Boston Patriots again ?

[Pats726]

Dave Marr, the construction guy, actually let Billy Sullivan build Schaefer Stadium on a lot that he hadn't developed in Foxborough. As I remember, he was using only to store his heavy construction equipment. For those of us who remember, this was just after the AFL- NFL merger, and the NFL rules dictated that you needed a stadium that was 55,000. Neither Harvard, Alumni, or Fenway were big enough, and the city of Boston(in the words of Kevin White) dragged their collective heals w/ re: to building a new stadium (it wasn't just the Pats, they did the same for about 25 years for a new garden, and made all sorts of promises to the Red Sox which Finneran cut). After Marr came up w/ the site, Billy Sullivan had to come up w/ $6m for the stadium which is when Schaefer Brewing came in. I think they paid almost the cost of the stadium for 10 years of naming rights. Schaefer Brewing is now owned by Miller, though I think they were bought out by someone else (Stroh's?), which was then bought by Miller. Supposedly, it is still available, but I haven't seen it in years. Not that I've looked. IIRC it was pretty awful.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schaeffer_Beer
And I do remember the outcry about the "Bay State Patriots". It was as bad a name as the Golden State Warriors, and showed just about as much class.

Wasn't that near the harness racing track??? OR adjacent to it??
You are correct about the where part..but it was the beer company that financed it. Funny how that was close to a first..in naming rites histoey or close to it. The problem with Harvard was that it was only a year lease..Harvard really didn't want the Pats there....I DO believe that Harvard Stadium is quite large..more then 55K?? NOT sure. (Actually now about 33K...although at one point 57K) BC stadium was a LOT smaller than the BC stadium that has been refurnished a few times..VERY small in comparison. Yes, at that time the pols in Boston and the area actually
were som inbred they just kept wanting so much that they could never get anything done. There were a zillion plans and none could fly because of all the corruption and walls and fences made to jump over. It was truly a no-go...I am amazed to this day that the Garden finally got done....THAT was a miracle. Outside of Boston, it was so much easier. Bay State never made it, but NE did..

 

[SamBamsFan]

Yes, it was right next to Foxboro race track. I remember in the 80's the Sports talk guy Eddie Andelman owned the track there were always fights about parking because they shared some. Harvard Stadium was under 50,000 seats in the late sixties, though I can't give you an exact number.

 

[fgssand]

Dave Marr, the construction guy, actually let Billy Sullivan build Schaefer Stadium on a lot that he hadn't developed in Foxborough. As I remember, he was using only to store his heavy construction equipment. For those of us who remember, this was just after the AFL- NFL merger, and the NFL rules dictated that you needed a stadium that was 55,000. Neither Harvard, Alumni, or Fenway were big enough, and the city of Boston(in the words of Kevin White) dragged their collective heals w/ re: to building a new stadium (it wasn't just the Pats, they did the same for about 25 years for a new garden, and made all sorts of promises to the Red Sox which Finneran cut). After Marr came up w/ the site, Billy Sullivan had to come up w/ $6m for the stadium which is when Schaefer Brewing came in. I think they paid almost the cost of the stadium for 10 years of naming rights. Schaefer Brewing is now owned by Miller, though I think they were bought out by someone else (Stroh's?), which was then bought by Miller. Supposedly, it is still available, but I haven't seen it in years. Not that I've looked. IIRC it was pretty awful.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schaeffer_Beer
And I do remember the outcry about the "Bay State Patriots". It was as bad a name as the Golden State Warriors, and showed just about as much class.

NO WAY should this team ever be called the Boston Patriots again, the city treated the Patriots and the Sullivans horribly. Back then it was indeed Billy Sullivan that somehow was able to keep this team in the area. The brutal hacks from the City of Boston, led by Kevin White, Bulger and their merry band of thieves would simply lie to Billy Sullivan on a regular basis about wanting the team and finding a location.

There were many plans for a stadium in and around Boston and they all would get voted down for one reason or another (how about Billy not having enough money to grease enough of the dirty outstretched palms?).

Back in the late 60's, as BC, Harvard & Fenway Park put the Patriots on notice to leave, it seemed every month or so a new plan was introduced and then either immediatley shot down or just miss by a vote or two. In or next to Boston, there were proposals in North Station - adjacent to the old Boston Garden, Charlestown ship yards, Suffolk Downs in Revere, the old dump site off of Morrissey Blvd near the gas tanks in Dorchester, Cambridge - by Kendall Sq, Allston right where the freight yards are off of Cambridge Street. Outside of the city, there were plans drawn up for stadiums in Hopkinton, Rockingham Park and yes, even Seabrook NH. Finally, Foxborough opened their arms and let the orphans in - THANK YOU Foxborough, without those folks and the Board of Selectmen, this team would have left us in 1970 for Birmingham, Jacksonville or Nashville.

 

[sdaniels7114]

You can't blame the pols for no stadium in Boston. The people in Southie didn't want it and this is a Democracy. One of the only good things Speaker Finnerin did was call the Krafts' bluff. They wanted all kinds of gimmies that they (obviously in retrospect) didn't need and the state held its ground and saved the taxpayers a lot of money. I'm all for Kraft trying for the best deal he could get; but I have to appreciate the pols who wouldn't give him a big fat wet kiss to go along with the giant pile of money the Krafts have made to date.

btw they're called the New England Patriots for marketing purposes only. They're still a Boston team.

 

[Alk]

This is a misleading topic!! You guys are just lucky that I decided to read the actual post because I was booking a flight to Boston and was going to burn that mo fo to the ground yo.

 

[Pats726]

NO WAY should this team ever be called the Boston Patriots again, the city treated the Patriots and the Sullivans horribly. Back then it was indeed Billy Sullivan that somehow was able to keep this team in the area. The brutal hacks from the City of Boston, led by Kevin White, Bulger and their merry band of thieves would simply lie to Billy Sullivan on a regular basis about wanting the team and finding a location.

There were many plans for a stadium in and around Boston and they all would get voted down for one reason or another (how about Billy not having enough money to grease enough of the dirty outstretched palms?).

Back in the late 60's, as BC, Harvard & Fenway Park put the Patriots on notice to leave, it seemed every month or so a new plan was introduced and then either immediatley shot down or just miss by a vote or two. In or next to Boston, there were proposals in North Station - adjacent to the old Boston Garden, Charlestown ship yards, Suffolk Downs in Revere, the old dump site off of Morrissey Blvd near the gas tanks in Dorchester, Cambridge - by Kendall Sq, Allston right where the freight yards are off of Cambridge Street. Outside of the city, there were plans drawn up for stadiums in Hopkinton, Rockingham Park and yes, even Seabrook NH. Finally, Foxborough opened their arms and let the orphans in - THANK YOU Foxborough, without those folks and the Board of Selectmen, this team would have left us in 1970 for Birmingham, Jacksonville or Nashville.

Fenway was the first to push the Pats out because their beloved Red Sox were on the upswing after 67...before that they were begging for help...Remember it was teh Sox who pushed the Braves out of Boston..(At one time the Braves wanted to help the Sox renovate Fenway with an upper deck so both teams could play there, but that was a Yawkey no-go; sorry..the racism and cheapness of the old Sox still lingers.) There were all kinds of plans though..also in Cambridge where NASA WAS suppose to go (But instead after JFK's death, LBJ pulled that out to Houston) as well as a plot of land in Weston at the corner of 128 and the Turnpike. This last place would have bee nideal traffic wise as it had all directions covered and easy highway access...but even though it was far from any REAL closeness to the Weston snobs, it didn't fly at all. I agree wholeheartedly with how GREAT Foxborough was in getting the Pats to have a home there!! Congrats!! Boston?? Didn't deserve the Patriots at all..esp after they snubbed Kraft with anti-semitism.

 

[sdaniels7114]

..esp after they snubbed Kraft with anti-semitism.

Never in my life did I think of the Patriots as the Jewish Franchise of the NFL. I guess you learn something new every day.

 

[Fanfrom1960]

No way we go back to the Boston Patriots especially after the latest snub Kraft got when trying to build a stadium in Southie.

When was that?

The "Boston Patriots" looks almost as wrong now as the Boston Redskins or the Boston Yanks, a couple of "failed" 1940s Boston football teams. Keep it the way it is.

 

[Patjew]

Never in my life did I think of the Patriots as the Jewish Franchise of the NFL. I guess you learn something new every day.

The Vikings are also owned by Jews.

 

[Patjew]

Boston?? Didn't deserve the Patriots at all..esp after they snubbed Kraft with anti-semitism.

Huh? What do you mean?

 

[sdaniels7114]

The Vikings are also owned by Jews.

That wasn't my point at all. The fact that the Boston political establishment treated the Krafts differently because they pray on Saturday as opposed to Sunday is silly.

I think I need to mark my sarcasm more carefully.

 

[Porco Rosso]

I never saw any sign that the hostility (most of it Tom Finneran) that greeted Kraft was due to his race/religion. It's not like the legislature was throwing around money for the Sox, Celtics or Bruins to build new arenas for themselves.

 

[fgssand]

ABE COHEN was on the starting offensive line in the beginning, 1960.

And of course we have "Temple Beth-el Johnson" keeping Josh Miller from getting lonely!!

 

[PatsFan37]

At the western entrance to Massachusetts (84? the Pike?) is a big sign proclaiming the state as the proud home of the World Series Champions. No mention of the greatest football franchise of this century.

Boston, the media and half the fans, fail to recognize what they have in the NEW ENGLAND Patriots. I'm delighted that Providence, Montpelier, Concord, and Augusta can have a team they call their own. I was in a bar in Belfast, Maine for the snow bowl. No divided loyalties there.

 

[Mainefan]

You bet, PatsFan37. I'm from Rockport, Maine and as far as I'm concerned, the New England Patriots are my team.

 

[sdaniels7114]

At the western entrance to Massachusetts (84? the Pike?) is a big sign proclaiming the state as the proud home of the World Series Champions. No mention of the greatest football franchise of this century.

Don't curse the darkness my friend, light a candle instead. I'll bet you've got tomorow off. That's plenty of time to get out there and hang a sign that's twice as big as the Sox's sign.

 

[Siddiqi]

no way should they change the name to the boston patriots. I'm from CT, and they had no teams when i was living there, so I latched on to the patriots in '95. It would suck big time if the name was changed.

 

[nescott]

Keep It New England!

 

[italian pat patriot]

I Patrioti di New England Di Como

grande NEM !

 

[italian pat patriot]

Are you able to pick up the games via Satelite or Direct TV in Italy? If so, what time are they on?

I also enjoy your posts - you bring a lot to the group my friend.

I have a vision of you screaming Touchdown when Dillon crosses into the endzone and thenhundreds of your neighbors madly hitting their remotes looking for soccer.

GRAZIE FGSSAND

i'm able to see the NFL with 2 games a week (on pay tv : Sky)
plus i hear the games on Nfl Com

then from wild card all playoffs are alive again on Sky (in the night here...)

and, yes, your vision is the correct one ! when we make a TD i scream a lot !