This past Sunday (January 20th), the family and I went to Gillette Stadium to watch the New England Patriots take on the San Diego Chargers in the AFC Championship game to determine who would represent the AFC in this year’s Super Bowl. After 60 minutes of hard-fought football, the Patriots beat the Chargers by a score of 21 – 14.

This was a great experience, especially since I had the family there. Usually, when I go with my buddies, we’ll have a few beers (or a few more) and perhaps not be especially crisp in our observance of the game. With the kids, I didn’t want to set a bad example (my wife already knows how bad I was, so she didn’t really enter into the equation). And to tell the truth, this was the most fun I’ve had at a football game in a long time. Watching the game through the eyes of football play-off rookies (including my wife) was a lot of fun.

Gillette was rocking, and the entire crowd was into the game from the opening kick-off. The Charge hung tough, and Tom Brady wasn’t his usual sharp self, but the Pats Defense came through big time. This was their best performance since the 2004 season when the Pats last won a Super Bowl. A very Patriots-like performance – bend but don’t break – and the Chargers were only able to get four field goals in four trips to the red zone (although it was really three trips and one to the 22 or 23 yard line).

Now, we’re looking forward to the Super Bowl. I’m not going this year, and it’s going to be strange, but I’m looking forward to hanging out at home with some friends and family and having a good old-fashioned Super Bowl party.

Go Pats!

P.S. Check out the rest of the pictures by viewing the posts below with the heading “AFC Champion Patriots.” I took all of these with my camera phone (Samsung SCH-a930) and PIX messaged them to the blog.  Enjoy!

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Michele and Marissa bundled up at the game.

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Carson in his new, funky Patriots hat.

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