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Patriot duty A new stadium brings fan appreciation to the futurePosted: Monday May 27, 2002 10:40 AM
FOXBORO, Mass. -- I spent an afternoon last week sitting at the 35-yard line of the New England Patriots' new stadium, CMGI Field, awash with U2's It's A Beautiful Day flowing through a $3.5 million sound system -- 2,000 speakers! -- which makes the song sound better than I've ever heard it. Patriots VP Jonathan Kraft -- the owner's son and architect's assistant -- has just finished giving me a tour of the place and I'm soaking it in. And I think, I have seen the future of football stadiums and this is it. This palace was built on time and slightly under budget (in an area of the country, I should remind you, where not many things get built on time or under budget), with every seat angled toward the 50-yard line, with incredible sound, with a view from the top of the stadium that will be awe-inspiring in October when miles and miles of foliage will be in full view, with open areas of the stadium -- inside the stadium -- that will allow roamers to watch the game from a score of vantage points.
It's strange to write my column about an inanimate object. But I was so impressed with this 90 percent-completed gem -- particularly compared to the dump they're tearing down next door, the old Foxboro Stadium -- that I just had to. It's gorgeous. It almost makes me want to go out and buy a pair of the few remaining club seats. Here's the first thing I think I think this week: I think what I like about the stadium most is the number of vantage points from which you'll be able to see a game without an usher saying, "Move along, buddy." The Patriots chose not to put seats in four square areas of the stadium, on opposite sides of each 25-yard line, so they could open up so-called "skylights" for dawdlers to watch the game. (They could have sold 1,800 primo seats in those areas and made millions.) There is a section of the west end zone, at field level, where you can stop and watch the game where photographers and hangers-on won't be able to block the view. There are areas on catwalks connecting the upper deck with side-seating areas, hundreds of feet of them, where you can stop and watch the game. There's a replica of the Longfellow Bridge in the west end zone, right near the replica of a Newport, R.I., lighthouse, where you can stop and watch the game. "It's funny," Kraft said to me, driving the golf cart we used to tool around the stadium. "But people will look at the stadium when we have a big game and say, 'Wow, they've got some empty seats today.' They won't be empty, really. People will just be walking around, enjoying themselves. We did this because we thought this would be great for fans. I'm a fan. I've been going to games here since 1971. And when I watch football, I don't want to sit in a seat for three, three-and-a-half hours. I want to move around and see the game from all different angles. I think our fans will really enjoy this." What else I liked: At the top of the stadium, we got out of the cart and looked at the vistas. Not stunning or Coors Field-mountainous, but clean and green and very New England. "Think about where we were 10 years ago as a franchise," Kraft said, smiling. "The owner, James Orthwein, was trying to peddle the team to St. Louis. We had just 19,000 season-ticket holders, but who could blame them? The fans had to sit in 16-inch seats on metal bleachers. They had to wait an hour and 15 minutes to use the bathroom. And now this. No PSLs. Super Bowl champs. A 50,000-paid-person waiting list. Pretty amazing." Couldn't have said it better myself.
There has been an inquiry made of officials at CMGI Field about holding a bris there. A bris is the rite of circumcision for Jewish baby boys.
1. I think I'm still getting over the queasiness from that factoid just north of here. I mean, would the mohel do the job at the 50? 2. I think one of my most underrated peers is Tim Kurkjian, the former SI guy now at ESPN. Caught him on the radio this week and he gave out three terrific baseball nuggets: a. Babe Ruth had more career shutouts than Pedro Martinez has. b. No pitcher ever selected first overall in the baseball draft ever won 20 games in a season or 200 games in a career. c. If Rick Ankiel fails as a pitcher, he has a good chance to make it as a position player because he's a great hitter. 3. I think I'd like to clarify a point in my column last week about Tom Brady and his contract with New England. Although the agent, Don Yee, would certainly like to do a new deal if the Patriots are serious about making Brady -- due to make $395,000 after his Super Bowl MVP season -- one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the game, it wasn't Yee who pushed for meetings last week to try and get the contractual ball rolling. It was the Patriots. New England, obviously, would love to bump up Brady's pay to a respectable level and add a couple of years to the deal, if possible, in return. The point I made still stands, though: It makes no sense for Brady and Yee to sign anything unless they sign something that makes the quarterback one of the highest paid in the game. And there's almost no chance of the Patriots repeating their Drew Bledsoe mistake of last offseason -- they won't sign Brady to a gigantic deal until he proves himself to be more than a four-month fix. There's little doubt in my mind that he will do that; he's the perfect QB for the team's mostly conservative system, smart and gutsy and satisfactorily mobile, with a good-enough arm. Now he just has to be patient and play this year out to try and strike it rich next offseason. I believe that's what Brady and Yee will do, unless the Pats make a big offer, which I just don't see happening. 4. I think I have four words for Cardinals safety Pat Tillman, who took a leave from football this week to join the Army's special forces: I really admire you. 5. I think these are my personal thoughts of the week: a. Montclair High Softball Note of the Week: Well, when we last left the Mounties and My Favorite Softball Player of the Year, sophomore hurler/DH Mary Beth King, the team was prepping for its first state tournament appearance in four years in New Jersey's Group IV (large schools), North Section II Division, a quarterfinal game against midstate foe Linden. We were 17-9, seeded third in the bracket. Linden, 14-9, was seeded sixth. We knew nothing about them. Gorgeous early-summer-type day in Montclair for the game last Thursday, around 76 with a bright sun. Mary Beth would start the game DH-ing for the pitcher, precocious freshman Molly Kurzweil, who's had a terrific year. In the second inning, Molly gave up a single and hit a batter, and our coach, Tricia Sanchelli, who has done a Houdini job with the team, took a trip to the mound. And here came Mary Beth off the bench into the game. It was an eyebrow-raiser. But she came in throwing strikes. Got out of that jam and never got into another one. Five and two-thirds innings, two infield hits, one walk, no runs. In the third, she rapped a single to left that scored two runs. We won, 7-0, our first state tournament win in five years. And I don't mean to start a bandwagon, but we could really use some Mountie fans at the sectional semifinal game Tuesday at Morris Knolls High in Rockaway, N.J. It would be a great help if about 400 of you faithful readers would get on your computers, check out Mapquest, and find Morris Knolls High. This has been a pretty big nemesis of ours. In the last two years, we've lost huge field hockey sectional games at Knolls (you remember our sectional final heartbreaker in overtime last year, I'm sure, if you're an MMQB regular), and this game will be just as challenging. They've got a great pitcher, Erica Slavinsky, and won their Morris County Tournament. First pitch is 4 p.m. Hope to see you there. b. I had a pretty good line this week in the White Sox-Pirates Montclair Junior Girls Softball League game. My wife Ann and I coach the White Sox. I heard the other coach, Arthur, give directions to one of his outfielders, Chanel. And I said, "Hey, Arthur. Is Chanel No. 5?" c. Coffeenerdness: Excellent new product in your Starbucks case. "Doubleshot" is a chilled double shot of espresso with a bit of milk thrown in. Delicious. And perfect for that four-hour drive to pick up your daughter at Tufts. d. Coffeenerdness II: Overheard on a recent trip to a Bergen County Starbucks, from a customer to a cashier: "Is 'espresso' the same thing as 'expresso?'" e. No Six Feet Under news this week since the show was preempted during the holiday weekend. But trust me on this: The week off isn't going to change Brenda. She'll still be a turdball next week in the season finale. f. Now this is pretty bad. I asked Mary Beth the other day to tell me what happened on the finale of 7th Heaven. 6. I think the Los Angeles Express (the NFL sentiment, not the old USFL team) is running a little too fast for me. I still don't understand why it's so essential that the league have a team there. There's a decent chance having a franchise in L.A. would hurt TV ratings -- no games are blacked out in the market now because there isn't the chance of a home team not selling out. And I don't think many people in the San Fernando Valley wake up in the morning and say, "I pine for an NFL team at ridiculously inflated prices." Bob Kraft tried to tell me last week that the NFL is losing a potentially passionate fan base by ignoring L.A. and maybe he's right. "Putting a team in L.A. is one of the most important strategic moves of our lifetime," the Patriots owner told me. "We're missing out on millions of people." Maybe. But it would the ultimate corporate team. Would the people faithful to the Packers and Raiders and Chargers and whoever else convert? Would they be fair-weather? I just don't see the crying need. 7. I think I like a lot about what I'm seeing in Buffalo. The Bills will be a wild-card team. 8. I think, despite his occasional pomposity, Cris Carter is a first-ballot Hall of Famer as far as this selector is concerned. He has the best hands and the best sideline-catching ability of his generation -- and that includes Jerry Rice. 9. I think there's nothing better than watching Pedro Martinez strike out 10 Yankees and win a tight game, which he did Thursday night. Unless of course it's Pedro Martinez striking out 10 Yankees, winning a tight game and beating Roger Clemens. 10. I think I would like to say thank you to every veteran today. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Monday Morning Quarterback appears in this space -- no kidding -- on Monday mornings.
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