Moment of Zen from a Boston/N.E. Patriots fan

[RayClay]

I know some newer fans think it's normal to turn around over half the team and go 14-2 while doing so, but it really isn't. We currently are less than perfect and have an issue in the secondary.

How do some fans manage to take mid season problems in stride? My moment of Zen, imagining a rip Van Winkle like scenario waking up this week in 2011...

The NFL hasn't threatened to revoke our franchise cause we don't have a stadium? That's good.

No bankruptcy issues, the teams not moving to (_____)?

We have the same coach as the beginning of the year? You sure? He hasn't been sneaking away to make phone calls? (what's a cell phone?)

We have a QB that can throw a spiral? Hey, things are looking up.

The draft? *shudders*.

Didn't draft anyone while they were on the operating table? No prospects that were deceased? How bad could it be, then?

And we're 5-2? Yo, the fans must be ecstatic....

 

[Joker]

jeezus....I hate to make posts about the old days but....I paid year after year, for over twenty five years. for seasons tickets. I got ten of the worst beer headaches in fan history when Billy decided to sell the naming rights and beer concession to Schaefer...tickets were reasonable...what the hell, there were only 20,000 or so going to the games on a regular basis...

http://api.ning.com/files/WmupSG*12...B9NKdnWAc6Z/DSCN0404.JPG?width=737&height=552

I'm in Sec 206 with a whole bunch of whacked out Pats crazies and we're down three scores in the 4th quarter....the Pats are driving, and so is the friggin' rain....suddenly a large clap overhead and a bright flash of light....we all get up OFF the metal benches and STAND there screaming for a Pats score....*BOOM*....another thunderclap...another flash...a bolt strikes up in the 300's..and the Pats SCORE!!! So we're going nuts, screaming "PATRIOTS!!!" like everybody did in those days...the Pats lose, we're all soaked to the bone,banging headaches from the crappy suds, stomach turning from the salmonella dogs...and as we file out, to a man it's "see ya' at the next one,get here early.."

Pats went like 2-14 or 5-11 that season...I can't remember, but I wouldn't give those days back for even a minute of this well scrubbed, sedate, almost silent, overpriced "event" they call Patriots games these days....oh, I go when I can afford it...but that old atmosphere, that die hard fan mentality that no matter what WE were always going to stick it out...THAT is gone today. This fanbase has turned into a fickle, ship jumping mockery at the drop of a loss, as if we suddenly have morphed into Yankee fans.

I thank the gods that Bob Kraft bought this team and brought this tradition of excellence and winning to the loyal fans of NE. This is NOT a God given right, but something that needs to be appreciated while it lasts. Just my lousy two cents, don't take offense because I intend to remain a Patriots fan no matter what the future brings.

 

[RayClay]

jeezus....I hate to make posts about the old days but....I paid year after year, for over twenty five years. for seasons tickets. I got ten of the worst beer headaches in fan history when Billy decided to sell the naming rights and beer concession to Schaefer...tickets were reasonable...what the hell, there were only 20,000 or so going to the games on a regular basis...

http://api.ning.com/files/WmupSG*12...B9NKdnWAc6Z/DSCN0404.JPG?width=737&height=552

I'm in Sec 206 with a whole bunch of whacked out Pats crazies and we're down three scores in the 4th quarter....the Pats are driving, and so is the friggin' rain....suddenly a large clap overhead and a bright flash of light....we all get up OFF the metal benches and STAND there screaming for a Pats score....*BOOM*....another thunderclap...another flash...a bolt strikes up in the 300's..and the Pats SCORE!!! So we're going nuts, screaming "PATRIOTS!!!" like everybody did in those days...the Pats lose, we're all soaked to the bone,banging headaches from the crappy suds, stomach turning from the salmonella dogs...and as we file out, to a man it's "see ya' at the next one,get here early.."

Pats went like 2-14 or 5-11 that season...I can't remember, but I wouldn't give those days back for even a minute of this well scrubbed, sedate, almost silent, overpriced "event" they call Patriots games these days....oh, I go when I can afford it...but that old atmosphere, that die hard fan mentality that no matter what WE were always going to stick it out...THAT is gone today. This fanbase has turned into a fickle, ship jumping mockery at the drop of a loss, as if we suddenly have morphed into Yankee fans.

I thank the gods that Bob Kraft bought this team and brought this tradition of excellence and winning to the loyal fans of NE. This is NOT a God given right, but something that needs to be appreciated while it lasts. Just my lousy two cents, don't take offense because I intend to remain a Patriots fan no matter what the future brings.

Ha ha. Hey, there's a large portion of current "fans" who complain bitterly after wins. Anyone in that group, I have no problem calling frontrunners, it's ridiculous.

A coach that actually has a plan and the balls to cut people despite salary? I can be a little patient with that.

 

[italian pat patriot]

RayClay: great as usual !

 

[PatsDeb]

I'm with you guys. Been a fan for more years than I care to admit. Let's see what happens this Sunday before we all jump off a bridge.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

jeezus....I hate to make posts about the old days but....I paid year after year, for over twenty five years. for seasons tickets. I got ten of the worst beer headaches in fan history when Billy decided to sell the naming rights and beer concession to Schaefer...tickets were reasonable...what the hell, there were only 20,000 or so going to the games on a regular basis...

http://api.ning.com/files/WmupSG*12...B9NKdnWAc6Z/DSCN0404.JPG?width=737&height=552

I'm in Sec 206 with a whole bunch of whacked out Pats crazies and we're down three scores in the 4th quarter....the Pats are driving, and so is the friggin' rain....suddenly a large clap overhead and a bright flash of light....we all get up OFF the metal benches and STAND there screaming for a Pats score....*BOOM*....another thunderclap...another flash...a bolt strikes up in the 300's..and the Pats SCORE!!! So we're going nuts, screaming "PATRIOTS!!!" like everybody did in those days...the Pats lose, we're all soaked to the bone,banging headaches from the crappy suds, stomach turning from the salmonella dogs...and as we file out, to a man it's "see ya' at the next one,get here early.."

Pats went like 2-14 or 5-11 that season...I can't remember, but I wouldn't give those days back for even a minute of this well scrubbed, sedate, almost silent, overpriced "event" they call Patriots games these days....oh, I go when I can afford it...but that old atmosphere, that die hard fan mentality that no matter what WE were always going to stick it out...THAT is gone today. This fanbase has turned into a fickle, ship jumping mockery at the drop of a loss, as if we suddenly have morphed into Yankee fans.

I thank the gods that Bob Kraft bought this team and brought this tradition of excellence and winning to the loyal fans of NE. This is NOT a God given right, but something that needs to be appreciated while it lasts. Just my lousy two cents, don't take offense because I intend to remain a Patriots fan no matter what the future brings.

Great story.
Reminds me of a time in the old stadium decades ago vs the Jets. Rained so hard the concourses flooded. Drunken sots (heh) were standing on barrels and diving belly flops into the rivers. Great times.

Man did my team suck in those days. But tix were easy to come by in the parking lot on game day.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Well said Ray (that's perspective!). Unfortunately, as many of the hysterical chicken little brigade probably are, they have no idea what you speak of. In other words, if a tree falls in the forest.......

 

[tedy hagler]

Good points. I'm still enjoying it.

But I think we are like the Don Shula Dolphins of the 1980s: scoring like crazy but giving it up like a tramp at a frat party on D.

 

[Tunescribe]

Great story.
Reminds me of a time in the old stadium decades ago vs the Jets. Rained so hard the concourses flooded. Drunken sots (heh) were standing on barrels and diving belly flops into the rivers. Great times.

I was there -- that was '93, Parcells' first season here. It rained so hard you couldn't see the other side of the field and the harder it poured, the louder people cheered. I dragged my girlfriend to the game and we were soaked to the skin despite wearing rain gear. She looked at me with rain pouring off her face and said, "You owe me." She was dead serious.

The Pats lost 6-0 if I recall correctly. We were driving late for the winning touchdown and fumbled on the Jets 5-yard-line or something like that. Crappy outcome but lifetime memory.

 

[PatsDeb]

I was there -- that was '93, Parcells' first season here. It rained so hard you couldn't see the other side of the field and the harder it poured, the louder people cheered. I dragged my girlfriend to the game and we were soaked to the skin despite wearing rain gear. She looked at me with rain pouring off her face and said, "You owe me." She was dead serious.

The Pats lost 6-0 if I recall correctly. We were driving late for the winning touchdown and fumbled on the Jets 5-yard-line or something like that. Crappy outcome but lifetime memory.

That was the first year I had season tickets and we were going to the game, but it was raining so hard we decided to watch in a bar instead. I remember my husband and I being glad we hadn't sat in the pouring rain for that debacle LOL. I, like many others, was a fan for many years before 1993 and here I am all these (mostly glorious) years later. That's why even though Sunday's game was a bummer, I try not to get too upset. There's always next week.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Count me in as another guy who got enough heat drained from my body by those metal bleachers to power some major third world countries, but a guy who came to realize that the way to stay warm in Sullivan Stadium was to stand and yell the whole game!

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Count me in as another guy who got enough heat drained from my body by those metal bleachers to power some major third world countries, but a guy who came to realize that the way to stay warm in Sullivan Stadium was to stand and yell the whole game!

So you moved down to Palm Beach to get warm again?

 

[Tunescribe]

That was the first year I had season tickets and we were going to the game, but it was raining so hard we decided to watch in a bar instead. I remember my husband and I being glad we hadn't sat in the pouring rain for that debacle LOL.

Yeah, but like I said, it's one experience I will NEVER forget, and that was (gulp!) 18 years ago. That's one reason having an open-air stadium is so much better. Like, sitting on a snow drift for the Dolphins game in '03 and watching the "snow confetti." Or the 0-degrees playoff game vs. Tennessee. Or, the Oct. 19 show game against the Titans two years ago.

One thing for sure, being a Pats season ticket holder has taught me how to sit and be comfortable in ANYTHING Mother Nature decides to ambush us with. I've got layering/windproofing/waterproofing down to a science.

Count me in as another guy who got enough heat drained from my body by those metal bleachers to power some major third world countries, but a guy who came to realize that the way to stay warm in Sullivan Stadium was to stand and yell the whole game!

One thing I recall about the metal bleachers (despite how they sucked the life from your ass) was how extra-crowded they got when people bundled up in the cold. Folks literally were pressed together like sardines. No individual-spaced chair-backed bucket seats back then! And remember how ridiculously jammed the concourses got at halftime? Going to a pee break back then was an adventure in survival.

 

[PatsDeb]

One thing I recall about the metal bleachers (despite how they sucked the life from your ass) was how extra-crowded they got when people bundled up in the cold. Folks literally were pressed together like sardines. No individual-spaced chair-backed bucket seats back then! And remember how ridiculously jammed the concourses got at halftime? Going to a pee break back then was an adventure in survival.

LOLing again! Try being a chick squished in between all those guys! I used to have an extra wide seat pad and I would make my husband leave early so I could stake out my "butt space" before the game began or forget it! Now, unfortunately, because of the ravages of time and childbearing, I don't need the extra wide seat pad as I have a built-in . Also, there was no line for the ladies room in the old stadium in the endzone. I used to have it all to myself. Those days are definitely gone.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

One thing I recall about the metal bleachers (despite how they sucked the life from your ass) was how extra-crowded they got when people bundled up in the cold. Folks literally were pressed together like sardines. No individual-spaced chair-backed bucket seats back then! And remember how ridiculously jammed the concourses got at halftime? Going to a pee break back then was an adventure in survival.

Those benches were built for 12 average size people, you always had 4-5 fat guys throwing things off balance.
If you were claustrophobic you did'nt dare go to the bathroom during halftime. If you were shy about peeing squished in with a couple hundred of your friends you did'nt go to the bathroom at halftime.

 

[Gwedd]

Those benches were built for 12 average size people, you always had 4-5 fat guys throwing things off balance.
If you were claustrophobic you did'nt dare go to the bathroom during halftime. If you were shy about peeing squished in with a couple hundred of your friends you did'nt go to the bathroom at halftime.

Oh hell, I remember guys standing on the top rows and pissing over the side of the stadium. It was easier and less "dangerous" to do that than try and make it to the actual bathrooms.