Monday, February 04, 2002
New England cheers home team
Region comes together to root for the Super Bowl champion Patriots
By KEN MAGUIRE
Associated Press Writer
BOSTON — Bars and living rooms across New England were filled with joy when Adam Vinatieri kicked a 48-yard field goal with seven seconds to play to give the Patriots a 20-17 victory Sunday over the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl.
Hundreds of fans who packed the Sports Depot restaurant in Boston's Allston section leaped in the air as Vinatieri's kick sailed between the uprights.
“He's done a great job for us all year,” said John O'Connell of South Boston. “In the snow game (against the Oakland Raiders), those two kicks he made were unbelievable. He's done a hell of a job.”
Championship-starved New England sports fans packed bars and joined friends and family in living rooms across the six-state region Sunday night to watch the underdog Patriots.
It's been 16 years since a Boston sports team won a championship — when the Celtics took the NBA title — and the Rams were 14-point favorites to beat Bill Belichick's overachievers.
But hope rang eternal in Patriot Nation.
“I said before the game that if the defense can put points on the board, they'd have a chance,” said Ron-e Bates, general manager of the Sportsman's Bar & Grill in Portland, Maine.
The bar hosted 200 fans and members of the Maine Freeze of the National Women's Football League and the Southern Maine Raging Bulls of the New England Football League. Bates is a defensive back for the Bulls and defensive coordinator for the Freeze.
The bar got very noisy when Ty Law picked Kurt Warner's pass and returned it for a touchdown in the second quarter, giving the Patriots a 7-3 lead.
Pats fans didn't need to be in the Big Easy to enjoy the big game.
At the Sports Depot, fans jammed the converted train station, which features 65 televisions — all tuned to the game.
“We were cautiously optimistic before the game, but when Ty Law scored, the place went absolutely nuts,” said Scott Kantor, a Marshfield native who returned from his new home in New York to watch the game.
Kantor said a Pats win would be “the greatest day of my life,” pointing out he's married and has a daughter.
Even Doug Flutie got into the act, playing with his band at the End Zone bar in Foxboro, just a mile from Foxboro Stadium and close to Flutie's hometown of Natick.
The band — The Flutie Gang — features Doug, the San Diego Chargers' quarterback, on drums and brother Darren on guitar. They played before the game and at halftime.
Business signs along major highways exhorted the Patriots to victory and grocery stores sold red, white and blue cakes.
New England fans have had their share of suffering. The perpetually disappointing Red Sox haven't made it to the World Series since 1986. The Bruins were blown out of their most recent Stanley Cup final, in 1990, and the Celtics only now are showing signs of life after years of ineptitude in the 1990s.
The Patriots' second Super Bowl appearance in six years was a surprise to all. The team went 5-11 last year and started this season 1-3.
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