Dusty Goes to Foxboro

Jimmicane interviews Dusty Payne about his journey to watch the Patriots in the AFC Championship game. Warning: This has nothing do with surfing

JimmicaneJanuary 30, 2012

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Football is America’s game, and it seems like every year more and more professional surfers are choosing to spend Sundays facing the TV instead of the lineup. Gabe Kling and Reef McIntosh are the most well-known, devoted football fans. We can now put Dusty Payne in that category. Last week, after escaping sweltering Barbados, Dusty made the pilgrimage to Foxboro, MA to attend the Patriots’ AFC Championship game against the Baltimore Ravens. Here’s what he had to say about the trip. —Jimmicane

Jimmicane: What inspired you to book the ticket to Boston?

Dusty: I’ve always loved the Pats and I was in Barbados, all the way on that side of the world. I figured if I want to call myself a real Patriots fan, I had to get up to Boston and watch a game. So I did and it happened to be one of the best games ever!

J: Coming from such a hot place in the Caribbean to the cold northeast, have you ever been through such an extreme change in temperature? How cold was it up there?

D: Barbados was so damn hot, but adapting to climates is something I’ve gotten used to over the years. Still, it was really cold. In the upper 20’s.Thankfully Volcom sent some warm clothes to the hotel I stayed at.

J: That Oakland game you went to during the Rip Curl Search contest was a blowout loss. This one was a close win in the AFC Championship, against a hated rival, and came down to the last seconds. How different were those two experiences? What were the fans like compared to in Oakland?

D: Patriots fans are the best! It was sick to go to a game that I really cared about. I went to the Raiders game just because I love watching football and my dad was in town. We wanted to do something fun so we went to Oakland and watched them play the Chiefs. Raiders fans are unreal though. It’s fun to see how pumped up everyone gets.

J: How surprised were you that Baltimore missed that field goal? I thought for sure it was going to overtime after Anquan Boldin caught that pass and ran inside the 20-yard line.

D: I couldn’t even watch those last four downs. I was so nervous; I looked at the Jumbotron on the other side of the field just because I didn’t want to see Baltimore score in person. I couldn’t take it. But yeah, it worked out and he shanked the field goal that would’ve sent the game into overtime. The crowd went nuts! It was high fives and hugs all around.

J: Celebrate anywhere after the game?

D: My brother Dylan and I went to this nice restaurant in Boston and had a good dinner. I was pretty drained from the cold and the nerves from the last quarter.

J: Where are you going to be February 5th for the Super Bowl?

D: I want to get tickets to the Super Bowl but damn, they are expensive! I don’t know what I’m going do yet. I might just fly to Indy, stand outside the stadium and cheer from the outside. I hear it’s nearly impossible to get tickets.

J: Maybe if you win the Volcom Pipe Pro you can reward yourself. I’m sure that prize money would cover it! Are Tom Brady and Bill Belichick going to get revenge on Eli and the Giants from that 2008 loss? You have a score prediction?

D: It would be nice to see them win after that last heart breaker. I really wanted to see them get the perfect season, but I just hope they smoke them this time around! I’m not gonna say any score predictions but I’d like to see a 63-0 Pats blowout win!