NEM
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Here is a copy of an article I sent to Patriots Football Weekly. I dont know if they will publish it.
Seeing Red, Too Much Red
By Mike Allen
When Gillette stadium was built, the predominent color that could be seen, inside the stadium, was, appropriately, Patriot Blue, the major color in the uniforms worn by the main tenants, the New England Patriots.
However, if you attend a Patriot's home game, or if you watch a home game on television, what will jump out at you, for the most part, is the color, RED.
What the TV cameras are picking up, is the inordinate amount of empty RED seats in the club seating sections of Gillette Stadium, the seats that are in, what should be, filled with the loudest, noisiest, and most vociferous Patriot fans in the stadium, the ones that can reign down their voices, and support, directly over the bench of the home town favorites, as well as reign down their disfavor with the visitors, on the opposite side of the field, very LOUD and very CLEAR.
It seems that the owners of these seats are the last to arrive, usually halfway through the first quarter, the first to leave at halftime, usually halfway through the second quarter, late to get back to their seats for the second half, usually well into the third quarter, and the first to head for the exits in the fourth quarter, for an escorted trip out onto route one, leaving the REAL fans to suffer in bumper to bumper traffic.
Where are all of these people, when they should be in their seats cheering on the home team? Are they all scrambling up to the sushi bar inside the confines of the clubhouse section?
Are their cell phones ringing to give them the latest stock market quotations, instead of the latest NFL scores?
Or, have they just gone up to their comfy little clubhouse to hob nob and be seen, so that the next morning they can tell everyone how they were at Gillette Stadium for the Patriots game, because it's the fashionable place to be, in New England, on a Sunday afternoon in the Fall?
This team built a beautiful palace. A place that they, and Mister Kraft, can be proud of. But, have they created a monster that will be cruel to the player on the field? The players need the 12th man, they need the roar of the crowd, they need the seats to be full, butt to butt if you please, and they need the noise, the exuberance, the sounds of ALL of the fans in the Stadium to be behind them, from beginning to end.
So, how do we correct this problem, a problem that will probably worsen as the weather gets colder. And, at a time in the schedule when we need the sound of the fans to be at it's peak?
Here are a few possibilites.
1: We install automatic leg locking devices under every RED seat in the stadium. These devices automatically grab ahold of the ankles of the seat holders at the opening kickoff and they dont release until the end of the first half. Then. five minutes before the start of the second half, the bars and restaurants close in the clubhouse, ushers guide the seatholders back to their seats and the leg braces are,, once gain, put to use, until the game's final whistle.
2: All holders of tickets in the RED section will be required to arrive 30 minutes before kickoff, remain in their seats till games end, and the entries to the clubhouse shall be locked, and sealed for the duration. Passes will be issued for rest room visitations with a limitation of 2 trips per game at a maximum of 90 seconds for men and 3 minutes for women. They will be escorted back to their seats, immediately, by the LAtrine Police.
Of course, these methods are ridiculous, but the point is that something must be done to keep these seats filled for the entire game, not just for brief moments.
These seats are in a prime location, a location that speaks of the fan support that the Patriots have, and when they are shown, nearly empty, on national television, game after game, it only speaks badly of Patriot support.
I realize that it is a free society that we live in. People can go, and come, as they please. But, in this era of professional sports, that we live in, fan support and fan involvement, have become a major factor in how a team can, or can not, perform on the field.
How can this situation be corrected? I really don't know. I do know that it DOES require correction.
Is Bob kraft the one to come forward, to speak publicly to the holders of these seats? Must he come out and ask them to remain seated, to be a part of the fan environment, to be loud, to cheer, to become part of the twelth man?
Perhaps that is what must be done. I do know that we need all of these people to be a part of the Patriot experience. But, we need them to be a part of it 100% of the time, not just for part of the time.....
They are fortunate to have the ability to have prime seating. They must now show that they are prime fans.
As it now stands, we are seeing way too much red. Blue is the Pats prime color, it is time to cover the red with fans who are part of what makes this area, New England, a great sports environment.
Ladies and gentlemen, PLEASE BE SEATED.......
Seeing Red, Too Much Red
By Mike Allen
When Gillette stadium was built, the predominent color that could be seen, inside the stadium, was, appropriately, Patriot Blue, the major color in the uniforms worn by the main tenants, the New England Patriots.
However, if you attend a Patriot's home game, or if you watch a home game on television, what will jump out at you, for the most part, is the color, RED.
What the TV cameras are picking up, is the inordinate amount of empty RED seats in the club seating sections of Gillette Stadium, the seats that are in, what should be, filled with the loudest, noisiest, and most vociferous Patriot fans in the stadium, the ones that can reign down their voices, and support, directly over the bench of the home town favorites, as well as reign down their disfavor with the visitors, on the opposite side of the field, very LOUD and very CLEAR.
It seems that the owners of these seats are the last to arrive, usually halfway through the first quarter, the first to leave at halftime, usually halfway through the second quarter, late to get back to their seats for the second half, usually well into the third quarter, and the first to head for the exits in the fourth quarter, for an escorted trip out onto route one, leaving the REAL fans to suffer in bumper to bumper traffic.
Where are all of these people, when they should be in their seats cheering on the home team? Are they all scrambling up to the sushi bar inside the confines of the clubhouse section?
Are their cell phones ringing to give them the latest stock market quotations, instead of the latest NFL scores?
Or, have they just gone up to their comfy little clubhouse to hob nob and be seen, so that the next morning they can tell everyone how they were at Gillette Stadium for the Patriots game, because it's the fashionable place to be, in New England, on a Sunday afternoon in the Fall?
This team built a beautiful palace. A place that they, and Mister Kraft, can be proud of. But, have they created a monster that will be cruel to the player on the field? The players need the 12th man, they need the roar of the crowd, they need the seats to be full, butt to butt if you please, and they need the noise, the exuberance, the sounds of ALL of the fans in the Stadium to be behind them, from beginning to end.
So, how do we correct this problem, a problem that will probably worsen as the weather gets colder. And, at a time in the schedule when we need the sound of the fans to be at it's peak?
Here are a few possibilites.
1: We install automatic leg locking devices under every RED seat in the stadium. These devices automatically grab ahold of the ankles of the seat holders at the opening kickoff and they dont release until the end of the first half. Then. five minutes before the start of the second half, the bars and restaurants close in the clubhouse, ushers guide the seatholders back to their seats and the leg braces are,, once gain, put to use, until the game's final whistle.
2: All holders of tickets in the RED section will be required to arrive 30 minutes before kickoff, remain in their seats till games end, and the entries to the clubhouse shall be locked, and sealed for the duration. Passes will be issued for rest room visitations with a limitation of 2 trips per game at a maximum of 90 seconds for men and 3 minutes for women. They will be escorted back to their seats, immediately, by the LAtrine Police.
Of course, these methods are ridiculous, but the point is that something must be done to keep these seats filled for the entire game, not just for brief moments.
These seats are in a prime location, a location that speaks of the fan support that the Patriots have, and when they are shown, nearly empty, on national television, game after game, it only speaks badly of Patriot support.
I realize that it is a free society that we live in. People can go, and come, as they please. But, in this era of professional sports, that we live in, fan support and fan involvement, have become a major factor in how a team can, or can not, perform on the field.
How can this situation be corrected? I really don't know. I do know that it DOES require correction.
Is Bob kraft the one to come forward, to speak publicly to the holders of these seats? Must he come out and ask them to remain seated, to be a part of the fan environment, to be loud, to cheer, to become part of the twelth man?
Perhaps that is what must be done. I do know that we need all of these people to be a part of the Patriot experience. But, we need them to be a part of it 100% of the time, not just for part of the time.....
They are fortunate to have the ability to have prime seating. They must now show that they are prime fans.
As it now stands, we are seeing way too much red. Blue is the Pats prime color, it is time to cover the red with fans who are part of what makes this area, New England, a great sports environment.
Ladies and gentlemen, PLEASE BE SEATED.......
