Broncos-Patriots Chatter Taking Over Boston

We’re a mere 12 hours from kickoff at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA. On Friday I took the train from Providence, RI to Boston with two goals in mind. I wanted to get a sense of where Patriots fans stood on today’s game, and I wanted to dole out some Rocky Mountain Roar where I could.

After a quick jaunt through Chinatown, I made the pilgrimage through Boston Common, the city’s public park, and over to the famous Cheers bar. I don’t normally frequent tourist traps, but yesterday called for one. I knew that I would find orange and blue travelers in there.

I walked the cobblestone and ducked in through the storied entry. Low and behold, I stepped in to a man and women sitting at the end of the bar dressed in orange. They made the spur of the moment trip out from Colorado to Cheers cheer on the Broncos. They said that they had ‘nosebleed’ seats, but vowed that they would be heard from field level. After banter about whether to color their hair orange and what their tailgate plans were, I made my way for the exit. It’s always good to see members of Bronco Country follow their team to another part of the country.

Next up was Quincy Market to search out some more orange and blue. Besides I had to get a lobster lobstah roll and chowder chowdah for lunch. The famous cafeteria-on-steroids served up some amazing New England food and charm, and it also housed many in Patriots’ jerseys. I parked myself right next to a man in a Tom Brady jersey chomping on a pizza slice.

“How do you think they’re gonna do,” I asked.

“They’re going to put the Broncos away,” pizza man said. “I say three touchdowns.”

“Fair enough,” I replied. “Why?”

“Tim Tebow doesn’t have what Tom Brady has.”

“A pair of Uggs?” I responded. “Dance moves?”

Don’t mess with a New Englander and his sports team.

“Tebow had one good game last week, and now everyone thinks he’s the second coming,” said the man. “He’s going to choke tahmarah.”

Quite frankly, folks, everyone in New England has their Patriots crushing the Broncos in the divisional round. That’s all I heard all day, save for the Broncos fans that made the trip east.

On to Beer Works, which brewed their own tasty suds, but had to show the Patriots-Broncos game from mid-December up on their television. Welcome to another playoff team’s town.

Remember most Patriots fans are also Red Sox fans. They’re passionate, they have high expectations, they know what it’s like to back a storied franchise, and they will fight to the death to convince you that their team is better than yours. Combine that with some liquid courage and outsized opinions and what you have is the ultimate Boston fan.

Playing at Gillette is reportedly not a loud place to play. Perhaps all of the large mouths are keeping bar stools warm in Bean Town rather than sitting in the red seats in Foxborough.

The Broncos real opponent is the men on the opposite side of the field. What happens tonight, well, we can let the talking heads discuss that. It’s easier to criticize than to be correct.

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