In the theater, a dramaturg is a person tasked with combing through stacks of plays in search of any that might be worth doing. Bedford Off Broadway’s Blame It On Beckett, running through March 17, explores what happens when an aspirant to that role collides with the cynical incumbent dramaturg of a nonprofit theater company.
Heidi Bishop, played by Abby Lefebvre, is the wide-eyed newly minted MFA disrupting the scattered coffee cup office world of Jim Foley, a role inhabited by Larry Watson. Jim brushes off Abby’s entry as “a meeting with Mary Poppins,” but when smitten company president Mike Braschi (Jeff Robinson) hires her as an intern, Jim’s life begins to change.
The play’s title is reference to the author of Waiting for Godot, and a dig at innocents like Abby who view theater as life’s highest calling while mistaking him as an exemplar.
“You’re too young to like Beckett,” Jim tells her early on, adding that she only thinks she does because a college professor filled her head with silly ideas.
Further, Jim has decided, via years of reading mediocre works, that there are no worthy new playwrights. Anything worth doing will come from a recognized name or someone with connections. “This office is where great theater goes to die,” he believes, and the dramaturg’s only job is to reject submissions as quickly as possible.
This is advice that Abby decidedly doesn’t heed. From there, the play rollicks forward.
The final character in the play’s quartet of actors is Tina Fike, played by Karyn Russell Merriman. Tina is the company’s star, a veteran playwright whose presence leaves Heidi tongue-tied. Tina and Jim’s connection is seemingly the reason he enjoys his job, as the two thrust and parry while completing her latest work — its success will be critical to all concerned.
Written by John Morogiello and directed by Joe Pelonzi and Declan Lynch, Blame It On Beckett is filled with funny lines. Many are Jim’s; Watson stands out as the play’s star. Nonprofit theater only exists, he complains at one point, to make do-gooders feel better about wasting their money, adding he’d like to see a play written by the NRA.
Jim’s back-and-forth with Abby is hilarious. Asked if her degree intimidates him, he replies, “The only thing that threatens me is that sweater.” However, Abby’s blend of guilelessness and ambition will complicate things for Jim and cause some serious moments in Act Two.
As it’s a play about an obscure job in a niche part of the theater world, some of Blame it On Beckett’s best touches are meta and self-referential. For example, one of the rejected scripts mentioned in the play was written by Morogiello. Another funny moment has Jim telling Abby that no one would ever consider turning their office discussion into a play (like the one they are currently acting in).
Another wonderful element is the many subtle references to Godot, like the company’s “big-name bait” Literary Manager who never comes to the office, the many cigarettes Jim futilely tries to light, the director of Tina’s play, and the employee who’s on maternity leave whom Abby hopes to replace. Like the invisible character in Beckett’s play, none arrive (or ignite). Of course, there’s also the mountain of scripts on Jim’s desk with no hope of seeing a spotlight.
It all adds up to a sophisticated romp that’s snarky, sharp and at times touching. However, the show is aimed at mature audiences, something Director Pelonzi stressed in a recent phone interview.
“There are definitely adult themes,” he said. “To be honest, though, we did clean up some of the language, because there are certain things that we can’t say on stage here. But it’s still pretty edgy. It’s definitely a lot edgier than the normal shows we do in Bedford.”
Blame It On Beckett When: Friday, March 15, and Saturday, March 16, 8 p.m., and Sunday, March 17, 2 p.m. Location: Bedford Old Town Hall, 3 Meeting House Road, Bedford Tickets: $15 ($12 seniors/students) at brownpapertickets.com Note: Not appropriate for children
Featured photo: Larry Watson and Abby Lefebvre in Blame It On Beckett. Courtesy photo.
I read a science fiction/martial arts novel once where the main character, in classic Kung Fu tradition, searches out a reclusive martial arts master and begs him to train him. The old man reluctantly agrees, on the condition that the young man doesn’t ask any questions. His main teaching method is to jump out, surprise his student, then beat him mercilessly with a stick.
Eventually the young man learns the most important lesson in martial arts — how to develop the instincts to avoid trouble.
Making pancakes is a little like that.
There are a few things you can do to improve your pancake-making — cooking over a relatively low temperature, for instance, so the surface doesn’t cook too quickly, leaving the inside under-done. Or letting the pancake batter rest for a few minutes before cooking it, to let the ingredients get themselves in the right frame of mind.
But ultimately, it comes down to developing Pancake Instincts. You won’t be able to really know, intellectually, when a pancake is ready to flip. It’s only after you’ve made three or four in a batch that you will get an instinctive feeling for when a pancake is ready to turn over. There’s an old piece of wisdom that the first pancake isn’t very good. There’s something to that; it will definitely not be your prettiest one.
Be kind to yourself and don’t get discouraged. You’ve got this.
As we move into maple season, our thoughts turn to pancakes. Here are a few to widen your pancake vocabulary.
Classic Pancakes. Photo by John Fladd.
Simple Straightforward, Classic Pancakes (With Blueberries If You Want Them)
Basically the King Arthur Baking Company recipe you’ll find at kingarthurbaking.com.
2 eggs, room temperature
1¼ cup (283 g) milk, also room temperature
3 Tablespoons (43 g) melted butter. Have you ever noticed that there is a measuring guide printed on the side of a stick of butter? It’s almost always calibrated in tablespoons; just count down three lines and cut through the stick with a sharp knife. Unwrap your pat of butter and melt it in the microwave.
1½ cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 Tablespoons (25 g) sugar
Frozen wild blueberries, or unfrozen, or regular-sized ones, or chopped strawberries or mango — I’m not here to fruit-judge you; I just happen to like the frozen wild blueberries
Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar together. Set them aside.
In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, or in your blender, beat the eggs, milk and butter together, until they are light and frothy.
Mix the dry and wet ingredients until just combined, then set the batter aside for 10 or 15 minutes, while you heat your skillet or pan over medium-low heat, until it seems hot enough. You can test it with a drop of batter, or a few drops of water. If the water dances around, or the micro-pancake cooks, the pan is ready.
When your pan is properly heated, drop a generous amount of butter, maybe a teaspoonful, into the pan. Many well-intentioned pancake enthusiasts will tell you, “Hey, if you’re using a nonstick pan, you don’t need to add extra butter; there’s already butter in the recipe.” At best, these people are over-thinking things. At worst, they are unhappy and want to deprive you of this small bit of pleasure, so you can keep them company in their discontent. There is nothing that you can fry that isn’t better fried in butter. This is a stand I will defend passionately. Do this for each pancake.
Spoon two to three tablespoons of batter into the butteriest part of the pan. If you are making blueberry pancakes, sprinkle the berries over the raw batter. They will thaw and warm up when you cook the other side of the pancake.
When the first side has cooked enough — it’s OK to lift a corner and peek; it isn’t cheating — flip it over and finish the other side, and fry it until it is the shade of golden brown that you like.
As you finish two or three pancakes and have them stacked on a plate, call the least patient person in your house to come get them. These are delicious warm and stacked, but even better still hot and crispy around the edges. True, your family will not all be able to sit together at a table with a checked cloth and take joy in each other’s company, but pancakes wait for nobody.
These are your classic, platonic ideal pancakes. They are rich and buttery — because you cared enough to add the extra butter — and ready for you to add even more butter and syrup.
(Yes, more butter. If you wanted to eat healthy, you’d be having half a tomato and some Swedish crispbread. You knew what you were getting into when you decided to make pancakes.)
A glass of cold milk is perfect to cut through the doughy sweetness.
Moroccan Pancakes. Photo by John Fladd.
Moroccan Pancakes (Baghrir)
These are hand-held crumpet-adjacent pancakes from Morocco. If you make them once, you’ll make them many times.
1½ cups (252 g) semolina flour
¼ cup (32 g) all-purpose flour
2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (474 g) water
2 teaspoons yeast
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Add all the ingredients to a blender, and blend for a minute or so to get everything thoroughly mixed and to beat some air into the batter.
Leave the batter alone for 30 to 45 minutes, to give the yeast time to lighten it up.
Heat your pan over medium-low heat. When your batter has rested, pour enough batter into the pan to make a 4- to 5-inch pancake.
Wait.
This part takes patience. These particular pancakes are only cooked on one side. As your pancake cooks, bubbles will form on the surface and remain open. When the surface of the pancake has cooked all the way through — you’ll be able to tell by the color; if it’s still a little doughy inside, the surface will be a little bit yellow (from the semolina), and it will lighten in color when it has finished — and is covered with bubbles, remove it from the pan and finish its brothers.
These are excellent hot from the pan with butter, honey or jam — the holes are perfect for holding onto them — but they are good cooled down, too. They are a little yeasty and very slightly sweet. They are crispy on the bottom, and chewy, with a little extra texture from the semolina. These are very good for sharing with a friend over tea.
Orange Pancakes. Photo by John Fladd.
Simple Orange Pancakes
This is one of the easiest pancake recipes you will ever make. Don’t let its simplicity fool you; they are delicious and worthy of you.
Use your favorite pancake mix, but replace the milk or water called for with orange juice. Add the zest of an orange, and ½ to 1 teaspoon of orange extract.
As promised, these are deliciously orangey, but they’re not overly sweet. If you are generous with the butter or other fat when you fry them, you should get some crispy edges, which are one of the few, uncomplicated joys in this often exhausting world.
Dutch Baby. Photo by John Fladd.
Dutch Baby
This is a jumbo, pan-sized pancake that is useful for impressing people who underestimate you.
½ cup (60 g) all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt
3 eggs, room temperature
¾ cup (170 g) milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 Tablespoons butter
Preheat your oven to 425ºF, with a medium-sized cast iron skillet on the center rack. You’re going to want the pan to be rocket-hot when you pour the batter in (see below).
In a small mixing bowl, mix together your dry ingredients — the flour, sugar and salt.
In a blender, purée the eggs until they are light and a little foamy.
Add the milk, flour mixture and vanilla, then blend again, until everything is well mixed.
Remove the skillet from the oven.
Here’s the thing: You’re probably not used to using a frying pan in the oven; no one is. Because you’ve learned, probably the hard way, to use a kitchen towel or an oven mitt to take something out of the oven, you’ll remember to do that. It’s after you’ve set it down on your stovetop and your brain has moved on to the next step that you’ll get annoyed that the skillet’s handle is in your way, and absentmindedly grab it to rotate the pan. The pan that is 425ºF hot. If you have any small children in your house, it is at this point that they will learn some fascinating new words.
Set the pan down, and melt the butter in it. It will sizzle and foam in a really satisfying way. Pour the batter into the hot pan.
Return the skillet to the center rack of your oven and bake for about 20 minutes (though you should start checking on it at about 15).
Take your giant pancake out of the oven when it is golden brown and a little puffy. Set it down on your stovetop, or your granite countertop — if you want to show off and you’re 100 percent positive it’s real granite — and garnish it with yogurt and fresh berries
This is an outstanding brunch dish. Instead of making 15 or 20 normal-sized pancakes to feed a few friends, you just have to make one. A Dutch Baby is the rare intersection of fanciness and comfort food. It tastes very much like a thick crepe, a little sweet and eggy, with a satisfying chewiness, without being tough.
Crepe Cake. Photo by John Fladd.
Crepe Cake
This is a Dutch Baby’s fancy sister. It is simply a pile of crepes layered with a cream cheese frosting. It’s one of those dishes that seems complicated, but if you follow the recipe carefully it will turn out well and you’ll be deservedly really pleased with yourself.
Crepes:
½ cup (114 g) water
1 cup (227 g) milk
4 eggs
4 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
12 ounces (340 g) sweetened condensed milk (almost all of a 14-ounce can, without scraping down the sides)
8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese at room temperature
Add the crepe ingredients to your blender. This is weird, but you should do it in the order listed above: first the water and milk, then the eggs and melted butter, and then the dry ingredients. This keeps the flour from gelatinizing on the bottom of the blender jar. If you float the dry stuff on top, they will get pulled into the mixture smoothly and make you feel like a professional.
Turn off the blender and let the batter rest while you make the frosting.
With an electric mixer — either a hand mixer or a stand one — beat the butter and condensed milk together for a shockingly long time, seven to nine minutes, at the highest speed. After this time, the mixture will be very, very light and fluffy.
Cut off tablespoon-sized chunks of cream cheese and beat it into the butter mixture at a slightly lower speed, until it is thoroughly incorporated. Set it aside. It’s tempting to chill it in the refrigerator at this point, but you want it to be smooth, fluffy and spreadable when you put the cake together.
Heat a nonstick pan over medium-low heat. When it’s hot enough, grease the pan with butter. This is the only time you will do this. Yes, this is a violation of the Always Add More Butter rule, but crepes can be finicky; they seem to prefer not to be fried in extra butter. Who can understand the mind of a crepe?
Pour ¼ to ⅓ of a cup of batter into your pan. When it seems done — again, it’s OK to lift a corner and peek — flip it over and cook the other side. The easiest way to do this is to lift a corner with a spatula, then flip it with your fingers.
When it has cooked on both sides, transfer it to a sheet of parchment paper or a silicone mat to cool. Do not stack warm crepes together; it will be very difficult to separate them later. Once they have cooled, it’s fine to stack them, so you don’t run out of counter space. You should end up with 10 to 15 crepes.
When all the crepes have cooled, take a moment to feel good about yourself. Crepes can be really intimidating, but you have overcome them.
Choose a serving dish that you want to present this cake on, then place your Alpha Crepe on it. Frost the top of the crepe with your cream cheese frosting, starting from the middle and working your way out to the edges.
Stack your Beta Crepe on top of the first, and repeat the process. Keep doing this until you run out of crepes. Somewhere along the line you will find a particularly good-looking crepe. Save it for the top of the pile.You will probably have extra frosting left over at the end. Save it for French toast or something.
Chill your crepe cake for several hours in your refrigerator to firm up the frosting layers.
When you are ready to serve your crepe cake, run a sharp chef’s knife under hot water. This will help you make neat, non-squooshed cuts. It might help to stab the middle of the cake, then work your way down from there. Run the knife under hot water for each cut you make. If you want to be extra fancy — maybe you’re on a date or trying to show up your sister-in-law — garnish the plate with a few berries or mint leaves.
The two elements of this cake really make themselves known. The frosting is soft, sweet, and a little tart from the cream cheese. The crepes are eggy and really delicious, with a firm resistance when you bite through them.
In your heart, you always knew you were fancy.
Buckwheat Pancakes. Photo by John Fladd.
Old-School Traditional Buckwheat Pancakes
¼ cup (57 g) warm water
1½ teaspoons yeast
½ teaspoon sugar
1 cup (227 g) cold water
½ cup (60 g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (120 g) buckwheat flour
¾ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons molasses
2 Tablespoons melted butter or margarine
½ teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in ¼ cup (57 g) of water
Mix the quarter cup of water with the yeast and sugar. Set it aside for 10 minutes or so. This is called “activating” the yeast. The little granules of yeast that have been sleeping in your refrigerator, or in their little envelopes, have been taking a nap. This will wake them up and get them excited about fulfilling their destiny.
When the yeast mixture looks foamy and excited, mix it in a container with a cover with a cup of cold water, the flours and the salt. Mix them thoroughly, then cover the container and store it in the refrigerator overnight or, if you’re having Breakfast For Dinner, several hours before you plan to eat.
In the morning, remove the container from your refrigerator and mix in the rest of the ingredients.
Let the batter sit on your counter for half an hour or so, to come up to room temperature. The cold from your refrigerator has allowed the flours to build up a little bit of gluten — buckwheat flour doesn’t have much to begin with, so the all-purpose flour had to tutor it overnight — but it has also made your yeast sleepy again. Bringing the temperature back up will give the yeast a last chance to pump out some carbon dioxide and live life to the fullest one more time before facing the frying pan.
Heat a skillet or frying pan over medium-low heat.
Drop a generous blob of butter or margarine into the pan, and when it is thoroughly melted, scoop 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter into the pan. It will be light and unexpectedly stretchy. You might hear it sizzle a little bit, or you might be too busy kitchen-dancing to “Livin’ La Vida Loca.” Or that might just be me.
When a few bubbles have formed along the edge of the pancake and remained open, flip it and see if it is dark enough on Side A. If it isn’t, you might have to re-flip it for a few seconds, once the B Side is done. (This is one of those examples of building a pancake instinct we’ve talked about.) Stack them on a warm plate, covered with a kitchen towel until you’ve finished making the batch.
Eat these while they are still hot, with too much butter, and Bourbon Maple Syrup (see below).
These pancakes have a deep, rich, slightly sweet flavor. They give you a wholesome, hunkering down in a log cabin during a blizzard — or, in our case, Mud Season — feeling. The crispy edges play off the chewy interior in a way that can leave you quietly happy.
Are there other recipes for Buckwheat Pancakes that don’t take 10 hours of planning ahead? Absolutely. Will they taste as good? Maybeee? Will they fill you with pride and a feeling of accomplishment? It’s doubtful.
Bourbon Maple Syrup
Warm half a cup of dark maple syrup, then stir in a tablespoon of good bourbon. The sweetness of the bourbon is a good match for the maple and gives it a slightly boozy backbone.
Jenny Powers, Director of Science at the Springfield Museums in Holyoke, Mass., will present “Women of the Night Sky” at the Aviation Museum in Londonderry 27 Navigator Road in Londonderry, 669-4877, aviationmuseumofnh.org) today at 7 p.m. This is a sneak preview of some of the stories in a show Powers is developing for the Seymour Planetarium in Springfield, Mass., which she hopes will spark curiosity in girls and women about what lies beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Admission costs $10 per person.
Thursday, March 14
The Greater Souhegan Annual Trivia Night starts tonight at 6 p.m. (doors open at 5 p.m.) at the Souhegan Boys & Girls Club (56 Mont Vernon St. in Milford, 672-1002, ext. 110, svbgc.org) The cost is $45 per person and includes a buffet dinner. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Souhegan Valley and SHARE.
Friday, March 15
Catch Harry Borsh at the Tiny Loft Concert at Rambling House Food & Gathering (57 Factory St., Suite A, in Nashua, 318-3200, ramblingtale.com) tonight from 7 to 9 p.m. Borsh will perform an original blend of R&B, soul, funk and pop, according to the restaurant’s website where you can purchase tickets for $5.
Friday, March 15
The Peacock Players (14 Court St. in Nashua; peacockplayers.org) present Into the Woods Jr. starting tonight at 7 p.m. with shows running Friday through Sunday through March 24. Tickets cost $15 to $18 for adults and $12 to $15 for students.
Saturday, March 16
The Millyard Museum (200 Bedford St. in Manchester) will present a talk today at 11 a.m. on the Old Man of the Mountain, an enduring symbol of the Granite State, now 20 years since the landmark fell, according to their website. Free to attend.
Saturday, March 16
High energy punk/rock/reggae/hip-hop/pop band Crooked Coast will play at Angel City Music Hall (179 Elm St. in Manchester, 931-3654, angelcitymusichall.com) tonight at 10 p.m.. Tickets cost $15 and are available only at Angel City’s website. The show is 21+. Find more ticketed shows in our Concert listings on page 38.
Sunday, March 17
Strange Brew Tavern (88 Market St., Manchester; 666-4292, strangebrewtavern.net) is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with a line-up of music that starts at 9 a.m. with Andy Happel and a line-up of eats that includes corned beef, Reubens, Guinness Meatballs, Guinness Stew and more. Find more St. Patrick’s Day fun in the story on page 33.
Sunday, March 17
The Free Range Revue, an LGBTQIA+-positive interactive stage show, will hit the BNH Stage (16 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com) tonight at 8 p.m. (doors open at 7 p.m.). The theme this week will be “It’s Reigning Marvels.” Tickets cost $13.75 in advance, $18.75 at the door.
Save the Date! Monday, April 8 The SEE Science Center in Manchester (200 Bedford St. in Manchester, 669-0400, see-sciencecenter.org) will host a local community viewing for the Monday, April 8, partial solar eclipse at Arms Park (10 Arms St. in Manchester) from 2 to 4:30 p.m., weather permitting. SEE will have safe ways to view the eclipse, activities to explain eclipse science and music with WZID.
Featured Photo: Jenny Powers presents “Woman of the Night Sky”. Courtesy Photo.
Data from the New Hampshire Department of Safety and Division of Motor Vehicles showed more than 100 drivers were ticketed in the last year for driving 100 miles per hour or more in the state, according to a WMUR online news story on March 8. According to WMUR, State police ticketed 56 drivers in a three-hour span during the traffic operation on Friday, March 1; seven of those drivers were clocked going more than 100 miles per hour. One Massachusetts man was pulled over on Interstate 93 after allegedly being clocked at 128 miles per hour.
QOL score: -1
Comments:WMUR reports that according to state data 116 drivers were ticketed over the past year for driving between 100 and 109 miles per hour, and 10 for driving between 110 and 120 miles per hour.
It’s electric
The Concord Monitor reports that Manchester-Boston Regional Airport has installed a charging station for electric vehicles — both cars and airplanes. In a March 11 story, the Monitor reported that the new 320 kW DC Fast Charging station with two connections is located on the ramp at Signature Aviation, a fixed base operator that services private airplanes, so the general public will not have access to it. The airport already has electric chargers in its short-term parking lot, however, so electric car drivers will be able to top off their batteries.
QOL score: +1
Comments:Electric airplanes are expected by 2026, the story said.
Math is delicious
QOL was on the hunt to find local eateries celebrating Pi Day (March 14, celebrating the first three digits of the number pi, 3.14), which led QOL to Presto Craft Kitchen (168 Amory St. in Manchester, 606-1252, prestopastanh.com) which is offering a Pi Day Pie Flight of five mini cream pies from Mount Washington Pie Co. Presto challenges pie (and pi) enthusiasts to see how many digits of the number pi they can write out before finishing the Pi Flight. The Pi Flight is available to order online from Presto’s Facebook page at facebook.com/prestocraftkitchennh.
QOL score: +1
Comments:Now what date and tasty food items can we pair with the Pythagorean theorem?
Young poets
The top 10 participants in the 2024 New Hampshire Poetry Out Loud competition will be at Representatives Hall in the Statehouse in Concord on Friday, March 15, where competing high school students will square off to represent New Hampshire at the national Poetry Out Loud championship in Washington, D.C., later this spring. The competition will begin at 5 p.m. and is open to the public. For more information, see see nh.gov/nharts, or call 271-2789.
QOL score: +1
Comments: It will be livestreamed on the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts’ Facebook page.
QOL score: 61
Net change: +2
QOL this week: 63
What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].
The Big Story – NFL Free Agency: While many deals had been agreed upon during the “legal tampering” period that began Monday, today is the first day agreements can be signed.
The Patriots have done a decent job in re-signing needed vets like TE HunterHenry, though $11 million per for a third receiver like KendrickBourne sounds a little pricey to me. They also likely have retained KyleDugger by putting the transition tag on him.
And then late Monday they signed their most important free agent, Michael Onwenu, for three years. Keep Anfernee Jennings, and it’s a very successful first week. And now with MacJones traded and some logical bridge solutions going off the board (like RussellWilson to Pittsburgh), signs are pointing to using the third overall pick.
After re-signing those players, they go into the week with roughly $55 million. How well they can fill glaring needs at offensive tackle and high end receiver will give a better focus on what they can do in the draft.
Sports 101: In the Belichick era the Pats used the franchise tag 10 times on nine players. How many can you name?
News Item – Mac Jones Traded: That’s all she wrote for Mac Jones in New England as he will be traded to Jacksonville for a sixth-round pick by the time you read this. His tenure started with his making the playoffs and Pro Bowl as a rookie and ended after he was benched four times in 2023 when he threw just 10 TD passes and 12 picks while going 2-9 as a starter. The only question left is how much of his downward spiral is on him and how much on the chaos CoachB created by making unqualified MattPatricia OC after JoshMcDaniels left for Vegas.
News Item – Top 5 Red Sox Spring Training Stories:
After winning twice over Tampa Bay in the Dominican, the Sox were off to a nice start after their first 17 spring games at 10-6-1.
Promising second-year hurler BrayanBello was signed to a $55 million, six-year contract extension.
The only pitcher of note added to their weak pitching staff, LucasGiolito, could already be lost for the season with an injury to his pitching elbow.
No one had more than two homers in those first 17 games.
Believe it or not MookieBetts will be the Dodgers’ starting shortstop on opening day.
The Numbers:
16 –if you had the under on how many games BenSimmons would play for Brooklyn you win, as his season is over early (again) after just 15 due to back woes.
100,000 –dollars Minnesota’s RudyGobert was fined by the NBA for gesturing that the officials were on the take.
… Of the Week Award
Stats of Week: From Boston Globe Celtics beat writer AdamHimmelsbach, who reported that despite having the league’s best record the C’s are just 11-9 in games within 3 points in the final two minutes. Also they’re 1-6 vs. teams with a .600 or better winning percentage since Jan. 1.
Random Thoughts
How much do you want to get rid of a player if you’re willing to swallow $85 million in dead money? Answer: for the Denver Broncos it was about a 14 on a scale of 1 to 10. As that’s their cost to release Wilson just two years after paying a king’s ransom to get him from Seattle.
If tampering is bad, how can you have a “legal” tampering period?
A Little History: Stumbled-On Fact of the Week: From BobCostas in a YouTube replay interview with TedWilliams: the sacrifice fly rule had not been adopted in 1941 when Williams hit .406. He had six that year, which means he’d have hit .412 if it had been a rule then.
Sports 101 Answer: The franchised players in the Belichick era were AdamVinatieri (twice, 2001 and 2005), TebuckyJones (2003), AsanteSamuel (2007), Matt Cassel (2009), VinceWilfork (2010), LoganMankins (2011), WesWelker (2012), StevenGostkowski (2015) and JoeThuney (2020).
Final Thought – Politics Not As Usual: Not too long ago Fox News know-it-all LauraIngraham told LeBronJames to “shut up and dribble.”So it will be interesting to see what she has to say about Dodgers all-timer SteveGarvey’s right to be in politics now that he just won a spot to run for the Senate from California on the GOP side. Guessing since Garvey is a conservative he’ll likely be having his tires pumped on her show at some point.
But Garvey wasn’t the only sports-in-politics story last week. Texas congressman and one-time Dallas Cowboys linebacker ColinAllred won the Democratic primary and now will challenge TedCruz for his Senate seat in Texas. Wonder if for him it’ll be just “shut up and tackle.”
Jane Young, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire, recently announced the appointment of Matthew Vicinanzo as Assistant U.S. Attorney. Vicinanzo will specifically handle civil and criminal civil rights cases, according to a press release.
What led you into the legal profession and what does the U.S. Attorney’s office do?
U.S. Attorney Young: The U.S. Attorney’s Office is the highest federal law enforcement officer in the district. So New Hampshire only has one district. There are 94 U.S Attorneys across the country. In this office we enforce criminal laws. We represent the state in civil matters, and we do civil enforcement as well.
AUSA Vicinanzo: For me, I have family members who are lawyers. So I learned from them, saw them as examples, role models. Based on observing and learning from my family members who are attorneys, there are two main reasons why I chose to be a lawyer. One was it was a challenging career. One where you are always taking new cases and the law is always changing so you always have to keep learning and have to keep thinking creatively. And then the second reason was it presented an opportunity to help others. I figured when I was going to law school no matter what happened in my career I would be able to use my skills and training to try to obtain something meaningful for somebody. Particularly somebody who was vulnerable.
Young: So, it is a noble profession. When I was done with college. I knew I wanted to advance my career, and law school seemed like the logical choice. I like to read, I like to write. I will tell you that I didn’t know what kind of lawyer I wanted to be. After my first year of law school, I was lucky enough to be hired as an intern at a county attorney’s office. It was something that I really enjoyed, where you can make a difference. It’s problem-solving; so to see investigations, to ask questions, to be able to put the facts together to determine if you had a case and then to be able to get up in a courtroom and present the facts and really make a difference for the community.
Can you expand on how this newly created position will further support the civil and constitutional rights of Granite Staters?
Young: So when I first assumed this role in May of ’22 it became clear to me that we were in need of somebody who could address civil rights issues. In this office there were people who did civil rights matters but they did them in addition to other jobs that they had, and when an opportunity came to make a presentation for the job I thought, we have nothing to lose. We are a small state. We don’t, on the federal level, have a dedicated civil rights unit. I had come from the Attorney General’s office where there was a creation of a civil rights unit and I saw the difference that it made. First, just in outreach to be able to go into communities to talk about the issues in communities to listen to individuals and to tell them there are avenues that they could pursue. That they had rights and that they should stand up for those rights. We applied for the position. … Within a year of requesting the position we were allotted the position, we advertised for the position and now we have an attorney, although he’s new in the door I will say he is up to his eyeballs somewhat in alligators because there are a number of issues and when there is somebody who can address those issues, people come.
Vicinanzo: Just to add to what the role brings, in addition to enforcement and outreach from our office my position can be a vehicle for collaboration with other state and local entities. With the state civil rights unit with local governments and with non-government organizations that represent individuals who can bring their needs to us.
What is an example of a type of civil or criminal matter that would be handled by the civil rights Assistant U.S. Attorney?
Young: I am going to answer that somewhat broadly. Again, new in this position, we would go out and meet with individuals, religious groups, and we would ask them what are their concerns, and they would tell us, so we would come back and do some trainings or some outreach. Then we would hear about things that are going on, right, the war in Israel, and we would reach out to out community members and they would say ‘No, we think we’re OK, but thank you for reaching out,’ and within a couple of weeks they would call and they would say, ‘We really need you to come and talk to us. What are ways that we can address the issues, deal with our safety concerns?’ I will tell you that when we sit in rooms with individuals across religious communities, the fear and concern is palpable. So we met with the Chief of Manchester who is currently the head of the chiefs association and we said law enforcement needs to know the houses of worship in their communities. They need to know their concerns so, God forbid the day that something really bad happens you’re not in their trying to introduce yourselves. We sent a letter out to the law enforcement community with the state police, the FBI, the Attorney General’s office standing together saying that we will have zero tolerance for civil and criminal violations of the Civil Rights Act. I also, then, was asked to go to a police department, maybe two weeks ago. I went on a Monday morning and in that police department were the local leaders of houses of worship. Whether they be a priest, a rabbi, or security officer, just to have them come together and know that they all have the same safety concerns and that there are avenues for them to pursue as far as training, what they can do, having a police officer drive by. That’s remarkable that could happen and the only reason that that happens is because people have dialogue, people have relationships, and people have trust.
Vicinanzo: That’s a great example of something that is going on now that we feel in our community. In general, from this position we will enforce the federal civil rights statutes as they apply to the citizens of New Hampshire. It could be enforcement of the ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act, protecting their rights and accommodation. It could be protecting service members and veterans to make sure their housing and employment rights aren’t violated. Ensuring that students have equal access to education. That all of our citizens have equal protection under the law. On the criminal side, as Jane mentioned, we look at crimes that target individuals on the basis of protected status like religion, race or gender or disability or perhaps their political beliefs. We look into that from this office as well.
Young: I think people should see us as a resource. Whether it’s community members, whether it is law enforcement. We are here. We are a 24-hour-a-day operation. We answer our phones, we look at cases to determine if there is a federal violation. If not, perhaps a state partner can help. We did a public service announcement last month highlighting human trafficking. Now that we have an attorney dedicated to this we are going to start to look at human trafficking that is occurring in this state as well as other forms of violations to people’s fundamental rights.
Attorney Young, what qualities led to Vicinanzo’s being chosen for this position?
Young: His intellect, his demeanor, his commitment to New Hampshire, and his willingness to do this job to make this a better state. To protect people’s rights. To protect the downtrodden, people who have not had a voice before. They certainly will have a champion. That shone through as we met Matt through the different layers of this hiring process. He was the ideal candidate. To have somebody like Matt, who was in private practice, to be able to make the sacrifice to come here I just think speaks volumes of his character and his ability to do this job skillfully.
—Zachary Lewis
Featured image: U.S. Attorney Jane Young. Courtesy photo.
