Walpole bar changes name to Patriots Nest

WALPOLE, Mass. (WHDH) -- A quick name change for a popular Walpole bar.

The Raven’s Nest is a friendly pub 51 weeks out of the year, but this week it may stick out like a sore, purple thumb. With the matchup between New England and Baltimore, the bar’s owner didn’t want to keep customers away.

“Even people at the bars were like we’re not watching the game at a bar called the Raven’s Nest when the outside is purple, so that’s when we decided, all right, we gotta make a move here,” said Mark McAuliffe, owner of the Raven’s Nest.

The Raven’s Nest is now the Patriot’s Nest. Although it’s purple on the outside, come Sunday it will be red, white and blue on the inside.

“We hung some ravens from the rafters just for one week because they’re not welcome here this week, even though people from Baltimore can come in, they are welcome, we just want to show people that we are a New England pub,” said McAuliffe.

McAuliffe changed the name of the pub last year too. Now a rematch means a repeat.

“The fact that this game has happened again and we have the same sign and we have our customers saying ‘you gotta put that sign up because we won last year, you gotta do it again.’ They’re so superstitious,” said McAuliffe.

So it’s the same sign, which will hopefully bring the same results.

“I definitely think my sign is lucky. If you come in and watch the game, we’re definitely going to win,” said McAuliffe.

McAuliffe’s bar in Waltham is called The Mad Raven. This week it will be called The Mad Patriot. He said he realizes it doesn’t make much sense, but he’s keeping with the patriotic theme just to be safe.