Your Politicians Aren’t Just Some Fair-Weather Bruins Fans, Okay?
Boston’s elected officials and candidates would like you to know that they had a great time watching the Bruins stunning win last night, thank you very much. That’s because they enjoy doing real things like watching sports, playing sports, speaking knowledgeably about sports, and keeping their names far away from sentences that include the words “Martha Coakley.”
With that in mind, many of our candidates for office took to their Twitter feeds to do a little cheering for the Bruins, who (in case you took a strong sleeping pill around 8 p.m. last night) scored two goals in the final two minutes of Game 7 against the Maple Leafs to tie the game before snagging a win in overtime. It wasn’t surprising to see politicians talking about such a miraculous event along with the rest of the internet. Twitter was basically rioting in the streets—if it were possible to flip cars and burn tires within the confines of a social network, Boston would have found a way. But what is funny is how they all tried to sneak in one specific moment from the game to prove they’re real fans, not poseurs like, oh say … Mayor Menino or Ted Kennedy or John Kerry.
Why, just look how much specific advice our lieutenant governor had for the team as they headed into overtime.
Love Lucic’s fight. Only thing for Claude Julien to say in locker room is keep shooting the damn puck ! #Bruins #mapoli
— Tim Murray (@TimMurray_MA) May 14, 2013
(The best part of that tweet is that Murray added a #mapoli hashtag … because Massachusetts politics apparently includes lockerroom politics.)
And while you might know a lot about tonight’s game, you got to get up pretty early in the 1970s to one-up Treasurer Steve Grossman.
Might be the most fun i’ve had watching the @nhlbruins win since my father and I saw Bobby Orr & the team win the Stanley Cup in 1970!
— Steve Grossman (@SteveGrossmanMA) May 14, 2013
While Boston’s Mayoral candidates will probably take many things from Menino’s playbook, the Mayor’s ability to make a buffoon of himself while talking sports is probably not one of them. Don’t try to tell Rob Consalvo that this game ended in three periods.
Home in time for OT! Go #Bruins!
— Rob Consalvo (@RobConsalvo) May 14, 2013
Dan Conley knows just which player to name-check.
Awesome game! Great goal by Patrice Bergeron! #gobruins — Daniel F. Conley (@DanFConley) May 14, 2013
And in the Senate race, where Martha Coakley’s trademark sports gaffes loom large—so large that Elizabeth Warren had to pretend she actually had an opinion on Bobby Valentine back in the fall—Gabriel Gomez won’t have anyone doubting his enthusiasm.
Yes! Congrats to our @nhlbruins on huge win in OT! #BostonStrong — Gabriel Gomez (@GomezForMA) May 14, 2013
That said, if adding a dash of specificity to your Bruins tweet is the game, Ed Markey is certainly not the winner. He laid down this trite little bite of knowledge before the game.
It all comes down to game 7 tonight. Trademark teamwork & character will win it for the @nhlbruins. Let’s go #Bruins, beat the #Leafs!
— Ed Markey (@EdMarkey) May 13, 2013
After the big win? Silence. But then, nor is Markey the loser. Here’s Joe Kennedy III:
Wow. Go #Bruins! — Rep. Joe Kennedy III (@RepJoeKennedy) May 14, 2013
Which isn’t fair to Joe (who probably knows he has nothing to prove.) Plenty of politicians, including the big dogs like Governor Patrick and Menino himself, kept quiet. Don’t they know this was a #mapoli event?
