I had to log in and voice my agreement with the original poster. I disagree that fans can "watch the game as they like." I'm trying to think of a good example to make, and the only one I can think of is this:
At Boston College, there's an area of student housing called "The Mods". It's a bunch of "temporary" modular suites that sit in the main residential area of the campus, near the stadium. They have traditionally been the main social scene at BC, and the expectation was that if you lived in the Mods, you would do your part to host parties, tailgates, etc.
Occasionally, you would have people who would get a good lottery pick for housing, and they would say "oh, I can't wait...we're going to have a mod!" to which others would say, "Great! Ready to throw some good parties?" to which they would say, "oh no! We don't want that! We'll just go to other people's mods and let them throw the parties!"
Red flag. These people would be vilified, and rightly so. Living in the Mods comes with that expectation that you are fulfilling a very specific and important role in the student community. If you weren't prepared to play that role, then f&%k off and go live in some other area of the campus. You don't live in the Mods because it's the cool place to be, you live in the Mods to be a part of fulfilling the reasons *why* it is the cool place to be.
This is the same thing with going to a Patriots game. Stadium noise and fan support are very real advantages, and the "Gillette isn't designed for sound" excuse doesn't cut it. It isn't a "get out of jail" free pass. Going to a game is a privilege, but that privilege comes with a responsibility of fandom: to be attentive to the game, to be loudly supportive, and to stick with your team to the end (especially if the game is close).
It doesn't mean you have to be a boor or a drunk. It does mean you have to care enough to be a part of the spectacle, even if it isn't your natural inclination (which it isn't for me, but I'm as loud as anyone on the occasions I get to go to a game). Going to the game and using it as a backdrop for your own idleness is an insult to the many passionate fans who would love to be at the stadium and a disservice to the team whose members have said time and again how much they feed off the energy of a rowdy home crowd.
