Quite a turnout

ASSOCIATED PRESS

When my coworker Rich told me on Thursday that the Pats were showing a replay of the AFC Championship game on the big screens at Gillette before today's Super Bowl send-off, I thought "Free admission to Gillette? Replay of Cundiff missing the kick? I might go to that."

When I saw the forecast was sunny and mid 40s, I texted my nephew Pete and we both agreed it was a good way to get our Patriots fix during the Super Bowl bye week. Apparently a lot of people had the same thought.

An estimated 25,000-plus filled Gillette to watch the Pats beat the Ravens again and send the team off to Indy. Another couple of thousand were still stuck in Route 1 traffic waiting to get into the parking lot as Tom Brady made plans for next week's party. I picked Pete up at 10:30 with the expectation of getting to the stadium by 11:30 to catch the end of the replay (wide left!) and listen to a few player speeches. When we hit a solid wall of traffic about two miles north of Gillette it was clear we -- like the Krafts -- had greatly underestimated how many people would attend the rally.

If you invite people to come to your stadium for free on a 40 degree winter day, you better be prepared for a large turnout. The Krafts weren't prepared. Which is unusual. Pete and I inched our way into the lot right around noon, the 40-minute drive taking 90 minutes. We never did get to see Cundiff miss that kick again. There were almost no state police on the road directing the cars and the traffic lights continued to turn green, red, green, red as if it were a normal shopping Sunday at Patriot Place. Then we were directed to park over near the Bass Pro Shop only to find that all of the gates were closed but one -- on the opposite side of the stadium. We sprinted our way through the crowd and up the ramps as the Minutemen fired off a volley or two as the players walked on to the field.

The half of the stadium that the stage was facing was completely full so we headed under the lighthouse over to the other side that was empty. "You can't sit on that side," one of the Gillette staff told us. "The stage is on the other side." We kept going because what difference does it make where the stage is facing? We can see most of it on the video screens. We just want a seat. But as we got over to the other side there were barriers blocking off all the empty sections. Parents with little children were walking in the opposite direction and heading back down the ramp because there were no seats even though there were still thousands of seats sitting empty.

A young boy in a Brady jersey walked past us holding the hand of his clearly agitated father. "I'm never coming back here again!" the boy, probably around 6, said to his Dad. "I'm never watching a game here again."

The turnout by the fans was as great as it was surprising. But the failure of the Krafts to open up more sections so all the parents who brought their children could get a look at the players was as surprising as it was disappointing. Maybe you can't do anything about the traffic, but you can open up all the gates to your stadium and make sure all your fans have a place to sit.

If there is another party next week, they should stick with the duck boat parade. That works better.

Although with the lines winding outside all the Patriot Place restaurants when the rally ended (two hour waits), the Krafts have to be thinking they should do this kind of thing more often. Maybe they'll be better prepared next time.