---

FOXBORO - Lisa Harvey figures she was about 7-years-old, watching football with her father, when she first became a fan of the New England Patriots.

Her loyalty to the home team swelled over the years, even while attending college in Virginia where she would constantly be assaulted by the fight song of the Washington Redskins. At her dorm, she frequently managed to commandeer the common television every Sunday to watch her team, and even had the rest of the dorm rooting on the Patriots by the end of the 1985 season.

Upon her return, she would scramble every week during the season for tickets to the home games. Harvey said she secured season tickets in 1998, just as she moved to Baltimore for a job. She flew back for every game.

Now, at 42, the Franklin resident is a full-blown fan. Her law office in Newton is a shrine to the team that has won three Super Bowl titles this decade. She attends every home game, rain, sleet or snow, and every away game that she can.

Harvey challenges the popular notion that baseball is America's number one sport. Compared to football, baseball is "is like watching paint dry," she said. Karen Cardoza of Cumberland, R.I. can relate. Nicknamed "Mrs. B" because she's always decked out in a Tedy Bruschi jersey, Cardoza was declared "Fan of the Year" by the Patriots organization in 2003.

She's at the team's training camp every summer, compiling information and delivering reports on her Web site, Patriotworld.com, and on her weekly Internet radio broadcasts during the season.

If someone's planning a baby or wedding shower during the season, "I tell them don't invite me on a Sunday. I'll send a gift, but I won't be there," said Cardoza, a teacher of special needs children who along with her husband organizes the tailgating crew "Bruschi Bakers."

"I would never miss a game, no matter what," Cardoza vowed.

While Harvey and Cardoza not too long ago might have stuck out in the crowd because of their gender, that is no longer the case. Males still make up the lion's share of the team's fans, Patriots spokesman Stacey James said, but the team's female fan base is growing. It's increased significantly since the days when the Patriots played at Foxboro Stadium, he said.

"At Foxboro Stadium, you didn't really see women at the games," James said. "Today, the demographics have changed dramatically in gender and in age."

He believes the opening of Gillette Stadium in 2002 helped initiate that change.

"It was new, clean, with wide-open concourses, and it embraced a family atmosphere," James said. "It was something we tried to do with Foxboro Stadium, but it was difficult to change some old and bad habits by fans."

He estimated that in the late 1980s and early 1990s, females made up about 5 percent of fan attendance at the games.

Females now comprise between 30 and 40 percent of the crowd during the pre-season and early regular season, James said, but it drops to about 20 percent during night games and later in the season. And the fact that more females are becoming fans hasn't escaped the Patriots notice.

A section of the team's pro shop is now devoted to women's wear, from underwear to women's-sized football jerseys to pink Pats caps. And sales of women's Pats wear has quadrupled from 2001, the last season of Foxboro Stadium.

"Before, we saw females shopping for fathers, brothers or significant others," James said. "Now they're shopping more for themselves. Before, the inventory for women in our pro shop was extremely limited. It has gradually grown."

Cardoza readily admits she has been a steady customer.

"They know me on a first name basis at the pro shop," she said. "I have the whole line of women's clothes.

"I could go without washing a (Patriots) outfit for a whole week and not run out."

"The pink is nice, but it's the cut, too," Cardoza said of the customized women's gear. "Face it, a man's jersey is not very attractive" to the female figure.

Harvey knows. "I have more Pats stuff than any human should have," she admitted. But the "pink stuff" she reserves for her niece.

"I go more with the authentic colors - I believe in wearing the colors of the team," she said, adding that she has Patriots gear for all kinds of weather, from turtle necks to a fleece jacket to a parka. She also wears to each game her Patriots earrings with the old logo, which always draws comments.

Wearing their team loyalty on their sleeves, literally, is just a small part of why these women are Patriots fans, though. They are more attracted by the sport itself and the community spirit that comes with being a fan of the hometown team.

And they like seeing more of their sisters getting into football.

"It's not just a man's sport anymore," Cardoza said, adding that the term "football widow" is becoming less prevalent. She sees Patriots games as time to spend with her husband, family and friends, as well as the Patriots community as a whole.

Cardoza believes the Internet and the astounding success of the team in recent years has helped draw more women to the sport. Women can research it and turn to Web sites for explanations or understanding of the game, rather than having to ask a man questions about it, she said.

Harvey said that while women may have been athletic growing up, many likely didn't play football because it was considered a male's game. She believes a lot of women are being exposed to the game while dating.

"I see a lot more men bringing wives and girlfriends, and dads bringing their daughters, where in the past they just brought their sons," she said.

The opening of Gillette was a big plus for Harvey. "There are definitely more women there than ever were before," she said, explaining that the stadium is far more comfortable than before, particularly the restrooms.

Cardoza believes women see the game differently than men, but it doesn't make women lesser fans.

"I think a woman's perspective is that they see the physical activity on the field," Cardoza opined. "A man's perspective is strategic. The guys pick it apart after the game; they're in the coaches' heads."

While women may be attracted to certain players' looks, that's not the bottom line for Harvey and Cardoza.

"I think that for women who are real sports fans, looks are not the real motivator - not to say we don't have our own 'hot players,' our 'hotties,' Harvey said. "The real attraction is that the game is really fun to watch. It takes a lot of skill; there's never a dull moment."

"There's so much going on, you have to decide whether you're going to follow the ball or where the receivers are running...The joy of all of it is watching your team win, or hoping they win."

Cardoza said that while she finds Bruschi "very attractive," she is more attracted by his effort and determination.

"He's a hard-worker, somebody who gives it 110 percent and a very nice man," she said.

Bruschi visited the children in her classroom following the team's first Super Bowl victory.

"It's just an exciting, exciting sport," she said, summing up her feelings for football. Nothing beats it "once you've been to a live game and see the crowd on its feet cheering, especially if your team wins."

And the game is just part of it.

"The day is an event for us," Cardoza said, specifically mentioning the joy of tailgating with a crowd of about 50, being part of Patriot Nation.

Harvey has her tailgating crew too, and it has a dress code - wearing the team's colors.

SUSAN LaHOUD can be reached at 508-236-0398 or at slahoud@thesunchronicle.com.

The ever-faithful, Harvey said there used to be the days when her weeks were ruled by how the Patriots performed Sundays. That changed, she said, after the first Super Bowl victory. "I thought, now I can die happy."

"So the second and third were like gravy."