On The Silly Side (The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.) I can't believe that it was 40 years ago that Bobby Orr scored the winning goal that won the Bruins the Stanley Cup in 1970. Who can forget number four flying through the air, like the superman he was, after blowing St. Louis Blues goaltender Glen Hall's mind. Of course he was flying because he had been tripped by Blues' Noel Picard (the goon) at the moment of shooting. On Monday a life-size bronze statue of Orr in that famous position was revealed at The Boston Garden. | |||
We say Orr's name in the same breath as Ted Williams, Larry Bird, and the likes of Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, and Yaz. Some believe he is in a class by himself. That image of The Flying Orr is one that has become one of the most recognizable images in sports history.
I had the pleasure of writing a song for Bobby Orr while I was at Kiss 108. It was to the tune of "More"... So it went something like ..."Orr is the greatest Bruin the world has known" etc. We played it on the air and Bobby actually had tears in his eyes when he heard it. (Either he loved it or they were tears of torture!)
He asked for a copy of the song on a cassette, posed for a photo with me, and gave me two of his personal photos and signed them. I hid the photos so well that I haven't seen them in over 15 years!
But it made me think about how fast 40 years went by. Forty years flew by in a flash. In 1970 the train was still rumbling by Davis Square. I had hair down to my shoulders and weighed about 130 pounds. How much did you weigh? The hair was still naturally dark and a heck of a lot thicker. I was a junior at Somerville High School writing for a hippie newspaper called the Inside Agitator.
I was on the Committee of Concerned Students protesting the fact that we could not wear dungarees in school. Forty years ago you could get an entire Italian meal at The Venice Café for about 3 bucks.
Forty years ago, Dad was still driving the 1967 Dodge Dart with the 225 slant six engine. The slant six was so easy to work on, that Alan and the crew at Nissenbaum's Recycled Auto Parts kept that baby running for years!
Unfortunately, when I inherited it, the check oil light burnt out and the engine eventually seized.
In 1970 we were watching The Ed Sullivan Show , The Brady Bunch , and Bonanza . At the movies, some of sat through Love Story, Woodstock , Kelly's Heroes , and MASH . Gas was cheap, homes were affordable , and Somerville was two years away from winning our first All America City title. Today, the Bruins are poised to enter the semi-finals in their quest for another long overdue Stanley Cup. Let's keep our fingers crossed, even if it hurts. I have a touch of arthritis in my finger, and I'm still clapping for our beloved Boston sports teams.
I am hopeful that I will find my Bobby Orr autographed photos, but there is one item that has been missing for over 40 years, that may never be found. A week ago a very close friend of mine told me this story, that few people know. Very shortly after Bobby Orr made that historical goal to win the 1970 Stanly Cup, something very fishy happened. A few men walked into the Boston Garden flashing very official looking National Hockey League credentials. They told Garden security personnel that they were instructed to remove the entire goalie's net that the Orr goal had been made in, and take it back to the NHL headquarters where it would be "enshrined" or something.
Well, these Bozos were bogus and should have ended up in the penalty box. But instead they scored the ultimate hat-trick by stealing a very precious part of NHL and Boston Bruins history.
So 40 years after Bobby Orr soared through the air into hockey immortality, the entire goalies' net that caught that magic puck is still missing. Many people have a signed stick, an autographed puck, or similar memento from their favorite Boston Bruin.
But there is one crafty, gutsy criminal watching the Bruins go for another Stanley Cup in 2010, who has the ultimate souvenir in his living room: the actual goalies net from the old Boston Garden, that Bobby Orr dumped that unbelievable goal into on May 10 1970. File under Brazen Bandits Bilk The Bruins. Congratulations to you Bobby Orr, and thanks for the memories.
GO BRUINS!
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