The Boston Chronicles: Thoughts on Ted Kennedy, Tom Brady, AVP Pro Volleyball and more
(Welcome to the 3rd edition of the global correspondent series. Enjoy Scott Perkins as he serves up a deep dish of Bean Town)
Boston Street Cred #1
First of all my name is Scott Perkins and I am from a place known as Centerville, Massachusetts which is a village in the town of Barnstable. Stick that into your Google Map and you will find that I grew up about 6 miles from the Kennedy Compound in Hyannisport . However, in economic terms I grew up about 12 light years from the Kennedy Compound. Cape Cod is home to the super rich but also to a lot of regular people and even to some gangs and drug dealers. The local Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Board like to hide that. You could film a mini version of The Wire in parts of Hyannis, again just a few miles from JFK’s former “Summer White House”. I have decided to turn down a lucrative long term contract from The Ed Times out of Las Vegas Nevada to become a correspondent for The Outsiders Edge. My finger is on the pulse of the Boston/New England sports scene and I will try to let the readers of this fine website gain some perspective on the mood of the sports fans in this region.
This picture is the actual size of the Kennedys' servant quarters
I want to go over my sports pedigree for the readers. My first trip to Fenway Park was in 1967 and I saw Yaz hit a home run on his way to the last Triple Crown ever won. When I was playing Pee Wee hockey for the town of Barnstable in the early 1970’s I saw the Boston Bruins win two Stanley Cups in 70 and 72. Bobby Orr is my favorite athlete of all time and that “Golden Era” of NHL hockey has never returned to Boston. My roommate from Umass Amherst (1984 grad) has had Celtics season tickets since the day Larry Bird signed on the dotted line. I have had the privilege to attend may Celtics games during the glory years including the playoff game where Michael Jordan scored 63 points. My first journey to Foxboro to see the Patriots was back in the days when Jim Plunkett was at the helm around 1972. I held Patriots season tickets personally from 1985 thru 1988 but I remember little of going to the games due to heavy intoxication from alcohol. So you can see that I have been following the Big 4 Boston pro teams for many moons. However my sports fan resume goes much deeper as I am an expert on AVP Pro Beach Volleyball, WWE Wrestling and Umass Athletics. Hell, I am one of the few people that can say they went to a New England Tea Men game when the played in the old North American Soccer League. So reading this background you can probably deduce that I am now in my forties. But, for some of the young punks out there the following might help you better understand how old I am….the last concert I attended was The Cult opening for Billy Idol.
Some old guy who used to play LF before Jason Bay
Let’ get up to speed with what is happening now in 2009. The Red Sox are beating up the wretches of the American League like teenagers beat up homeless people in Florida. The Sox just don’t set them on fire afterwards. The teams like Baltimore and Toronto along with the collection of ham and eggers from the AL Central have been the Red Sox bread and butter. But on a recent 12 game stretch when the Sox had Tampa, Texas and the Yanks they went 2 and 10. So I don’t see the Red Sox being a serious contender until they prove they can take 3 or 4 game regular season series off the iron of the league. My prediction is that Tampa will rise up and take the Wild Card in the AL. I know if my prediction is true many of the so called Red Sox Nation will take it very hard. But I have learned over the years that even if your team wins 10 straight World Series your mortgage payment doesn’t change, your wife/girlfriend doesn’t get better looking and your junk doesn’t get 3 inches longer. I still remember crying after the Red Sox lost the divisional playoff in the 78 Bucky Dent game. Later that same year the 11 and 3 Patriots lost their playoff opener to Earl Campbell and the Oilers and I was suicidal. Making an emotional or financial investment in these teams is really counterproductive you will realize. Investing the time and money in yourself and your portfolio is what you should really care about.
This pictures actually moves faster than Earl Campbell in 2009
The Patriots look like they are going to have what I will call a “rebuilding” year. For Bellichick though a rebuilding year could be 11-5 with a playoff nod. I just don’t see their defense being on a level where the Steelers are. The Pats are going to a 4-3 scheme but they don’t get the other teams QB dirty enough and their linebackers corps is not formidable. The O Line hasn’t been able to keep Mr. Gisele Bundchen off his cologned arse all preseason. Maybe if Laurence Maroney has a breakout year the Pats offense will shine but they can’t live off of Moss, Welker and Galloway especially when the cold weather comes into New England around the 15th of October. By the way would you be spooked or happy that your wife had been porked for years by Leo DiCaprio? Every time they show Titanic or The Departed would you be haunted by his image? Maybe Brady is doing one of the Pats cheerleaders on the side and doesn’t care.
Gisele with not her husband.
Just a note about Pro Beach Volleyball. I have met the reigning Olympic gold medalist Todd Rogers and he is a super guy. He and his partner Phil Dallhauser are dominating their sport like no other team in athletics. Their story should be national news but people only care about Vick, Favre and steroids allegations. Beach Volleyball is a great sport to play but doesn’t really translate to TV all that well. However NBC does national broadcasts so it definitely is much more than a “cult status” sport. Also the girls teams go out on the court dressed like strippers which are superb.
Phil Dallhauser and Todd Rogers embrace after a match.
A few closing comments now on some other New England issues. First of all good luck to former Umass Head Football Coach Don Brown who takes over as Defensive Coordinator of the Maryland Terrapins. Coach Brown is a super guy and must have got big coin from the Maryland tax payers to step down at Umass. Umass (1AA) football heads out to Kansas State on Saturday in their annual D1 game. In the past Umass has come close to beating Navy and BC. Last year they hung with Texas Tech better than some D1 teams did. I know they call things “subdivision” etc but it will always be D1 and 1 AA for me. The NCAA is the most screwed up organization in history but it is a cash cow. How they can “vacate” two Final 4 appearances from a Saint like John Calipari but do nothing to dirty programs all over the country is a shame. What a crock and a sham the whole collegiate athletics scene has become. I did see where one kid from UCLA is suing to get money from jersey sales….he could end up with cement shoes and a cement overcoat in the bottom of the Pacific courtesy of the NCAA. The whole Ted Kennedy thing was far too overblown. Who were all the people lining the routes to see the hearse? Don’t these people have jobs? Massachusetts is a one party state (Democrats) where if you don’t feel like working or made a “mistake” in life you get a check courtesy of the taxpayers. Mass. just raised the sales tax on non food and clothing items to 6.25%. You can drive a few miles to New Hampshire and buy the same items for 0.00% tax. Meanwhile a billion dollars a year goes to the Connecticut Indian casinos from Mass. residents while our legislature does nothing but eats caviar and sails Boston Harbor. Teddy Kennedy never made a full recovery from leaving the dead girl’s body in his car while he waited 8 hours for “advice” before reporting the accident. If that had been my daughter or sister I would have done to him what Rowdy Roddy Piper did to Jimmy Snuka. The Kennedy family has done a lot for America but the fascination with America’s Royal Family is what makes XTRA and TMZ popular.
One last thing….don’t ever watch the movie Pineapple Express…it was putrid. The best movie of the last 3 years is the Ben Stiller vehicle “The Heartbreak Kid” made by New Englanders The Farrelly Brothers. Extremely rewatchable. Everybody have a great week and listen to the internet podcast sensation The Barnstable Broadcast http://www.blogtalkradio.com/umassjsp
(Be sure to check out Scott’s podcast. He does his show with much more regularity than I do.)
lordelevation
globalcorrespondent
Watching George W. Bush at the funeral of Teddy Kennedy on Saturday was, to say the very least, amusing. It’s always great fun to witness the members of the vast right wing conspiracy confronted head-on with the theological flaws that are inherent in their philosophy. Watching that event with my pal, Kevin Swanwick, we both were mesmerized and just slightly overjoyed to be reminded yet again that the basic tenets of Liberalism are in perfect harmony with our Christianity – our Catholicism: feed the hungry, shelter the poor and clothe the naked. Oh, how I wish the camera would have cut to Bush’s face the moment he was confronted with the most famous line (and justly so) from the Gospel according to Matthew:
“I tell you this: whatever you did to the least of these brothers of mine, you did to me.”
Jesus of Nazareth
One can only imagine how uncomfortable that passage from the scriptures must have made him feel. Or how about the Sermon on the Mount?
“Blessed are the peace makers
For they shall be called Sons of God.”
I imagine being confronted with the words of Jesus Christ might make old George just a tad uneasy. The prayers that were offered up by the youngest members of the Kennedy clan, in Teddy’s own words, were the most touching part of the entire day:
“That human beings be measured not by what they cannot do. That quality health care becomes a fundamental right and not a privilege. That old policies of race and gender die away. That newcomers be accepted, no matter their color or place of birth. That the nation stand united against violence, hate and war. That the work begins anew, and the dream lives on. We pray to the Lord.”
Lord hear our prayer.
After the mass had ended, and Kevin and I headed into town to get a cup of coffee, I was almost stunned by the good cheer I felt. Ted Kennedy’s funeral was truly a joyous event. Truth be told, it was damned-near therapeutic! The politics of joy as opposed to the politics of fear. There ain’t nothin’ like it in the world, Baby!
The stark contrasts between the ideals of the Progressive movement and the right wing’s backwards and greedy ideology were out in public Saturday for all to compare and contrast at Our Lady of Perpetual Comfort Church in Boston. The differences were so obvious, you could not have missed them had you tried.
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan said this on August 31, 2009 at 8:30 am
Yes, because the Kennedy clan have always been perfect spokespeople for Jesus. Not like they’ve raped anybody or had any DUIs or such.
lordelevation said this on August 31, 2009 at 11:32 am
I voted for Bush twice because he basically said “you made this dollar keep it….this Social Security money is yours so invest it how you like”. But people are too dumb to take control of their own destiny…they WANT the government to take care of them. Kennedy wanted to take part of my dollar and give it to illegal immigrants….oh pardon me we have to call them “guest workers”. I think Bush and Cheney will be judged very well by history. At least Bush wasn’t banging interns and the last time I checked we have gone 8 years without the homeland being attacked. Kennedy’s made their money by using inside information to sell stocks short during the depression and by running illegal booze from Canada.
Umass Dameshek said this on September 1, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Yes, because the Kennedy clan have always been perfect spokespeople for Jesus. Not like they've raped anybody or had any DUIs or such….
Alconcel said this on September 6, 2009 at 9:24 am