Well, that was fun. The after work trip to McGillicuddy’s, that is. Trying to prove that we, too, could stay until the clock struck four, we stayed until – well – four. Hey, there ain’t no overtime in painting. Or, should I say, I haven’t been able to find it yet.
So off we went, trekking to the sports bar like any good work fellows should on the real opening day of Major League Baseball – last night’s sissy game between the Mets & Cardinals doesn’t count. And this was no regular opening day bonanza at the sports bar owned by Yankee fanatic and Montpelier High School boys basketball coach Dave Nelson. Nope, because, as mentioned at lunchtime, Dave and his rather Neanderthal-like sports bar crew were hosting the 2004 World Series Trophy won by – damn it – the once-in-a-century mighty Red Sox.
And that’s not even the special part. The real treat was hanging with WDEV’s Ken Squire as he tried to enjoy a quiet beer with Nelson’s wife and a blond hottie he was sharing a booth with. Everyone, you see, seemed to want a piece of Ken. I especially got a kick out of the semi-inebriated Sox fan who noticed all the glad-handing of Ken and then turned to ask the rest of us in the cheap seats, “Hey, is that guy famous?”
Oh yeah. But his dog is more talented. And he’d say the same – the dog, that is.
While this was billed as a Red Sox fan day at the bar, Nelson was in rare form as he barely controlled his glee at over-charging Red Sox fans to see a trophy they could see for free elsewhere. But, better yet, Nelson had almost every one of his gazillion televisions tuned to the Yankees’ opening game. Take that, idiots!
When I bumped into Nelson and told him he had no shame, he blamed the whole thing on Squire.
“Squire wanted to have this celebration here to stick it to me,” he told me. “And so I needed to stick it back a little.” Yep.
Nelson didn’t need to bother, though. Because only moments after I sat down the Yankees won their opening game, causing the chirping Sox fans to slump just a little in their pre-season cockiness. But the slumping only continued as the Sox took the field for their opening game against the lowly Kansas City Royals and proceeded to get their asses handed to them, 7-1. Ouch.
Wait’ll next year, huh?
