You're not an "old" fan unless......
 

unless you know the Boston Patriots played a "home"

Game in Birmingham,Alabama.

RIGHT NEM????????????

Re: You're not an "old" fan unless......
 

One of Boston's greatest sportswriter of the time, John Gilhooly, helped me set it up.


[b]My favorite ghostwriter, however, was John Gilhooly of the Boston Hearst papers, who wrote for the morning paper under the name of Eddie Stanky. In the afternoon paper, under his own byline, he second-guessed the Stanky story he had written in the morning.

Didn't Eddie Stanky of the White Sox punchout a Boston sportswriter over something he had written????????

Re: You're not an "old" fan unless......
 

My first Pats game was a night game at Harvard Stadium circa 1961, which would have made me 8. My lasting impressions were that the AFL used a white football for night games, and that it was pretty loose as far as fans wandering down to the sidelines. May have been a preseason game, I can't recall.

My second game was in 1964 or 65, a playoff game against the Bills in a blizzard at Fenway Park. Cookie Gilchrist and the Bills beat he Pats 24-14. I recall Gilchrist throwing snowballs back up into the stands from his huddle in the end zone, and a big snowball fight between the center field and right field sections.

The 60's had many memorable players, including Jim Nance, Gino, Babe Parilli, the entire defensive line, Buoniconti, Jim Colclough, Carl Garrett, and a lot of others. Those teams from '64 to '69 were very entertaining. Gil Santos did the radio even then if I recall right.

Re: You're not an "old" fan unless......
 

Nothing boring about the old Patriots days or reminiscing.

Re: You're not an "old" fan unless......
 

Wow. Just great stuff, 40yroldPatsfan and NEM. Thank you both for that.

BTW, NEM, please clarify - - Curt Gowdy called the Pats games in 1987????? For the life of me, I don't recall that.

Re: You're not an "old" fan unless......
 

I'd love to do some research on The Patriots as an idea from Billy Sullivan or others.

Calling out to NEM or others who might have been aware of the sportwriters or businessmen trying to get a football team here in the fifties.

I just think it's fascinating how they pulled it off.

Billy Sullivan was trying to get the Chicago Cardinals to move here, I understand.

I'm Irish and the idea of the crazy Irishman with a dream and no money just tickles me.

I'm sure ItalianPat would love to read anything about the original Pats as he loves the tradition.

Re: You're not an "old" fan unless......
 

Before we start to cannonize Billy Sullivan, I would remind everyone that he was almost as big a thief as his son was. When the Pats were formed in 1960, it was as a public corporation with a stock offering. A few years later, Sullivan litterally stole the outstanding stock for pennies on the dollar, and became the sole owner. I'm not sure of the details since I was only 15 at the time, but it is a little known story, and an unfortunate one.

BTW- NEM I played on one of those Atlantic Coast League teams in the fall of 1969. Joe Bellino was the GM. Ross OHanely (a former Pats DB) was the HC. Bob Dee (a former all time Pats DL) and Butch Mahoney were my coaches. Songin played QB for a couple of weeks before he became part of the staff. It was great for me. I was making more money playing football than I was teaching school ($175/wk teaching vs $250/wk playing ball)

There were a number of form Pats on that team, Ray Ilg & Ed Kountz come immediately to mind. Also on the team was Barry Gallup, who coached at BC and Northeastern. My best friend on that team was Paul Della Villa (RB at BC). We were all set to go on a bus to a concert in NY, when a midseason schedule change forced us to play that weekend. The concert, of course, was later known as Woodstock. ;). Later the bus we would have been on was featured in a layout done by LIFE magazine.

For those who might not know, The Atlantic Coast League was comprised of teams in Quincy, MA (Pats), Hartford (Bills), Bridgeport (Jets) Long Island (Giants) Pottstown, PA (Eagles), Harrisburgh, PA (Steelers), Richmond, VA (Saints), Roanoake, VA (Redskins). For me it was very exciting since there were a lot of former NFLers in the league and a few that eventually made it. Given that I was a former 200 lb nose tackle who was playing OLB in the league, it was quite a thrill. Also, since I played at a very small school (Tufts), where the big game of the year was against Bowdoin to see who was "the worst team in NE" ;), it was fun to test myself against players who played at the big schools and had NFL experience.

All the teams had official connections to the NFL club. As part of the merger agreement which came into effect in 1970, clubs had to relieve themselves of any direct financial arrangements with any minor league affiliations. While we played to crowd around 5-10M in Quincy, when we played in PA or VA, there would regularly be 30-40M in the stands. When that financial prop was dismissed the league faded away.

However in i969 the league was very vibrant. Several players went on to have very good careers in the NFL including Bob Tucker, who went on to have a very good career with the Giants. The $250/week was pretty much the standard pay in the league, though some got a lot more. There was a QB at Pottstown (King Cochran) that had a $100,000 contract, and that was great money for ANYONE in 1969. Cochran eventually played in the WFL

I'm afraid alot of my memories from that time have faded, especially some of the names of my teammates. I haven't really thought about those days in a long time, until I saw NEM mention it in a post. If anyone knows of some web site with info on those days, I'd appreciate it.



A lot of great stories, some of which I still remember. :D

Re: You're not an "old" fan unless......
 

I attended the first game against Denver in 1960. We lost 13 to 10.

I had a lot of enjoyment in the early years watching a team with no

high priced talent work their butts off to win games. Mike Holovak did

a terrific job with limited resources.

Today I've become too fussy. I'm spoiled and I'm upset if the Pats

can't win the Superbowl every year. I complain constantly on this forum

when the Pats lose good players and don't sign good free agents. I hate

to see any missed opportunity to keep the Pats from being a Superbowl

contender.

Re: You're not an "old" fan unless......
 

Total understatement. Fantastic stuff guys...........

Re: You're not an "old" fan unless......
 

Never said he was a saint. No one else wanted to start another football team, though.

Why can't the Sullivan haters put it aside and realize it is an interesting story, if nothing else?