The end of a Patriots' dynasty

Based on tonight's performance, I've come to the conclusion that we are at the end of a Patriots' dynasty.

No, no, not the team on the field; I'm sure that they will end up competing for a spot in another Super Bowl. I'm talking about Gil and Gino. I got to hear about 15 minutes of them tonight, and I was saddened to realize that their time has come.

Gil could not get a handle on even the basics. He struggled to spot the ball correctly, was puzzled over why the officials were huddling (he eventually spotted a flag), incorrectly explained the options available to the Patriots when the penalty was being marked off, and misidentified players. Gino was no better, struggling to find a way to explain the action on the field. His voice also sounded weak and old. At least Gil sounded good, even if he wasn't sharp.

I love these guys, Gil especially. Gil is a legend. He may have the best radio voice I've ever heard (although Vin Scully is pretty awesome too). His call of the Patriots' first Super Bowl win will be one of my all-time great sports memories. He will always hold a special place in my memory.

Unfortunately, he and Gino have become Statler and Waldorf without the jokes.

Tags: New England Patriots Gil Santos Gino Cappelletti WBCN radio

I've got nothing

I've read that in order to keep people reading a blog, the author needs to keep publishing. Makes sense. So I've decided to post this despite the fact that I've got nothing.

Maybe it's just that time of year-- "the Dog Days of Summer" if you will-- but there hasn't been much that has grabbed me in the last week or so.

Or maybe staying up late to watch one nut-crushing Red Sox loss after another is starting to take it's toll on me.

Regardless, I've got nothing.

Todd Gross: Hazy, Hot and...

...I just can't make myself type the rest. If I do, I think I'll fall off my chair laughing. It might be the most absurd thing I've ever read. Here, take a look for yourself:

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!"

Hazy, Hot and Hummus!

Wheeee!

(via Universal Hub)

Previously: "Live Blogging" 7 News
Tags: Todd Gross Hummus Boston Massachusetts Channel 7 WHDH WBZ

Beware the invasion of those crazy Adventists

That's essentially the point of this morning's Sentinel and Enterprise article by Kyle Alspach warning of-- er, announcing--the planned opening of an Adventist church in Townsend:

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.

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.

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).

I haven't read the 27 Beliefs (actually, I think it's 28 now) since I was in an Adventist history class 15 years ago, but I'm sure that Adventists "generally" hold very mainstream beliefs. There are a couple that aren't: a fairly convoluted view of the judgment that Adventists developed to explain away "The Great Disappointment of 1844" when Christ didn't return as expected, the whole idea of the "Spirit of Prophecy," and Saturday observance (although Jews might consider Saturday observance as a mainstream "religious" observance, if not "Christian). But "generally" Adventists hold beliefs that most other Christians do.

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.

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."

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.

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.

Pretty scary, Kyle. Pretty scary.

Tags: Sentinel and Enterprise Massachusetts Townsend Seventh-day Adventist Church

In Defense of Matt Amorello

Someone had to do it, I guess. George Barnes of the Telegram and Gazette reminds readers that it was Matt Amorello who began work to make Route 2 between Phillipston and Erving safer for drivers. He suggests that while we're vilifying Amorello for a death in one of his high-profile tunnels, we should remember the lives he's helping save in a forgotten part of the state:

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...

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've driven that stretch a number of times going to and from the family homestead in Vermont (including a trip yesterday to our annual family reunion) and I hate it. Hopefully the construction will be done soon.

Tags: Massachusetts Athol Phillipston Erving Petersham Big Dig Route 2 Matt Amorello I-90 Tunnel

Congressional pork, with a nice honey glaze

Montana research firms are in line to receive $15 million over five years to develop anti-landmine technology.

Sounds like a good idea. Oh, did I mention that the new "technology" is honey bees and lasers?

That's right. We're spending $15 million to teach honey bees how to find land mines:

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.

"It seems people have a hard time wrapping their heads around the concept of bomb-finding bees."

Ya think?

Tags: Senate Pork Conrad Burns Montana Bees Land Mines

No arms, no heart

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.

Apparently he has no heart either, as the Hartford Courant reported yesterday that he is attempting to evict his mother from the home he bought for her:

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.

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.

Trust me, Mrs. Jones, your son is no threat to the make the hall of fame.

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 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?"

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.

As an aside, it's obvious that the Inside Track at the herald doesn't watch the games, since it refers to Tebucky as a "tackle titan" in this morning's rewrite of the Courant piece. The Herald caption writer also botched the assignment, referring to the safety as "tackle Tebucky Jones."

Tags: New England Patriots Tebucky Jones Connecticut Plainville eviction

Leominster baseball proposal stumbles forward

The Telegram and Gazette reports that the city is toddling along with it's proposal to build a minor league ball field on the site of the old landfill:

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.

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.

Second, I know the state is run by some pretty simple folks, but I wouldn't think this "conceptual rendering" would turn too many heads. It looks like someone cut-and-paste a PrintShop ballfield onto a Google map. I think there are versions of "Sim City" that produce more attractive ballfields than rendered here.

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.

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.

(And yes, I know that's a little thing, but if our city leaders are ignorant of what groups may be interested in using a stadium they want to build, I wonder what other elements of the project they are missing.)

And Mayor Mazzarella is on the moon if he thinks the New England Revolution would (A) build a MLS-level stadium in Leominster or (B) would share such a stadium with an Atlantic League baseball team.

An MLS stadium would seat around 25,000. Does he think we have the infrastructure at that site to support a stadium of that size? Does he think 20,000 people would travel to Leominster twice a week to see the Revolution play?

Further, the MLS team in Washington DC is in a bitter dispute with the Washington Nationals over the wear and tear on their multi-use stadium. Does he think the Revs would be A-OK with sharing a field with a minor-league baseball team and all of his mythical little leaguers?

(As an aside, I almost laughed out loud at the Mayor's suggestion, both because it's laughable on it's face, and because two months ago I facetiously suggested he steal the idea of building a soccer stadium from Jason at Save Fitchburg.)

I'm skeptical of the plan. As I wrote in May:

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.

Tags: Massachusetts Leominster Baseball Minor League Can-Am League New England Revolution MLS Soccer

Hey Boston, Get your hands off my wallet!

As though the city of Boston doesn't suck in enough money from people like me, now they want to charge me if I crack up my car?

That's outrageous.

Hey Boston, let's look at all of the ways that you already have your hand in the pocket of little old me from Leominster, who goes to the city maybe a half dozen times a year:

• I already pay a tax to get into the city on the Turnpike, the Ted Williams tunnel, the Sumner, or the Tobin Bridge.
• You get a cut of the outrageous parking fees I pay when I'm in town.
• My auto insurance is higher because many residents of you fair city can't walk around the block without test-driving the first car they see.
• My income taxes pay the bills of a lot more of your citizens than the bills of my neighbors.
• I'm paying for your crumbling tunnels, which I hardly ever use and you charge me for even when I do.

Your streets are a moonscape of potholes and craters, yet I should have to pay if I get in an accident trying to avoid one? How about raising funds by fining the contractors that tear up your streets and refuse to put them back together.

Your cab drivers, delivery trucks, and generally lazy drivers double and triple park at their leisure, but I'm going to get tagged if I bend a fender trying to avoid them? How about raising funds by ticketing or towing these scofflaws?

Your pedestrians clog up the streets by sauntering in out of traffic in an elaborate city-wide game of chicken, and you're going to charge me if I side-swipe a parked car in an effort to save some jaywalker's life?

Maybe the cost of services in your city would go down if you stopped paying cops to smoke crack and snort cocaine.

Boston, I know you've discussed the idea of taxing any visitor to the city, using a London-style system of cameras and transponders to either keep people out, or charge them for coming in. Maybe you should just take it one step further and set up a toll booth on every highway, avenue, street, and alley coming into the city. Take each of us for a couple of bucks every time we enter.

In fact, you could set it up like a customs checkpoint, and charge a tax for people leaving with items they bought in town. Or better yet, maybe you could secede from the union and charge each of us $100 for a visitor's visa or a work permit.

Anything for a buck.

Tags: Massachusetts Boston Big Dig Taxes Fees Accident Tolls Pothole Jaywalking Parking Police

"A bad decision"

We have a clear frontrunner for Understatement of the Month. George Barnes of the Telegram and Gazette reports this morning on arrests in Gardner over the weekend. His lead:

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.

Tags: Telegram and Gazette Massachusetts Gardner crime