At the sports bar, how many shots does it take to make up for a lack of touchdowns, if your team is having too many three-and-outs, not three for ones? Read on:
— The Pack offense appeared to be back in week one of the preseason, when the home team racked up 51 points, but in the game just the other night, the scoring numbers were way down. To the point that one of the bartenders at Dick’s was pouring a number of shots ordered by one person for his crew that was greater in number than all the points scored by both teams, and the time of that order was well into the fourth quarter! This low-scoring affair really champions the Big D jersey worn by one man, of a slightly different era, that of defensive back Charles Woodson, (who fittingly has his own brand of wines, although limited edition).
— Along those lines, an email message from a deprived guy noted this: If you’re like me, for the last nine months, you have been “looking forward to your fantasy …” This would involve a squad, according to the message, of not the Swedish Bikini Team, but of some burly, sweaty guys striving to make it on your fantasy FOOTBALL draft.
— To recap another event where people tip a few, that being PepperFest, it was well past call afterward at a local bar, a trio of guys were trying to get that last drink, to no avail. The comeback: Oh Maggie, you have known me forever, cut me some slack. The comeback to the comeback: My name’s not Maggie. With that route gone, they suggested that they could sweeten the pot and sweet talk her at the same time, by singing some Ed Sheeren. When that didn’t go, the pot was sweetened again by saying they’d play that song for her on the jukebox. With that not working, they bought a frozen pizza to go, but when ordering a second, had to count all their pennies to pay for it.
— There was temporarily a new option on the taxi scene. A guy was asking for $5 per person to take you home. When asked about it and this potentially good deal, he added that this was only for PepperFest weekend, and possibly other major holidays. Bottom line? See you on New Years Eve. In the meantime, there are a couple of area people who have volunteered their services for giving a ride for cheap after last call. Talk about community service!
— On the service theme, the Ragnar several-state marathoning to benefit a cause came through the village just when PepperFest was at its peak, taking its runners right past a point only a block from the festival sponsoring park itself, with a directional sign spelling out the route for those legging it volunteers and positioned at one of the main intersections used to get to the fest itself after parking. For several years now, Ragnar has arranged to take people through this area, with each runner going a marathon-like distance, then passing the torch so to speak, to another runner. This running goes 24 hours and entails hundreds and hundreds of miles over several days. I don’t know which is more taxing, the wee-hours running or the rapid fire pepper eating in the contests nextdoor.
— On Friday night at PepperFest, the group of area youngsters who constitute the band Yam Haus had a following of loyal teeny boppers right up, front and center by the stage. That large group doubled when many somewhat older people filed over to the music area, but stayed to the back. There was a lot of speaking from the mic about the Hudson area by the lead singer, who especially referenced attending Houlton Elementary School.
— While we’re going Old School, there recently on late night TV was a roast of Bruce Willis, where he laughed hardily on the jokes made at his expense. That flies in the face of the experience of a friend out in California, who has met the actor while serving at Starbucks, and says he is really into himself and wears that on his sleeve, not someone who could laugh at himself. Will the real Bruce Willis please stand up?