Reflections on my New England fandom
Bill Belichick is leaving the New England Patriots. Not retiring, he’s leaving to coach another program. -Zack Smith, per sources.
Over the course of the past season I found myself in the crowd of noise. The roster construction has clearly failed. Draft after draft has been utter disappointment. Tom Brady walks to win another Super Bowl in Tampa. The Dynasty is left to smolder. The dark ages may be upon us.
I’m going to make this about my fandom for a while. I have less than two months until I turn thirty, which places me at an interesting relationship with Boston sports. Some say spoiled, and they’re right.
Bruins
Having retired from hockey after high school, I have still played for more than half of my life. For years as a child, my order of preference concerning sports was: physically playing with my brother or friends, playing sports video games, and then watching. It was too boring to watch. My viewing has exponentially increased with age. I didn’t care much for the Bruins as a kid because they weren’t good for so long, and I spent so much time on the ice. I still know most of the 2004 era Colorado Avalanche roster though, but that’s because EA Sports NHL 2004 kicked ass. Austin and I dumped hours of our lives into ‘chell far before it was cool. I didn’t pay much attention to the Bruin’s 2011 title; I had my own flailing career to worry about on top of high school and life shit.
About the second half of my college years I started routinely tuning in for the NHL playoffs. There is no sport that compares. Hockey playoffs are some of the most high intensity moments inside an arena that we have on Earth, and that’s a fact I’d fight over. The Bruins have put together some truly impressive teams and it’s been fun to watch them play meaningful games. I was on a work trip in Connecticut when they lost game 7 to the Blues in 2019. I sat in a Pub 99 with arms crossed while we all kept the bartender busy. The Cardarelli fam went to see the Bruins, the winningest team in NHL history, beat the Blue Jackets in overtime last April. I tuned in to watch them fall in the first round. It’s hard not to love this roster. But the hockey season is too long. I can’t follow all season. I check in, watch games with Grace’s Dad, who doesn’t miss a single one. I know what’s going on, I’m rooting for them, and I’m always excited when it’s playoff time.
Sox
I’ll never forget annual pilgrimages to Fenway before the Sox won in ’04. I was ten, and I remember being allowed to keep the radio on while I laid in bed at night. I listened to the comeback against the Yankees, down 3-0 in the series. This was so formative for our fandom. Anything became possible. For years after, embedded deep within our DNA was the knowledge that our guys were never out. The Patriots solidified what most of the country views as the most obnoxious fan base in sports. I was lucky enough to go to game seven of the 2007 ALCS; a spur of the moment stroke of luck (Austin played hockey with then-GM of the Blue Jays’ son. Can you believe his family didn’t want to go?) It was a family memory we all cherish. I remember my grandfather pulling one of my loose teeth in those even-then outdated Fenway bucket seats. I remember a 14 run first inning where Johnny Damon batted four times (2003, I looked it up). After they won in 2004, it became harder to make the trips to Fenway financially. Visits became more sporadic, and only when company box seats were floated from a family member. I was lucky enough to talk to some of the players, including my favorite, Jason Varitek. I still remember all those players. In 2013, a sophomore at Wentworth, me and my buddies, along with everyone even close to the Back Bay, ran down to Fenway to celebrate in the streets. But as an adult, I’ve fallen off the Sox. Baseball is flat out boring, though I am encouraged by the new rules aimed at speeding up the game. I’ve kept an eye their way, but watching Baseball has lost its magic for me. There’s also too many games. Who wants to spend their summer watching the Red Sox 3 to 4 times a week? Paird with some baffling roster decisions of the past few years, it’s safe to say I will only tune in if the Sox have a competitive roster in September.
Celtics
My father hated, maybe still does hate, basketball. There’s still a few arguments I agree with him on. In the year 2024, we are still concerned about referees fixing matches. I have fully conceded that I may never understand what constitutes a foul in the National Basketball Association. Safe to say I was not paying attention to the 2008 title, and only in retrospect have I begun to appreciate that team.
But as I became an adult, and had friends that loved the Celtics, I started to figure it out. I was always terrible at basketball. There are no transferrable skills from hockey— I tried desperately to find them throughout my entire gym class career. But I had fallen in love with Ultimate Frisbee, and reluctantly realized there’s a lot of overlap with basketball. Positioning, formations, defense, etc. Take my word for it. I started to understand what basketball is all about. My father’s still right: too often much of a match may be skipped because it will be decided in the last few minutes. But the momentum of a good basketball game! I relate intimately. When you’re up, you have to keep on the gas. When you’re down, it only takes a few stops and buckets to get you right back in the game. And this Celtics roster? How could you not root for Marcus Smart (i miss u), JT, JB, big Al! In my adult years, I’ve really loved tuning in to watch this team play important games. Again, the season is too long. I’ll catch many playoff games, and check in during the season, but they compete with football.
Patriots
The dynasty. Do your job. No days off. Let’s fucking go. In Bill We Trust.
I remember doing things for the Superbowl when I was a kid, but my family wasn’t a football family. I was seven for the win against the Greatest Show on Turf. I didn’t much care when they won again in 2003. But in 2004, I was at Disney World to see a sleep deprived Tom Brady parade. He’s so tall.
I didn’t become a Patriots fan until halfway through the dynasty. We weren’t a football family! But as I aged, they kept winning. I remember the heartbreak of 2007. Randy Moss! They were fun to root for. How many times did we watch Tom Brady march the Patriots down the field to win the game in the final minutes? They embodied that ’04 Red Sox spirit; they were never out. It became predictable. Maybe this time they won’t win. But then they do! I started paying much closer attention. As I’ve mentioned above, the other regular seasons are too long for me to watch. But football… Tune in every Sunday. It’s not hard to catch every Pat’s game. They make it easy. Once a week.
I started watching football because of Tom Brady. The hate came from everywhere; everyone else hated the Patriots winning. And they were our team!
And time and time again, Belichick cut players a year early. Guys would go to another team on a big pay day, and their production went way down. There are so many examples. Many instances of him exploiting loopholes. Not cheating or doing anything all the other teams weren’t doing, let’s knock that shit off right now. He is smarter than the other team’s coaches. The Patriots adapted. They abused other team’s weak points and played to their players’ strengths. They’d get accused of cheating, then win anyway. You think they were cheating? Why did they continue to win! That’s all the attention I’ll give there. The Colts get whooped… never mind. Not worth the air!
Bill would figure out what his players did well and put them in positions to succeed. Sun Tzu Art of War shit. Hoo Rah. For YEARS, In Bill We Trust. He seeped into the other teams. When Brad Stevens made a huge move, it was Belichick’s influence. Companies literally based their corporate structures on Bill’s Patriots.
I was drunk as hell and not wearing any pants when it was 28-3, but that’s not a story for today.
I was an In Bill We Trust truther when Tom went to Tampa. If you asked me, I would’ve said keep Bill. I wished Tom would stay, but it was clear he wanted to chase a pipe dream to win on his own. Foolish, I thought. A damn shame. Ride off into the sunset, Tom.
Then he won another ring. And the Patriots went to the shitter.
Of course I wanted Tom to win. How could I not? He deserved it. He had orchestrated New England happiness for almost as long as I had been alive. I was a Bucs fan that Superbowl, along with so much of New England.
And the Patriots. The talk of this season became, decidedly, that Bill could no longer construct a roster. He couldn’t win without Brady. And well, the evidence certainly suggests…
And yet I’m sad to see him go. In recent weeks I found myself coming back around. He should retire a Patriot. I want to see him beat the all-time win record in Foxboro. But that’s not what will happen.
I’m sad. Absolutely, this team is fucked. Whatever hand he had in it, whatever decisions were his or weren’t, we may never actually find out. But the Patriots have slid to unknown lows. Give him a chance to dig them out, Robert. I’d argue he needs another year before we can really say he’s lost his fastball. I was encouraged to see so many fans at Gilette this past week with Bill signs.
Of course I will root for Bill wherever he ends up. He had just as much to do with New England success as Tom did. It’s easy to forget, but it was always Bill and Tom.
I’m sad today. An era is ending.
I thought Tom’s return to Foxboro was perfect. When he ran out of the tunnel in a Buc’s jersey, Foxboro gave him the standing ovation he deserved. I love so much that when he went under center for his first snap, Gillette rained a storm of Boo’s down on him. We love you, and we’ll give you all the flowers. But you take a snap against the Patriots? For the next 60 minutes, Tom, we’ll root for another Max Kellerman cliff prediction to headline ESPN the next morning.
Shit. Phoebe Bridgers “That Funny Feeling” just came on, and I’m nearly sobbing in the coffee shop. (Editor Zack here reading this back. This is sad, innit? Like really funny to picture a late twenties man sobbing over the Patriots amicably parting ways with their head coach and listening to the same sad music that makes a depressed teenager question everything. I’m leaving this line. It’s me, hi, I’m the problem it’s me). (Yes, I know it’s a Bo Burnham cover. He’s a genius).
A lot of people don’t get sports. Why do I give them so much attention? You can drop me into any bar in New England and I have something in common with someone in there, if not everyone. I know because I bartended this summer, and heavily relied on my sport’s knowledge to connect with almost every one of my customers in some small way. I can break the ice just by shaking my head and saying “They should have never traded Mookie.”
We should be sad it’s over. Bill and Tom won’t happen again, and sure as hell won’t happen in New England. They’re the benchmark all future winners will be put against. No one will do what they did. It’s over, and the Pat’s future is uncertain. New England is my home, and for most of my conscious life, we’ve had awesome teams to lift us over whatever shit was going on in our lives. We rally around our teams. The world feels so divided at times. I might give someone the bird because they’re going 110 down the Mass Pike, but if they have a Pat the Patriot bumper sticker, I might just think to myself that they probably have somewhere important to be.
If you read all this, you might just be a psycho sports fan like me. Of course I identify with my teams. Of course they’re a large part of my personality. It’s not everything. But they matter to me, and have helped me through so many tough times. It’s escapism, it’s distraction. They show us what’s possible; that obstacles may be overcome.
Thank you, Bill.
Z