At Professor Thom’s, the Upset Was Mass.-ive

DSC_3153Chris Palmer Ryan Morningstone showed up at 10:30 a.m.

So how did all those Patriots fans who blitzed Professor Thom’s take the Giants win last night? Not too well, as you can imagine.

“This sucks,” said Melissa Garcia, 26, in barely more than a whisper.

Ms. Garcia, from Country Club, Bronx, had lost her voice from screaming during the game. After Tom Brady’s last-second Hail Mary pass fell to the turf in the end zone, ensuring a Giants’ victory, she slumped down onto a barstool and cupped her head in her hands while leaning onto a table littered with half-empty beer bottles.

The crowd exited quickly and quietly after the final whistle, turning Professor Thom’s into an island of heartbreak in a citywide sea of celebration.

“This one hurts,” said Jeffrey Tente, 24, standing outside the bar.

Mr. Tente, an East Village resident, grew up in Rhode Island. His dad has been a Patriots season ticket holder since before Mr. Tente was born, and the two attended the last two Patriots playoff games before this Super Bowl.

“I’ll give the Giants credit, they played a better game,” he said, sporting an oversized jersey of Devin McCourty, a Patriots cornerback.  “But it sucks to be in this situation.”

DSC_3149Chris Palmer

Jason Domin, a 37-year old Bostonian who was in the city for business, echoed the statements of his fellow fans. “That was one of the toughest losses I’ve ever experienced,” he said. “It was a close game – we all knew it would be, but we should have won that game.”

Earlier in the day, enthusiasm at Professor Thom’s was sky-high, and the bar was packed hours before kickoff. A throng of raucous fans chanted “Let’s Go Pats!” and cheered every time a Patriots player –Tom Brady, in particular – was shown on TV during the pre-game show.

Devin Vilardi, the 33-year old manager of the watering hole, said that there was a line of fans waiting outside the entrance before the bar opened at noon. “By 12:15 p.m. there was no room at the bar,” he said.

One of those dedicated fans was Ryan Morningstone, 25, from Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn. He said he showed up at 10:30 a.m. and waited outside with about 15 other die-hards to ensure that he could grab a seat for the game.

“Usually I do come here, but not always, because it can get crowded,” he said. “And for 1 p.m. on a Sunday, it was pretty packed.”

Mr. Vilardi said that at around 2 p.m., an unsuspecting patron walked in wearing Giants gear and was quickly booed back out the door. By 4 p.m., he estimated that the bar was housing 300 guests.

During the game, almost no play went without some kind of reaction.

Every New England first down was met with cheers and high-fives. After a Patriots’ touchdown, The Dropkick Murphys song “Shipping Up to Boston” – a de facto Boston anthem – blared over the sound system, with the crowd singing along. The bar even raffled off items such as a Patriots sweatshirt and tickets to Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox.

But in the end, most fans left in sadness, hoping that time would help ease the sting of a Patriots’ defeat.

“They will be back,” Mr. Tente said. “But I’m taking tomorrow off.”