Now that I’m finally over the 2007 season and how horribly it ended it’s time to look back and remember the good times that were had. When your favorite team wins 18 games in a season it’s hard to call it a disappointment. While the Super Bowl is the ultimate goal and the only thing that matters to the team, what matters to the fans is how much fun was had over the entire season. Sure I’ve been depressed about the single loss last season but when you look back there were five straight months of nothing but wins. As tough as the ending was the great majority of the New England Patriots 2007 season was an absolute joy to watch. So now, here are my top 5 fan experiences from the season. By “fan experience” it’s a totally unique thing to me and only me – where I was, who I watched the game with, how drunk I was and ultimately the fashion in which the Pats won (or lost). 5. NE 27, BAL 24 (12/3/2007)
During the season I’m not a huge fan of Monday night games. Being on the West Coast means bombing home from work, chugging a couple beers and then boom, the game begins. I much prefer time to "pregame". By early December the perfect season was a topic on everyone’s minds and this game against the Ravens figured to be a blow out. However it ended up being one of the most exciting games I’ve ever witnessed as a fan. The Patriots should have lost the game THREE TIMES. Three times “they lost” ran through my brain only to be saved by a Raven-called timeout, a foolish Raven penalty, and a false start on the Pats that actually saved the game for them. This kind of heart-stopping action wasn’t seen often last year and sadly I thought I was watching the game alone until my sister Sarah texted me near the end of the game (past midnight in Boston where she was). She was glued to the TV and about to have a heart attack just like me. Just a crazy game that made for a rare enjoyable Monday night during the work week. And yes, Gaffney had control of the ball. 4. NE 38, NYG 35 (12/29/2008)
There are so many reasons that this game was so much fun. First and foremost was the fact that my wife and I found out we were going to have our first kid the morning after. The completion of the perfect regular season, Moss and Brady setting records on the same play, not to mention a great back and forth game - this one had it all. We also had a collection of fans and non-fans at our house that made it quite an event. Luckily I picked this game as the one to allow my Giants fan friend entry into my Patriots domain. I wouldn’t have wanted him there for the Super Bowl, that is for sure. 3. NE 24, IND 20 (11/4/2008)
This was the first game in the 2007 season that I accepted the Pats very well could lose the game. Like any Patriots fan I both respect and despise the Colts and pulling out an improbably victory was amazing. This game was hyped like the Super Bowl and despite the fact that we had to watch the end of a stupid Raiders game before CBS switched to this one, the action was fast and furious throughout. Everyone thought this one would just determine where the rematch in the playoffs would take place but the Chargers had something to say about that. Can’t wait for the rematch in 2008. 2. SUPER BOWL: NYG 17, NE 14
Okay I know what you’re thinking, the most disappointing loss in team history is number 2!? Well I have to take everything into account and that includes the two weeks of non-stop coverage and excitement leading up to the big game. There were so many stories going on outside of the game.. Judas Tomase breaking the Rams Walkthru Taping story, Arlen Specter, the Giants wearing black suits, the Pats going for 19-0. We had a huge gathering at the house, cooked some great food, had a halftime raffle drawing, I think everyone had a great time. Sure the ending sucked and I was instantly popping the Super Bowl balloons within seconds of the game ending but nothing can compare to watching your team in the Super Bowl, even when they come up short. NE 34, PIT 13 (12/6/07)
This one is number one because I was there. How I got there is a story unto itself and it goes a little something like this: The Writers Strike had hit Hollywood hard, by early December I had taken a 30% pay cut but was lucky enough to still have a job (where I was only working a few hours a day). I had no plans to head back to Boston for Christmas and figured this might be a good opportunity to A) see the family and B) see my beloved Pats in what was shaping up to be the greatest regular season of all time.
Last minute fares are pretty cheap, I got one that was a red eye from LA to Atlanta to New Hampshire. It was a long night of travel but once I got to Boston and turned on WEEI the Pats were all anyone was talking about. As the weekend got closer I monitored the Patriots ticket exchange closer and closer. As a Season Ticket Wait List member you get access to tickets that the regular season ticket holders don’t want so most of my Saturday before the game was spent on my Mom’s computer hitting “refresh” over and over. Tickets will pop up but are usually gone before you can even click on them. A couple times I even got tickets, entered my credit card information, only to have the site crash and the tickets lost. Finally after hours and hours of this (which came at the expense of spending quality time with my mother, which she was cool about) I got three tickets. Three was the magic number because I was hoping to take my two sisters to the game. The only rub – they were in the last row of the stadium. I could let them go, hope better seats would pop up, or I could click confirm and know that we would be at the Patriots vs. Steelers game, a game that was being hyped as the one New England would lose. I clicked confirm.
Despite drinking a little more than I had planned on the night before I awoke on the floor of my sister Mary’s room at 7am. For the second year in a row we were both up earlier than any person who was drunk the night before should be, ready to go see our beloved Patriots play in person. Our other sister Sarah wasn’t quite the rallier we were so we grabbed some breakfast while she slept.
Once we got beer, mimosas, snacks and blankets we headed from South Boston to Foxboro. As always we were one of the first cars in the lot. Tailgating is always one of my most favorite parts of the day. The anticipation was building. There was even a plane flying over the stadium pulling a sign that had an asterisk next to Bill Belichick’s 3 Super Bowls. I talked to some Steeler fans in line for the port-o-potty – they didn’t like the sign, saw it as fuel for the Pats fire and a sign that it would not be a good day for the boys from the Steel City.
One thing that my sisters and I have to improve upon in the future is our timing of when to being the walk to the stadium. For the second year in a row we were running to get to our seats for kickoff. Of course this problem was compounded by sitting at highest possible point in the stadium and entering on the exact opposite side of where we needed to be.
Luckily how high the seats were didn’t really matter. We were there. And we saw probably the greatest offensive play of the season on the Brady to Moss to Brady to Gaffney Touchdown Bomb. It was a convincing win and more importantly it was a great time with family and that’s what I enjoy about football the most and why this was the best game of 2007 for me.
Honorable Mention:
9/16 - NE 38, SD 14 – Killing the Chargers in the wake of Spygate was awesome.
10/14 - NE 48, DAL 27 – Sonny McCleans Boston Bar in LA was packed for this one and I even won a mini-helmet in the halftime raffle (which I gave to my Mom (who was there with me) since I already had one). Nothing compares to beating the Cowboys in Dallas. Especially when you hang 48 on them.
1/20 - NE 21, SD 12 – hard to believe the AFC Championship game is this low but it was pretty unexciting. Still watching the Pats raise the AFC trophy is amazing no matter what happened in the game.
Keywords: New England Patriots 2007 Recap
