Brava Oregon State Lady Beavers! Great upset win last night against nationally ranked #3 Colorado! The Gill was rockin’. 68-62: Suh-weet!
Does anyone know what an “albatross” is in the context of 33A today? ”Possible (but extremely unlikely) setting for a double albatross.” (Think golf.) It turns out an albatross is the equivalent of a double eagle, i.e., scoring three under par on a hole. Then a double albatross would be four under.
So, on a PAR FIVE hole, shooting a four would be a birdie, a three would be an eagle, a two would be a double eagle or an albatross, and a hole-in-one would be a double albatross. As the clue states: ”extremely unlikely.” For the puzzle, the answer was PAR FIVE: setting for a double albatross.
Here’s Jessica Albatross, asking Phil: ”What are you doing here? It’s a golf reference — come back when I’m in the puzzle.”
[Sorry, Jess — it won’t happen again. Phil! WTF!]
In yesterday’s puzzle the clue at 9A was: ”Song words preceding ‘his kiss’” and the answer was IT’S IN. Great oldie. Here’s a nice version by Cher.
This story by Claire Dawson is from tomorrow’s Met Diary, and it’s called “Bowling Shirt.”
I was in graduate school in Manhattan with a student job as a costume shop manager in the basement of a building on Washington Square.
The same security guard was at the front desk every day, and sometimes we made small talk. I eventually explained that I worked in the costume shop, and he told me about how he lived alone, had a long bus ride in each morning, and liked to go bowling with his team on Tuesdays.
One day, he came down to the shop in his bowling shirt with a decorative patch in his hand. He asked rather shyly if I could help him. He usually ironed the patches on, but they would always come off when the glue got old.
I told him I would be happy to help him. I sewed the new patch on, tacked the others down neatly and brought the shirt back to him at the end of the day. He thanked me effusively, and I said it had been no trouble.
I came into work a few weeks later on a raw, cold day when the wind was whipping chilly rain down the streets. As usual, I said hello to my security guard friend.
A couple of hours later, he came down to my basement workshop with a cup of chili and a container of rice. They were both piping hot.
“You looked so cold this morning,” he said. ”And it’s one of my favorite lunches. I go to the Chinese restaurant next door special for the rice.”
I left after that semester and never learned his name. But now it’s one of my favorite lunches, too.
Enough with the goddamn surveys already!! I go the CVS to buy toothpaste and they want to know how my “experience” was. I tell them it was one hell of an experience. Were all my questions answered? Yeah, especially “Where’s the toothpaste?” Was I greeted when I walked in? No, but when I set the alarm off as I left I received a lot of attention.
My doctors need to know how much I love them too. I can’t go in for a cystoscopy (don’t ask) without getting a five-page survey to fill out. Loved it!! My banks, eBay, Uber. Enough!!
The Owl Chatter sports division is in a quandary over whom to support in tomorrow’s KC/Baltimore matchup. Whoever wins advances to the Super Bowl. Part of the staff is backing Baltimore because the coach is a Harbaugh. Enough said. But the other part likes KC because (a) they like Mahomes, (b) Travis is Tay’s squeeze, and, new reason — (3) RB “Pop” Pacheco is from Jersey and went to Rutgers.
Yup, Isiah Pacheco is from Vineland, NJ, just half an hour from where my beautiful twin cousins grew up in Hammonton and where we spent Thanksgivings in my youth. He excelled at both QB and RB at Vineland HS and chose Rutgers for college over Syracuse, Maryland, and Virginia Tech. He had a damn good college career too, but was not “elite” coming out, and was drafted in the seventh round by KC. But he hit the ground running as a pro. He gained 960 total yards from scrimmage in his rookie year and was the starting running back in last year’s Super Bowl. KC won it over the Eagles and Pacheco gained 76 yards and scored a TD.
His second year was strong too — he gained over 1,000 yards from scrimmage and scored 9 TDs. Here’s what the NYT had to say about his brilliant performance in KC’s playoff win in Buffalo last week:
“With the Chiefs trailing by four points, Pacheco helped them score touchdowns on back-to-back drives by doing what has made him one of the NFL’s most distinctive players: Whenever he touched the ball, he ran with rage, intensity and brutality. He led all players with 97 rushing yards on 15 attempts, a sizable amount of those yards gained after the first defender made contact with him. Sixty percent of Pacheco’s carries ended with him going over the expected yardage.
When he’s not on the field, he’s screaming at his teammates to stay intense. He loves the attention he’s getting from fans on social media. “The funniest one, I thought, was when they say I run like I bite people,” Pacheco said, laughing.
After Bills kicker Tyler Bass missed a potential game-tying 44-yard field goal, KC still needed another first down to clinch. Pacheco ran through two defenders to gain 8 yards on first down. Then he finished with a 3-yard run up the middle. Game over.
Before Pacheco left the post-game podium, a reporter asked a question he has heard before: Are you really angry when you’re running with the ball?
“Absolutely!”
Look at that shayna punim — gotta go for the Chiefs.
Let’s go Lions too! See you tomorrow!
The Wellington Files 