Jan 19 2007
Tebucky Jones is the only New England Patriot who was born in New England
Cliff, a friend and colleague of mine doesn’t understand why several of us in the office, especially me, have been so wrapped up in talk of football this past week. His GTALK status message read
 “Eff football”
after a conversation based on football consumed the majority of a lunchtime discussion on Wednesday. After the Pats win over the Chargers last weekend, can you blame me?Â
Cliff states:Â
“It doesn’t make any sense, when the players are not even from the area of the teams they play for and will sign with whoever gives them the most money. There is no loyalty amongst the players, it is just a business to them”
Interestingly enough, Tebucky Jones is the only current New England Patriot who was born in New England - New Britain, Conn. to be exact. I didn’t even know that Tebucky Jones was on the team still, until I looked at the Roster on the Pat’s website. Dan Koppen did go to BC, but he was not born in New England.
So how can we be so loyal or patriotic (pun intended), to a team or a sport that is really just a money making business where none of the players are actually New England natives? To be honest, whether they are New England natives or not, doesn’t really matter to me much. I guess I care more about the make-up of the team and less about their place of origin.Â
I like to watch football because it is an athletically and a technically difficult game. However, the real reason I enjoy watching New England sports so much, is because it is how I grew up and I find it comforting. It was a way for me to bond with my Dad, brothers, my uncles, friends, boyfriends, and now with my husband.Â
I didn’t play sports as a kid. I only shot the occasional hoop in the backyard with my brothers and my Dad after dinner.  However Boston sporting events, including Celts Bs, Sox and Pats games were big events in my home. Holiday dinners and get-togethers were planned around game times. It was fun, just chilling with my family and watching the games. I learned to love watching sports and that love has not died.Â
Admittedly, my interest in basketball and hockey has feigned a bit. I’m still trying to regain my interest in the Boston Bruins, but I haven’t forgiven the NHL yet for the year on strike.  Honestly hockey hasn’t held the same allure for me since the Cam Neely days. The same for the Celtics, not since Larry Bird days have I been as interested in basketball. So maybe I’m not as loyal to sports and to Boston/New England area teams as I should be.Â
For some reason winning or losing, I have always loved football and watching the NFL. There is nothing better than hanging in with friends and family on a Sunday; lighting a fire; mixing up a batch of mudslides in the blender; heating up a plate of nachos; making a big pot of chili; and WATCHING FOOTBALL.Â
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tags: new england patriots are not new england natives, no real loyalty in professional sports, professional sports is a business, tebucky jones is the only new england patriot from new england, why football rocks, i will never give out my mudslide recipe
2 responses so far
Fair enough… I will never stand up against something that brings family and friends together. Hey, I’m not Christian, but I still like Christmas because it’s a great reason to see my family and have everyone get together. The experience holds the value to me… Not the holiday.
This still does not explain why one team is picked over another as a place to invest one’s loyalty. If, indeed, the players are essentially interchangeable parts to a larger NFL machine, than the only plausible reasons to become “pat”riotic is that you either like the team logo, or have become friends with the team owners.
Since most fans seem to agree that team owners tend to be “evil”, and simply liking a team based solely on their logo seems more frivolous than a teen magazine article about Ginger Spice, I can only assume that these reasons do not apply.
NFL teams move an amazing amount of money, and I could get behind a team if their winning made me money, but beyond that I still fail to comprehend where fan loyalty to a certain team comes from. Like I said, I completely understand how coming together to watch the game is fun and rewarding, but why one would pick one team over another is a total loss to me. Not the players, not the coaches, not even the owners stick with one team with the same loyalty of the fans. Loyalty to an institution seems misplaced when the only thing that is stable about it is the logo.
I guess it just makes it more fun when you have picked a team, but since there is no such thing as a local team, picking one seems as arbitrary as throwing darts at a board.
[...] She started thinking about it, and wrote: So how can we be so loyal or patriotic (pun intended), to a team or a sport that is really just a money making business where none of the players are actually New England natives? To be honest, whether they are New England natives or not, doesn’t really matter to me much. I guess I care more about the make-up of the team and less about their place of origin. [...]