Ted Kennedy, St. A, etc.

About an hour ago I was on my way home from New Hampshire and listening to the Dan Shaughnessy Show on the new "SportsHub" 91.5 FM. Dan and his co-host, whoever it was, were talking about the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, "now on his way to Arlington Cemetery." I'm telling you this: he was not on his way there. That may have been his ultimate destination -- pardon the gallows humor -- but he must have been stopping off somewhere north of Boston first.

I know this because I was on the phone with my wife a few minutes earlier when I saw unbelievable phalanx of rubberneckers. They were on my side of the highway, the other side, and literally on the sides of the road. Like, the shoulders. Pulled over. People out of their cars. People congregating on the overpass in whatever town that was, just a few miles north of Waltham. I thought, "This doesn't look like an ordinary accident. This is either the most heinous crash in history (or, as they would call that in Massachusetts, a fender bender), or maybe a suicide by someone who realized that a swan dive from an overpass to I-95 is a very effective method of killing oneself.

I was all tongue-tied. "Um, baby, um, hold on; oh, wow. This must have been something ...

... hey, wait ... this is Ted Kennedy's funeral procession."

Flags were waved. Signs were held up. ON THE INTERSTATE.

I'm not from here, so I don't feel the same feelings for this man that even his staunchest political opponents at home might feel, let alone those who voted for him over and over -- who voted for his brothers way back when. But I was glad I could witness a scene such as this. You don't see something like that every day. And it wasn't a setup. It wasn't a made-for-TV ceremony. It was a bunch of people going out on their own to say goodbye. On the Interstate.

SHOCKING TRADE

I'm not going to waste my time at this moment to look up the scouting reports or histories of the prospects the Angels traded to Tampa Bay to acquire Scott Kazmir. You can do that on your own, and I'll do it later. But those prospects had better be can't-miss future All-Stars. I don't mean solid prospects. I mean can't-miss future All-Stars. I don't care what Kazmir's numbers are this year. And I'm not saying he's the second coming of Sandy Koufax. That the reigning AL Champions, however, would trade a man who is entering his prime and has already been a reliable staff ace, a two-time All-Star, for prospects, while they are in the thick of the wild-card race, which they absolutely are, is downright disappointing.

Shaughnessy, by the way, said as much on his show, but his angle had more to do with why the Red Sox didn't try to get him, especially in light of his ending up with their probable first-round playoff opponent. Dan. Buddy. Are you serious? I don't like that the Rays traded him. But at least they're not stupid enough to trade him to one of their two most important division rivals. That was never going to happen.

I just can't believe the Rays would give up a guy who, current stats aside, could be such a boon to their playoff fortunes THIS YEAR. Kazmir was part of a shocking trade once before, but at least it made sense for the Mets to trade him to Tampa. The only part of that deal that didn't make sense was that the Mets accepted a bum in return. But trading a prospect for a Major League player was fine for the Mets. Trading him now, for the Rays, a team with plenty of young up-and-coming players, by all accounts, makes no sense at all.

HAWKS TAKE FLIGHT

Just got home from my first St. Anselm football game of the season. Man, am I excited about the second game of the year. The Hawks have brought in an enormous freshman class in this, coach Pat Murphy's second year at the helm. Will they propel St. A to a winning record this season? It seems unlikely that a team that went 2-8 a year ago and now starts so many freshmen can expect to break the .500 barrier.

Clearly, however, this is going to be a much more fun season to be a St. Anselm fan. The Hawks pushed Kutztown, a team that demolished St. A 35-0 a year ago, right to the brink today, finally succumbing 17-13 after a sack of freshman QB Michael Pierce turned second-and-1 to third-and-14 as the Hawks were driving for the winning touchdown. This came moments after the Hawk defense got the ball back after the Hawks' freshman running back Austin Wakinakoa fumbled at the Kutztown 1-yard line.

St. A killed itself with those two plays, plus a costly personal foul on a St. A lineman. A year ago, St. A never got the chance to kill itself because its opponents were killing the Hawks just fine. This is a different team. Plymouth State visits next Saturday. Can a St. A victory over the D-III foe be the catalyst for a winning season? Who's to say no!?!