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The "rabid fan base" of the Red Sox didn't care enough to show up to Fenway on a nightly basis until 1967. Before that season they only cracked 20K per game once. Since then, they've done it routinely. 1994 was the Patriots' 1967. The Patriots made a huge jump in popularity in the 1990s even without championship teams or a decent stadium.
Well 1960 you need to take the FULL blame for my "oldman's trip down me memory lane. It was your original post that got me reminiscing. And now you've done it again with your comment going down the local field to see kids play., And thus .....and other rant
Personally, I'd like to see ANY kids down the local parks playing anything. Ever notice that regardless of the day of the week or the weather, when you drive by a local playground or field, they will be empty. Pretty much devoid of any activity other than dog voiding.
When I was a kid it was pretty much SOP at the end of school to run home, change clothes, grab the appropriate clove, bat, or ball and head for the playground where you would always find plenty of kids to get some kind of game going. We played Basketball, Box ball, 5-5 back stop baseball, and all manner of touch flag and tackle football (2 on 2 - 4-4, 6-6, etc)
There was no adult supervision, we just played and played until dinner time and kids started to get called back home. Or to my great embarrassment, my mother was too dignified to just yell out the window, so when it was time for me to go home, she rang a bell.How when I think back on these days about all the valuable lessons I learned then. How to make friends, conflict resolution, socialization, toleration and sometime intoleration.
We grew up so much on those playgrounds in so many ways. Now where I drive bay those empty green places, I rarely ever see anything as simple a several kids just playing a pick up game of anything. I wonder, where are they learning how to grow up,. make friends, and learn lessons.
Kids don't play sports anymore. Now they join "leagues" with organizations, uniforms' schedules, "traveling teams" dinners, and worst of all, tons of Parents. Almost no such thing as a "pick up game" of anything anymore. PLAY is no longer a spontaneous activity amongst kids . I grieve for their loss, because I remember how good it was for me.
I have ranted too long already, and you can blame 2960 for that again. However if you ever want to get into a discussion on why every succeeding generation seems to be more fearful, isolated, insolated, insensitive and selfish, I would suggest we all look to the empty playgrounds and kids who don't know how to play for some of your answers.
No, it's a bean town.
Length of dedication is not the same as intensity of dedication. My point was that sometimes a franchise needs a shot in the arm, whether it's a miracle season, new ownership, new stadium, whatever. Yes, the Red Sox are more ingrained here, but to assume that Patriots fans will abandon ship after a few bad seasons is an assumption based on the situation 25 years ago, which has changed in many ways.
Only eight losing seasons in almost fifty years.
Were you born yesterday? The Bears OWN Chicago, always have. Boston used to be a baseball town but the Patriots specifically and NFL in general eclipsed that years ago. The only city where baseball trumps football is St. Louis. Everywhere else the NFL rules by wide margins.
Just like not tanking year after year after year has done for the Rockets, Trail Blazers, Grizzlies, and Mavs. None of them have top picks they had to draft. C's have outsourced their tank to Brooklyn. Plus, nobody is going to want to sign with a team that is never in the playoffs. I'd rather go to the playoffs then be suck forever like the Kings.
