Just saw this idiotic Opinion the local paper! Can you say misinformed (to say the least!) Dont remember seeing them there other than one photographer Friday! Leominsters delay of game a shame Sentinel & Enterprise Updated: 11/29/2014 07:01:51 AM EST0 Comments Apparently, Mark Henderson wasnt around to ensure that the Fitchburg-Leominster football game would be played on Thanksgiving Day, as it has for 108 of the storied rivalrys 132 showdowns. Henderson, you might recall, was the key figure in the legendary Snowplow Game in Foxboro between the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins on Dec. 12, 1982. With the score tied 0-0 on a snow-covered Schaefer Stadium field, the Patriots were getting set to kick a field goal from the 16-yard line when Pats coach Ron Meyer ordered snowplow-operator Henderson, a convict on work release from MCI-Norfolk, to do something. Henderson knew exactly what to do. He jumped on the John Deere tractor equipped with a sweeper attachment on the front, drove onto the field, and cleared a spot for Patriots kicker John Smith. Despite the protests of Miami head coach Don Shula, who howled that the big brush-off gave the home team an unfair advantage, Smith promptly kicked the football through the uprights, and the Patriots went on to a 3-0 victory. The very tractor Henderson used that day hangs in the Patriots Hall of Fame. Even if the Patriots took the tractor down from the Hall of Fames rafters and gassed it up, Henderson would not have been allowed on Doyle Field in Leominster on Thursday morning. Thats because on Wednesday afternoon, Leominster officials, with recommendations from the DPW and the Doyle Field Commission, postponed the game until 10 a.m. today. Thats a shame. We understand safety concerns, but this storm was forecast days in advance. Advertisement The meteorologists predictions were accurate, and by the wee small hours of Thanksgiving, the storm had already moved out. That gave the city plenty of time to prepare Doyle Field for the traditional Thanksgiving Day contest. Adding to the disappointment was the fact that Sports Illustrateds Robert Klemko was going to chronicle the Fitchburg-Leominster game for the magazines online Monday Morning Quarterback site. SI picked Fitchburg-Leominster to spotlight on Thanksgiving thanks to an essay written by local attorney and author Mark Bodanza, whose book A Game that Forged Rivals is devoted to the long-standing rivalry. This well-deserved national spotlight would have been a special treat for the players, coaches, cheerleaders, bands and fans attending the game on Thanksgiving Day. That attention and the efforts to make the field and stands ready for the game could have provided enough fodder for another chapter in the next printing of Bodanzas book. And isnt part of the beauty of football that weather can play an enormous factor, forcing coaches and players to alter their strategies to overcome not only their opponents but also the elements? Instead, SIs Klemko was redeployed to the Needham-Wellesley game, and the frozen tundra of Doyle Field sat silent until Friday morning, when the city cleared it using a tractor with a snow thrower attachment and city trucks. We wish both teams the best as they take the field this morning. We are sure they will not disappoint us, and play a game worthy of their long and legendary rivalry. But we will forever believe that the city of Leominster on Wednesday could have used the quick thinking of Mark Henderson and his trusty John Deere tractor to save the Thanksgiving Day game. Read more: sentinelandenterprise/editorial/ci_27034160/leominsters-delay-game-shame#ixzz3KUogFXWU
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 21:43:08 +0000