I've been tailgating at New England Patriots games from 1987 to present day. What a difference a couple of decades make! These tales from the tailgate include everything from the soul-sucking feeling of a 1-15 season to the unexpected thrills of Super Bowl titles. I often hear people say that Pats fans are spoiled and arrogant. Not all of us. Some, like me, still can't believe Vinatieri's kick was good.
WEEK 17 Patriots 49, Bills 21 (1/1/'12): Some highlights from another entertaining victory on a 45 degree sunny New Year's Day at Gillette...
Chili and sausages. A cooler full of cold beer. Sweatshirts and hoodies instead of parkas and wool caps. Chung and Spikes back in uniform. A scoreboard update of the Miami D picking off Sanchez. A couple of refreshing margaritas. Another update of the Miami D picking off Sanchez. The Bills breaking out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Bill O'Brien screaming at his entire offense this time.
OK, those last two certainly weren't highlights. But everything that happened in the next three quarters after that was. The Pats scored 49 straight points as the offense that struggled in the first quarter kicked into high gear and the defense that looked lost -- again -- seemed to find itself thanks to the return of #25 and #55. The Pats D is never going to fill one with confidence, but the return of leaders Chung and Spikes sure helps. Too bad Andre Carter isn't still on the field.
The next two weeks the Blabosphere will be buzzing with warnings about how the 13-3 Patriots are not a serious Super Bowl contender because of their slow starts on offense and false starts on defense. Many will predict another one-and-done playoff run. Or a two-and-done. But done before they even get started. Predictions are tough to get right. Just ask Rex Ryan ... again.
Mo, Larry, and Curly (a.k.a. Borges, Felger, and Shaughnessy) will be leading the chorus I'm sure. They will acknowledge that the Pats have the best offense in the AFC, but they will tell you that's all they have. They will tell you the defense will bring it all crashing down in the playoffs. They may be right. The Pats will either win or lose so it's a 50-50 shot.
But the Patriots will show up in two weeks to face either Cincy, Denver, or Pittsburgh. If they win they are hosting the AFC title game. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have lost their last three playoffs games dating back to the '07 Super Bowl. Brady has not been the reason they lost those games but he was far from his best. He's due to be at his best. If Brady and the offense can be at their best -- very best -- for the next three games, the Pats will raise that fourth Lombardi that they should have had a few years ago.
You might think from the title of this post that it's about fans who are obsessed with watching sports above everything else in life.
It's not.
It's about the growing obsession with fans -- by athletes and especially the Sports Blabosphere.
I was watching a little post-disaster coverage of last night's Sox loss when Mike Felger and the Globe's Bob Ryan (he looks much taller in person than on TV) began a rant and a rave about how awful fans are today and how the teams are mostly to blame for all the extra entertainment they've added to the experience.
Felger was all bent out of shape that Sox fans sang the "Sweet Caroline" song with great joy during the seventh inning stretch of a game the Sox were blowing, A big game. Against the lousy Orioles. How dare they have fun between innings? What kind of fans are they? Surely, not true ones like Felger and Ryan. They know the right way to root for your team.
Felger put it succinctly: They shouldn't be singing "Sweet Caroline," they should be booing because this Sox team is so bad.
Ryan even went so far as to call the singing of the Neil Diamond song a "national embarrassment." I've been to several Sox games since the "So good" tradition started. I don't love it. But a lot of people do. It's harmless fun. And I've thrown out a few "woh woh wohs" and enjoyed it. It's BETWEEN innings. Of a baseball game, not the United Nations Security Council. Baseball can be slow. You know? And Neil is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Felger and Ryan (and beat writer Peter Abraham, who actually tweeted about the singing after the game) would prefer that you sit and stew (or worse) that Daniel Bard has blown another lead or that Darnell McDonald has dropped another ball. That would be much better. Then the team would really feel bad about the fact that they are losing. Because according to them the players don't care. Maybe a good dose of booing will make them play better or try harder. Funny, looking at the Sox leaving the field at the end of another tough loss ... well, they looked like they cared. I don't think a few bars of "Sweet Caroline" would have brightened their mood.
The debate about fans and the dreaded "fan noise" has been a good space filler in the Sports Blabosphere for a while. Gillette fans have been the subject of scorn for a few years now. It's all much ado about nothing. Brady handled it right when he joked about getting lubed up and rooting for the home team. He also said "We need to give them something to cheer about." The crowd was great Sunday against the Chargers. Anyone who was there for the halftime ovation for Drew Bledsoe had to have a few chills. Would that have been wrong if the Pats were losing badly? Should I just sit there and curse and have a miserable time? Isn't there enough of that in life today?
When did it become preferable that sports fans be the kind that boo the players and kick their dogs when the team they root for loses? I've know some fans like that and it's not pretty. They're not welcome at any tailgates I'm drinking at. I think the word I'm looking for is perspective. The Sox are playing lousy. But it's just sports. It really is supposed to be fun. I have to go to work today win or lose.
My daughter and a few of her college friends sat in the bleachers last night. It was the first time at Fenway for some of them. That in itself is a great experience. Something most in the sports media have either forgotten or just never understood. I'll bet good money Amy and her friends enjoyed the "Sweet Caroline" sing-along. They were in the bleachers. It's as much about the party as the game. It has been since I was a kid going there in the '70s. The technology is just better.
The Blabosphere says the Sox and other teams have ruined the experience with all the bells and whistles and videos. I say to each his own. I prefer my sports experience to be about the game. But when I'm spending a couple of hundred dollars, I have no problem with some extra comfort and entertainment. It's not like Wally runs across the field during the game and plays center instead of Ellsbury or Gino goes up for a dunk on Rondo in the fourth quarter. I can watch the cheerleaders and talk about the big fourth down play coming up at the same time. Really. I can.
Ryan and Felger actually agreed that most fans leaving a Sox or Celtics game (yes, Ryan brought up the Garden Jumbotron -- again) don't even know the final score. Talk about arrogant. Because fans had a little fun singing a song, or doing the wave (another thing I don't love so much), or catching a T-shirt shot out of a cannon by scantily-clad women (something tells me Felger kind of likes that), they can't POSSIBLY be real fans. Or know anything about the game. I can't help but wonder when was the last time either of them bought a ticket like a fan, drove through traffic, found a parking spot, walked with the crowd to their seats, bought some pricey snacks and souvenirs, and really rooted for a team. Only to see their hard-earned money spent on a dissapointing loss.
(A note to Ryan and Felger ... my daughter knew the final score of the game. Just like she knew the final score of the game she went to a few weeks ago ... Rangers 11, Sox 4. Singing was the only enjoyable part of that game but she stayed till the final out.)
That's one of the reasons I enjoy tailgating. Even if the game turns out to be a bomb, it's still a fun day and me and my friends have a lot of laughs.
Flipping through the channels between "Seinfeld" and the NFL Network I came upon "Sports Tonight" on Comcast Sports Network with Tanguay and Felger. Like sports-talk radio, it's something I can only take in small doses hoping that some actual insight will come my way. It rarely does.
The show opened with a promo about Randy Moss mouthing off about not being wanted. Felger -- a well-known Moss basher -- was almost drooling. His take? Moss had once again shown that he is a selfish, spoiled diva like T.O. I can skip Felger and Mazz for the rest of the week because I know what they will be talking about.
The thing is... There was really nothing wrong with what Moss said. It was certainly not inflammatory. The flames will be fanned by the spouting heads, but not because of what he actually said. Which was this:
"When you have done so much and put so much work in, it kind of feels like I am not wanted. I am taking that in stride and playing my final year out and whatever the future holds is what it holds, but it is kind of a bad feeling -- feeling not wanted. It is not like my production has gone down. I am speaking from an individual standpoint. I don't know about [Patriots quarterback] Tom or whoever else's contract. I am a little older and understand the nature of the business -- the older you get the more your skills supposedly diminish, but I think I am getting wiser in how to use my physical skills. That's the frustrating part when you put so much heart and desire into things and feel like you are not wanted."
MOSS AND BRADY: Best yet to come?
So what's wrong with that? Where's the whining in that? Where's the nastiness? Moss is on the last year of his contract. A contract in which he took a reduced rate to come to New England and play with Tom Brady. He was going to be paid nearly $20 million over the last two years of his deal with Oakland. Instead, he agreed to reduce that to about $3 million. Very selfish. So now he wants a new deal. He deserves one. Moss is still one of the best three or four wide receivers in the game. You don't agree? Here are his stats since coming to the Pats:
2007: 98 catches, 1,493 yards, 23 touchdowns. Moss and Brady had the single greatest passing season a QB and receiver ever had. It was amazing to watch. So amazing I changed my fantasy football team name from Mansfield Maulers to Moss Racing after he bought a racing team. I bought a Moss shirt. For the record, I was not in favor of the Pats getting Moss. It wasn't that I thought he was selfish or a prima donna. I just didn't think he had much left in the tank. I sure was wrong. And watching him from the stands week after week it became obvious how much he loved to play and how much guys loved playing with him.
2008: 69 catches, 1,008 yards, 11 touchdowns. On the first drive of the season Brady goes down. Moss looked like a guy whose dog just died. Or whose girl had dumped him. And he looked that way for quite a few weeks. Can you blame him? The whole point of his coming here was to play with Brady and that was ruined just a few plays into the season. The next week at the home opener Moss sat mostly off by himself instead of right next to the QB where he belonged. Instead of helping Matt Cassell adjust he was mourning Brady. It was annoying and I kept waiting for Rodney to smack him on the head. But Moss, like the team, pulled out of their funk and put together a solid season, just missing the playoffs.
2009: 83 receptions, 1,264 yards, 13 touchdowns. This is often referred to as an off year for Moss. Felger will show the lowlights of his game against Carolina where the only catch he had ended in a fumble. It was a lousy game. Every player has them. Even Brady. But Moss was accused of dogging it. Turns out he had a bad back most of the season and still caught 83 passes. Ya, he was dogging it.
So now we come to year four of Moss Racing. 2010. Last year of the three-year deal he signed after his amazing, record-breaking 2007 season. Moss has done everything that has been asked of him and more. Brady clearly loves playing with him. Belichick loves coaching him. The guy busts his ass. If you don't sit in the stands watching him you might not get that from the way he is depicted in the media. Does he take some plays off? Sure. He's not a youngster. He needs to know when to burn energy and when not. Not every play involves him. Some game plans he's not the focus of the offense. And he knows it. That's the "I am getting wiser in how to use my physical skills" part of what he said.
He looks healthy and ready to go. If he stays healthy he -- and my fantasy team -- should have a great year. He wants a new contract. Just like Brady. Just like Mankins. Unlike Mankins, he hasn't accused Robert Kraft and the Patriots of lacking morals. The media hasn't made too much of Mankins's comments. They are depicted as being what you would expect from an angry player. I agree. The same applies to Moss's much more reasonable self expression.
I know, a guy whose fantasy football team is named Moss Racing is not the most objective voice in the Randy debate. When I heard he said he was feeling "not wanted" I thought he was complaining about not getting enough passes thrown his way. That would have bothered me. I do have one problem with his speaking out and that is the timing. But, being Moss, he's not stupid. Heading into the opener against Ochocinco and T.O. is a good time to say "Hey, I'm better than those guys combined. Why don't you want to wrap me up to three more years?" I think the Pats do want to do that and will sign him at some point. And I think the rest of Moss's statements this year will be made on the field. At least I hope so.
