I find it passing strange to read the phrase,"the all-conquering New England Patriots.When I lived in Boston,(1967-70,1975-1985),the Patriots were a joke.Bostonians were fanatically devoted to the Sox,the Bruins and the Celtics
but the Patriots?Well,the name was a giveaway.New England Patriots?I mean,their home stadium was Foxboro,about 100 miles from Boston and they were truly crap.I went to a few games,(American fooball bores me,but friends insisted),and the high point for me,and I suspect many others was the arrival at one game of the Governor,(Ed King,a prize bozo),by helicopter in the middle of what was almost a blizzard.He just had time to disembark and wave when he was hit square in the head by a well-packed snow-ball.I was cheered wildly for that shot and everybody followed suit.'Can-Do'King,(it was his catch-phrase,'l'm a can-do type of guy' he drooled endlessly),promptly beat a hasty retreat back into his whirlybird and pissed off skyward.We turned our attention to Super Patriot,the team 'mascot',an idiot who pranced about the sidelines in a Superman outfit and a Paul Revere-type tricorne hat.He,too,vanished in a storm of snowballs and was forced to take to his heels.It cheered up a frozen crowd no end.No-one really gave a flying rat's ass about the Patriots.And the Red Sox let us down as a matter of course.The Bruins and the Celtics,(hockey and basketball,respectively),were our consolation.Truly great teams.Ah,the many happy nights at the old Boston Garden ...