Patriots Report: Hop On The Pats Express!
Monday, August 01, 2011
While Patriots players and coaches deal with the day-to-day business that is training camp and preparing for their first preseason game a week from this Thursday, here’s a couple of interesting tidbits for Pats fans.
First, if you were planning on taking the commuter rail from South Attleboro to Foxboro for the first preseason game against Jacksonville on August 11th, you’re in luck.
There was a thought that, because of the lockout, commuter trains from the north and south to Gillette Stadium will not be running for the Pats’ two preseason contests. Fortunately, that is not the case.
GoLocalProv.com initially contacted Patriots media relations director Stacey James who said that the organization was unaware of the possibility of not having train service and that they would look into it. Messages were left for the MBTA’s media relations department as well but went unreturned.
James called moments later to confirm no interruptions in the schedule saying, “the commuter rail service will be up and running for that first preseason game on August 11th as well as every Patriots preseason and regular season game. It will also be running for the Kenny Chesney concert on August 27th at the Stadium.”
The exact details of how much the commuter rail service costs to run from Boston or South Attleboro to Foxboro remains unclear. It is safe to assume, however, that the Patriots do share in the expenses for those trains.
At the moment, the Gillette Stadium commuter station is a “one-stop” station used on game days only. The Krafts would, undoubtedly, like it to be a regular commuter station with every day service now that they have developed Patriot Place. You wonder if that is something that the MBTA needs to consider soon.
Over the past week or so we have heard a lot about the generosity of the late Myra Kraft and all of her philanthropic endeavors. GoLocalProv.com has also learned of another great form of generosity on the part of the Kraft family.
When the NFL lockout was settled, the league and a few of its teams like the New York Jets announced that their employees would be compensated for time lost due to the lockout.
In these trying economic times, that seemed like quite a gesture on behalf of those who made that proclamation.
What many people may not know is how differently the New England Patriots organization handled their employees during the lockout.
While the league and many teams either laid off or furloughed many of their employees, the Patriots did not reduce any staffing.
While other owners used the lockout to reduce staff and save some money, the Kraft family felt that it was important to conduct business as usual by remaining fully staffed. Their thought was that they needed to be prepared for the start of the season on August 11th and that by not laying anyone off, this was the best approach.
Again, considering the trying economic times this country is currently in the midst of, the Kraft’s deserve credit for not adding to the state of Massachusetts or our country’s high unemployment figures.
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