New England Patriots Vs Buffalo Bills - my epinion.

Where: Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, MA
When: Sunday, Sept 23rd, 2007, 1:00 PM.
What: NFL Preliminary Round.
Why: Why Not?


The Gillette Stadium

It was a beautiful day for the game. We wanted to get there early as we had little knowledge and information about how to get to the stadium, where to park and even if we would be allowed a camera. A week or two earlier, there had been an instance of video taping the opposition coach at the instance of Patriot's coach Belichick (which is illegal in NFL) - so we weren't sure.

Another reason to get there earlier was to make it in time to the Tailgate party we were invited to go as well. That started 10:30 AM. Yes - you got that right - Invited. Lets not get into the how and why of that.

Anyway - we got in the vicinity of the stadium at about 11:00AM. We knew that parking our vehicle around the stadium would be costly ($40.00 for 3-4 hours!). We started looking for private lots that were about half a mile away from the stadium - and hence slightly more reasonable. Another reason to park as far away from the stadium is that it would almost always be easier to get out of the area when the game ends. We got the first parking available for $25.00. It was offered by local businesses that operate from around the stadium there.

After walking to the stadium in perfect weather, we looked for the Dana-Farber house. This is where our cocktail and lunch (IOW, the 'Tailgate Party') was being served. We were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food and the drinks available at the party.

There were thousands of car in the parking lot enjoying the real tailgate party. Bar-B-Que, grills, radios, TVs (some portable, some not), footballs and of course, beer - it was some atmosphere.

Promptly at 1:00PM, the game started with the National Anthem. Right after the anthem got over, 2 F-16s flew over the entire stadium filling the stadium with a deafening sound.

The game itself was not a nail-biter.. the results were almost expected - a TV commenter had said previously that he was not sure why the Bills came to Patriots territory - to see the fall colors - but it was too early for that.

During half time, I ventured to the rest room. To my surprise, they were pretty clean and tidy - despite thousands in attendance. The food was the same expected stuff.. HotDogs, Pizza, Popcorn, there was even a McDonald's - but don't expect to pay less than 2-3 times for anything. Bad luck if you want a bottle of water while in the stadium. A half liter (or was it less?) left you with $6 less in your pocket. You might as well have a Bud for $7.50!

We tried beating the crowd out of a full house of a stadium - in case you are not aware, the stadium can handle a crowd of almost 65,000 people. We got out of our box 5 min into the last quarter. Unfortunately - we had parked at the other end of the stadium - so we had to walk a good 2-3 miles just to get to the right exit - yes the stadium is that big.

And we were allowed to take the camera - in actuality, we never asked and just walked in with it. They frisked everyone before you can enter the humongous structure.

Overall - it was a fabulous experience - even if you had taken the cheerleaders out of the equation.
Of course, the Patriots wiped out the Buffalo Bills 37-8.

Here is the slideshow of some of the photos..