Hey there loyal Sports Chutney followers. This space is currently reserved for the relaunch of Sports Chutney. As of this point you still should be check the old Sports Chutney site, hosted by Blogger. There will be a relaunch of some type coming in the middle of December 2009, I would hope. Stay tuned to Sports Chutney for future updates. Thanks.
-Dan Rowinski
Founder
Did this as a a project for another website, but alas it never went up. Enjoy the glory of Milton Bradley blowups on the silent reel.
As Dan is a incapacitated with a torn LCL in his knee, we will bring you some old stories of our adventures on The Red Line.
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Waiting For The Girl That Never Comes
I have been sitting here far too long. Where is that girl?
The mission today was supposed to go to Cambridge to capture video for a project we have been working on. The ultimate destination is the Cambridge Community Center (off Central) where a group called Barakat is holding the Boston Bazaar as a fundraiser for women’s literacy in Southern Asia. The Bazaar started at 1:00 p.m. and we had planned on meeting at Park Street around 1:15.
It is now 2:30.
It is cold and raining outside, otherwise I would go sit and wait in the common. The weather has been like this for much of the month. No promises of spring warmth but the utter cold of winter has been shed. The temperature has been sitting between 30 to 50 degrees for a couple weeks and I have become miserable. I can handle cold, I can handle hot. It is the in-between that kills me.
I did go top-side for lunch at the Burger King across from the station, but that only killed 20 minutes or so. Now I am back on the platform, playing Word Mole and watching the people come and go off the various trains on the hub. You can learn a lot from the type of crowd that comes and goes in Boston on a Sunday afternoon. For the most part they are families or groups, doing whatever they do for fun on Sundays. During the rest of the week Park Street is more of a transients rerouting point to either the green line or the red line that can take them to any other color line that one might desire.
Texting my colleague. No answer. Calling. Still no answer.
Where is that girl?
She is normally the responsible one except that I know for a fact she was at the bar across from my apartment last night. I figure she will be up for church and the whatnot, but you never know when people decide to go off the deep end on a Saturday night.
So I wait on the platform.
The phone rings.
“Hello? Kim? You’re what? Really? Okay, fine, I will see you there.”
She is taking a cab to Cambridge.
Might as well get back on the red line.
Jonathan Van Every has a penchant for late inning dramatics. Last night in Cleveland Van Every capped the Sox improbable comeback from a 5-0 deficit to win the game 6-5 in the 10th with a walk-off, game-winning home run.
“Van Every gets a hit that will mean nothing in the standings, but it’s more fun to go home with a win,” Francona said.
link: Win gives Sox momentum for October | redsox.com: News
That is what Terry Francona said about Van Every the last time he had a hit in extra innings to send the Sox home with a victory. That game was the last one he played for the Sox, September 29th, 2008, Game 162 against the Yankees on the final day of the regular season last year.
As Tito points out, that hit meant nothing to Sox last year as playoffs positions were set, the Sox taking the Wild Card while finishing two games behind Rays for the division.
Last night’s blast was Van Every’s first home run in the big leagues after spending an eternity in the Indians’ minor league system. Not a bad way to get back at the team that never gave him a chance at the top level, huh?
It seems that Van Every has been paying attention to walk-off home runs as well, as he learned the most important lesson about touching-them-all to win the game: Never take your helmet off.
“And then came the ribbing. Lugo’s advice wasn’t the only rookie treatment Van Every got. His teammates pounded him with high-fives and smacks on the head as he came into the dugout after circling the bases. Theirs was an acknowledgment of a job done well. “I got a headache from getting hit,” Van Every said. “I kept my helmet on, thank goodness. That was smart.”
link: Van Every’s clout caps Sox comeback | redsox.com: News
Hello to all on the Red Line.
Our primary reporter and editor for Travel Red Line Boston, Dan Rowinski, is currently mildly incapacitated due to a partially torn Lateral Collateral Ligament in his knee. (Sound painful? It is. Buy him a beer if you see him on his crutches.)
Hence, getting out and about in the city has become a little difficult for us here on the Red Line, so we are asking you for help. Have a spot on the line that you had dinner recently? Or maybe you have a video you would like to share? Feel free to send submissions to travelredline@yahoo.com. We would love to have them.
We are also taking this post to test out our new “blogware” Blogo from BrainJuice. As aspiring technocrats we are always on the lookout for the coolest and the best toys to play with to make our jobs easier.
Happy Traveling!
The Red Line Team
Quick post link here. From Boston.com: The MIT “hackers” have put a replica of the the Red Line the MIT Great Dome. We’ll see if we can get over there and check it out for you, otherwise check the story at Boston.com and WBZ for pictures.
So, I wandered into Seven Hills park in Somerville behind the Davis Square T station and found this monk working out with his bow staff. Perfect time to whip out the Blackberry Bold and do a little spy cam Qik streaming. Check it out:
A quick slide show of the surroundings at Davis Square taken with my Blackberry Bold. Had lunch at Mike’s Food and Spirits, a history lesson at Johnny D’s and spied a monk playing with a bow staff in Seven Hills Park (located directly behind the T station).
A couple weeks ago I was on the Red Line doing what many people do when they have to be on the T for an extended period of time: playing games on my phone. My destination was Davis Square where I was scheduled to meet somebody who was going to give me a ride to Wilmington. I had the iPod rocking and was deep in a game of Word Mole when I realized I had made a blunder:
I had gone too far.
I did not realize it until I got above ground and looked around and wandered where in the samhell my ride was. I was at the end of the line, Alewife, one stop too far.
It was embarrassing. I mean, it happens to a lot of people do it, they miss their stop because they were not paying attention. My problem was that I was running behind and would have to explain why I was twenty minutes later than I said I was going to be.
My ride dropped me back off at Davis Square after we got from Wilmington and I figured it was a good time to take a look around.
The first round of business was food. I am more prone to wake up and smoke half a dozen cigarettes than I am to eat, so it was time for breakfast. As per usual in my eating schedule, I was just in time for lunch.
The obvious choice for lunch in Davis Square is Mike’s Food and Spirits, located on the far side of the square from the T station. There is also a Mr. Crepe, which looks a little classier than Mike’s, but I was not in the mood for a crepe.
Mike’s is your classic corner deli/cafeteria style eatery. Except it also has a bar. You walk in, order and pay at the counter then take a seat and wait for them to call your name. They do pizza, fried food and sandwiches, including, much to my delight, pastrami.
I am always on the lookout for a great pastrami sandwich. I mean, isn’t everybody?
I took a seat and pulled out my computer to do a little work (always working here at the Red Line) and discovered that Mike’s has serviceable WiFi. That is always a plus in my book. I did some correspondence and waited till my name was called, which did not take all that long. Another plus.
The sandwich itself was mediocre at best (hot pastrami on white with cheddar, dijon, mayonnaise, raw onion and lettuce). To tell you the truth, I was not really expecting much anyway. It came with a small, nondescript bag of chips that I set aside for later.
I left, mildly satisfied and went to check out what else Davis Square has to offer. There are a couple sets of what I like to call “common folk” statues strewn about the square (see slide show above), including a set of an old man and woman in a little park across from the station. A lady walking by noticed me taking a picture of them and volunteered a comment.
“Sometimes people come up and ask them for directions,” she said. “That is, until they realize they aren’t real.”
“They aren’t?” I said.
“No, they are statues. They are not real,” she said.
“Well, I can see them. They look pretty real to me,” I said.
The lady did not seem to want to play semantics with me so she continued on her way.
Down the street I found Johnny D’s Uptown Restaurant and Music Club. As I have never found a “music club” that I did not like (well, for the most part). I had to go in and see what it was all about.
It was the middle of the day which means that Johnny D’s was totally empty save for bartender/manager Jeremy Newcomer. I asked him a couple questions while he sat down and ate a large mixed green salad for lunch.
According to Newcomer, Johnny D’s is currently in its 40th year of bringing music to Davis Square. It started as a folk/country joint but through the years gained notoriety as for Jazz and Blues, including a W.D. Handy award. The walls are lined with pictures of music heroes from yesteryear while the books are filled with interesting bands of this era. When asked who was the next hot band to come to Johnny D’s was Newcomer volunteered the Funky White Honkies who rocked the place on April 18th as well as a Beatles cover band named Beatle Juice who will be coming on May 16th.
The rest of Johnny D’s calendar, including jazz brunch and world music, can be found here.
The most inspiring thing about Johnny D’s though is its longevity. Newcomer said he is consistently amazed when people come into the bar after five or ten years and say with reverence “man, I have not been here in years.”
A return trip to Johnny D’s is definitely in order. Next time I will have to go at night so as to catch the aura of this music club in its official capacity.
I mean, who doesn’t like a good Beatles cover band?
Here is the slideshow of our walk around Kendall/MIT:
