Dan Kennedy noted this morning that no one is blaming Terry Francona for the Sox collapse, so Nick Cafardo's latest article is unnecessary. Ah, but Dan obviously doesn't read the letters to the editor of the Telegram & Gazette (and in his defense, why would he). If he did, he'd know that all of the Sox troubles are related to Francona's lack of personal hygiene.The solution for the Red Sox to have a successful season is not in the pitching staff, bullpen or starters. The solution is sitting on the bench with his head and eyes looking at a puddle of tobacco juice, bubble gum saliva and sunflower shells.
Occasionally he washes out his foul mouth and that goes into the contaminated puddle also. Terry Francona's supposed to be looking at his players, not the puddle.
He's got the walking man (second-in-the-league Kevin Youkilis) batting fifth. Who needs a walk when men are in scoring position?
No wonder they ran him out of Philadelphia. Give him his bus ticket and bring in Carlton Fisk before the season is a washout.
Ah yes, when in doubt, call on Carlton Fisk. Fisk is the guy who taught a whole generation of New England children what "a pinch between your cheek and gum" meant through years of commercials for Copenhagen chewing tobacco.
So, I go to cook supper last night, and for some reason, I decided to look in the bottom of the box of pasta that I had just poured into the water. Don't know why, perhaps I was looking to see if there was a rotini or two left in the bottom of the box. Anyway, I didn't find any more rotini, but I did find a couple of these guys crawling around the bottom of the box (note, they're not as big as pictured, they are about the size of a grain of rice.)
With the Little League World Series ongoing, the legislature's Joint Committee on Public Health is taking the opportunity to share the spotlight by holding hearings on safety in youth baseball. Among the solutions they are investigating are a ban on metal bats.
Republican Senator Conrad Burns of Montana (the guy at right in the cowboy hat) is in a bit of hot water over some insensitive remarks he made about a man working on his house. In a speech at a campaign stop, he referred to the worker as "a nice little Guatemalan man" and recalled a conversation he had with the worker about whether or not he had a green card.A new video released this week by his Democratic challenger, Jon Tester, shows Burns, 71, joking to a crowd in June about how a "nice little Guatemalan man" fixing up his house might be an illegal immigrant. "Could I see your green card?" Burns tells the crowd he asked the man. "And Hugo, says, 'No.' I said, 'Oh, gosh.' "
A Burns spokesman said the senator never really doubted the legal status of the handyman, Hugo Reyes. But it wasn't the only time Burns -- a critic of illegal immigration -- has poked fun at the immigrants doing work around his house.
Well, what do you know? Apparently the folks who crashed on that mysterious island get rescued sometime before Summer, 2006 (in the show, the crash happened in August, 2004), because amiable fat guy Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (the one waist deep in the ocean at right) is now a handyman in Montana. Seems like quite a change from being a hard-luck multi-millionaire, but that's why Hollywood writers get paid the big bucks.
Jackson in a fall sweater.
Jackson's first time in "the Jumpy Thing."
Jackson with his cousin Kayla.It was set to begin at 2 p.m., but no protesters had arrived by then. Police staff could be seen through the department's second-floor windows, waiting. One had binoculars.And that's what the punk movement has come to. Rage? Only if the kid behind the counter forgets the mayo.
By 2:30, Lt. Robert J. Healey came out to talk with reporters. He said the protest organizer had come by Friday night to finalize the permit, and promised 100 attendees. Now, nobody knew if there'd be even one....
A few minutes later, four punk fans showed up. They weren't connected to the organizer, but had heard about the protest and wanted to show support....
But for the next hour and a half, not much would be said. The four protesters sat quietly on the grass, two reading magazines. At one point, Lt. Healey even re-emerged to ask if anyone else was coming. The protesters said they didn't know.
Finally, at 4 p.m., the organizer of the event showed up. He was flustered and peeved, complaining of punk fans who were driving around, too afraid to stop and join such a small gathering. Seven would-be protesters had even chosen to skip the event and went to eat at a nearby Subway, he said. (emphasis mine)
I find it unbelievable that people in general call Hamas, Hezbollah, the Lebanese people, the Palestinians and almost everyone who is not connected to Israel terrorists. No one seems to report nor care that Israel murders the above groups as well as children. Israel destroys their olive gardens, enters their homes in the night and shoots their teenagers to death and pretty much does just as it pleases with no one referring to Israel or its people as terrorists.Anyone else left with this image in my head of reporter Richard Engel wearing his flak jacket kneeling in front of a smoldering Italian restaurant as he picks up an object and reports, "tragically, these bread sticks went uneaten..." followed by an interview with an Israeli spokeswoman expressing regret, but insisting that if hungry townspeople had heeded warnings and gone to Bertucci's instead, they would not have been affected.
...The restaurants where we ate were immaculate and far superior to anything in this local area. There was a place called Supplantation, which offered all you could eat for $7.29, and it was fabulous. Other super restaurants were Denny's and Ruby's, plus a Mexican restaurant where we held the wedding rehearsal dinner...I've always said the nothing makes a city great like a $7.29 buffet and a Denny's or Ruby Tuesday's on every corner.
California offers more tourist opportunities than one can fine [sic] time for. We also found an excellent Bible-believing church which is similar to the one we attend in Clinton. Worcester should take a tip from this and try to improve its image. I might add that even though the weather was very hot, we didn't mind it, as the humidity was low compared to here and there were no mosquitoes.Well sure, Worcester could use a beach where the seals can play or a world-class zoo, but I'd dare say there are plenty of churches. Maybe the city can buy some newfangled weather-control technology to make every day sunny, 80, and mosquito free.
Is this the oldest numbered route sign still in use in Massachusetts? Could it possibly be the oldest route sign in the country? I'm on a mission to try to find out...
My next steps are to attempt to find some photographic evidence pinpointing a time period for this style of sign, if not a photo of Leominster itself with the sign posted.Hazy, Hot and Hummus!Eight months after Channel 7 abruptly showed the popular meteorologist the door, Gross has landed a freelance gig as pitchman for Tribe of Two Sheiks Hummus in WBZ 1030-AM radio spots.
"It's going to be hazy, hot and hummus in New England with Tribe Hummus! It's a great summer snack!"
Though already prevalent in North Central Massachusetts, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is looking to expand with a new congregation in Townsend.Kyle is off to a great start, implying that the church doesn't need to open a new congregation since it's "already prevalent." I wonder if Kyle would suggest that other congregations with churches in each town have over-saturated the area.
North Central Mass. is the the center of Adventist life in the New England, no doubt about it. But the reporter then implies that this is--I dunno--a bad thing?, a scary thing?, something more than it seems?, by including the ignorant suggestion that Adventists "generally" hold beliefs outside Christianity's "mainstream" (whatever that is).With numerous churches and the Atlantic Union College in Lancaster, North Central Massachusetts is a hub for the denomination.
But members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church generally hold beliefs which depart from mainstream Christian teaching.
Ah, so that's it. Adventists aren't "mainstream" Christians because they go to church on Saturday and many of them refuse "to work or experience entertainment on Saturdays." Hmmm, I wonder if Kyle is similarly worried about an influx of Catholics, since the Pope has instructed Catholics that Sunday worship should not take a backseat to the "secular concept of weekends dominated by such things as entertainment and sport."Congregants meet for a weekly service on Saturdays, the "seventh day," rather than Sundays.
They also "keep the Sabbath" -- one of the 10 commandments in the Bible -- by refusing to work or experience entertainment on Saturdays.
Don't look now, Kyle, but there are more of those crazy Adventists in North Central Mass. than you think. According to this website, there are actually 11 Adventist churches (Athol, Gardner, Sterling, Clinton 2, Fitchburg 2, Lancaster 2, Leominster 2) and two additional unincorporated groups (Clinton, Gardner). So by the time a church in Townsend became official, it might in fact be the 14th Adventist church in the area.The church would be the eighth in the region for the denomination.
Besides Fitchburg and Leominster, two Seventh-day Adventist churches can be found in Lancaster, while others are located in Gardner, Sterling and Clinton.
Barnes is right about that highway. The "Super-2" section west of Phillipston is on par with the "Suicide 6" two-lane freeway on Cape Cod. They have tried to do some things in the interim--banning passing east of Athol, placing rumble strips and reflector posts along the center stripes, requiring drivers to drive with their headlights on--but it is a treacherous stretch. Some drivers attempt to take it at 65 mph, while trucks and old ladies end up doing 45 or less, with nowhere to pass. The road is heatraveledelled, and creates dangerous driving conditions and lots of frustration and anger.I'm interested in Matthew Amorello because he is also the Route 2 guy. He was state highway commissioner when the Route 2 safety improvement project got under way. He pushed the project, [and] promised it would go forward...
Route 2 is not the Big Dig. It doesn't compare with the Big Dig in cost or scope. It also does not seem as frivolous as the Big Dig. The Big Dig was dug to make sure people could get to the airport or more easily to shopping around Boston. It was dug because people are unwilling to use public transportation. The Boston roads were clogged and something had to be done so that people could continue to avoid using public transportation.
The Route 2 project was started because the deaths of four young women in a car accident in October 1998 were just four deaths too many on a road where people were too often getting in accidents. The stretch of highway from Orange to Petersham is known locally as "Death Valley" because of the many deaths along those several miles of two-lane pavement.
The road is also the lifeline for a lot of struggling communities. There was almost no public transportation in the towns when the project began. The road is an often difficult road, but it is also a highway of hope for people looking to connect with the larger world.
.....
It has been a hazardous road since it was built in the 1960s. It was built lacking proper climbing lanes, with ramps that just about require high-speed, 45-degree-angle turns to avoid tailgaters running you down. Now it is getting fixed. There will be climbing lanes, better entrances and exits to ramps, a better line of sight for motorists -- and hope that more people will not be killed.
...a lot of changes have already been made this summer and more improvements are expected. And fixing the road was one of the first promises Matthew Amorello made when he became state highway commissioner. He said safety on Route 2 was a priority for him.
So far, he has been true to his word...
Montana research firms are in line to receive $15 million over five years to develop anti-landmine technology."It seems people have a hard time wrapping their heads around the concept of bomb-finding bees."Some convinced insects could be used to detect bombs
By NOELLE STRAUB
Gazette Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Montana researchers' vision of honeybees swarming across a field to detect landmines in Afghanistan or roadside bombs in Iraq may get a $5 million boost after Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., included the funding in a Defense Department spending bill.
The researchers believe they are on the verge of perfecting a briefcase-size system that can be carried around and deployed easily, using laser technology to track bees that have been trained to find explosives.
.....
The researchers estimate the total program cost at $15 million over five years. Congress at Burns' request appropriated money in previous defense spending bills for the bee research, including $1.9 million in fiscal year 2005 and $2.8 million in fiscal 2006.
The researchers' first obstacle, they say, is credibility. It seems people have a hard time wrapping their heads around the concept of bomb-finding bees.
I've never been a fan of Tebucky Jones. Frankly, I don't think he's a very good football player. In fact, he's such a poor tackler-- he attempts to knock people over instead of wrapping them up-- that after pinballing off a ball-carrier that he refused to wrap up I've been known to yell "Look Ma, no arms!" at the TV.NEW BRITAIN -- Tebucky Jones, a New England Patriots football star and former New Britain High School standout, is trying to evict his mother from a condominium he bought for her.Trust me, Mrs. Jones, your son is no threat to the make the hall of fame.
Jones filed a complaint in Superior Court in June. He claims his mother, Maryann Jones, is not paying rent.
"He belongs in the hall of shame, not the hall of fame," Maryann Jones said Thursday at the Plainville condo.
Maryann Jones signed the deed for the condo back to Tebucky Jones, for no money, in January 2006. It is unclear whether the mortgage on the property has been paid.Tebucky is trying to evict his mother over $115 a month? So, even if she hasn't paid him a dime (and really, why would a millionaire athlete ask his mom to pay rent?), she only owes him $920. It's got to cost him as much to evict her as it would to just let his mother live in peace.
Tebucky Jones claimed his mother had agreed to pay $115 rent every month but stopped doing so in January. In June, he issued a legal notice ordering her to leave the condo by June 21.
Maryann Jones declined Thursday to discuss the situation.
Shanequa Jones said Thursday that Tebucky talked their mother into signing the deed over by saying he would take care of the condo and pay for everything.
"My mother trusted him and thought her son was trying to help her get out of debt," said Shanequa Jones. "Basically he's trying to put my mother out on the street. My mother is sick and you're doing all of this?"
A couple of things...First, I'm assuming that the "6,000-square foot hotel" is a typo, unless the proposal is for the Mudville Bed and Breakfast. There are homes in Leominster with over 6,000 square feet.LEOMINSTER-- Armed with conceptual renderings that show a 4,000-seat stadium flanked by a restaurant and a 6,000-square-foot hotel and conference center, city officials are readying a marketing effort to secure public financing for the $16 million project proposed for the capped landfill off Mechanic Street.
Assistant Planning Director Andrew Taylor and Purchasing Agent Gregory C. Chapdelaine have been working on the project since 2003, when the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball first expressed interest in putting a franchise in the city. League founder and CEO Frank Boulton said in May that the market could support another minor league team if the city could develop a financing package for the stadium.
Mr. Taylor and Mr. Chapdelaine yesterday said they were hopeful the new renderings will show the state the promise of the site near Route 2 and Interstate 190.
Sigh. Let's get one thing out of the way right now: there will never be a Little League tournament here. A little league field is only 2/3 the size of a regulation field, and Little league organizers aren't going to set up bases on a makeshift diamond just to play in Leominster. There are dozens of very good Little League fields throughout Central Mass. and statewide, and those fields will continue to host Little League events. A MIAA tournament? maybe. Babe Ruth or American Legion? A possibility. Little League? Never.The site would also be attractive if the city sought to use the stadium for non-league events, such as Little League tournaments.
"It's one-stop shopping," Mr. Taylor said, explaining that a tournament organizer would likely be attracted to the possibility of staging an event on the same campus as the accommodations for guests. "Everything you need is right there for you. You have everything as soon as you turn off the highway."
Mr. Mazzarella said he was confident in the plans for the complex, even if they evolve over time to incorporate other athletic uses. He noted the professional soccer club the New England Revolution is looking for a new home.
The city needs to be 100% sure that a team will be successful before it helps to build a ballpark. Unlike an indoor arena like the Tsongas Arena in Lowell or the Verizon Center in Manchester which can be used to host hockey, basketball, tennis, boxing, curling, and other concerts and civic events year 'round, a ballpark is what it is. Other than the occasional concert while the home team is on the road, or perhaps hosting a baseball event like an MIAA state championship, when a ballpark is empty, there isn't much use for it. The worst thing that could happen would be to build a ballpark and then have it sit empty ten years down the road because an independent team or league has folded.
GARDNER-- A bad decision while drinking led a local teenager and a 14-year-old boy on a spree of car theft and vandalism at a used car dealership, police say.And what was this "bad decision?"
According to police reports filed with the court, Mr. Nims told police he and the boy were drinking early Saturday morning and decided to break into Chair City Auto Sales on Pearson Boulevard. They broke in, causing extensive damage to the small office building on the dealership lot, including smashing windows and attempting to set the building on fire. They then took two vehicles from the lot, and drove them onto Bickford Playground, damaging the playground and the vehicles. They then took two other vehicles from the dealership, drove them about a half mile down the road to Gardner Plaza and crashed them in the woods behind the Staples store. They were caught crossing the plaza and arrested, first for trespassing and later for charges connected with the theft of the vehicles and damage to the dealership.Yup, I'd say that would qualify as a bad decision.
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