Bruschi was the man who suffered a stroke only days after his first Pro Bowl appearance and came back in 2005 to play again, totally against the odds. A big-hearted guy with the smile of an assassin, his reception of a pass to seal a big win against Miami led to a James Brown-meets-Pete Townshend knee-slide into the end zone with ball held aloft and, as Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part 2" blared from the Gillette Stadium speakers, prompted an ad hoc winter carnival, with the fans throwing handfuls of snow in the air right in time with the beat, a spectacle which has become a Patriots tradition whenever the white stuff is falling on the seats.
Bill Belichick called him "a perfect player" at Bruschi's retirement press conference. Coming from one of the sport's most renowned perfectionists, that is quite a tribute. "Da-da-da-da-DAH! Hey! Hey!"
THE BOY FROM BUCKEYE BROOK
Steve Insana, who babbled on to whoever would listen on behalf of the restoration of his beloved Buckeye Brook, recently passed away very unexpectedly. All parts of the environment should have such a champion. We're sure the herring are now running in heaven, and Steve's counting them all.
HEADLINE OF THE WEEK
Hold on to your hats, ladies and gents! Here's the shocking headline from the September 1 edition of the Urinal: "State ended its fiscal year with a deficit." Wow!
Yes, the Biggest Little's general fund came in just $61.8 million shy of break even, a startling fact which was laid to the fact that there was a decline in anticipated revenues. Who was "anticipating" the finances will, of course, go unnamed, although Governor Donald Carcieri, House Speaker Bill Murphy, and House Finance Committee chairman Steve Costantino will know who P+J are talking about.
In related front page news, "Pope revealed to be member of historic conservative religion" and "Grizzlies reportedly pass stools in forested areas."
GOG ME WITH A SPOON
Congrats to the Other Paper's editorial page for digging up and printing an op-ed on August 21 by James Haught, editor of the Charleston (West Virginia) Gazette. The item got little national attention, but didn't slip past the always-vigilant eyes of our old buddy Bob Whitcomb, the BeloJo's editorial page editor, as well as those of your superior correspondents.
In a piece titled "Agog over Bush's comments on Gog and Magog," Haught writes that then-president Dubya Bush called French President Jacques Chirac and asked him to support the US invasion of Iraq saying that "[Biblically cited sinister and mysterious forces menacing Israel] Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East . . . The biblical prophecies are being fulfilled . . . This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people's enemies before a New Age begins." Oh. I guess we have to say "oui" to that request, eh, mon citoyens?
