By George P. Hassett

The Medford Street home has paid tribute to troops in Iraq, been lit up for Christmas and honored the New England Patriots, all with lavish signs and decorations. So this year when Marco Soares didn’t get his Patriots regalia up immediately after his favorite team (‚Äúthe Pats – those are my boys,‚Äù he says) won the AFC championship, the neighbors were worried.

‚ÄúI had old ladies and little kids telling me they were afraid I had moved. One lady saw me putting a few things up and says, ‘Oh thank god, I was worried you weren’t doing it this year,’‚Äù he says. ‚ÄúSo the neighborhood expects this stuff now.‚Äù

Soares – a manager at Pat’s Tow, drummer in the rock and roll band Sex Magic and a Freemason – also takes his Patriots obsession to work with him. This week in the back of the tow yard he came upon a junked Chrysler New Yorker and proceeded to torment the vehicle the way he hopes his Patriots will torment the New York Giants in Sunday’s Super Bowl.

He spent two days painting football helmets and scrawling pro-Patriot, anti-Giant messages on the surface of the New Yorker and then, using a Pat’s tow truck, lifted the car off its back wheels as if to give it a wedgee.

The car became a celebration of the Patriots perfect season — on wheels: ‚Äú18-0 one more to go‚Äù and ‚ÄúWho’s the Giants now‚Äù are written over its body.

Soares says he hopes his antics can put a smile on the faces of the folks walking by his home.

“You hear all this crazy stuff on the news nowadays,” he says. “There are always bad spirits around. I hope this kind of thing can just add a little bit of happiness to people who come by here.”

On the day Soares finished covering the outside of his Medford Street home with flags, inflatable goal posts and murals passing drivers honked and waved in appreciation.

‚ÄúHe’s a real fan,‚Äù said Tim McDonough, a mechanic with the Somerville Police Department who stopped to ask Soares where he could find a Patriots flag at this late date. (‚ÄúI start stocking up on Pats gear three to four weeks in advance because once they win the AFC you can’t find anything,‚Äù Soares says.)

‚ÄúWhenever the Pats are in it we expect it now,‚Äù McDonough said. ‚ÄúIt just wouldn’t be the same if he didn’t do it.‚Äù