Matt Light Interview on WAAF

[Section103]

I had been sitting in Section103 until last year and I have to say that the crowd is lame. We had a cluster of 3-4 really good rows of people standing and cheering. We'd have to force others to stand, only be refusing to sit down ourselves. Nothing is more annoying than having to cheer for your defense on 3rd down and trying to be louder than the ones yelling 'down in front!' Or 'you paid for the seat so sit in it!'

Screw that! I paid for the Admission into the gate, not the seat. The seat is a luxury to allow me to rest during commercial break!

The old stadium, with the blue-collar types and the steal benches was loud. My ears used to vibrate and sound like I had swimmer's ear whenever the pats were on ANY down of defense, returning a kick, kicking off, making a first down, making a big hit, scoring a TD or just waving to the crowd. That crappy old stadium created a great football atmosphere, got people uncomfortable and irritable and it made for a heck of a home field advantage!

 

[oldskool138]

That crappy old stadium created a great football atmosphere, got people uncomfortable and irritable and it made for a heck of a home field advantage!

And the Pats won zero Super Bowls...(Except for 2001 but they were tearing the place down anyways)

But I'm with you on bringing back the metal bleachers. If the seats are too cold, people will stand and become more irritable (like us ornery New Englanders tend to do when the weather gets cold).

 

[nepatz11]

This issue actually was a problem some years in the old stadium too. After they won 2 straight division titles in 1996-1997 and dominated their division the fans got complacent too. Anyone remember the Patriots Pro Football weekly cover "The Silence of The Fans."

 

[Fencer]

Uh, let me cancel that last post ...

the stadium was definitely not designed for noise. in most stadiums, the air comes in and swirls around slowly, recycling the soundwaves. at gillette, the design lets the air freely come in and out of the stadium. it sux

That's not very good physics, because air is MUCH slower than sound. I won't pretend to know what makes sound carry less on very windy days -- although I have some theories -- but having the sounds just be "blown away" is clearly not the cause.

Open-vs.-enclosed and other geometrical arguments are more to the point here, I think, although some open-air venues -- such as Arrowhead Stadium or any well-designed ancient ampitheater -- are exceptions.

 

[JJP]

Screw that! I paid for the Admission into the gate, not the seat. The seat is a luxury to allow me to rest during commercial break!

I'm with you. I am constantly being told to sit down at Gillette. Imagine my shock, therefore, a couple nights ago. I was at the Pats/Ravens game Monday night, great seats on the Patriots' sideline 48 yardline, fourth row. I didn't sit once the entire game, and if I had, I wouldn't have seen one snap. So I hand it to the ravenous Ravens fans (although I was loud when they were quiet, and vice versa, but we all stood up the entire time).

I'll be there Sunday, and come hell or high water, I'm standing up!

 

[PatsRI]

While I think the crowd should be good on Sunday, and I'm still recovering my throat from the Eagles game, shouldn't Matt be more worried about getting torched by an D End like he did in the Ravens game more than the crowd noise?