious.

 

[castlelong1]

OT: Ribbing a Brit for burning DC in 1813 (or was it 1814?)

I think we're beginning to get over that 1812 thing now

I don't know. Coming from England and SAY they want to tour the White House? I say frisk them for matches.

 

[Pujo]

Ugh, this thread reminds me that I'm going to have to miss two games this season in late November. Not that I'm upset about spending 2 weeks in Africa, but I wish it could be during the offseason. Still though, hard to imagine I'll find a way to watch the game while living in a tent on the Serengeti.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Re: OT: Ribbing a Brit for burning DC in 1813 (or was it 1814?)

I don't know. Coming from England and SAY they want to tour the White House? I say frisk them for matches.

Exactly.
No way we fall for those perfidious Brit tricks again!