Fans of all kinds find their prayers answered
The Rev. Nancy Taylor, new senior minister at the Old South Church on Boylston Street, closed the historic stone building at 11 a.m. yesterday and joined fellow clergy on the front lawn. They, like the thousands of frenzied fans outside, were there to give thanks.
As confetti flew and Duck Tour boats came by, the church staff did its part, though their cheers were slightly different. ''Amen," read the signs they carried as they gleefully yelled from beneath a Gothic arch.
''God loves a joyful game and people celebrating," said Taylor, displaying a red-white-and-blue stole around her neck.
Last year, about 15 church staff members watched the Patriots parade, and a message on the church's corner marquee praised the team. But yesterday was the church's first organized hourlong gathering for a victory parade, and it came with its own soundtrack: 200 rings from the church's 110-year-old bronze bell.
''We're all big sports fans," said Jennifer Mills-Knutsen, an assistant minister.
Though a devoted Green Bay Packers fan, Jeff Makholm, the church moderator, climbed into the bell tower yesterday to ring the 1-ton bell. Fans ultimately drowned out his tolling, but Makholm said early on, it was the bell drawing cheers.
''It's hard to top the Red Sox, but this was close," he said.
Tadd Allman-Morton, a ministerial intern, said the event provided a good lesson in church outreach. But the site of clergymen holding football placards at a victory parade, he acknowledged, did draw strange looks from passersby.
''There were people who laughed out loud," Allman-Morton said. ''Others just looked confused."
BENJAMIN GEDAN
Alternative education?On the steps of the Hynes Convention Center, a police officer in riot gear solemnly approached a group of children tossing a football and asked them why they weren't in school.
''We're learning about a new dynasty," responded Mariah Lojek, a seventh-grader from WH Lincoln School in Brookline.
Launching into a more detailed explanation, Mariah said, ''There were the Chinese . . . "
''The Egyptians," Mariah's 11-year-old brother, Owen, quickly offered.
Turns out Mariah's social studies teacher announced the parade in class Monday, though he didn't expressly say students could cut class to go.
''We were trying to ask him questions about the Revolutionary War to keep his mind off it," Mariah said. ''He never ended up saying we couldn't so we decided to skip."
And anyway, there were other examples to cite of sports events taking priority over school.
''Our English teacher goes to opening day of the Red Sox every year," said Mariah's classmate, 12-year-old Kerry Knott.
DONOVAN SLACK
All dressed up, but . . .It was an exceptional viewing spot, but the three businessmen in long trench coats peering out over Boylston Street from the Four Seasons Hotel did not look pleased. They stood glumly, briefcases at their sides, halfway up the hotel's plushly carpeted stairway, staring out the window. They had a meeting to attend -- but the sea of bodies outside, and the closed streets, meant cabs could not nose their way to the hotel's revolving door. One of the men grimly relayed the situation over a cellphone. ''That's what I'll tell my boss," he said, sighing.
KATHY BURGE
From bad bet to good daySean Fielder of Mattapan has been a Patriots fan since 1986, when he bet all 50 cents to his name that New England would beat the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX. He lost. To his mother. But ever since, he's wanted to see his team up close in a Super Bowl parade. A tap dancer and teacher at the Roxbury Performing Arts Center, 26-year-old Fielder missed past parades because he was performing in New York. Yesterday, he was all smiles. ''I've been waiting since I was 8 years old to see this," he beamed.
JANETTE NEUWAHL
Many-splendored thingIt's no unfamiliar sight: crowds of swooning teenage girls pining for Tom Brady. In the crowd yesterday, Jonathan Williams took a page from their book. Hoisting a sign with his home phone number, he unabashedly declared his love for the quarterback.
The 18-year-old from Londonderry, N.H., says he's straight, and meant only to emphasize his devotion to the team.
''Only for Tom," he joked. ''But maybe for Adam [Vinatieri], too."
Braving the 40-degree chill, Williams stripped off his Patriots shirt and weaved around the crowd, hooting, screeching, and exchanging high-fives.
Williams skipped school and came from Londonderry to watch the parade with 14 friends. He brought the same sign soliciting Brady's attention last year.
He is still waiting to hear back from the quarterback.
MADISON PARK
