Monday, May 6

10E2164: Bag O' Silk Ties

As the older crowd maybe knows, this was a big weekend for first communions and the ensuing lunches - whether at home or across the city in a function suite. Long/short we were honored to be invited to support a young friend of the family.

Walk back through the dugout. Channeling Morris Buttermaker.

At the luncheon the barman says to me, "You tie that yourself?" (Long pour of Jameson and ginger ale follows. The debate over which Irish whiskies are Catholic or Protestant may be BS but there was no Bushmills in sight I can tell you...) "I only wear bow ties" he says. "One day I was working late, almost alseep, and in comes Tom Johnson [Bruins coach and player, Hall of Famer 1970- ed.] and says 'I bet no one in this bar can tie a bow tie!' - So my friends wake me up sayin 'He can do it'.  I step forward and cross the ends over, longer end up - and he says 'You can stop there, I can tell you know how'. Then Tom comes in the next week and gives me a whole bag o' silk ties. Made by a lady in the North End. That was 1979."

The tv in the corner was playing the Penguins and Islanders game.

Photo: Dan Goshtigian for the Boston Globe
Tom Johnson served the Bruins as a player, coach and front office executive 
for over 30 years until his retirement in 1998.

Photo: Paul Chiasson, The Canadian Press/AP
Johnson had been on the blue line for 13 seasons with the Canadiens before playing for Boston.