By Blaidd Drwg
Boston mayor, Tom Menino has been in office since I was in college (let’s just say that it was in the early years starting with 199), and he is a lifelong Boston resident, so he has at least a passing familiarity with the Boston sports scene. Mayor Mumbles as he is not so affectionately known around Boston is also well known for “misspeaking”, especially when it comes to people’s names.
He recently had this wonderful screw-up talking about the Celtics:
“There’s a lot of heart in this team, let me just tell you,” Menino told reporters, before adding, “KJ is great but Hondo is really the inspiration. Hondo drives that team.”
He was referring to Kevin Garnett (KG not KJ) and Rajan Rondo. Then again, he could have been referring to Kevin Johnson, former NBA great and now Sacramento California’s mayor and Frank Howard, the burly slugger who played with the Dodgers and Senators in the 1950’s and 1960’s (Hondo was also John Havlicek’s nickname, but it would give him too much credit for referring to a former Celtic great).
Some of his other great “mis-speaks”:
He’s right that this is far from the first sports head-slapper Menino has been guilty of. When discussing the New England Patriots’ chances in the playoffs against the Denver Broncos earlier this season, Menino talked about Tom Brady’s weapons “Grabowski” (Rob Gronkowski) and “Wes Weckler” (Welker).
Menino’s most infamous reference came in 2010 during the dedication of a statue to Bruins legend Bobby Orr’s “ionic” goal to win the 1970 Stanley Cup. In discussing some of the best moments in Boston sports, Menino said it was Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek who “split the uprights” to win the Patriots’ first Super Bowl in 2002. He was, of course, referring to kicker Adam Vinatieri.
Yet he is still mayor. Go figure.
FlatbreadGarden 