Are you ready for some football?!
J-E-T-S…Jets Jets Jets
New York Jets Quiz: 1) Career rushing leader? 2) Total
touchdowns, career? 3) Receptions, season? 4) Interceptions,
season? 5) Rushing yardage, game? 6) Two kicked 6 field goals
in a game, Jim Turner and who else? 7) Who is the only Jet to
score 4 TDs in a game? Answers below.
The Freedom Trail
It’s been a great time in Boston. Red Sox, golf, a college
football game, and on Sunday, the Freedom Trail. It also helped
that the weather has been great since I arrived on Wednesday.
One of my many regrets in life is that I really don’t know squat
about the American Revolution. Oh sure, I can get by, but some
details aren’t fast in coming, especially with each downed pint,
and incredibly, with all my business trips to Boston over the
years I never spent any time sightseeing.
And so it was that on Sunday I set out on the Freedom Trail to
tread where our Founding Fathers did. Back during the
Revolutionary War, British General Thomas Gage said of them:
“It was impossible to beat the notion of liberty out of the people
as it was rooted in them from childhood.”
Of course this is Bar Chat, so you’ll have to deal with my
scribbled notes as I walked most of the 3-mile path (I saved
Bunker Hill for another day). Here are a few snippets and
observations.
At the Granary Burial Ground lie the likes of John Hancock,
James Otis, and Samuel Adams, as well as the five Boston
Massacre victims and my new main man, Paul Revere. Of
course it was Sam Adams who founded the Samuel Adams
Brewery which did about $238 million in sales last year
according to a recent issue of Business Week. But also (before I
go on, Sam Adams didn’t really….oh, never mind) buried here is
Mary “Mother” Goose. Actually, others say her name was
Elizabeth Goose, or Vergoose. Most of her tales, by the way,
were printed back in 1719.
Now this woman really gives me the creeps and I was never a
Mother Goose fan as a kid. Of course a lot of this ill-feeling
stems from “Babes in Toyland,” the Laurel and Hardy film
version, and those horrifying three not so little pigs that still give
me nightmares to this very day. I also checked out something
else that has been bothering me and, no, Mother Goose was not
the reliever Rich “Goose” Gossage’s great, great, great,
grandmother. Now that we cleared that up…
At King’s Chapel, which dates to 1686, there is a legend that
says prisoners condemned to hang on Boston Common (we need
more of this today, incidentally) could say their last prayers in
King’s Chapel’s 13th pew, the “pew of the condemned.”
Elizabeth Pain is buried here and author Nathaniel Hawthorne
used to wander past frequently. Her tomb has a stylized letter
resembling an “A,” and it is believed Elizabeth was the
inspiration behind Hawthorne’s fictitious “The Scarlet Letter.”
Then you go to the first public school in America, the Boston
Latin School, which started up in 1635. Ben Franklin, John
Hancock, and Samuel Adams all learned to read here, but it was
on April 19, 1775, when word of shots fired in Lexington spread
rapidly through the town that Boston Latin School instructor
John Lovell arose and said, “Close your books. School’s done
and war’s begun!”
Along the Freedom Trail you pass an impressive memorial to the
Irish Potato Famine of 1845-50. It’s always incredible to think
that one million died as a result of the British and their evil ways
back then. In 1847, the USS Jamestown sailed from Boston to
Cork with 800 tons of grain for the starving Irish, but at the same
time, while Bostonians did what they could to help, they also
didn’t want the Irish emigrating to Boston, but come they did and
a great city got better.
*By the way, did you know that the Irish lead in Medal of Honor
winners?
Back to the Revolution, on July 18, 1776, the Declaration of
Independence was read to the public from the balcony of the Old
State House, with Abigail Adams writing to husband John,
“…great attention was given to Colonel Graft’s every word. As
soon as he ended, the cry from the balcony was God Save Our
American States and then three cheers rended the air…Thus ends
royal authority in this state, and all the people shall say, Amen.”
It was back in 1761 that James Otis had given a particularly
spellbinding speech at the same place concerning the ‘writs of
assistance’ of which John Adams would later report, “Then and
there the child Independence was born.”
Next to the Old State House is the site of the Boston Massacre,
March 5, 1770. It’s just a traffic island now, but back then
crowds taunted British troops who were having an argument with
a rowdy boy. They began to throw snowballs and yelled, “Fire,
fire, why don’t you fire? You dare not fire!” Well, the British
soldiers finally panicked and doh! They fired…killing five.
[The soldiers responsible were eventually set free…actually, the
Boston Massacre is kind of overrated, historically speaking that
is.]
On to Faneuil Hall, which is now just full of gift shops. But it
was also about 1:15 in the afternoon, I had been walking around
for an hour and a half, so I thought it was time for a nice, cold
Samuel Adams and a lobster roll….mmmmmmm…..
Back on the trail, body replenished, you head to the home of Paul
Revere in the North End of town, or Little Italy. Now my first
impression was I could live here. Sure, I’d eat and drink myself
to death, but, hey, it’s not like the Mets (let alone the Red Sox)
are going to win another Series anytime soon.
Where was I? Oh yes, Mr. Revere. He had a pleasant little
home, which thankfully his relatives got hold of in 1905 and
saved for restoration. Revere was a darn good silversmith and
the father of 16, count ‘em, 16 children.
But it was at the Old North Church on April 18, 1775 that
Revere’s friend, Robert Newman (“Newman!”), stole past
suspicious British troops and climbed the steeple. Then,
implementing Revere’s plan, Newman waited to see from which
direction the Redcoats were coming. The directive was simple,
hang one lantern if by land, and two if by sea. Newman risked
his life hanging two latterns, thereby alerting Revere and his
companions, including William Dawes, to sound the alarm, “The
Regulars are out, the Regulars are out!”
You see, as a guidebook I was perusing notes, Revere would
have never cried “The British are coming!” because back then all
the colonists were British. And now you know….the rest of the
story.
But one last item; and you just can’t make this stuff up, folks.
As I was walking through the North End there was music coming
from the St. Anthony Feast and when I exited the North Church,
the Sons of Italy marching band was coming down the street. I
stood in the entranceway as the band stopped in front of the
church and played the “Star Spangled Banner.” I mean to tell ya,
I’m a sap for things like this. A cool moment.
Stuff
–College Football Tidbits…if you’re not a fan, get used to this.
The season has begun.
Go DEACS! Yes, us Wake Forest fans are still celebrating a
great victory over Boston College Saturday up here in Chestnut
Hill. We were outgained 443-309 yards, but all that mattered
was the final score, 32-28. I haven’t had that much fun at a game
since my own college days. The Boston Globe, though, called it
a “heinous” loss for the home team.
And congratulations to Ken S. from Nebraska and the rest of the
Cornhusker fans for their 17-7 triumph over Oklahoma State. Is
this the beginning of the great turnaround in the program? [Ken
wrote the travelogue of his Alaska motorcycle adventure that I
featured a few weeks ago.]
But the best effort was clearly that of the USC traveling
cheerleading squad, who win this week’s new award, the
StocksandNews “College Game Ball Award.” I mean to tell you
the cheerleaders looked great down in Auburn, and now you
know why I touted them so much in the preseason.
[Southern Cal’s football team played its own role in smothering
the highly-ranked Tigers 23-0.]
–Bummer…American sprinter Kelli White tested positive for
illegal stimulants after becoming the first US woman to sweep
both the 100- and 200-meters at the outdoor world
championships.
–The Detroit Tigers joined the 1962 New York Mets as the only
teams in the modern baseball era to lose 100 games before
September. The Tigers finished the month 34-101 and pitchers
Mike Maroth (6-19) and Jeremy Bonderman (6-18) are about to
lose 20 apiece.
–No offense, New Englanders, but I’m sick of the Saugus, MA
Little League team that finished 2nd in America, 4th in the world.
After all, I saw them at the Red Sox game on Wednesday night
and then had to see them again at the Boston College – Wake
contest. Enough already. Get these kids back to school.
–Whenever I’m in a new town I always grade the local talent on
the newscasts. So look out New York, we hope, because NBC /
Boston’s Frances Rivera is destined for stardom. Goodness,
gracious, I’d love to see Ms. Rivera replace Katie Couric.
–At Fenway Park, fans actually stay until the end of the game!
Remarkable. [Back when I had Jets season tickets, I sometimes
left at halftime. Hell, they sucked back then.]
–Also at Fenway, in the concourse there was an ad with Jim
Rice’s baseball card. I’m sold…this guy should be in the Hall of
Fame. Eight 100-RBI seasons, four 200-hit seasons, 382 HR,
1451 RBI. Give him a plaque!
–Ah yes, every team has their World Series championships
noted somewhere in the park, and so it is with Boston…as you’re
reading 1915, 1916, 1918…………………………………………….doh!
–Boy, it’s Monday and the local press in Beantown is ripping
Red Sox star Manny Ramirez for missing all 3 Yankee games
with a sore throat. Plus there is a rumor the team is trying to
confirm that Ramirez was at a bar in the Ritz-Carlton hotel
(where Manny lives) on Saturday night.
–The other day I noted that the Philadelphia Phillies’ Chuck
Klein hit .386 with 40 homers and 170 runs batted in back in
1930, yet didn’t win any leg of the Triple Crown. Aside from
Hack Wilson’s 56 HR, 191 RBI and Bill Terry’s .401 batting
average, you also had in the American League… Jimmie Foxx –
37 HR 156 RBI; Al Simmons – 36 HR 165 RBI .381 BA; Lou
Gehrig – 41 HR 174 RBI .379; Babe Ruth – 49 HR 153 RBI
.359; Eddie Morgan (Cleveland) 26 HR 136 RBI .349; Dale
Alexander (Detroit) 135 RBI. You get the picture; it was quite a
year for hitting.
But in the American League you had the Athletics’ Lefty Grove,
who managed to go 28-5 with a 2.54 ERA. Stupendous. Yet
there may have been an even better relative performance for a
pitcher, that being Dazzy Vance’s for Brooklyn. While he was
only 17-15, his ERA was 2.61, more than two runs better than
the league average of 4.97 and a full 1.26 ahead of the runner-up
in the department, Carl Hubbell. Plus Vance was 39 that year!
Actually, Dazzy Vance didn’t win his first big league game until
1922 at age 31, yet he still made it to the Hall of Fame, going
197-140 for his career. And if you live in Orient, Iowa, his
birthplace, you better already know all this.
–We note the passing of actor Charles Bronson. Born Charles
Buchinsky, the son of a Lithuanian coal miner and a Slavic
mother (being part Slav myself, I pause to quaff a lager…),
Charles was one of 15 children. His father died when he was 10
and by 16 he was working in the coal mines of western
Pennsylvania himself. But, thankfully, he was convinced to head
to Los Angeles when he was about 28 and the rest is film history.
Describing his onscreen demeanor, legendary director John
Huston once likened Bronson “to a hand grenade with the pin
pulled.”
–California has about 100 great white sharks wreaking havoc
along the coastline. When they grow feet, look out.
–Did you see the article in the New York Times the other day
concerning the wild boars of Berlin? Seriously, there are up to
3,000 of these creatures in and around the city, some weighing
over 300 pounds. Sounds like a road trip is in order, though I
will only do this if accompanied by heavy security.
–Rocco’s, featured in the series “The Restaurant,” is now on its
own and Crain’s New York Business food critic Bob Lape (a
legend in these parts) gives it one-star (“good”), with four-stars
being tops. Lape was disappointed that he had to repeat a drink
order 3 times (I would have walked out), and that the maitre d’
sweated “like a fire horse.”
–Back to animals, and this is a serious one, folks. South Florida
is dealing with a new problem…iguanas. Try 6-foot long
iguanas. It seems that these natives of Central and South
America have been proliferating profusely in areas around
Miami as pet owners either turned them loose or they escaped
from captivity, having cut deals with zookeepers. By the way, I
think we are learning that on the corruption scale, zookeepers
could be on top. It’s time for an ‘official’ investigation, I know
you’d agree.
Anyway, according to a story in the Boston Globe (via the LA
Times), the iguanas don’t have any natural enemies and in one
park in Key Biscayne, there are 1,000 (!) living in the trees.
Thankfully, the monsters are herbivores, but that can change,
particularly if they begin checking out the crowd walking into
Chili’s. Of course the unmentioned fear is that they start hanging
out with the alligators, who have vast experience in staking out
dogs and crappy golfers who lose their balls. I can hear the
discussion now.
“You what? You only eat flowers? Are you nuts?” laughed the
crowd at Gator Alley Pub.
“That’s all I learned to eat,” said the embarrassed iguana, who
then vowed he would never come back for a drink until he had
ambushed a human.
Top 3 songs for the week of 9/4/71: #1 “Uncle Albert / Admiral
Halsey” (Paul & Linda McCartney) #2 “How Can You Mend A
Broken Heart” (The Bee Geese, err, Bee Gees) #3 “Smiling
Faces Sometimes” (The Undisputed Truth)
–The Warren Zevon deathwatch continues. Some of my old
friends at PIMCO are big fans and one, Steve J., shared some
personal thoughts involving another former employee.
“Hey, J.B., remember the Zevon concert in Danbury when you
were rolling on the floor with some woman, clutching the same
guitar pick, neither willing to let go, and you finally overpowered
her?”
Steve also reviewed Zevon’s final release, “The Wind.” “Full of
old spirit, though poignant….Lessons? Live life to the fullest
every day (‘I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead’).”
Zevon, dying of cancer, admits himself, “I may have made a
tactical error in not seeing a doctor for 20 years.”
New York Jets Quiz Answers: 1) Career rushing: Freeman
McNeil (8,074 yards, ’81-’92). 2) Total touchdowns, career:
Don Maynard, 88 (1960-72). 3) Receptions, season: Al Toon, 93
(1988). 4) Interceptions, season: Dainard Paulson, 12 (1964). 5)
Rushing, game: Curtis Martin, 203. 6) Jim Turner and Bobby
Howfield are the only two to kick 6 FGs in a game. Howfield
did it 12/72. 7) Wesley Walker is the only Jet to score 4 TDs in a
game, 9/86.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
