Recently, the rock group Styx played a gig at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton, and I considered attending. Then I saw that the top ticket price was $75 and my mind was changed in a hurry. That amount also caused me to think back a few decades to another time when I spent that kind of money on my entertainment.
In 1970, I decided to purchase season tickets for the then-Boston Patriots. The season was 14 games long that year and the ticket package consisted of eight games — seven regular season games and one pre-season. The package cost a grand total of $80 — that’s right, $10 per game. I bought two season passes, but it turned out to be money not well spent.
The Patriot’s management was a bit of a joke around the league and the team never even had a permanent facility to play in. But maybe, just maybe, they were turning the corner. The club had reached an agreement with Harvard to use its stadium for the regular home games.
The previous year, the Pats had hired George Sauer Sr. as general manager and Clive Rush as head coach. Both had been with the New York Jets when that team won Super Bowl III. The two were thought to be the brain trust behind the Jets’ success, but it soon became apparent that was merely a myth.
The one pre-season game was scheduled at the old Boston College field. A friend and I traveled to the Wellesley Hills one Sunday in August to watch the Pats take on the Washington Redskins. The events of that afternoon proved to be a precursor to the entire season.
Sometime in the third quarter, a portion of the stands caught fire from an overheated grill. Fans poured out onto the field, the game was quickly terminated and we had to make our way out of there through a maze of firefighting equipment. I think of that game as the very definition of an inauspicious beginning.
Finally it was time for the meaningful games to begin, but first I have to give a little background. During the 1969 season, the Pats had a running back named Bob Gladieux who had been a decent player. When the team announced its final 1970 roster cuts, I noticed he had been released.
On the day of the first game, we had just entered the stadium when over the public address system boomed the announcement, “Will Bob Gladieux report to the locker room?” That seemed strange, but an hour later, as the Pats prepared to receive the kickoff, the announcer said, “Back to receive for the Patriots is Bob Gladieux.” The next day in the papers, Gladieux said he had snuck into the stadium because he did not have a ticket and was surprised as anyone to hear his name called. As I said, there was a comical element to the team’s management style.
My true motivation for securing season tickets had been that the Patriots were going to play the Giants at Harvard. Finally, we diehard Pats fans would be able to silence all the New York supporters in the area with a convincing win. I told everyone the Pats would be so fired up for the game that even I could coach them. Well, the team came out absolutely flat and Fran Tarkenton and the Giants won easily. Yech.
Shortly thereafter, I was in Wally’s Soda Bar buying a Gazette when one of my cousins walked in. He knew I had season tickets and said he and some buddies had just purchased tickets for the next game. Perhaps they would see me at the stadium. That would be nice but unlikely, I thought.
On Sunday, I was in my seat when who should arrive to occupy the ones next to me but my cousin and his pals. I had always been unhappy with my seats because they were uncomfortable and in the end zone, and now here were these guys who had bought their ducats four days ahead of time sitting right next to a season-ticket holder. I was miffed and vowed on that day not to renew my tickets.
I have no idea what season tickets cost now, undoubtedly in the thousands of dollars. I would never pay that kind of money, just as I wouldn’t pay even $75 to see Styx. I can get a lot of lunches at the Blue Bonnet Diner for that sum and these days, I would rather support the local folks.
Rich Szlosek can be reached at richszlo@crocker.com.