Memories Of The 60's,70's and 80's

[NoCal Patriot]

Didn't Eddie Andelman recruit him for the Pats from an

Australian rugby team? In fact, I believe the Sports Huddle

people may have gone to Australia to watch kickers perform.

It was Australian Rules Football but You are correct ! The Sports Huddle took Kicking Guru ,Ben Agaganian to Australia to find a kicker.They came back with much fanfare and introduced Mike Walker to Patriots Nation.
Another "Purely Patriot Saga" of that era was the 48 hours that Duane Thomas was a Patriot. The Patriots traded for the eccentric Dallas Running Back and during his first practice, Duane "Evidently" Thomas would not drop into a three point stance as Ron Mazur wished and in a flash He was gone ,back to The Cowboys.

 

[Daniel McJosh]

I posted these a while back. Thought I'd post 'em again - makes for a good visual aid for NoCal's stories. These are some of the old stubs from when I was a kid (wished I'd saved more of them!):

From My neighbor NEM. He remembers when they moved into Schaefer Stadium, ticket prices went up from $7.50 to $8.00 for sideline seats.

They were told that half of the extra 50 cents was to put backs on all of the aluminum bench seats.

As we know, more than 30 years later, they were still waiting for the backs to be put on the seats.

 

[Jimke]

NoCal Patriot

I have kept a notebook on the Patriots that goes back to 1960. Many

of the pages were one finger typed by me. The pages list the names of

the players who made the Pats active roster and those who were cut.

Superfoot Mike Walker came on the Pats scene in 1971. That year I

listed him as being cut but he reappeared in 1972 and may have

seen some action on the active roster. In 1973 he was cut again and

disappeared from the scene.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Sean,was that Colts' game the one when Joe Washington ran wild?

No that was a yr later in Foxboro.. On Mnf , I remember only being allowed to watch the first quarter of those game in the late 70's.. I think the first full MNF game I saw in its entirty was 80 Pats at Houston,only because the next day was Veterans day .. No school the next day

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Murphys95, Looking at some of those stubs if the wind was blowing the right way I probably spilt Beer on You since my seat was in Section 210,Row 18,Seat 12. . We had seats 11-14 in Row 18 so if You got doused We apologize!:singing:

Wow 12.50 A Ticket, those were the days...

 

[godef]

"Tastes Great!"

"Jets suck!"

...

 

[Fanfrom1960]

Thanks, NOCalPatriot, I can still recall listening to Gil Santos calling the game on WBZ. Well into the 2nd quarter he commented that cars were still slowly entering the parking lots. Two quick stories about the urinals. Will McDonough tells the story about bringing his son to the new stadium just before it opened when the Pats requested their friends in the media to run around the stadium flushing as many urinals quickly to test the plumbing. As for the high placed urinals, visiting QB Roman Gabriel was said to quip that the Pats must have some really big guys.

And poor Jim Plunkett. Very good QB and a class guy. He didn't deserve what the Pats would put him thru in the coming four years. I was happy to see his Super Bowl success with the Raiders.

Patriotic and NoCalPatriot, I also really liked Jim Plunkett and pulled for him in his two super bowls with the Raiders. Probably was the only time I ever rooted for the Raiders! I saw him and his girl friend (I think) at the Porsche dealer on Stevens Creek blvd in San Jose around those years. I hope he bought one. He deserved it.

 

[NoCal Patriot]

Patriotic and NoCalPatriot, I also really liked Jim Plunkett and pulled for him in his two super bowls with the Raiders. Probably was the only time I ever rooted for the Raiders! I saw him and his girl friend (I think) at the Porsche dealer on Stevens Creek blvd in San Jose around those years. I hope he bought one. He deserved it.

Jim,now owns a Beer Distributorship in The Bay Area.He's doing very well and He has a really nice family.The Porsche dealer on Steven Creek Blvd in San Jose ? If You drove 4 miles down The Guadalupe Expressway,You would have been at my house in The Almaden Section of San Jose.

 

[NoCal Patriot]

NoCal Patriot

I have kept a notebook on the Patriots that goes back to 1960. Many

of the pages were one finger typed by me. The pages list the names of

the players who made the Pats active roster and those who were cut.

Superfoot Mike Walker came on the Pats scene in 1971. That year I

listed him as being cut but he reappeared in 1972 and may have

seen some action on the active roster. In 1973 he was cut again and

disappeared from the scene.

The Patriots ran through many kickers during that period. Charlie Gogolak hurt his ankle on a Shower Door at Schaefer Stadium and the revolving door began. Mike Walker did get a couple of chances but He was very inconsistent.
He did kick in a few games and made a few kicks.

 

[Krugman]

Good posts,thanks for sharing them.(Like the old ticket stubs ,too!)

 

[Patriotic]

Another "Purely Patriot Saga" of that era was the 48 hours that Duane Thomas was a Patriot. The Patriots traded for the eccentric Dallas Running Back and during his first practice, Duane "Evidently" Thomas would not drop into a three point stance as Ron Mazur wished and in a flash He was gone ,back to The Cowboys.

A bit of trivia on Thomas being returned to the Cowboys. The Pats got to keep LB Steve Kiner who was one of the players they received from the Cowboys in the Thomas trade. Yes, the same Steve Kiner who NoCal Patriot profiled recently of living in a party bus with his girlfriend in the old stadium parking lot. The Cowboys must of known Kiner's bong filled ways. I do recall, however, of Kiner intercepting a few screen passes including one of John Brodie's at the 49ers.

 

[italian pat patriot]

I posted these a while back. Thought I'd post 'em again - makes for a good visual aid for NoCal's stories. These are some of the old stubs from when I was a kid (wished I'd saved more of them!):

thks for sharing with us

 

[italian pat patriot]

Italian Pat Patriot had an idea to start a thread were everyone can participate in and share their memories of some forgotten incidents in the colorful History of Our New England Patriots.I am going to start this thread with a very colorful event.The time machine comes to a stop on a very important date in Patriots History. The date is August 15,1971,a date that will live forever.It was the Night of the FIRST Game ever at Schaefer Stadium.It was a warm August Night and anticipation filled the air.
It was my second season of Season Tickets but the first year that my friends Jack and Sully joined Joe and I as Season Ticket Holders.It had been an eventful year prior to this August Night.The Team had started building The Stadium in the previous fall.The Patriots had changed their name from ,The Boston Patriots to The Bay State Patriots, until finally They settled on The now famous,New England Patriots in March of 1971.The Draft that year had brought Us a ray of hope when The Patriots drafted The Heisman Trophy Winner,Jim Plunkett from Stanford University.There was a great deal of anticipation going into the 1971 Season and things were looking up.
Luckily for Me,my friends were as excited as I was and We left very early to get down for the Game. I drove my 1966 Ford Fairlane into the Parking Lot at 4p.m. I was lucky to beat the worst traffic snafu in the History of Foxboro.I know of many who never made it to the stadium.From the Parking lot the traffic stretched for miles up Route 1.As bad as it was,when everyone reached the parking Lot ,the excitement ramped up.No one knew where to go or what gate to enter.There was the excitement of Christmas Morning as a kid.The crowd that night was 60,423.
This game was 36 years ago and the memory has faded but I remember vividly Gino Cappaletti scoring The Patriots first points in The new Stadium which was only appropriate since He was the leading scorer in Patriots History at that time.On that evening We all got our first look at Jim Plunkett.The guy had incredible expectations on his shoulders.He played well that night for a Rookie and We all could see the promise.
We all know the toilets were less than operational and in fact in some Bathrooms They weren't even installed!There were other bathrooms where the plumbers had installed urinals at Six Feet High due to some kind of dispute with The Sullivans.It was such a desperate situation that many relived themselves against the walls! If You weren't there You would not believe it ! There were not enough concession stand or Beer Stands! The lines were enormous!
The crowd with all of these hardships stayed positive and were rewarded with a Patriots victory.The Final Score was Patriots 20 Giants 14 .
It took Me 4 hours to get back to Belmont,Mass that night but that evening left Me with a lifelong memory. It was simply a great night !
All of your memories are invited and anticipated.Remember,this is a group effort.

you could have done not better then this as first post of this amazing thread.
The first game at Schaefer Stadium !

good job, as always NoCal Patriot

ps = have you seen the game with 'the men with the trench coat' ? the men that walked in the end zone and deflected a potential td against the Pats ?
you remember that story ? it was i think in the '60...

 

[NoCal Patriot]

you could have done not better then this as first post of this amazing thread.
The first game at Schaefer Stadium !

good job, as always NoCal Patriot

ps = have you seen the game with 'the men with the trench coat' ? the men that walked in the end zone and deflected a potential td against the Pats ?
you remember that story ? it was i think in the '60...

I don't remember the story Amigo but I'm sure someone else will fill in the blanks.

 

[zippo59]

bump....

 

[italian pat patriot]

the name Bay State Patriots stayied alive only 1 day ?

 

[NoCal Patriot]

the name Bay State Patriots stayied alive only 1 day ?

I really don't remember if it was only a day Italian Pat Patriot but it was the name for no longer than a week.As I remember everyone was pretty happy when they changed it to The New England Patriots.

 

[Patriotic]

I really don't remember if it was only a day Italian Pat Patriot but it was the name for no longer than a week.As I remember everyone was pretty happy when they changed it to The New England Patriots.

Happy is an understatement. We went from the BS Patriots to the NE Patriots. Can you imagine the BS that the team would have endured if they stayed with the name Bay State Patriots?

 

[zippo59]

I really don't remember if it was only a day Italian Pat Patriot but it was the name for no longer than a week.As I remember everyone was pretty happy when they changed it to The New England Patriots.

My father says he still wishes they were the Boston Patriots. I like the nae New England and I certainly like it better than Bay State. Whose idea was that??????

 

[NoCal Patriot]

My father says he still wishes they were the Boston Patriots. I like the nae New England and I certainly like it better than Bay State. Whose idea was that??????

Billy Sullivan.