Nick Mangold was a mensch. He was drafted by the Jets out of Ohio State in the first round in 2006 and distinguished himself as one of the NFL’s best centers throughout his eleven-year career with the Jets. He was inducted into the Jets “Ring of Honor” in 2022. An Ohioan born and raised, Jersey claimed him as one of theirs from his playing days on. In fact, he lived here in Chatham, the site of Owl Chatter headquarters, during his playing days, and just moved up the road to Madison when he retired.
Nick put out a call seeking a kidney donor just two weeks ago, but succumbed to kidney failure and passed away on Saturday. He was only 41. He is survived by a sea of very adoring Jets fans, and by his wife Jennifer and their kids Matthew, Eloise, Thomas and Charlotte, for all of whom he so ably anchored the line.
Running back Thomas Jones, for whom Mangold blocked for three seasons, wrote: “Rest in peace to my brother & teammate Nick Mangold. I keep seeing your smiling face in the huddle bro. One of the kindest people I’ve ever met.”
Rest in peace, Nick.
The Jets won their first game of the season yesterday after seven losses, 39-38 over Cincy.
Owl Chatter readers expressed some interest in Bruce’s lady-friend from the new movie, the Australian actress Odessa Young. Turns out her parents were a musician (dad) and writer (mom) and are big Bruce fans. Odessa herself is too and really pushed to get any role at all in the movie, not expecting to land the major one she did. Her character represents an amalgam of women Bruce dated during that era.
Odessa has been acting since the age of 11, mostly in indie films, with much success, but this role should push her into the stratosphere. Scott Cooper, who made the movie, said of her: “Her stillness and her ability to communicate volumes with her eyes are real strengths. She can convey a whole spectrum of emotions—sorrow, defiance, hope—without saying a word.”
She’s 27 and, sorry fellas, married to director David Raboy, whom she met back in 2019 on the set of The Giant. This was the first photo of her I landed on today. No need to search any further.
Shakespeare’s PORTIA dropped by the puzzle yesterday, clued via her role in Merchant. She’s the one who said the quality of mercy is not strained. So, tell me, Porsh — how does it keep from getting lumpy?
Also a wonderful visit from STAN LAUREL. What a treat. I once heard someone describe Laurel and Hardy skits as involving some hysterical predicament from which they finally extricate themselves only to find something as crazy waiting in the wings. E.g., in one film they are tasked with carrying a piano across a rope bridge over a deep gorge. Dayenu, right? No, that’s not enough, so a gorilla comes out on the other side. Here it is.
There was a frankfurter in the puzzle today, but not the hot dog kind. It was Justice FELIX Frankfurter and I was surprised to hear from Rex that he hadn’t heard of him. What!? An English prof at SUNY Binghamton, around 50 years old. How could that be? I commented that not having heard of the Justice doesn’t cut the mustard.
A very brief discussion ensued on how some German place names became associated with foods. And I learned that there’s a whole big deal about whether JFK announced to the German people that he was a donut. “Berliner” is a term for donut. If you are saying you are from Berlin you are supposed to say Ich bin Berliner, without the “ein.” With the “ein” you are saying you are a donut. But Kennedy was in fact correct to use “ein.” Because if you are not truly from Berlin (as in JFK’s case), “ein” is appropriate. For example, if you are Ronald McDonald saying you are a clown, you would not use “ein.” But someone being silly who refers to himself as a clown would use “ein.” (Did that come across clearly? Am I a donut?)
What a nice lunch today! Met two old buddies from Hunter at Kimura on St. Mark’s Place in the East Village. Toshi ordered a whole mess of things for all of us to share and it was out of this world. I tried a Japanese IPA (Neko) and it was very good! (Burp!)
Let’s close today with this car story shared by Rex Commenter Barbara S because there was an ALFA Romeo in the puzzle (at 30D). She writes well and I like her usage of caribou towards the end:
“I think I recently threatened to tell a story about ALFA Romeos, and thanks to 30D, this puzzle has given me the opportunity. My husband and I had a holiday in a very pretty part of rural Ontario earlier this fall. We stayed at an inn which had been recommended by a friend. It’s a big place – more like being on a campus than in a hotel. There are a number of buildings with guestrooms and suites, a separate cottage with reception desk and gift shop, a ‘cookery’ school, a pub and a restaurant. There are parking areas scattered around these buildings, and one evening as we were walking to supper, we gradually became aware that there was an enormous number of ALFA Romeos, some new and some vintage, parked here, there and everywhere. Also an overabundance of Porsche Carreras and, most spectacularly, a 1929 Bentley that looked like it had just exited the factory! What!? We soon saw that the far end of the dining room had been given over to the ALFA Romeo Club of Montreal, a lively bunch who were eating, drinking, being merry, raising their glasses and giving the odd speech. My husband talked to one of guys the next day and it turned out they were on a touring holiday to Lake Huron. And they were mostly ALFA drivers but the Carreras and the Bentley, affiliated with another classic car club, were welcome add-ons.
“The Bentley sported a shiny, new-looking metal plate that announced it contained Lucas electricals. This made my husband nearly choke as Lucas electrical systems, manufactured in the U.K. starting in the mid-nineteenth century, were notoriously unreliable, dubbed by frustrated owners, ‘The Prince of Darkness.’ There are websites devoted to Lucas jokes, such as: Lucas invented the three-way switch: Dim, Flicker, and Short, and its back-up: Smoke, Smolder and Ignite. Oh dear. We don’t know whether this magnificent and still fully functional car retained its Lucas components, or whether the owner kept the plate as a conversation piece.
“When the ALFAs & Co. left the inn the following morning – what a sight! You’ve watched footage of the great caribou migrations across the northern tundra? Well, it was not remotely like that, not even a little. But it was a grand parade in its own luxury automotive sort of way.”
See you tomorrow, Chatterheads! It’s Hayride Day with Isaac!
The Wellington Files 