June 11, 1986: an estimated 1.5 million people crowd Boston to celebrate the 16th NBA title won by the Boston Celtics. A high school junior from Manchester, Massachusetts, attending Boy's State, thinks that he'll have to go to the next one.

Jump forward 16 years.

That teen, now an adult, takes a day off from work to join an estimated 1.25 million to celebrate the first Super Bowl title for the New England Patriots. What the hell was he thinking?

He was thinking that he missed the last one, and will be damned if he has to wait another 16 years for another chance to do this. He'd be 49, for criminy's sake!

The day started with an uncomfortable portent, as Sarah got a flat tire while driving to the T station. Thankfully, she'd just signed us up for AAA (you can chew on the incongruity of a non-driver belonging to AAA), so I called and got roadside assistance, with little added fuss (outside of Sarah having to drive into work on a donut and then go to Sullivan Tire after work to get things fixed).

With that taken care of, it was off to the Woodland T stop. I went in with two of my office-mates: Brian, the RD I share an office with, and Jason, who's in charge of student organizations, and who is, hands down, the most commited Pats fan I know. We got to the T stop, parking lot was full. We scavenged for a space on a side street (thankfully not that long) and we got on the T, which was free (making me wonder if the MBTA wouldn't be in less fiscal trouble if they'd bother to charge during events).

Our original plan was to disembark around the Rattlesnake Bar and Grill, where WEEI had set up, and then mosey down to City Hall Plaza. Some discussion on the T led to a change of plans, and we went right to the plaza. We got there at 10:30 or so. We got a spot about 50 feet from the stage, but given its location in the lowest part of the plaza, and the crowd already there, we couldn't see much of anything.

For all the talk I've seen about the "tight security" for the event, the police presence was hardly overbearing. Most people were smart enough not to bring bags or other items that would require searching. In fact, I kind of wish the police were more of a presence, as I'll discuss in a bit.

We settled in to wait for a couple of hours. The tedium set in quick. A saving grace came in the guise of a guy who climbed up a light pole and nestled in among the two large domes on top. Funny thing, though: the light fixture isn't really secured onto the pole. It just kind of sits there. On more than one occasion during his ascent, we thought he'd take the top off and hurtle to the ground clutching it. But he prevailed, to the cheers of the crowd.

And, proving the fickle fate of publicity, within 15 minutes people started throwing crap at him. A variety of projectiles fashioned from free signs were the least of his problems, as a rain of plastic bottles (empty) and coins started going his way. He stood his ground. The police were asking him to get down. He wasn't budging.

I'm not sure if it was the bottles with stuff still in them, or the football he took to the genitals, but he changed his mind. One problem: he couldn't get down. He made a few feints, kidding about getting down, apparently to annoy the cops, but when he did actually try to climb down he couldn't. The crowd exhorted him to jump, but he couldn't.

Working with the cop and a number of fans, he finally got his leg over the light fixture and got down. I assume he was put in custody, but he may have just gotten a talking to.

The day wore on. Noon passed. The pushing began.

It's a common phenomenon at concerts, as people try to work towards the stage. It played out on the plaza as well, as idiots who showed up late tried to horn in on good spaces. Sadly, there were more of them than there were of early arrivals. I will say I've been in worse pushing situations (at a BU hockey Midnight Madness, of all things), but this is where I'd have liked to see some representatives of law enforcement work to remove the folks at the back who were driving this thing. If you should talk to someone who was at the plaza, and they mention that they pushed their way towards the front, please do me a favor and kick them in the gonads as hard as possible. If it's a woman, improvise.

The planned time for the parade to reach the plaza was between 12:30 and 1. They arrived closer to 1:30. The team then graced the collective throng with roughly 20 minutes of celebration.

20 minutes. After waiting almost THREE HOURS.

And what did I see. Nothing. Seriously. I have to tape the rebroadcast tonight to actually see what the hell went on. OK, I did see some snatches of the celebration, but off the view screen of a guy videotaping it about 8 feet in front of me. And with my eyesight, I probably saw less than I think I did. I will say that Jason saw pretty much all of it, and given his level of fandom it's probably for the best that of the three of us, he got the best view.

Pushing aside, the crowd was pretty well behaved. In looking up the date of the last Celtics celebration, there seemed to be problems with drunk people either throwing bottles (I assume glass, but no material type was named), or breaking down barricades, or throwing firecrackers near police horses. From where I was, I saw nothing along those lines. Could have happened elsewhere, but on my part of the plaza everyone was too close to do anything really out of line.

Oh, and I have a question. Who in their right mind would take small kids to this sort of thing? With crowds that could easily crush adults? Several kids had to get out of the crowd (in one case a father led out something on the order of a half dozen kids, none over 10). On the way home I saw one guy who'd brought an infant (or early toddler, can't tell where that change takes place). I like the idea of a family celebration, but would think that anyone with half a brain would avoid getting into the middle of things.

All said, today's celebration was more than a good time (I did have fun), it was an excellent example of group dynamics in action. At times the crowd was a cross between Lord of the Flies and Hitler's Nuremburg rallies. It's also pretty clear that in large crowds, the lowest common denominator takes control. And given some of the people there, low may not be descriptive enough a word.

All in all I'm glad I went. Because I never have to go again.

Though I'd like to see us have more opportunities, so I can take the day off and watch from home.