Pats fans find ways to shuffle life, game

By Douglas Belkin, Globe Staff, 2/2/2002

n Sunday, while the New England Patriots were struggling to deliver the AFC Championship, nurse Ginny Silva's patient was struggling to deliver her first child, in Brigham and Women's Hospital's maternity ward.

As the contractions got closer, so did the score. The father-to-be was trying to pay attention to both, his attention divided between his wife, on the bed in front of him, and the game on the TV above.

It was firstborn vs. first down.

''He was really enthusiastically coaching his wife and at the same time he was going crazy over the game,'' Silva said yesterday. ''Then, finally his wife starts yelling if he didn't turn off the TV she was going to kill him.''

He shut it off. But that was just a conference championship. Tomorrow, during the Patriots' third appearance in the Super Bowl, the clicker might just work the other way.

Across New England, fans have rescheduled activities that can be rescheduled and are making contingency plans for those that can't. Pizzas and wing platters have been ordered. Sales of beer and portable televisions are climbing.

The bond between fan and football over the last three weeks has been nothing short of sacred. And with tomorrow's Super Bowl on the line, nothing is going to come between a fan and The Game.

Ask Darre Holloran, who got married last Sunday at the Belfry Inn & Bistro in Sandwich. Nuptials were set for 1 p.m., shortly after kickoff. By the time the hors d'oeuvres were served, Holloran started to notice her husbands' friends were disappearing. She finally realized that they were heading upstairs to the bridal suite - a.k.a. the room with the Pats game on the TV. She walked in just once, and all the guys were high-fiving each other. She walked out.

Did she mind sharing the spotlight on her big day? ''Well, I don't think the guys that watched the game would have danced much anyway,'' she said. ''And one of the guys said to me, `Hey this was the best wedding I've ever been to. You guys got married and the Patriots are going to the Super Bowl.'''

Brides and grooms who planned ahead weren't expecting to have to compete with the big game on their big day. Most football analysts had predicted the Patriots to finish at or near the bottom of their division, and the Super Bowl was scheduled for Jan. 27. But then the Sept. 11 attacks pushed the season back a week, and the Patriots caught fire.

The result? A collision of cultures. Donna Wernig, events coordinator at the Barker Tavern in Scituate, said she has her marching orders from a Super Bowl bride: Keep the guests away from the game.

''The only television is a very small set in the bar and we will be discouraging guests from going in and sitting down and watching the game,'' Wernig said. ''If they drive fast there's a pub nearby; they can catch the second half.''

Some in Patriot Nation decided not to try to compete. At St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Brookline, Dustin and Karen Pons switched their baby girl's baptism date from tomorrow to today.

''When my wife called originally to set up a day, Father Jack said: `Isn't that Super Bowl Sunday?''' Dustin Pons said.

So on game day, they'll be at a friend's house in Newton, newly blessed child in tow.

Ronald Gochakowski decided not to change the date of his son's christening. But he notes the ceremony is scheduled for 1:30, hours before kickoff, and the party afterward is at a Somerville restaurant well stocked with televisions.

''We checked to make sure they had plenty of TVs,'' Gochakowski said. ''The game is incidental for me but my family are all huge fans. I know they're going to want to watch it.''

And true fans are going to find a way to watch the game - especially this game. ''People bring their own portable TVs. We see it all the time,'' said Chris Damianakos, owner of Soiree, an event-planning business based in Swampscott. ''We had an event the night of the Raiders game and I can't tell you how many people pulled out portable TV sets.''

At least against the Oakland Raiders, fans waited until after the service. That's not always the case. At a wedding with about 250 guests last year, Damianakos heard a faint buzz. Toward the back of the church sat a man, stooped as if he were reading. Damianakos walked over and saw him clutching a portable radio between his knees, his earpiece spilling sounds from the game.

Damianakos tapped the bride's uncle on the shoulder and asked him to turn it off.

His response? ''He just played stupid.''

The bride, he said, never knew.

Douglas Belkin can be reached by e-mail at dbelkin@globe.com.