Courtesy: Matt Slocum, AP

Alleged biting incident. Courtesy: NESN

Every now and then something idiotic happens on the Philadelphia sports scene that takes on a life of its own.  The fact that not one, but two idiots in consecutive days hopped the fence and went for a joy run in the outfield at Phillies games doesn’t help.  Sprinkle in the accusation of toothless Flyers’ Goon Daniel Carcillo that Bruins’ Center Marc Savard bit his finger in a scrum, you have a Gong Show. 

But here’s my beef.  By the time the stories exit the orbit of Philly, the context of what happened, and a description of what Philadephia and its fans are like is totally out of whack.   An esteemed Boston radio voice today called  Philadelphia a ”cess pool” among other things.  Predictably his on-air partner brought up the tired “they booed Santa Claus” story.   They are not pioneers.  So many others have said it too.  Being provocative makes for good radio.  But let’s please set the record straight.  Philly fans didn’t just boo Santa Claus, they threw snowballs at him too.  They booed the Easter Bunny. 

Philly is the toughest place in the world to play pro sports.  Sorry New York and Boston, it’s not even close.  Donovan McNabb and Mike Schmidt apologists bemoan the booing of their heroes.  Here’s the deal: Philly fans are tough, but fair.  You get out of them what you put into it.  And it’s not always about success.  It’s about hustling and caring.  Look at Bobby Clarke, Ron Jaworski, Moses Malone and Aaron Rowand.  If you whine and show even a hint of apathy, you’re toast.  Wait a minute, make that scrapple.  Donovan McNabb and Mike Schmidt come to mind.         

For someone who was born and raised there, and has spent ample time in other places, I am the voice of reason.  Philadelphia is an interesting place.  I intentionally used the word orbit two paragraphs above because Philly is truly a different planet.  It’s very parochial.  People love and protect their own.  They have little tolerance for outsiders who don’t embrace the place.  Philadelphia went 25 years without a title.  That’ll make just about anyone crusty.   I’m not defending, just explaining.   Philly folks don’t need anyone else’s approval.  They know they’re a little crazy and apologize for nothing.    Philadelphia is not for everyone, but for those who live there, there’s no other place they’d rather live.

For a good Catholic boy, I’ve probably had as many good conversations with rabbis as I’ve had with priests.  Why share it?  Because it’s a contrast that I find interesting.  Maybe you will too.

Let me tell you about three recent happenstances.    A couple of weeks ago I lassoed a rabbi walking by me at a Barnes and Noble book signing.  “Yo Rabbi!  C’mere,”  I hollered as he almost walked out the door.

I asked Rabbi Steven Rubenstein of Beverly, Massachusetts to buy my book, The Marrow in Me.  He did.  He was taking a long flight south to Houston to visit his in-laws, and he needed some reading material.  A couple of weeks later he sent me a sermon that he wrote that was wrapped around the theme of The Marrow in Me; how giving a part of yourself through bone marrow donation or something else serves mankind, as well as the recipient.

Rabbi Rubenstein’s sermon, which was heard by hundreds, and read by many more, meant the world to me.  So did his direction on where I might find another rabbi, whose writings I’ve greatly admired over the years.    ”Do you know Rabbi Harold Kushner?” I asked.  ”He lives in the Boston area doesn’t he?”

“Yes,” Rabbi Rubestein said, “he lives in Natick.”

Rabbi Harold Kushner

If Rabbi Kushner’s name sounds familiar, it should.  He wrote The New York Times bestseller When Bad Things Happen to Good People.  It sold four million copies.  I read When Bad Things Happen to Good People after a priest at my church mentioned it during a homily.  The message in the homily and in the book was the power of forgiveness.  I had some anger issues at the time over bad career breaks.  By reading When Bad Things Happen to Good People, I let a lot of it go, and forgave a lot of people who made my life rough.

This morning I had a chance to share with Rabbi Kushner how much his book meant to me.  We enjoyed coffee and conversation.  He read my book, The Marrow in Me, and was very complimentary and curious about my road to becoming a bone marrow donor.  Of course our conversation probably never would have happened if I hadn’t met Rabbi Rubenstein prior, who told me where to find his fellow clergyman.

And that’s the thing.  To play off Rabbi Kushner’s book title, it’s nice when good things happen to good people too.  I don’t know how good I really am, but I am a decent man, which I hope is good enough for me and everyone else. 

I promised three stories.  The third follows.  The other day I was toweling off in the locker room of the Boston Sports Club talking with a fellow nekkid man who purchased my book.  A man nearby overheard our conversation and asked me for more details.  Turns out the eavesdropper was a rabbi and an author too.  It was Rabbi William Kaufman who wrote several books including:   A Question of Faith: An Atheist and a Rabbi Debate the Existence of God.   

After we cleaned up and got dressed, Rabbi Kaufman and I walked to our cars in the parking lot.  I had a copy of The Marrow in Me in my car which I gave to him.   We’re going to have lunch soon and I imagine we will talk about writing and religion.  And it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if a series of events brought us together too.  I just have to figure out what the pieces are, and if a puzzle is really in play.

I’m not sure I’ve ever been a part of such bloodlust.  One the eve of the game following Matt Cooke’s bone crushing hit which left Bruins Center Marc Savard out cold and with a likely season ending concussion, I am blown away by the volume and context of revenge talk and tactics.  As usual talk radio is the worst.

Let me offer some predictions and perspective.  One thing is clear, the pressure to avenge what many consider a dirty hit is at the boiling point.  Crushing pressure to exact revenge, played out over an extended period of time is a very dangerous thing–like a raging zit waiting to pop. 

About ten years ago I covered an unfortunate incident in the West Coast Hockey League.  Jacques Mailhot of the Fresno Falcons, a goon if there ever was one, crosschecked Anchorage Ace Dean Treboyevic in the mouth, knocking Dean’s teeth out.  It would be several days before the teams played again.  Treboyevic would later say there was a intense pressure among his teammates that he must get even with his crosschecker. 

Then came the rematch.  Players described Trobeyevic on that fateful night as being “disengaged” from the action of the game, his eyes scanning the scene as if he was hunting, insteading of playing hockey.  He was hunting alright.  Treboyevic skated up behind Mailhot who never saw him coming.  In what can only be described as a chopping wood motion, Treboyevic slashed Mailhot across the back with such force that Mailhot fell to his knees.  Treboyevic skated around to the front.  As Mailhot looked up wondering what just happened and who was lurking over him, Treboyevic “pitchforked” Mailhot in the face.  It’s a wonder Mailhot didn’t lose an eye.  The incident sparked a brawl and landed Treboyevic in jail briefly.  Pitchforking incident video here

I spoke with Jacques Mailhot about it and he told me Dean Treboyevic called him to apologize.  Apparently it was a difficult phone call to make, and a tough one to receive.  Mailhot said Treboyevic was clearly shaken up by what he did, and very sorry for having done it.  Treboyevic said he was incredibly nervous in the days leading up to the game because of the pressure he felt to get Mailhot back.  His teammates wouldn’t let it go.  When the incident went down, Treboyevic said he almost had an out of body experience where he saw himself doing the deed, but was unable to stop himself.  Mailhot was touched by Treboyevic’s honesty and forgave him.  The league didn’t.  It suspended Treboyevic for the rest of the year.

Extended time to think about revenge can lead to terrible things.  I hope the Bruins don’t fall in a similar trap in holding Matt Cooke accountable.

Because the NHL didn’t suspend Matt Cooke for the hit, and because the Bruins didn’t respond immediately, there’s predictable outrage and calls for vigilante justice.  I hope we don’t see a repeat of what we saw in the video above, where the revenge; however it’s enacted sparks donnybrooks and nastiness that put other players at risk.  The last thing the league wants is Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin ending up as collateral casualties.

What ifs:  I wouldn’t be surprised if the NHL asked the Pittsburgh Penguins to make Matt Cooke a healthy scratch, so he’s not a moving target everywhere he goes.  But that would only make the other innocent players on the Pens alternate objects of abuse.  See where I’m going?  This could get really ugly.  Sitting Cooke would be a huge mistake.

What I think Should Happen:       If I were the Bruins, I’d have Shawn Thornton have a chat with Matt Cooke in pregame warmups.  Thornton should let Cooke know the moment the puck drops, the fight is on.  No surprises.  Swift justice that is understood by all.  It’s the right thing to do, it’s  honorable, and I think we’ll all move on if it happens.   But if Cooke turtles, he will lose face with his teammates and will be a gutless fraud with everyone else.  If the Pens don’t put him in a position to let him do this, the team is a fraud.

I know this much, we’ll all be watching.

It was really something skating at Fenway Park today, and to be a part of the first skate made it even better.  I’ve skated on better pond ice before but that’s not the point; and the quality of the ice on this day will not be the quality of the ice when the Bruins and Flyers play on January 1st, 2010.

Ice crews will have several days to fix the rough and soft spots

What was really cool was the people who were there and the feeling that we were all a part of something special.  Hockey Hall of Famers like Bobby Orr and others wished they could have had something like this in their playing days.  

Bruins Great and Hall of Famer Bobby Orr

There will be many others who skate at Fenway prior to the big game on the first of the year and quite a few of them will pay big bucks to do it; but we did it for free and we did it first.   That’s what warmed all of our hearts.  Hey we needed it too, it was only 17 degrees!

Kevin lacing them up

Bruins Great Ray Bourque and Red Sox Catcher Jason Varitek share a laugh

Alice Cook, WBZ TV. Alice was an Olympic Pairs Silver Medalist at the 1976 Winter Games.

Artist's Rendition of Winter Classic Fenway Park

 *Updates from Wednesday’s posting:    Today at Fenway Park the ice crew painted the lines and logos on the ice.    Actually there was no painting that I could see, it was a plastic roll out job.  Think of the plastic slip-N-slide you played on as a kid.  When you were done sliding you rolled the plastic tarp up.  It’s kind of like that in reverse.  I watched them roll out the blue line.

So how do you skate over the plastic?  Answer: You don’t, at least not directly.  Once the lines and logos are down they flood the rink with more water, which freezes, and creates another ice surface.   I asked the ice chief “What if you have an unexpected warm winter day with temperatures above 32.  Will the ice melt?”  Answer:  No.  The super coolers below the ice surface make a bigger difference than the air temperature.  They can handle things just fine so long as the air temperature doesn’t go above 50.  The average high temperature in January is 34 degrees.

I brought along my skates today to see if we could do a little skate and tv combo.  The ice crew was amused,  ”It’s virgin ice and not ready for skating,” someone in a ski suit told me. “  We’re still a construction site.” 

Ok we’ll wait for Friday. 

Wednesday’s Posting:  Everyday something happens that reminds me of how lucky I am to have a job like the one I do.  I will never take my job for granted because I know what it’s like to be jobless and to have a job that’s not much fun.  I got an invitation to skate in the rink at Fenway Park which will later host the Flyers and the Bruins in the 2010 Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.  Joining me will be Bruins legend Bobby, Ray Borque and Kenny Linseman. I’ll let you know how it goes.  And if you’re a Flyers fan and want me to throw a sneak hip check in while I’m out there I have a question for you, “What are you freakin’ outta your mind?”

The golf ball that started a revolution and the man who found it, Chris Pablo

We lost a very good friend who found a most interesting golf ball that took on a life of its own years ago.  Chris Pablo died in Honolulu yesterday at the age of 59, from complications of cancer unrelated to his original leukemia diagnosis back in 1996.  I’ve blogged about Chris before and I wrote a book about his life and mine called The Marrow in Me.  I won’t pretend that everyone has been with me from the beginning, so I’ll include a little background.  

Chris is the man who found an amazing golf ball that sparked my journey to becoming a bone marrow donor and author of The Marrow in Me.

 Click here for Chris Pablo Tribute.

Chris found the golf ball in his basket years ago.  It was old, discolored and had the words beat leukemia stamped on the side.  Chris was diagnosed with leukemia just three weeks prior.  Together and with the help of plenty of others in the Hawaii media, Chris and I told the Hawaii Community about his efforts to find an unrelated bone marrow donor.   People couldn’t get enough of the golf ball hook.  Chris’s story inspired other leukemia patients like two-year-old Alana Dung to come forward.  The community responded and largely because of Chris and Alana, 30-thousand people registered as potential bone marrow donors.  Eighty-six people went to transplant, including me; for a 16-year-old boy I’d never met.  Chris found his lifesaving match from a legless man who saw the media coverage.  Alana found her match in an international registry.

Alana Dung, inspired 30,000 people to register as potential donors

Chris had been sick for the last several months, but well enough a few months back to come to Boston to visit colleges with his youngest son Zack and family.   He called me and told me we should get together.  I suspected it might be our last chance to see each other.  It was.  I was so glad to see him one last time and my young daughters were thrilled to finally meet the man Daddy’s been writing about in The Marrow in Me for all these years.  My picture of Chris and my girls sitting on the steps of the old Boston Police Station is one of my treasures and it’s included in the book with a note directly to Chris in the epilogue.  Before the book went to print I emailed him the pdf file.  “You kept me up all night and made me cry,” he said when he called the next day.

When Chris took a turn for the worse in October I rushed him one of the first printed copies of my book The Marrow in Me.  I wanted him to hold it in his hands before his time.  His wife Sandy says he did.  That just meant the world to me and so did his friendship.  Without that crazy golf ball I never would have become a bone marrow donor and certainly wouldn’t have written a book about it.

L to R, Amanda Walsh, Chris Pablo, Samantha Walsh. Boston, August 2009

Chris taught me so much about obligation, “the obligation of survivorship” as he called it.  He taught me it’s okay and effective to allow yourself to be vulnerable in front of people.  When a man tells you something like that with tears in his eyes, it’s profound and people listen.  Chris’s courage and love for his family planted the seed in me to be the type of father and husband I hope I’ve become.  I could go on and on, but you get the point.  We lost a very good man and for that I am so sad.    

Chris Pablo and Kevin Walsh, Washington, September 2008

Patriots Owner Robert Kraft

So I’m at the Champions for Children fundraising event for Children’s Hospital of Boston.  Anyone who is someone is there, all dressed up too.  I pulled Bob Kraft aside to chat about the state of the Patriots.  “Oh we’re doing great,”  he says.

“How’s Jarvis Green doing after surgery?”

“Jarvis is doing well.  I talked with him this morning,” Kraft said.

“Where are you from?” he wants to know.

“Phillly.  But I have more relatives in Massachusetts than any other state,” I say.

“Walsh is a good name to have around here.”

So then we went our separate ways and he got lost in the crowd of picture takers and well-wishers.  More than an hour later I walked by on the way out and he’s holding court with a crowd and he shouts over, “Walsh is a good name to have around here!”

I hope he’s right.

I think it’s a good move that the Celtics suspend Glen Big Baby Davis for an off the court fight with a friend that messed up his thumb and required surgery.  Managing Parnter Wyc Grousbeck basically said we’re not going to pay someone who’s not able to work because of said person’s poor behavior.  Wow, there’s a principle in that, delivered by a principal.

Glen Davis