Man About Canton: Canton High Graduates on the Move

Former Canton High basketball standout Mike Byrnes has accepted an assistant coaching position with the men’s basketball team at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania. He has 20 years of coaching experience. Many of you will recall that Byrnes is a 1984 Canton High graduate and played two years at forward for Coach John Calipari at UMass until graduating in 1990.

Canton High graduate Kristen Blake has been named a co-captain of the Northeastern University women’s soccer team. A senior midfielder, she started 18 of 19 games last season for the Huskies.

Pat Leahy, a 1994 Canton High graduate and former hockey standout, has been named the new head varsity hockey coach at King Philip High School.

The Boston Red Sox recently signed Rich Hill, a left-handed pitcher from Milton, who has a 21-20 big league record over five seasons. He has been the starter in 70 of his 78 games. As it now stands, Hill will be assigned to the Red Sox Triple A Pawtucket team where he will be given a chance to become a reliever. Rich Hill’s father is Lloyd Hill, who was a former Canton High football coach.

We are still waiting for the legislature and the governor to do something about bringing casinos and perhaps slot machines to Massachusetts. Even though we don’t have them yet, we do know one thing about them: the casinos will be smoke-free. Back when they were debating this issue, the Senate rejected an amendment that would have allowed gaming customers to light up.

Slot machines may indeed be beneficial to Massachusetts. Connecticut resort casinos Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun have reported slightly higher slot machine revenues in July compared with a year ago. Incidentally, the Wonderland-Revere dog racing track, often mentioned as a place where slot machines would be added, has closed its doors after 75 years.

Norfolk County Sheriff Michael Bellotti, president of the Massachusetts Sheriffs Association, will be one of the seven members of the new special committee set up to help implement the new state law enacted to stop bullying among teenagers and young people in general. Also serving on the committee will be designees from the state’s Attorney General’s Office, District Attorneys Association, Chiefs of Police Association, Association of School Superintendents, Association of School Committees, and the Association of Independent Schools in New England.

The Massachusetts Police Chiefs, along with many others, are protesting the possible closing of six district courthouses statewide, saying it will cost nearby cities and towns a lot of money in expenses to send officers to replacement courts on official criminal-related business.

The Canton-based Casual Male Retail Group has announced that its profit jumped 54 percent in the second quarter as it has cut back on store occupancy and merchandise costs.

It’s that time of year again. An estimated 535,000 college and graduate students have descended upon Massachusetts schools to get an education in countless subjects. MAC wishes all of them good luck and a high GPA.

We are still waiting for the state Department of Conservation and Recreation to start cleaning up the old Canton Airport on Neponset Street, southeast of the intersection with Interstate 95. The state owns 338 acres there, which includes wetlands and 5.7 acres where the airport hangers had been. A portion of the soil on the property is reportedly contaminated with heavy metals and PCBs. The DCR has said that the cleanup is supposed to go out to bid this current summer and hopefully be completed by June of 2012.

From the trivia department comes this tidbit: In 2009, 17 percent of all movie tickets across the United States and Canada were purchased by people who were 24 and younger.

The Beverly Hills home of the late Ed McMahon was recently put up for sale by his estate, with the asking price of $4.6 million. McMahon died a little over a year ago at the age of 86. Many of us recall that he was Johnny Carson’s announcer on the Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992. His Mediterranean-style home features six bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms, and more than 7,000 square feet of living space.

Massachusetts has become the 13^th state to adopt a new law that requires all poisonous antifreeze and engine coolant to be bitter-tasting to discourage children and animals from ingesting it.

It was pointed out in a magazine article that General George McClellan of Civil War fame, General Douglas MacArthur of the Korean War, and General Stanley McChrystal, commander in Afghanistan, were all relieved of their duties by their president. So, it is a warning to anyone whose name starts in “Mac” to avoid rising above the rank of captain. Interestingly, the MAC who writes this column never made it above the rank of captain.

Finally, an interesting fact about August 2010: This August had five Sundays, five Mondays, and five Tuesdays, which only occurs once in 823 years!

Edward Everett Hale once said, “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something I can do.”

That is all for now folks; see you next week.

Joe DeFelice can be reached at manaboutcanton@aol.com.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=2954

Posted by Joe DeFelice on Sep 2 2010. Filed under Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.