The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Sunday Gravy: Super Saturday for area fans
An elderly gentleman complimented me on the way I parked my car the other day. And, unlike that lady at the library that one time, he wasn’t flipping me the bird as he said it.
He’d observed me nimbly navigate my Subaru into a tight slot on a New Haven street and said he felt like he was watching a video game. I said thanks and as I walked away he was still going on and on to his wife about my perfect park job, like he’d just witnessed greatness not seen since the days of Red Grange.
I swear I’m not exaggerating for effect (well, aside from the Red Grange bit.) This really happened. And, I must say, it was probably the highlight of my year. I’ve been brimming with confidence and pondering future possibilities that once seemed unimaginable.
Perhaps I could become a world renowned valet at a swanky Las Vegas casino. Awestruck crowds would gather to watch me deftly back Ferraris and tricked out Hummers into cramped spaces at break-neck speed. There’d eventually be a reality show on the History Channel, of course: Park Stars.
Why stop at cars? I’m certain I could easily dock the Queen Mary into a busy New York Harbor, with one hand on the wheel and the other nonchalantly draped over the captain’s chair, all while warning those noisy kids in the back to settle down or I’ll turn this ship around and go right back to England.
They say everyone in the world has one special talent. After a lifetime of mediocrity at, well, everything, I’m ready to thrive on my skills as a parallel parker.
⏩ Live sporting events aren’t quite the draw they once were, but it was refreshing to see Greater New Haven respond in a big way on Saturday, an afternoon and evening chock full of appealing options, all of which played to enormous crowds.
Despite overcast skies, chilly temperatures and rain drops in the second half, a crowd of 51,426 packed into the Bowl to see Yale pound Harvard 24-3 for its first outright Ivy League championship since Jimmy Carter was a lameduck president.
Strong crowds showed up throughout the afternoon for various high school state championships Saturday. And, as usual, the Yale at Quinnipiac rivalry men’s hockey game, sold out months in advance, had a long line of students waiting for the doors to open despite school officially being on Thanksgiving break.
⏩ Paul McCartney was among the 51,000-plus at the Yale Bowl on Saturday. The legendary musician was scheduled to play a concert at the Bowl in 1993, but couldn’t fit his massive stage through the ancient portals, so the show was canceled.
Yale awarded Sir Paul an honorary doctorate in 2008, and his eldest grandson is currently enrolled as a student.
⏩ Ten weeks into the season and we’ve got a better than average possibility of a Pittsburgh-Philadelphia Super Bowl. Sign me up!
⏩ Every commercial for the NFL Shop makes me want to put my head through the TV. The latest features a woman telling her husband he can’t wear a Raiders’ jersey to her family’s Christmas dinner. Then they cut to the table, where everyone, including grandma, is decked out in Chiefs gear. Sorry, but if you’re over the age of 14 and wearing NFL gear to holiday gatherings, it’s time to seriously re-evaluate your life.
⏩ I spent last Sunday watching the Giants game at San Francisco, but dozed off early in the second quarter. Apparently, the Giants did the same thing.
⏩ After another brutal loss in a horrific season, would anyone have been surprised if the Giants waited until Ben McAdoo went to the bathroom before quietly sneaking out of the stadium and flying back to New York without him?
⏩ The Giants are considering benching Eli Manning in favor of Geno Smith, whose five seasons in the NFL have produced 28 touchdowns and 36 interceptions.
The Packers replaced injured Aaron Rodgers with a guy who wears a single-bar facemask and is afraid to throw the ball beyond the line of scrimmage.
Blaine Gabbert, whose career record as a starting QB is 9-31, is getting the nod for the Cardinals today.
Say what you will about inflated contracts. But any team with a serviceable starting QB should be paying him $100 million a year.
⏩ Those types of contracts in baseball are almost always excessive. J.D. Martinez, Eric Hosmer and Yu Darvish could all command between $20-30 million annually on risky longterm contracts. Ask the Red Sox (David Price: $30 million), Yankees (Jacoby Ellsbury: $22 million) and Mets (David Wright: $20 million) if they’ve got buyer’s remorse.
⏩ Brian O’Neill, one of four former Yale hockey players vying for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, was injured at the Deutschland Cup in Germany last week and out at least a month. He should be healthy by the time the U.S. roster is announced at the NHL’s Winter Classic on Jan. 1.
⏩ Here’s a snippet from a wonderful Mike Lupica column about Bobby Doerr, the Red Sox Hall of Fame second baseman who passed away this week at age 99:
“When the Red Sox were still training in Winter Haven, Williams invited Doerr to do some “real” fishing, bonefishing, near his home in Islamorada. Johnny Pesky was there, and when Williams was out of earshot, he told Doerr, “You don’t want to do this. You don’t know how he gets when he’s bonefishing.”
Doerr went, anyway. The next day he found Pesky and said, “You were right.”
Pesky asked what happened.
“We’re in the boat,” Doerr said, “and I asked him a question about casting.”
“Oh, no,” Pesky said, laughing. “You talked to him?”
“And when I did,” Doerr said, “Ted jumped up in the boat and yelled at me, ‘Don’t you know they can
hear you?’”