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New England Revolution Unveil Lame New ‘Tea Crate’ Pregame Tradition

The matchday experience at New England Revolution games really embraces the region’s historical role in the United States’ fight for independence. The best example is the End Zone Militia, the group of Revolutionary War re-enactors who fire off their muskets after a Revs goal (as they also do when the Patriots score). But the team’s latest attempt to channel that revolution-era history fell terribly flat. 

The Revs hosted Toronto FC on Sunday for their home opener, and before the opening kickoff, the club unveiled what it’s calling a new tradition. In the supporters’ section known as The Fort, former Revs midfielder Scott Caldwell threw a “tea crate” over the edge of the stands. It probably sounded like a good idea in preseason meetings, but it fell flat in practice. 

That’s it? Really? Pretty anticlimactic. If the real Boston Tea Party had been that underwhelming it wouldn’t have inspired many people to join the cause. 

The Revs are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party this season with a new uniform that they’re calling their Tea Party kit. The pregame mock Tea Party isn’t a bad idea, but it clearly needs some work. The best version would be to have a much heavier wooden crate that crashes dramatically to the ground after being tossed, but obviously that would take some effort to throw over the railing. Can’t the team have some kind of container for the crate to disappear into so it doesn’t just bounce weakly on the ground after it’s been thrown?