but for Colts fans we saw this story before, last year. This year is just the sequal.

and that’s because it’s hard to disguise the fact the Pats have only got one kicker.

seriously. By that time in the game, I’m passed the sipping stage.

Taking a vacation day on Monday. heh heh heh

…say that I hadn’t seen a Phin fan until last season and now a handful of them are trying to claim the east goes through Miami, a season apart from a 1-15 year. It’s just that most fans don’t have much to talk about (or want to talk about it) when nothing’s happening.

The team had a record sale of season tickets the day Parcells joined the Patriots, in a snowstorm.

I watched the Packers when I was three. I didn’t pick them, my Mom watched them so they were on. Lombardi/Starr era so they were doing well.
When I was a teen, I watched the Bears living in Illinois (they were on, other games weren’t). Loved Payton and the defense, but it was more about living in the Illinois than anything. The coaching and ownership were and still are maddening. They got Payton a ring (at the expense of the Pats) just before I went in the military for 5 years.
Late 80’s in Europe, I couldn’t follow any games consistently. When I got out, all the players I knew were gone only Ditka and the ownership remained. Since they were my biggest problem with the team, I wasn’t going to emotionally commit to learning the new team.
Went back to college, and supported the college team until 1994. Then I started looking for my team. I was in Minnesota, so the Vikings seemed to be the natural choice, but the coaching and ownership were very much like the Bears. Plus years of hating them made it very difficult.
Started watching the Pats when they were on during the Parcells then Carroll ownership. They started get more games televised outside of New England, which is key to someone not in the area. When Belichick came in, I really liked what they were doing. Pretty soon they were my team. When the wins and losses start mattering to you. When you take the injuries personally. Not going to apologize, you fall for who you fall for.
After years of dating, I’m finally hitched. For better or for worse.

…isn’t really a choice at all. Born and raised just a few miles from Foxborough, so myself and many others are Pats lifers. Not saying you’re impugning our loyalty specifically here, but it has always been a head-scratcher to me that people act as if the teams we root for are not overwhelming influenced by geography or personal connection, as opposed to completely free choice.

Also, regarding fans jumping on bandwagons, it happens. It happens to every team. I don’t care how people get on; if it takes championships and success to get them to pay attention, that’s fine. What matters is that they don’t get off after the first rough season they go through as fans.

Finally, another reason people say the Pats in particular have bandwagon fans is that the bulk of their success coincided with a massive surge in internet broadband connectivity nationally. Yes, many of us have been wired since the mid-90s, maybe earlier. But lots of municipalities didn’t start incorporating strong data infrastructure (“strong” is a relative term, given how far we lag behind other countries) for residential areas until about a decade ago. With that came bulletin boards, fan pages, comment boards, and blogs. I’m not denying that their success made the Patriots more popular and attracted new fans, but there were certainly a ton of fans prior who suffered through the drubbing in Super Bowl 20, the Hugh Millen and Scott Zolak years, Scott Secules filling in for Drew Bledsoe and giving away 4 games in a row, etc. There have always been fans here, but it took a while for technology to give them as loud a voice as they have now.