About face

by Andy Hiller

Beacon Hill's "Hail Bob" pass to save the Patriots was all about face: the governor's saving face, the Senate president's getting some face time, and a face-lift for the House Speaker. For Kraft himself, the issue was face value.

When Beacon Hill was giving the Patriots the boot, that face on the boot was that of Speaker Tom Finneran -- who made no apologies for his anti-Patriotism. Finneran's overriding fealty was to economic principles, which underwhelmed the Pat Pack, the tailgaters who talk to themselves on talk radio very loudly.

Now Finneran wins the battle and the war. Suddenly he's a strong leader and a good guy . . . the King of Beacon Hill and a Prince in Patriotland.

"There is nothing like the confluence of sports and politics," said Senate president Tom Birmingham, and he could have added, "Thank God."

In February 1998, Birmingham looked like the man whose plan would keep the Patriots here . . . and he was perceived as a power, a worthy successor to Bill Bulger. But when his deal died, Birmingham seemed to expire with it: the State House force was no longer with him.

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Birmingham revived himself by initiating the political "summit" that quickly produced a proposal. The deal (made in his office) brings Birmingham back from the shadows of the State House and gives him the face time he must have if he's ever going to move up.

For Paul Cellucci, the Patriots are bigger than bocce. The governor was shrinking toward irrelevance -- defeated on the death penalty and education, heading for a defeat on tax cuts. Now Cellucci has proof he can play the game with the big boys on the Hill, which is his reward for risking what was left of his prestige.

Kraft's choice was between his wallet and his heart.

Governor John Rowland was thinking only cash when he predicted that Kraft would call the moving vans: "If I quote my critics, they say this is one of the best plans in the country. Why would he walk away from this?"

Because he could afford to. In Foxborough, he's royalty; in Connecticut, he's just another rich guy.

Usually Boston is the victim of sports crimes, not the perpetrator. We have felt Connecticut's pain.

But now that we're so excited about where the Pats'll play, does it still matter how?

WHDH-TV Channel 7 reporter Andy Hiller can be reached at ahiller@whdh.com. His reflections in a flinty eye appear weekly in the Phoenix.