I guess it is far too easy, now, to take for granted this extraordinary franchise, these New England Patriots.  Our Pats face the Baltimore Ravens Sunday at Gillette Stadium. It is the sixth time in the past 11 years that the Patriots play in the American Football Conference championship game of the National Football League.  It is incredible. I mean, really, over the past 11 years, New England has three Super Bowl wins, and five Super Bowl appearances. And, let's face it – if a few plays had gone the other way, the Patriots could have won five, if not six, Super Bowls, during this period…

  On Dec. 28, I had a column in this space titled, “A Couple Quick Comebacks, Retorts, From Easton Annals.”  In the column I related two witty remarks that two Easton people made at different times and in different places. I thought for today's column I would relate another anecdote that involved Cornelius “Connie” Spillane, who was featured in the piece referenced above. The story was told to me by Connie’s nephew, Leo Kent, an Easton native and long-time resident. Leo was a 1935 graduate of OA, and a talented basketball player in high school.    To recap, Connie Spillane was a legendary …

  Here we go. Count me in on those who think the media is all out ridiculous in criticizing ESPN play by play announcer Brent Musburger for his nice and totally cool compliment on the looks of Katherine Webb, girlfriend of University of Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron, during the telecast of Monday night's national championship game between the Crimson Tide and Notre Dame.  Heck, I'm a Notre Dame fan, and I could be thankful for a distraction from what was going on on the field.  Here is what Brent Musburger – yes, he's 73 – said when the camera panned to the stands and took in a shot of …

This past Friday night, at the Oliver Ames High School home boys'basketball game, there was a moment of silence and a tribute held for a very special man.   That man was William "Bill" Mowatt, the number one OA Tiger fan of all time.  Bill Mowatt loved OA and he loved Easton, and he gave tremendously ofhimself to both institutions.  Mowatt, who lived in Easton since childhood, passed away two Saturdays ago at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.  He was 71 years old and had been battling lymphoma for 11 years. “He fought lymphoma well, and so many times he bounced back and refused …

  I saw this post, this powerful post.  The post appeared on Facebook, on Dec. 15; it was written by a woman who lives in Newtown, Conn., and who grew up in Easton. Here is her post: Please say some prayers for our town! We need them with the tragedies that have occurred here! This town is like Easton when we were growing up. Quaint and beautiful! Hard to believe this has happened!  The woman who made this post is Cheri (Lefort) Gillespie, a 1977 graduate of Oliver Ames High School. Cheri is one of four Lefort children who grew up on Baldwin Street. Cheri and her husband, Timothy, were …

Opinion This past weekend, the Wall Street Journal published the followng reflection on New Year's Day that Mark Twain wrote back in 1863:  New Year's Day – Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink, and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever. We shall also reflect …

  One of the joys in life is the fast comeback, the retort, the off-the-cuff remark, the improvised (“improv” in our modern lexicon) statement. Growing up in Easton, I was fortunate to have all around me quick witted and smart and wise people who could dish up all of this almost all the time. I love to tell how, especially when I was a freshman and sophomore at Boston College, I would engage and regale my schoolmates with Easton stories. Not difficult to relate entertaining stories when you grow up among so many entertaining characters and entertaining comments.  I shared in this space once …

  For today's column, I needed, of course, to do write one with a Christmas theme. To that end, I was playing with ideas yesterday, but still not sure where I was going.   Readers of this column know that I usually, but not always, tie the column to Easton. Then again, stalwart Easton folk believe that it all ties back to Easton, one way or another. So, last night I was at Buddy's Union Villa, and I stopped in front of a photo attached to the wall in the foyer of the entrance on the Unionville Playground side of the highly popular family restaurant.  When you walk in, it is to your right. It …

  One of the nice benefits of writing this column is that I can just kick back sometimes, and not have to do any heavy cerebral lifting, and not have to piece together a tight-fitting and cogent and unassailable argument, but rather just relate fun stories, missives, anecdotes, and remembrances from Easton of yesteryear.  And in doing this, I submit that this column serves a valuable purpose.  We will never slake our desire for nostalgia, for the aching of times past. During the holiday season, I suspect we feel that ache most acutely.  So, here is one story I had in my head tonight, from …

  I can't begin to imagine the level of pain and anguish of a parent who loses a child. It must be the most wicked and penetrating type of hurt. To have that hurt concentrated in the way it is now in Newtown, Conn. further tests understanding and comprehension.  A gunman kills 27 people – 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in the town, with this rampage following him shooting his mother at the home where he lived with her.  Maybe this loss of life and suffering is beyond an ability to understand and comprehend.  Predictably, there has been angry denunciation of our gun laws …

  Anyone who reads this column semi regularly has read here much about the Ames family.  I make no apology for writing about the family frequently. Because, let's face it, it fascinating, among the most accomplished in U.S. history, has strong roots here in Easton, and has given beyond generously to this community.  So when I arrive or come upon some interesting and valuable information about the Ames family, or a story about one of its members that I find engaging, I am inclined to share it here.  So, earlier this week, a good friend of mine emailed me this link to a PDF file of a superb …

  It would seem that most of the civilized world is far removed, and far more advanced, understanding, and caring than Sparta, the city-state in ancient Greece. Spartan culture, education, and training were primarily focused on building and sustaining a strong military.  When he was seven years old, a Spartan boy was taken from his family and commenced what would be about 11 years of intense physical and martial training and preparation for the life of a solider. This training and prep were exhausting, painful, demanding, and required a young man to be subject to extreme deprivation.  It …

  About a year ago now I wrote this column – a Christmas and holiday seasons column – and early this morning as I put together and wrote one of a series of Christmas/holiday seasons columns I intend to write over the next few weeks, I felt compelled to go back to that column. I felt compelled to go back to that column in which I highlighted and excerpt the following passage from Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay, Gifts, published in 1844:  Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only gift is a portion of thyself. Thou must bleed for me. Therefore the poet brings his poem; the …

  So this past Saturday night I was watching a show on a sports TV network – and the show was focused on “turkey” moments in recent sports history. You know, when athletes mess up, and do things that aren't so smart.  I mean, it was a hoot watching some of these mistakes. Like, for example, that pro football player running with the ball to the end zone, strutting and celebrating his impending touchdown, only to have a player on the other team tackle him before he made it to the goal line. Precious.  Also shown were football players who ran for what they were sure was a first down – and after …

  I guess it is all too easy to lament – but that doesn't mean that easy can synch with what is true and right and proper – that the holiday season has become one mashing of commercialism and fighting and clawing for Black Friday deals and getting first in line, or close to first in line, for the best purchase price for some huge whatever inch flat screen TV. Yeah, laugh at me – as well you should, maybe – that I still hold hands with and hold on to a nostalgia of the holiday and Christmas season that is tied to traditions and festivities that could and were experienced by all – and which …

  In the late 1980s, I worked at a prefect for a school year at Georgetown Preparatory School, an international resident-day college prep school that is the oldest institution of Jesuit learning in the New World. Georgetown University would grow out of Georgetown Prep.  What is a prefect? Well, it something of a resident assistant who helps out with the students in the areas of discipline, academics, and recreation. As a recent graduate of Boston College – a Jesuit school of higher learning – it was a superb and enriching year for me.  So, anyway, during that school year I reported to the …

  On May 4, 1979, Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister of Great Britain. Prime Minister Thatcher would become one of the great leaders of the 20th century, and would be known as the “Iron Lady.” Margaret Thatcher's political mentor was her father. And, in an interview on the evening of May 4, 1979, following her historic victory, Ms. Thatcher said, “Well, of course, I just owe almost everything to my own father. I really do. He brought me up to believe all the things that I do believe and they're just the values on which I've fought the election. And it's passionately interesting for …

  Readers of this column know that in keeping it “Easton centric,” I sometimes tether a line from Easton to places far, far away from Easton. Sometimes that tethering from the Shovel Town extends overseas.  So it is that in this day of unrest in the Middle East, I got to thinking about my childhood friend, Marti Robin Barg – now Marti Robin (Barg) Winston – who lived on Howard Street in South Easton from the ages of three until she was 16, and attended Easton Public Schools from elementary grades until Oliver Ames High School. When Marti was 16 years old, the Bargs moved to Brockton. Marti …

  So, OK, I have to admit to being a bit humbled and chastened here, for this is a Muscato's Musings column that should have been written a couple years ago. I mean, really, when you think of “Old School” and nostalgic and beyond nostalgic Easton, can we do any better than McMenamy's Hamburger House? No, we can't.  Of course I have mentioned McMenamy's Hamburger House in my columns, but didn't feature it. Until today.  McMenamy's Hamburger House has the best burgers (charbroiled or grilled, however you like them) anywhere. Nostalgic “ambiance” that is unmatched. Comfort food. Everything about…

 I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God. Oath of Enlistment into the U.S. Armed Forces  (As a prelude to today’s column, I am compelled to note that my reason for placing the Oath of Enlistment above is because of a post that my…