GAME DAY!

For some, the wait is finally over. After two weeks of hype it’s finally game day. Patriots and Eagles tonight.

It’s been reposted many times already, but in case you haven’t seen it, Saturday Night Live had a good bit last night.

My pick again:

New England 28  Philadelphia 24

 

SUPERSTITION

Is your house like mine? We have to wear the same things we wore during the AFC Championship game and sit in the same places. Do you have a lucky jersey? Lucky hat?

Let’s just hope for a good game.

 

MVP! MVP! MVP!

For the third time, Tom Brady is the NFL’s Most Valuable Player. Now he goes for his sixth Super Bowl title, and perhaps with it a fifth MVP trophy for the NFL championship.

• Sean McVay of the Rams won Coach of the Year. Deservedly so, I think.
• Offensive Player of the Year was Todd Gurley. Good choice. 
• Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald.

 

HOW ABOUT J.J. WATT FOR PRESIDENT?

Houston Texans star defensive end J.J. Watt has won the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. Watt raised $37 million for Hurricane Harvey relief in Houston.

He gave a terrific acceptance speech.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1b_Tl5BxeFY#

HALL OF FAME

Hard-hitting linebackers Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher and big-play receiver Randy Moss all made the Pro Football Hall of Fame on their first try. Terrell Owens got in on his third time on the ballot, safety Brian Dawkins also got voted in by the 47 Hall of Fame voters as part of the eight-person class that included contributor Bobby Beathard and senior nominees Jerry Kramer and Robert Brazile.

 

IN OTHER NEWS

A HIGH FIVE

Two fast-acting Massachusetts state troopers have rescued a man from a burning pickup truck. State police Troopers Matthew Holden and Brandyn Henson responded to reports of a vehicle crashed into a tree on Route 195 in Mattapoisett at around 10 a.m. Saturday morning. They worked swiftly to put out an engine fire while smashing the truck window to free the driver. The 39-year-old from Rochester was transported to the hospital with undisclosed injuries.

Officials at Holy Cross in Worcester have decided the school will continue to be known as the Crusaders. The board of trustees affirmed the name Saturday after months of discussion about the appropriateness of the medieval knight as the college’s moniker and mascot. In an email, Holy Cross’ president, the Rev. Philip Boroughs, and board chair John J. Mahoney say the college is choosing to associate itself with the modern meaning of the word crusader “which is representative of our Catholic, Jesuit identity and our mission and values as an institution.” The student newspaper announced Friday it’ll ditch “The Crusader” name and become “The Spire.” The staff says the change is because of the “violence and massacres” of the medieval Crusades.

LOMBARDI TROPHY

The Providence Journal reports the Lombardi Trophy awarded to the winner of tonight’s game in Minnesota was forged in a Tiffany & Co’s workshop in Cumberland, Rhode Island. The New York jeweler maker has been making the iconic sterling silver trophy since the first Super Bowl in 1967. Tiffany officials say it takes silversmiths 72 hours to make the trophy by hand. The company also makes trophies hoisted by the champions in Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association.

 

PERSONAL NOTE

We had a memorial service for my brother in St. Johnsbury, VT yesterday. My nieces did a wonderful job planning the service.

My brother was a huge Red Sox fan so they had these memory cards displayed in a glove with his Red Sox hat. There were baseballs in the floral arrangements and more of a baseball theme.

I was honored when they asked me to speak. I gave some memories of us growing up and then I brought up the “Dash Poem” by Linda Ellis. In part it says……

“Your life is made up of two dates and a dash. Make the most of that dash.

For it matters not, how much we own, the cars, the house, the cash,
What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard; Are there things you would like to change?
For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough to consider what is true and real
and always try to understand the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives like we have never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile,
Remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is being read with your life’s actions to rehash…
Would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?

THIS IS….

NATIONAL HOMEMADE SOUP DAY
Before the era of modern transportation, soup was a product of regionally available foods. Many soups also have medicinal purposes. What was once considered a wives’ tale, chicken soup now has the backing of the scientific community with helping relieve the symptoms of the common cold. Scientists believe that a bowl of the soup may reduce inflammation of the lungs. It is thought that chicken soup slows down the activity of white blood cells that can cause the inflammation.

NATIONAL THANK A MAIL CARRIER DAY
There is mail in your mailbox six days a week so let’s take time out of our day to thank the mail person who is responsible for getting it there!

DATEBOOK

https://youtu.be/5yrx9pezxF8

In 1971, The Osmonds received their first gold record, for “One Bad Apple.”

https://youtu.be/JDG2m5hN1vo

In 1977, Fleetwood Mac released the album “Rumours.” It sold more than 17 million copies.

In 1983, Karen Carpenter died of cardiac arrest at the age 32. She had suffered from the eating disorder anorexia nervosa.- What a talent. What a voice.

1789, electors chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States.- Can you imagine if these guys had faced a media like we have now.

 

THE THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.”