NEW FOUND FAME: THE FALLOUT.

Yesterday I posted a link to a New York Times article about our dear friend, the PROFESSOR and his life as a panhandler.  I'd chronicled his activities in the past and only recently did the New York Times catch on to it and decided to "trail" him and write a piece about it.

At first glance I thought it was pretty cool that the Grey Lady would do a story on him.  For starters, it would highlight his charitable work and dispel any thoughts that this guy was down on his luck.  It also gave my posts about him the ultimate validity.  I mean, if the NEW YORK TIMES highlighted what I routinely talked about, then it's gotta be true, right?

Then I watched the video that came with the online article.  After viewing it, I became concerned that maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.  The camera crew not only documented his daily routine (stopping cars, selling papers, telling jokes), they also trailed him back to his home and documented not only what he did with his daily take, but also how much and WHERE he kept his stash!   Now not only does EVERYONE knows who he is, but WHERE he lives, WHEN he does his panhandling, HOW MUCH he collects each day and WHERE he keeps the dough!  Hello??  Who gave the clearance on that?

This is a frail 97-year-old guy we're talking about here.  Before all of this, the biggest thing we worried about on a daily basis was whether or not he would get hit by a car.  Now I find myself watching him even more now (like I need that), worrying that any person that goes up to him to say hi or ask for a photo or buy a paper may have an ulterior motive in mind.  Oy.  I hope nothing happens to him.

PUB TRIVIA HIGHLIGHTS:

Last night's edition of Pub Trivia was an interesting one as we had a special guest in the house.  Our weekly host, BRAD had his mother in from Boston to check out what he does best.

And from what I understand, she was pleased with his efforts!

As for the rest of the Pub Trivia Session, it was a spirited competition, with 12 teams competing for a $45 bar tab and a spot in the Tournament of Champions finals.  After last night we now have 4 teams who are heading to the Tournament of Champions, with another 4 spots still up for grabs.  So if you and your friends think you have what it takes to win it all, join us next Wednesday and show us what you got!

TONIGHT: We have a lot of things going on tonight at Third and Long: MLB Playoff Double-header (Detroit vs Texas, 4pm, St. Louis vs Milwaukee, 8pm), TONS of NHL Hockey (T.B. vs NYI, MTL home opener vs CAL, VAN vs DET, etc.) and NCAA Football (USC vs Cal, 9pm).  Catch it all on our 12 HDTV screens!  


$4 bottles of Alexander Keith's, Labatt Blue and Molson Canadian during ALL hockey games!


It's also Birthday Night for BABY GIRL & WINNIE COOPER and that usually means organized chaos!  Let's just say that the Fireball Whisky will be flowing and dance floor will be on fire!  It should be a fun night!