First Boston Sport experience?

[DarrylS]

My grandfather, a Yankees fan, flew me to NYC in the 50's and saw a Yankees Red Sox Game then he brought me to a game in Boston and I will never forget the electricity of Kenmore Square when they played at Fenway.. that still resonated. In 1961 he brought be back to NY and somehow we had tix behind the Yankees dugout, could reach out and touch Mantle/Maris. I abandoned my Yankees fandom when I grew up.

The Celtics were a huge draw back then, in HS the Celts/Lakers played an exhibition game at Rogers High School in Newport... another thrill. The Bruins were also in the mix in the days where channel 38 was the flagship, most of us (despite our tin foil efforts) could not get those games at home, so we went to local bars to watch the games.

Football started in the 50's, before the Pats, when my friends father was a huge fan of Cleveland (Jim Brown et al) and that turned me on to the NFL, but did not become a hard core Pats fan until 1969 when the Jets won the Superbowl and I knew the AFL was for real and not just some upstart league.

Now NE sports fan to the bone, will never change or be disloyal to any of these teams.

 

[Bill Lee]

I am in central NH, there was no cable even offered in our area. Friday nights, channel 6 out of Maine carried them, and I could get them on the black and white TV my grandparents gave me on rabbit ears. It was a real treat. Every once in a while they were on Monday Night Baseball on ABC and I would watch that as well. Other than that, it was AM radio. Sounds very similar.

Sounds very familiar.

I remember cable coming through in the mid 70s, but not exactly sure when, but it was after '75 though, I remember the picture was pretty grainy when Fisk hit his famous HR. Later we had 'basic cable' but we didn't have the two 'premium channels' they made available at that time, HBO and TV38. No one else in the house was a sports fan, and in that time frame there was just one TV in the house, so it often was a struggle to watch games, given that my parents and my older brother weren't sports fans at all.

Later I did get a 13" black and white TV with rabbit ears in my bedroom. Got the three networks OK, but no TV38 at all. Could get some of the NYC signals just barely. I remember trying to watch NHL games with a snowy signal from NY. You couldn't see the puck at all, you just watched how the players reacted. Either that, or, read a book or listen to the radio.

That 1975 WS had so much star power. Today, it would be must see TV.

It's funny, I went through the Wiki article on that WS and the thing that stood out to me was how loaded CIN was. Johnny Bench. Pete Rose. Joe Morgan. Davy Concepcion. George Foster. Cesar Geronimo. Ken Griffey not-Junior. Don Gullett on a Cy Young class season. They went on to win the next two WS. Hate that team with a passion, they broke my heart, but still, can't avoid the fact they were very talented. Also, we deserve respect for taking them to the limit. The whole Series was still up for grabs till the last out.

I maintain that if Fred Lynn had stayed here, he would have been a HoFer.

Agreed, and that infamous time when Fisk walked away because the management didn't get his paperwork into the league on time.

The passion is on ice for me as well. The game is so bleeding slow. For everything the current ownership has done right, '04, '07, '13 and '18, they have pissed me off more with their pink hat pandering and their refusal to keep the home grown guys. They feed us BS in the media and we are supposed to be dumb enough to lap it up. Pass. It'll be more this year when they let Devers and Xander go. Then they'll overreact and sign whoever is the hot free agent du jour and all will be forgiven. you'd think they could do no wrong, right? Yet they continue to irritate. In my ways, it's our regional birthright to b!tch about the Red Sox I guess.

Totally agree, thanks for the great post!

 

[FCB02062]

first game I ever went to was a Friday night game at Fenway, maybe 84 or 85 with my father. Al Nipper started iirc and the Sox lost. we went to the Saturday game as well and I think Oil Can pitched and the Sox won.

 

[Bill Lee]

The Pats' SB loss was soooo disappointing, but in those days...I didn't really understand how much of an underdog the team was. I remember going up 3-0.....oh man...then everything went to hell...

Back in those days I was with a girl that was "hot to trot" and we were watching the SB game alone in my apartment. Since the game was so awful she felt bad for me so we were doing what came natural by half time. I later joked to my friends that I scored more than the Patriots that day! They put one "through the uprights", so did I!

and I went to boarding school in Washington D.C. the early 90's....even became a Redskins fan for a while. The Redskins were very good in those days and my Patriots news was limited to Monday morning capsules in the back of USA Today's sports section.

It took me a while to latch on to a team. Even though I lived in CT, I liked the Tarkenton-era Vikings in the 70s and hated the Steelers. A good friend of mine from CT is still a Vikings fan going back to that era. I had a short infatuation with the Bert Jones-era Colts because good family friends lived in Baltimore. Irsay moving the team out of town in the middle of the night ended that for me. Then was pretty much a Pats fan from the mid-80s on, but at very low levels of intensity relative to my Sox fandom, till Parcells came to town.

When the Pats won 7 straight...following Bledsoe's 70 attempt game...I was HOOKED for life.

For me, it was all about Parcells. His press conferences were must-see TV right from the start. I watched all those Hodson/Secules/Zolak era games, handing off to guys like Marion Butts.

 

[WhatJustHappened]

Actually it was Trum Field watching men's Softball with my Dad on Friday nights, he took me on his Harley....this was in the 70's...
Pro Team? Bruins vs Sabres in the upper deck of The Garden around 1981 or 2, B's won 3-2(We were looking RIGHT DOWN on the ice!), and my brothers and I had a great time!

 

[Free_Pacman]

First Boston sport experience was a Red Sox game in 2000. Pedro struck out 17 Devil Rays and somehow STILL lost the game.

First Patriots game was a year or so later. Home opener against the Jets in 2001. We ended up losing and our quarterback ended up getting injured and knocked out of the game; it was terrible.

 

[Triumph]

Suffolk Downs

Took "My Fair Lady" in the 5th.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

First Boston sport experience was a Red Sox game in 2000. Pedro struck out 17 Devil Rays and somehow STILL lost the game.

First Patriots game was a year or so later. Home opener against the Jets in 2001. We ended up losing and our quarterback ended up getting injured and knocked out of the game; it was terrible.

That was a miserable game. Only good thing was Drew got knocked out. I knew for the last few years we were never going to win with him in there. But the owner and his legions worshipped...still worship...the guy.

 

[italian pat patriot]

30 october 2005
My first live game in Usa
Bruschi return...
It was an awesome experience
FINALLY i was where i always wanted to go
Our home our stadium our fans our colours our team
Patriots Bills SNF

 

[fightingirish595]

Went to a Red Sox twins game in 02 I think. I was 7. Wore all my Yankee stuff.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Back in those days I was with a girl that was "hot to trot" and we were watching the SB game alone in my apartment. Since the game was so awful she felt bad for me so we were doing what came natural by half time. I later joked to my friends that I scored more than the Patriots that day! They put one "through the uprights", so did I!

In response to this, I will only say that the greatest home run in Red Sox history by far is Dewey Evans, '86 World Series Game 2 at Shea



BTW greatest Red Sox uniforms, too

For me, it was all about Parcells. His press conferences were must-see TV right from the start.

Today, I appreciate Parcells. And, Drew was...better than Hugh Millen.

But, '01 was just so refreshing and pleasant, as Belichick/Brady was just the antithesis of Parcells/Bledsoe.

No surprise at all they won the Super Bowl. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again.


That was fun to type.

 

[Bill Lee]

Today, I appreciate Parcells. And, Drew was...better than Hugh Millen.

But, '01 was just so refreshing and pleasant, as Belichick/Brady was just the antithesis of Parcells/Bledsoe.

I agree, but in the big picture view of my fandom, Parcells' arrival is what kicked things into high gear. Of course he went on to my list after abandoning the team during and after SB31, and has been there ever since, but still, he and Krafty Bob deserve a lot of credit for raising the stature and the standing of the team.

No surprise at all they won the Super Bowl. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again.


That was fun to type.

And it was fun to read!

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I agree, but in the big picture view of my fandom, Parcells' arrival is what kicked things into high gear. Of course he went on to my list after abandoning the team during and after SB31, and has been there ever since, but still, he and Krafty Bob deserve a lot of credit for raising the stature and the standing of the team.


And it was fun to read!

You could say that Orthwein hiring Parcells is one of the top 5 most important events in team history.

 

[Loving_life35]

Thanks for sharing everyone! Amazing stories

 

[ivanvamp]

Just curious. What was your first Boston sport experience? Patriots? Bruins? Etc

What got you hooked?

My first Boston sports experience was a Sox game in 1976 (I think, from memory...could have been 1977) when I was either 6 or 7. Sat in the left field seats, near the Monster. Saw George Scott hit a grand slam and the Sox beat the Mariners 10-5. Totally hooked.

Fun story from that game. After Boomer hit the granny, I stupidly bet my friend ten cents that Seattle would walk him intentionally. Of course I lost the bet, and I didn't have the dime, so I asked my dad for it. He gave it to me but said, "This is the last time this happens. Never make a bet if you can't pay right away." That was the end of my sports gambling.

My first Pats game was in 2014, when Cincy came to town. The previous week NE got shellacked by KC and we had the famous "We're on to Cincinnati" BB presser. It was a Sunday night game so the tailgating went LONG and man the crowd was out of control. The Pats blew them out too. Pretty awesome first Pats game. I've been to seven total now, six in Foxboro and one at MetLife against the Giants (when Ghost kicked the game winning field goal from deep to win) and the Patriots have won all seven.

 

[Nikolai]

I was 11 when I went to my first Pats game in 1991. It was September, but I remember it being pretty cold, unseasonably so to my Arizona bones. Warren Moon and the Oilers came into town and it was a pretty decent game (i.e. we were actually winning) until the fourth quarter when Moon went off and the Oilers took a 20-17 lead late. But then, the man, the myth, the legend, Hugh Millen (lol) threw a beauty to seal the late comeback.

The seats sucked, it was cold, the game was kinda sloppy if I recall, there were some fights in the stands, but somehow we beat the mighty Oilers, and if I was a somewhat casual fan before, I was all in at that point. Too bad that year went to ****e.