A grass-roots effort has helped bring the Super Bowl champion NewEngland Patriots to Bangor.
The date, specific Bangor site and several other details are stilluncertain, but the team that beat the St. Louis Rams in the finalseconds to win Super Bowl XXXVI will visit Bangor, according toStacey James, the team's media relations director.
The visit is part of the team's Lombardi Trophy Tour and willoccur sometime between March and September.
The Lombardi Trophy, named for legendary Green Bay Packers coachVince Lombardi, is awarded to the Super Bowl champ. The city ofBangor is eager for the visit and the opportunity for football fansto meet the team and see the trophy, Bangor Mayor Michael Crowleysaid.
Crowley, who wrote to Patriots owner Bob Kraft inviting the teamto Bangor, said the team's visit is the result of a lot of hard workby several people in the community.
'When you look at the various messages that were drafted and sent,you can see that this was actually played out by a strong grass-roots effort,' he said. 'The Patriots management probably realizedthat a lot of people were working really hard to bring them here andwanted them here - perhaps more than anyone else.'
The effort to bring the Patriots to Bangor began a couple of weeksago when the team was honored in Boston and Kraft proclaimed that theteam would visit all six New England states to thank them for theirloyalty.
Skip Chappelle, events director for Bangor Daily News Enterprises,thought the city of Bangor, not Portland, would be the ideal placefor a celebration for the Patriots. Chappelle was motivated by arecent speech made in Bangor by Gov. Angus King, in which he saidthat local communities would be better off relying more on localinitiative and less on state handouts in taking control of theireconomic destiny.
Chappelle, a former head coach for the University of Maine men'sbasketball team and a fund-raiser for the school, took issue withKing's claim after Chappelle had spent a good part of his careerrecruiting athletes and students to the area as well as raising moneyfor the university.
'That touched a nerve with me,' Chappelle said.
Chappelle then contacted his friend, Old Town native and formerNew England Patriots coach Dick MacPherson, to help lobby Kraft tobring the team to Bangor.
'Dick MacPherson called the Pats office every day solid for a weekand I called every other day,' said Chappelle, adding that the Bangoreffort was also aided by Nick Carparelli Jr., who worked in thePatriots front office.
Carparelli's father, Nick Carparelli Sr., is a former basketballstar at John Bapst High School in Bangor.
MacPherson, Chappelle and the letter from Crowley all emphasizedBangor as an ideal location for the celebration because of itscentralized location, its facilities, business and community support,and its love of football.
The love of football was magnified through the recent high schooland college seasons, when Bangor High won its first state title in 20years and UMaine won its first NCAA Division I-AA playoff game.
Though the specifics for the trip are still in the planningstages, Crowley said it's 'an understatement to say that the city isexcited' about the visit.
Possible sites in Bangor for the visit are the Bangor Auditoriumand the Bangor Mall.
Crowley said the visit is meaningful for the region and added thatthe 'city is ready to put its best foot forward' to welcome the team.
'This can create some economic activity for the city and itbenefits Bangor businesses and communities. That's the practicalbenefit,' Crowley said. 'Second, it gives communities an opportunityto rally around a great sport and team. For just a moment, attentionfrom around the state and New England will be on eastern Maine.'
