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Follow-up…
Buckeye Nut U, Transit & More
By Susan Olling
It’s
been about six months since my contributions started appearing in
County News Online. Looking back on some of these, I noticed
openings for follow-up. With your indulgence, follow-up follows.
The Pope’s visit came and went without incident. People heeded
suggestions to stay off the roads, what a surprise in an area where
most people take their jobs so seriously. Those who had to get to work,
including Mr. History, had no traffic to deal with. It’s
too bad His Eminence hasn’t been around for the drama in the big, domed
building on the hill since his speech. Now that the children on
one side of Congress are back from yet another “vacation” perhaps the
entire gang can get some work done. The debt ceiling and getting
a budget done before deadlines should be at the top of the kids’
agendas. I doubt it. Governing by crisis has been the modus
operandi down there for quite a few years now. Not to
mention hostage taking.
Buckeye Nut U. fans should be happy, whether you’re an alumnus or not,
since they’ve been winning. Thought the quarterback shuffle was
quite amusing. This alumna won’t be watching any of their
games. Two thumbs down to whoever designed and approved those
ghastly black uniforms and helmets that the Buckeye Nut U. players were
wearing Saturday night against State College Prep. Buckeye Nut
U.’s colors are scarlet and grey. Or so I thought.
Locally, there had been rumors about the future of College Park Tech’s
football coach prior to the Buckeye Nut U. game. The turtles’
coach was fired but not before a bit of a tantrum during his post-game
press conference. For the life of me, I don’t understand what
anyone over there is thinking. The gang from College Park was in
the middle of the football pack when they were in the ACC, better known
as a basketball conference. Sinking to the bottom of the Big 1X
(It hasn’t been the Big 10 since teams from east of Ohio were
admitted—still a travesty.) was bound to happen. They have a long
way to go to be competitive with the conference big boys. I
still remember the stir the now ex-coach made in summer 2014. He was
quite excited to be joining a football conference. This
coach apparently had no idea what he or the team would be getting into.
We have alternate names for all of the conference schools. Just wait until Ann Arbor Tech Week.
The general manager of the local MLB team and all of his staff were
fired at the end of the season. Let’s see, this team had been the
Montreal Expos in its former incarnation. Didn’t make much noise
in Canada, either. The local NFL franchise has won two
games. Not overwhelmingly, but this bunch and their fans will
take wins when they get them. The quarterback, for whom the
franchise mortgaged so much of its future, has been fairly invisible.
The fair season was a good one. Lots of interesting
entries. Two new fairs were on our calendar this year. We
judged flowers and plants at the Damascus Community Fair. The
other judges were members of a local garden club. When we
finished, the garden club ladies and the department chairmen asked if
we’d come back next year. Definitely. We’ve always liked
going to this fair. There’s a two-day pet show up there.
The first day is “no dogs”, the second day is “no cats”. Perhaps
there was a pet riot that resulted in a two-day event. The other
fair was the Anne Arundel County Fair where we judged baked
goods. They still grow tobacco in that part of southern Maryland,
and there were a few tobacco entries. Brought back some memories.
Our little subway system had yet another hiccup. In September,
there was a fire at a substation during the morning rush hour.
One station was closed, and three subway lines were
affected. What with this, the August derailment that caused
massive chaos for riders, the tunnel fire in January that resulted in
the death of a passenger, and the 2009 accident (several fatalities
then, too), what more could happen? Well, earlier this month,
Metro finally admitted that the less than reliable service helped
explain why ridership’s decreasing. Thanks, Metro, for stating
the obvious. The same day as this news flash, the Secretary of
Transportation transferred Metro’s safety oversight to the Federal
Transit Administration. I wish them luck.
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