Seeing Is Believing

In the process of pouring over the Internet in search of just where fans might be congregating for this weeks Rams/Browns game and other such delightful contests, some things just get lost. Like the actual atmosphere. The sometimes awesome, unadulterated insanity of the atmosphere.

On my first visit to The Green Briar — which serves as sponsored home of the New York Jets fans in Boston — I can away quite impressed. I walked in the door and quickly met by fist bumps and a steady stream of high fives that didn’t seem to relent until I walked out of the door. A friend of mine arrived a few minutes earlier to seven or eight people walking in to a scream of, “Gang Green Briar!”

Whether punning the teams name with that of the bar, the passion of the fans was unmatched for a Jets game anywhere else I’ve ever been. As a Jets fan who had grown accustomed to anywhere from apathy to anger from others when I watched a game at a bar, it was honestly a little unsettling. I loved it, but it was so far from the normal way of things I didn’t know how to handle it.

It was a little slow at times but as the game moved on more and more people showed up. Seemed pretty standard for a 1 p.m. game. What wasn’t so standard was that apparently there was even tailgating beforehand. Yes, tailgating. Did I mention that The Green Briar is across the street from a police station? It’s probably for the best that St. Elizabeth’s hospital is so close as well.

Going in with only a slight idea of what to expect, I can away surprised, happy and maybe even a little bit buzzed. It was quite nice to be just part of the group.

Let Them Drink Beer

Any time you are forced into meeting a dozen new people all at once is a nerve-racking experience. The first few meetings at The Comment were no different. Anxious. Hesitant. Socially awkward. All of these are symptoms of such encounters. Luckily, there is a list of antidotes to solve all of these problems and get any group of people to get along like old friends. The list is as follows:

1. Find an excuse, any excuse, to drink copious amounts of beer

That’s it. That is the entire list. Find away to integrate productivity with a liberal dose of alcohol? Even better.

But aha! That is what I have strived to do this semester. By coming up with a plan to turn a casual team-bonding pub crawl into a journalistic enterprise — beyond the publishing of generally embarrassing photos — I feel this may be accomplished.

A sports journalist by trade, I already feel privileged to write about things that many people love dearly. To incorporate sports with an often twinned love of booze only makes thing better. In fact, the relationship that both alcohol and sport have towards basic human communication and bonding extends into a very interesting field: the fact that fans will often gather together in bars to watch games.

While any watering hole in Boston is liable to be filled with Patriots fans Sunday after Sunday, the more fascinating idea is to look at why there are scores of Bills or Steelers fans stumbling out of bar in the 617 area code after watching their team together. The comforts of home over a high-top table and 16 oz. of lager makes every the best of friends. Journalists and ex-pats alike.

Hello world!

Welcome to the blog site of The Comment, Boston University College of Communication’s Graduate Student Magazine. This year’s staff decided to expand the magazine’s online presence beyond Boston University’s website. We will be blogging periodically on this site about the process of putting together this publication. We will have updates from our staff writers about the research and writing process for their articles, from the Student Editor about managing such a project, and from the Faculty Editor about overseeing the whole deal. We hope that our process blogging will give you, the reader, an insight into the kind of effort and dedication that goes into producing a graduate-level magazine in the field of communication. So keep checking back for updates and don’t hesitate to give us any feedback!