21-Years Ago Today...

[holyredeemer]

21-Years ago today (6/17/00) I registered the domain patsfans.com, having no idea that the following year would be the start of what it's been for the team. It's just really cool that we've all been able to enjoy it together and I honestly can't believe it's been that long...what a crazy ride. Thank you to all of you who visit each day & for all the friends & people I've gotten to know over the years, as well as the ones who are no longer with us. Realizing that we've had so many who were a part of this community and that I played a part in that is incredibly humbling...I don't have words.

It's been far from perfect, especially from my standpoint. There have been plenty of times that I wish I could have done things differently and I'm aware of the fact I've also let many people down over the years...which I still have a hard time dealing with at times. As the majority of you know, there have been plenty of ups and downs here with everything that has gone on and it's safe to say I never would have been able to push through without all the support. Now that I'm older, you sort of look at things a lot differently but when those moments come where I do take time and reflect...I think of a lot of different situations and realize we have something really special and I promise to try and continue making it better. At the end of the day, it's all of you who have made this place what it is and I'm truly grateful to have been a part of it.

Looking forward to the next 21, and I'll keep pushing things forward and hope we can enjoy some good football along the way as well.

Oh, look everyone. Another Ian working for likes thread. Does this man ever let it rest? Geez!

On a serious note, I wish there was a way for you to see all the lives you’ve touched with the creation and maintaining of this site. You’re one bad mutha****a!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PATSFANS.COM!!!!

 

[jlu52]

Nice work, Ian. The place really took off in October of 2006, IMO.

That's right, just about the last week of October.
Thanks, Ian, I love this place.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Nice work, Ian. The place really took off in October of 2006, IMO.

No it was the prior month of 06.

 

[Zuma]

No it was the prior month of 06.

December 2004

 

[ralmat55]

I’ve been around here since close to the beginning under various screen names (I’m awful with passwords). I found Miguel first, and he led me to Patsfans. I had no idea at the time how much this place would come to mean to me. I had no idea that one day Patsfans would save my life.

It was October 1st 2015. My marriage was ending, and I was totally broken. Overwhelming sadness and hopelessness had brought me to the point where I had decided to get my affairs in order and to end my life in the early morning hours of October 8th. My mind was made up.

Then, while at work on the 1st, I signed on to Patsfans as I often did and still do just to see if anything was going on. “I could use your thoughts and prayers” was the thread title. Another poster was going through the same thing and entertaining the same thoughts as me, and he had the courage to share those thoughts and ask for help which he was getting in post after post from PatsFans’ members.

Imagine the odds of having decided to commit suicide only to find a thoughtful conversation on the subject had broken out on the football fan forum that I checked routinely every day? On my lunch hour, I posted my story and what I was planning. By the time I got home after work, there was post after post and multiple PMs of concern and encouragement. From people all over the world. From a soldier stationed in Afghanistan. It was unbelievable. It was a miracle.

Ian emailed me that night. He would email or text me everyday for months as I slowly got my feet back under me. I consider him a great friend. From that experience, I met an incredible young man and fellow poster who lives near me and puts up with my old man ways and stories. We’ve watched games together and it’s a rare day we don’t share a text or two. I’m so grateful for his friendship. And, the poster who originally sought some “thoughts and prayers” is now a dear friend of mine. We have helped each other keep the darkness of depression away over these last nearly 6 years.

Thank you, Ian. That you harbor any regrets about your operation of this place and your dealings with us is a testimony to the size of your heart and the depth of your character.

 

[Ian]

Also, I know I got a little caught up in the previous posts. Older me gets a lot more emotional these days when I talk about this stuff - especially when I start thinking about everything big-picture-wise here. Obviously, there have been so many things that have happened over the years and it sort of gets me going a little bit when I start thinking about everything. The joys of getting older, I guess

 

[lancerman]

Kraft, Belichick, Brady, Ian.

 

[Ian]

I’ve been around here since close to the beginning under various screen names (I’m awful with passwords). I found Miguel first, and he led me to Patsfans. I had no idea at the time how much this place would come to mean to me. I had no idea that one day Patsfans would save my life.

It was October 1st 2015. My marriage was ending, and I was totally broken. Overwhelming sadness and hopelessness had brought me to the point where I had decided to get my affairs in order and to end my life in the early morning hours of October 8th. My mind was made up.

Then, while at work on the 1st, I signed on to Patsfans as I often did and still do just to see if anything was going on. “I could use your thoughts and prayers” was the thread title. Another poster was going through the same thing and entertaining the same thoughts as me, and he had the courage to share those thoughts and ask for help which he was getting in post after post from PatsFans’ members.

Imagine the odds of having decided to commit suicide only to find a thoughtful conversation on the subject had broken out on the football fan forum that I checked routinely every day? On my lunch hour, I posted my story and what I was planning. By the time I got home after work, there was post after post and multiple PMs of concern and encouragement. From people all over the world. From a soldier stationed in Afghanistan. It was unbelievable. It was a miracle.

Ian emailed me that night. He would email or text me everyday for months as I slowly got my feet back under me. I consider him a great friend. From that experience, I met an incredible young man and fellow poster who lives near me and puts up with my old man ways and stories. We’ve watched games together and it’s a rare day we don’t share a text or two. I’m so grateful for his friendship. And, the poster who originally sought some “thoughts and prayers” is now a dear friend of mine. We have helped each other keep the darkness of depression away over these last nearly 6 years.

Thank you, Ian. That you harbor any regrets about your operation of this place and your dealings with us is a testimony to the size of your heart and the depth of your character.

And yes, this is one of many situations I think about that makes me feel so fortunate to be a part of everything. Again, I don't have words to express how I really feel, other than I'm just grateful. And definitely really, really glad you and the other guys got through everything.

 

[Ross12]

I’m just here so I don’t get fined

 

[Tony2046]

I appreciate that, but I've had enough conversations privately to know where I've done things badly, along with having been involved with so many personal situations that I wish I had handled better. Being older, I definitely look at things differently but I'm also quite self-aware. I rushed through a lot of situations instead of being more supportive and really being more involved where I could have helped people more and handled things differently.

Although, at the same time, I was under a little more pressure back then when the kids were younger and I was trying to balance my time between work, here, and obviously around the house for the sake of keeping my family happy. Now things are a little different and like anything else, the more time you have to look back, the more you always notice the things you could have done better.

I also should have made some difficult decisions that would have been better for people collectively instead of trying to appease both sides. I was afraid to at the time because I'm one of those people who does care about trying to make everyone happy. I've obviously since learned that there are times where it just isn't possible.

But it's the personal letdowns where it still eats at me at times. I try not to dwell on them - because I can't change them - but it doesn't change the fact I still think about them and they definitely bother me.

Complicated decisions are hard to make first time around for everyone. You have a huge heart so I'm glad you're making them.

 

[Tony2046]

I appreciate that this is who you are. The world is better for it.
Still, this is a football site, so any effort you make to extend yourself to help any of us members out at a personal level is by definition already going the extra mile. You get massive credit just for showing up in those situations. None of us has a right to expect you to always handle them well. Competence is icing on the cake, especially when your own life is demanding at the time.

Exactly. Thanks for saying what I was trying to say.

 

[Chevy]

It's been far from perfect, especially from my standpoint. There have been plenty of times that I wish I could have done things differently and I'm aware of the fact I've also let many people down over the years...which I still have a hard time dealing with at times.

Much too self critical. If you look back year to year, and identify mistakes or things that should have been done differently, that does not mean you screwed up. It means in the intervening year you GREW. I am always finding myself evaluating how I handled an issue "the last time", and often see where I went wrong - a lot or a little, it doesn't matter - which allows me to do a bit better "this time".

That's what you've done for 21 years now. And that's why we're all here today.

 

[Tony2046]

I’ve been around here since close to the beginning under various screen names (I’m awful with passwords). I found Miguel first, and he led me to Patsfans. I had no idea at the time how much this place would come to mean to me. I had no idea that one day Patsfans would save my life.

It was October 1st 2015. My marriage was ending, and I was totally broken. Overwhelming sadness and hopelessness had brought me to the point where I had decided to get my affairs in order and to end my life in the early morning hours of October 8th. My mind was made up.

Then, while at work on the 1st, I signed on to Patsfans as I often did and still do just to see if anything was going on. “I could use your thoughts and prayers” was the thread title. Another poster was going through the same thing and entertaining the same thoughts as me, and he had the courage to share those thoughts and ask for help which he was getting in post after post from PatsFans’ members.

Imagine the odds of having decided to commit suicide only to find a thoughtful conversation on the subject had broken out on the football fan forum that I checked routinely every day? On my lunch hour, I posted my story and what I was planning. By the time I got home after work, there was post after post and multiple PMs of concern and encouragement. From people all over the world. From a soldier stationed in Afghanistan. It was unbelievable. It was a miracle.

Ian emailed me that night. He would email or text me everyday for months as I slowly got my feet back under me. I consider him a great friend. From that experience, I met an incredible young man and fellow poster who lives near me and puts up with my old man ways and stories. We’ve watched games together and it’s a rare day we don’t share a text or two. I’m so grateful for his friendship. And, the poster who originally sought some “thoughts and prayers” is now a dear friend of mine. We have helped each other keep the darkness of depression away over these last nearly 6 years.

Thank you, Ian. That you harbor any regrets about your operation of this place and your dealings with us is a testimony to the size of your heart and the depth of your character.

Your posts and other's helped me too. Thanks.

 

[‘Mondre]

this is awesome

 

[Mack Herron]

Patsfans is my neighborhood pub on the internet where I can always go to share conversation with friends with a common interest. Many good discussions and many good people I would otherwise never know. Thanks for keeping the door open Ian!

 

[Patriot Missile]

i’ve always enjoyed my time here. Although my official join date was 2004 or 05. I had an account with the old server. I’m not sure if anyone remembers the forum set up back then? It stacked vertically with a cascading angle. It could be very confusing the way the posts stacked. Ian evolved with the technology as it came out which was lucky for us. We’ve seen so many updates and upgrades over the years. Sometimes it’s easy to forget the time and energy Ian has put in over the many years. I can only imagine Ian working into wee hours of the morning worrying if something goes wrong with the some of the major upgrades, software, internet traffic upgrade/ Oc48’s etc. I always enjoyed the thank you Ian threads cuz it just can’t be understated what he’s done to keep this place going.

It’s been a good ride. I read an interview with Ian from a sovrn marketing company about 5 years ago. It told me a little bit more what Ian was about. He spoke of building a great site with a loyal following while having it be a user friendly site. To be honest, his vision was dead on as this site has outlasted official Patriots sites, more than holds it own vs reddit and facebook which is very rare in todays scope. He spoke of advertising, strategic placing which is a must in todays workplace, but again, he put the primary success of the site to the loyal followers. Ian could of blasted us with mass advertising and made more money, but did not because it would of possibly ruined the user experience.

Thanks Ian.

 

[n6249c]

Kraft, Belichick, Brady, Ian.

Name some GOATs

 

[captain stone]

How many football team fan websites are better? Not one.

Ian didn’t let anyone down. 50% of the posters would be heroin addicts without this site. Instead, only 30% are.

Yep, and he's probably saved some marriages too, especially those of the out-of-town fans who might otherwise have made their wives go to the arms of another man just so she wouldn't have to hear about another lousy draft pick who "helped" the Pats not win another 4 rings by now...

Thanks for letting me rant all these years, Ian...Communication is a wonderful thing.

 

[captain stone]

I’ve been around here since close to the beginning under various screen names (I’m awful with passwords). I found Miguel first, and he led me to Patsfans. I had no idea at the time how much this place would come to mean to me. I had no idea that one day Patsfans would save my life.

It was October 1st 2015. My marriage was ending, and I was totally broken. Overwhelming sadness and hopelessness had brought me to the point where I had decided to get my affairs in order and to end my life in the early morning hours of October 8th. My mind was made up.

Then, while at work on the 1st, I signed on to Patsfans as I often did and still do just to see if anything was going on. “I could use your thoughts and prayers” was the thread title. Another poster was going through the same thing and entertaining the same thoughts as me, and he had the courage to share those thoughts and ask for help which he was getting in post after post from PatsFans’ members.

Imagine the odds of having decided to commit suicide only to find a thoughtful conversation on the subject had broken out on the football fan forum that I checked routinely every day? On my lunch hour, I posted my story and what I was planning. By the time I got home after work, there was post after post and multiple PMs of concern and encouragement. From people all over the world. From a soldier stationed in Afghanistan. It was unbelievable. It was a miracle.

Ian emailed me that night. He would email or text me everyday for months as I slowly got my feet back under me. I consider him a great friend. From that experience, I met an incredible young man and fellow poster who lives near me and puts up with my old man ways and stories. We’ve watched games together and it’s a rare day we don’t share a text or two. I’m so grateful for his friendship. And, the poster who originally sought some “thoughts and prayers” is now a dear friend of mine. We have helped each other keep the darkness of depression away over these last nearly 6 years.

Thank you, Ian. That you harbor any regrets about your operation of this place and your dealings with us is a testimony to the size of your heart and the depth of your character.

Dude, you would've missed Two parades! (there should've been a third, but I think there's another thread somewhere about that...) and we would've missed all your great posts! I'm glad you were able to fight through your struggles...Remember, if you can walk & chew gum at the same time, then it's better to be alive...always.

 

[Scotty]

Thanks Ian , what can I say that has not already been said ? A true professional.