Mile-High Also-Ran
Couple updates: western Quizzo and a funeral for an ex-mobster's gal. Then Bill Larson, who is half the man he used to be.
That all-star Quizzo team from Philly made a splash in the Mile High city this weekend, and I don't mean finishing 4th out of 76 teams from the American West.
Johnny Goodtimes reports on his blog that he was hooted mercilessly in Denver after subjecting that cowtown to some big-city trash talk during the run-up to the match:
numerous presenters called me out as the crowd booed, and at one point in the evening a comedian had the entire crowd yell in unison, "**** Johnny Goodtimes!" Needless to say I loved it. As you all know, my dream has always been to be a bad guy wrestling manager, and blowing kisses to a crowd of 450 people while they booed me vociferously was a dream come true.
If only the team's performance had been as memorable. Named Trust Us, We're Doctors," and sporting drawings of Doctor J on their t-shirts, the six savants finished just out of the money. The Quizzo competition leaned heavy on popular culture - their time spent cramming world capitals and cooking terms might have been better spent reading TMZ.
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Another update: I wrote just before Christmas of Lou Verdi, a former mobster who had married his girlfriend in a hospice, where she was being treated for cancer. It was Mary's wish that the long-time friends and more recent lovers tie the knot while they could. Mary Capell made it until last Tuesday, Lou said by phone the other day. The funeral was Saturday. To Lou and Mary....
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Today's metro column is about Bill Larson, who is nearly half the man he was when I last saw him. He's lost 175 pounds, the right way, which is slow and steady with better choices about what he eats and lots of exercise. It took him nearly three and a half years to get down to around 225. His blog chronicles his ups and downs, which are many, and natural, and no big thing, so to speak.