Stories from the road
February 6, 2017
Snowmass Village, CO.

The sun was out yesterday, and the snow was soft. Vicki and I took advantage of the situation and put on a lot of miles on our skis, as we crisscrossed the mountain in search of empty trails and limited lift lines. Whispering Jesse on the Burn was in excellent shape, and we ran the trail three times. Around noon we skied into lunch and made a plan with Roger and Nancy to watch the Super Bowl over pizza and beer in our hotel dining room.

At 4:30 I stopped watching the playoff between Hideki Matsuyama and Webb Simpson at the Waste Management Open in Phoenix and made my way to the dining room, where in typical efficient style, the Leonards had secured a good table with plates and silverware.

There was a ski club from the Syracuse area, and several members came from the town in which Vicki grew up. They knew different members of her family, who still live there. I noted that there was a correlation between the volume of their laughter over super bowl ads and the amount of wine they drank.

The game between my home team and the Falcons was initially discouraging. The Patriots, normally a precise team, couldn’t seem to do much right. At the end of three quarters I decided to go back to my room. I turned the TV on, as I lay in bed, and like fans everywhere, I couldn’t believe what was happening. Brady and company played wonderfully as they tied the game, and then won it in overtime. Boston people felt justice had been done in light of the controversial punishment handed down by Commissioner Goodell earlier in the year.

Tom Brady joins a long list of Boston sports’ heroes such as Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Larry Byrd, Carl Yastrzemski, Ted Williams, David Ortiz, and Bobby Orr. Tom lives in Brookline, Mass., not far from owner Robert Craft. Interestingly the Brookline Country Club, which abuts his home, denied his application for membership with the reasoning that his presence would bring too much attention to the club. He can join my club any time he wants!