Page 390

2022’s biggest sports stories

We’ll end the blah sports year of 2022 with a look at its biggest stories.

World’s Cup Runneth Over: Aside from seeing the world’s grandest sports event decided by penalty kicks, which is akin to the NBA Finals being decided by a foul shooting contest, the World Cup lived up to the hype. It ended with an overtime game with uber star Lionel Messi winning what some thought might be his final game. It had underdogs advancing, and the Americans made it out of group play. Best of all, TV ratings were great, which may signal soccer’s day as a spectator sport for the U.S. masses may have arrived.

Here Comes The Judge: Seeing clean cut, non-juiced good guy Aaron Judge chase Roger Maris’s and the Babe’s cherished single-season home run record in the AL was the feel-good story of the year. It was a “he’s got it the whole way” laugh in, until the palms got sweaty the last 10 days. But No. 62 finally came and the record, most importantly to New Yorkers, stayed in the Bronx.

Astros Blast Off in World Series: After being scorned by the baseball world since it was discovered they used an elaborate sign-stealing system all throughout their championship season of 2017, the Houston Astros finally got the monkey off their back. It happened by beating the Phillies in this year’s Fall Classic four games to two. It won’t erase the taint of 2017, but it does validate that after going to four Series since 2017, they have been one of the best organizations in recent memory.

Kyrie Irving’s World Implodes: The world’s most self-indulgent, delusional athlete wrote another chapter for the “why I (sports) hate this guy” book by derailing his team, not once but twice.

The first time was railing about the man in refusing to get vaccinated during the pandemic, which ran afoul of New York City’s mandate for having to be vaxxed to be part of mass gatherings. It led to his missing 53 games, which sent NBA favorite Brooklyn into a lurch that eventually led to their being swept out of the playoffs in Round I by Boston.

The other was getting suspended eight games after refusing to back down to the league-wide storm that followed his posting support for an anti-semitic documentary.

It all cost him close to $70 million in lost NBA salary and his canceled Nike deal.

And for those who still think he’s worth the trouble, the Nets were 11-18 in the 29 games played last year and the count this year was 2-6 before he was suspended and 5-3 in the games he missed.

College Football Playoffs Expands to 12-School Format: It won’t happen until 2024 at the earliest and maybe not until 2026. But the decision by the NCAA to begin a 12-school national tournament for Division I Football was met with near unanimous approval when announced in September. Its time had come for the following reasons: (1) D-1 football is the only sport in the NCAA without a season-ending playoff. (2) With New Year’s Day Bowl games no longer the unofficial ending of college football, it needed a better ending. (3) With schools like USC and UCLA headed to the Big 10, the once recognizable conference picture is a total jumble and this gives a better focus going forward. (4) Given the success of the Men’s Basketball Tournament, is there any doubt this will be a wild success too?

Golden State Proves Me Wrong Twice: First, I said in my NBA pre-season preview that after two injury-ravaged years I didn’t see the Warriors ever returning to their championship level form. SPOILER ALERT — They did. Then when they met the Celtics in the Finals I picked the Green and — SPOILER ALERT — they didn’t, after I underestimated how good their team defense was, their coach Steve Kerr was and historically how great Steph Curry is, which became more apparent as he dominated all but one game in the series. As for the history, winning for a fourth time in eight years cements them as one of the best multi-year run winners, while Curry pushed his way into my Top 10 greatest players ever.

Hot Seat Is Warming for Coach B: Due to repeated personnel miscalculations since 2013, his usual stubbornness, the team’s most mortifying loss since getting run over by the Bears in SB 20 and a major misguided choice for offensive coordinator, things are not going well for Bill Belichick three years into the post-Tom Brady era.

It has folks wondering the once unthinkable: If Coach B does catch Don Shula’s all-time record for wins, will he do it coaching in Foxborough?

I sense a clash coming between the owner and Coach B. One where Bob Kraft demands (as I would) he get some fresh perspective to help get things back on track by going outside the organization to hire a personnel guy with a track record of drafting success and another to lead the offense and develop their highly drafted young QB in a way Matt Patricia can’t.

Will he get stubborn and say no? Then what? Another year to fix it his way, or will a refusal push Kraft into making a “do what I say or else” decision most never expected would ever happen?

Brittney Griner Comes Home: This isn’t a sports story but an international news story involving a well-known American athlete that was in the news most of the year. Given the danger posed by the arms dealer she was swapped for in the prisoner exchange, the question is did it happen because of her celebrity? Or, more likely, because she was an innocent pawn taken hostage by a hostile country in retribution for the action taken by her country in support of Ukraine after it was invaded by a power-hungry dictator?

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

Future plans

Project to bring connections, improved walkability to Manch

RAISE Manchester is a $30 million transportation infrastructure project in Manchester funded in part by a $25 million federal RAISE grant. Kristen Clarke, project manager and Manchester Department of Public Works traffic engineer, discussed the project following a public informational meeting held for residents and business owners. Visit raisemanchester.org.

How long has RAISE Manchester been in the works?

The first time we applied for the grant was in 2019. There were some planning efforts that happened leading up to that as well. We applied for the grant in 2019 and 2020 and were not successful and then won the grant in 2021.

What are RAISE grants awarded for?

The grant is [awarded] through the U.S. DOT. RAISE stands for Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity. There are several key items that they’re looking for, which are how we’re improving mobility and congestion and how we’re creating new development opportunities using infrastructure.

What are the elements of the project?

There are four different elements of the grant that are all semi-interconnected. First, there’s the Granite Street and Commercial Street intersection, where we’re going to be building a pedestrian bridge over Granite Street. Then, where South Commercial Street currently dead-ends by the Fisher Cats ballpark, we’re going to be building a bridge over the active rail line that will connect over to Elm Street at Gas Street. Then we’re going to be building a rail trail on the abandoned rail trail corridor from Queen City Avenue up to that Elm and Gas Street intersection. The last piece is the reconfiguration of the South Willow Street and Queen City Avenue intersection from a signalized intersection into a peanut-shaped roundabout.

What are some of the problems that RAISE Manchester aims to address?

The biggest things are we’re looking at how to reconnect the south Millyard area back over to Elm Street across the rail line in hopes that it’ll help spur some redevelopment and extend downtown south of Granite Street. We’re also looking at [improving] safety and traffic congestion by providing alternative ways in and out of downtown.

How are you able to predict what changes will make the biggest impact?

Part of it is looking at where the bottlenecks are happening today. We know that, getting into the city on the Granite Street quarter, there’s a lot of congestion, especially if there’s a ballgame or an event at the SNHU Arena or if a train is coming through there. So that’s where we started looking at where we could create more options.

How much of this plan is confirmed and how much is still developing?

The four elements as presented in the grant application are required to be complete; they have to be done in some fashion based on the stipulations of the grant. The width of the road or the exact alignment of it can change, and that part is still not set in stone. We are in the preliminary design phase right now, which we’re hoping to wrap up over the next couple of months. Then, the final design phase will go on for about another year.

What does that design process look like?

There are three bridges that are part of this project, so a big piece of the design is actually doing all the structural analysis to design the bridges. That’s what takes the longest of all of it.

What is the timeline?

All in all, we have to be ready for all the design to be done by September 2024, and all construction must be completed by September 2029. We’re not sure about the [order of the] stages and which would happen first. A contractor might choose to do multiple of them at the same time. We can’t know yet.

What was the response at the public meeting?

Overall, the response was positive, and people were excited. They wondered how we’ve gone this long without a lot of these projects in place. We did get some great comments from the bike and pedestrian communities on different things that we should explore to see if there were better ways to accommodate bikes and pedestrians. … We’re really excited about it. If people have ideas, we’re happy for them to share their comments through our website, raisemanchester.org, or get in touch with us. We want to make sure that if there’s something someone wants to see, and there’s a way that we can accommodate it, we look into it.

Featured photo: The biggest part of RAISE Manchester will be a new South Commercial Street Extension. Courtesy photo.

News & Notes 22/12/29

Fighting fentanyl

The Fighting Emerging Narcotics through Additional Nations to Yield Lasting (FENTANYL) Results Act, a bipartisan legislation supported by U.S. Senators and senior members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rob Portman (R-OH) and U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), has been signed into law, according to a press release. Part of the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), annual legislation that authorizes defense programming, the FENTANYL Results Act will increase global cooperation in the fight against synthetic drug trafficking. Two programs through the State Department have been authorized to build foreign law enforcement capacity to detect synthetic drugs and operate an international exchange program for drug demand reduction experts. “Fentanyl is driving the substance use disorder crisis and making this public health emergency more lethal than ever,” Sen. Shaheen said in the release. “It is a killer and we need to get it out of our communities. That effort needs to start with preventing it from crossing our borders. We know that fentanyl is primarily being trafficked from China and Mexico, so it is paramount that we address this issue globally, which is precisely what the FENTANYL Results Act will do.”

Grant funds

Gov. Chris Sununu and the Executive Council have approved an allocation of federal American Rescue Plan Act resources for the Community Center Investment Program, which will be overseen by the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority. According to a press release, the program will provide $20 million in grant resources to eligible entities to support infrastructure improvements to community spaces across the state.

Housing

Funding for the construction and preservation of six multifamily housing developments through the allocation of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and other federal and state funding has been approved by the New Hampshire Housing Board of Directors. According to a press release, the projects will include Pembroke Road Apartments in Concord; CATCH Neighborhood Housing at Sheep Davis Road in Concord; Hillsborough Heights in Hillsborough; the first phase of The Apartments at 249 Main St. in Nashua; Coliseum Seniors Residence III in Nashua; and the third phase of Apple Ridge Apartments in Rochester. Once constructed, the buildings will provide 341 units to help meet the need for affordable rental housing for the state’s workforce and other residents.

Overdose prevention

The City of Manchester has been selected by the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Injury Control and Prevention as one of 20 communities across the country to receive $300,000 in funding to bolster overdose prevention efforts on the local level. According to a press release, Manchester recovery support worker and advocate Andrew Warner has been hired as Director of Overdose Prevention, a newly created position within the City’s Department of Health. Warner, who has experience in the field as a provider and program administrator in treating substance use disorders, will lead the City’s response in preventing drug-involved overdoses and fatalities. “My chief focus is to work with the array of resource providers in Manchester to create and implement a strategic plan to prevent drug-involved overdoses,” Warner said in the release. “It’s important to compile, monitor and use the real-time data in the city to help positively impact existing services and funding, improve planning and resource allocation, and ultimately track progress on key metrics.

St. Mary’s retirement

Ronald H. Covey Jr. will retire after 14 years as President and Chief Executive Officer of St. Mary’s Bank, the nation’s first credit union, according to a press release. Covey served as the eighth CEO in the credit union’s 114-year history. During his tenure, he expanded St. Mary’s Bank’s presence with the construction of its Perimeter Road operations center, West Side headquarters, and new branches including Northwest Boulevard Nashua, Milford and Portsmouth. Under Covey’s leadership, membership increased from 60,000 to 98,000 and grew from $652 million in assets to approaching $1.5 billion in assets. His accolades include induction into the national Credit Union House Hall of Leaders earlier this year; Manchester Chamber Citizen of the Year for 2021; and being named one of the state’s 200 most influential leaders by New Hampshire Business Review in 2019 and 2021.

The City of Concord has approved the construction of a new five-story commercial building on Main Street, the Concord Monitor reported. The building will include a Friendly Toast restaurant — the third in the state — on the first floor; 15,000 square feet of office spaces on the second, third and fourth floors; and an event space operated by the Grappone Conference Center on the top floor. Construction is slated to begin in the coming months, according to the article.

New Hampshire Humanities presents a program, “Tangled Lives: Native People and English Settlers in Colonial New England,” at the Manchester City Library (405 Pine St.) on Wednesday, Jan. 4, at 6:30 p.m. According to a press release, storyteller and historian Jo Radner will discuss Native American oral traditions and share stories told by her own New England ancestors, exploring the complex relationships between English settlers and Native peoples during the 17th and 18th centuries. The program is free and open to the public. Visit nhhumanities.org.

Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains will host an informational session, “Explore Girl Scouts,” on Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 6 p.m. at the Nashua Public Library (2 Court St.). Girls in grades K through 3 and their caregivers are invited to learn about Girl Scouts and participate in sample activities, according to a press release. Walk-ins are welcome. Sign-ups for Girl Scouts are available year-round at girlscoutsgwm.org.

An interesting 2023?

There’s an old saying about living in interesting times and it seems fitting for this era. It seems more fun to read about them in history books than to live them. My guess is that in 2023 times will continue to be interesting. If any of my 2023 predictions come true, please do not call or email me. With that, here are my 2023 predictions.

• Gov. Chris Sununu has been increasing his national profile. For a growing number of Republicans he could look like the future of a party without former president Donald Trump. So what’s next in the national exposure tour? The Masked Singer. Yes, the guv sings the 1980s hit “Welcome to the Jungle.” You know you love it, Xer.

• Republican candidate for New Hampshire’s First Congressional District Karoline Leavitt decides politics just isn’t for her after losing to Democrat and incumbent Chris Pappas this past fall. So what’s next for one of the youngest candidates to run this past cycle? Poker, of course! Karoline signs up for the World Poker Tournament and does surprisingly well. So well that she’s invited to create her own reality TV show with the tagline “A better hand doesn’t always mean you win.”

• The Rochester February revote for Ward 3 that ended in a tie in November ends in a tie again; the legislature votes to seat both candidates on a rotating basis, so each gets 26 weeks a year and shares the $50-a-year salary.

• For a reason no one is able to explain, America’s Stonehenge in Salem starts to attract both domestic and wild cats from all over the region. So many cats come that town officials start calling it cat caves.

• House Majority Leader Jason Osborne opens a new business in downtown Manchester right across from City Hall called Orborne’s Free Hats. It’s a haberdashery specializing in brimmed hats.

• Shockingly, the Democratic National Committee, headed by South Carolina native and President Joe Biden supporter Jamie Harrison, strips New Hampshire of its first-in-the-nation primary in favor of South Carolina. Oh, wait, already that happened. Just to recap: Joe Biden won South Carolina and saved his presidential bid and lost New Hampshire in, like, fifth place. What did you think was going to happen, New Hampshire?

• Former WMUR sportscaster Charlie Sherman returns to public life in the Granite State by opening the nation’s largest sock store in Nashua, called Tubes for Everyone. Welcome back, Charlie! I’ll be by to get some socks.

• Tired of Maine attracting more visitors, New Hampshire’s tourism department announces a new advertising campaign for the state with the tagline, “Come for the cheap booze and smokes, stay for the ocean, lakes, mountains and sports betting.” Hey, whatever it takes.

Sugar & Stripes — 12/22/22

With Christmas just days away, food writer Matt Ingersoll takes a deep dive into one of the holiday’s most iconic sweet treats: the candy cane. Find out what goes into making candy canes by hand and where you can get them locally, from traditional red and white peppermint canes to those in all different colors and flavors.

Also on the cover Ring in 2023 with a special meal or midnight Champagne toast at a local restaurant or bar (page 24). Find live local music this weekend and beyond in our Music This Week section (starting on page 35). Katelyn Sahagian explores the magic behind some of New Hampshire’s largest holiday light shows (page 16).

News & Notes 22/12/22

No TikTok Gov. Chris Sununu signed an executive order on Thursday, Dec. 15, adding New Hampshire to the growing list ...

The big red suit

man dressed as Santa Claus smiling and holding small gold bell

Prepping the beard & putting on bells for the season Santa Mark (Marc Nozell in the off season) gives us ...

The week that was

As the world championships and duck boat parades were piling up during the first decade of the 21st century, Boston ...

Quality of Life 22/12/22

Like toilet paper all over again… QOL was unfortunately in the market for some children’s fever medicine (your acetaminophen, your ...

This Week 22/12/22

4 band members standing in pile of metal wearing shiny suits

Big Events December 22, 2022 and beyond Wednesday, Dec. 28 Recycled Percussion, the legendary drumming group from New England, opens ...

Sugar & Stripes

cubes of swiss fudge with peppermint pieces on plate beside candy cane

Local confectioners discuss candy cane creation Christmas may be days away, but at Nelson’s Candy in Wilton, it’s not uncommon ...

The Art Roundup 22/12/22

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities • Last-minute art shopping: The big craft fairs are finished for ...

Let there be light

lighted entrance to Christmas light walk

A look at light shows across southern New Hampshire By Katelyn Sahagian [email protected] There’s something magical about the twinkling of ...

Treasure Hunt 22/12/122

colorful, painted old fashioned Christmas balls in a pile

Dear Donna, We have accumulated inherited Christmas balls and other decorations from family. It’s time now for a new look, ...

Kiddie Pool 22/12/22

Family fun for the weekend Library activities • The Nashua Public Library (2 Court St.) is hosting a seasonal craft ...

Enjoying the winter landscape

Pruned trees for outside, cut branches for inside Normally at this time of year I can go out to the ...

On The Job – Ernie Dascoli

Window treatment specialist Ernie Dascoli is the owner of Made In The Shade, a custom window treatment business in Windham ...

The Weekly Dish 22/12/22

News from the local food scene • Celebrate with wine: Winemaker Amy LaBelle of LaBelle Winery in Amherst and Derry ...

New Year’s eats

cake with number candles for 2023 on top, in kitchen decorated with twinkly lights

Get ready to welcome 2023 at a local restaurant or bar Ring in 2023 with a special multi-course meal or ...

In the kitchen with Megan Sampson

Megan Sampson of Hudson and her aunt, Vicki Abbott, are The Soup Ladies (thesoupladies.com, find them on Facebook), offering a ...

Apple cranberry compote

I am back to thinking about snacks again this week. Why not? December is basically a month-long eating festival. In ...

The Bee-Bee

yellow cocktail in cocktail glass with handle, orange slice garnish, on table near pine bough

A hot drink for the holidays I’ve got a rule of thumb that makes a deceptive amount of sense. When ...

Album Reviews 22/12/22

Sarah Pagé, “Méduses” [single] (Forward Music) You might remember this Montreal, Canada-based harp-experimentalist from her 2019 album Dose Curves, or, ...

A Christmas Memory, by Richard Paul Evans