BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY MARCH 4, 2019) — Apropos of nothing but dipping from everything:

• Rico — Watching Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen, it occurred to THE PLANET that he looked and sounded like former Red Sox shortstop-3b Rico Petrocelli if you took about 25 years off Rico. We had the pleasure of knowing Rico back in our days as a baseball writer. If Cohen is anything like Rico, he’ll do okay on his road to redemption.
• #They Too — During the Cohen hearing, we got a chance to see the freshwomen in action, including Rashid Tlaib and Alexandria Ocascio-Cortez. They, along with the other ascendant, young (and youngish) women presently splitting the Democrats in two, “have come a long way, baby” in taking their place alongside the men. Forget the politics. Concentrate on the behaviors. They deserve equal rights. In this case, they’ve proven every bit as ambitious, power hungry, publicity seeking, and close-minded as the fellas. As for duplicity, pettiness, and plain nasty, they exceed their male counterparts.
• Shaken and Stirred — Every once in a while we get the “Hey, you look just like …” bit. In THE PLANET‘s case at this stage, we hear “Sean Connery.” In earlier years, we got Dick Cavett and George Carlin among others. Funny, because we think we look like us. Well, it’s now
  

  Sean Connery, left, looks like Dan Valenti. So think the Syracuse Crunch.

  official. At a recent hockey game in the recently remodeled War Memorial Arena in Syracuse, N.Y., involving the Syracuse Crunch (Triple A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning) and the Lavel Rocket (Montreal Canadiens), the camera caught us in the box and beamed our mug to a sold-out crowd. They went wild, of course. For the rest of the night, we endured an endless stream of Bond references. The recent multimillion dollar makeover of the arena — where back in the day we saw bands such as Queen nd Jethro Tull, singers such as Sinatra and Elvis — has the old barn in fantastic shape. Better sight lines, luxury boxes, and improved amenities. It exemplifies the incredible “renaissance” (to use a word familiar in Pittsfield, but with zero irony in the meaning) taking place all over town. Back to the War Memorial. Among the barn’s championship banners, we find one for the Syracuse Nationals, who won the NBA crown in 1955. Each game there, we encounter the ghosts of Red, Russell, Cousy, Heinson, Shayes, Wilt, Mikan, Robertson, Baylor, and more. It’s amazing to think a world title in one of the four majors was won there. Reminds us of one October at Hellenic College, at Celtics training camp. THE PLANET asked Red Auerbach about the toughest crowds back in the old NBA. “Syracuse,” he answered, without hesitation.

• Speaking of ‘Renaissance’ — President Trump wasn’t kidding when he said if peace can be achieved on the Korean peninsula, the DPRNK could enjoy a prosperous future. One thinks of post-WWII Japan and Germany or Vietnam after the U.S. pullout in 1975. These countries were left ruined. Today, they enjoy great affluence. The DPRNK would be starting from scratch. All the better, blank slate and all. With global markets and technology, the country’s rise to a halcyon tomorrow could have it there among Pacific Rim leaders. The greatest obstacle would be the country’s worship of the Kim dynasty. He’d have to admit he’s nothing but a man and his father didn’t shoot 37 with 11 holes-in-one the first time he ever handled a golf club.
• Political Wrongs Commission — For the way it has turned civil rights into partisanship and politics, Pittsfield’s Human Rights Commission should never have been revived. It foments the very racism and division it ostensibly fights. The HRC embodies and encapsulates all that is wrong with Pittsfield politics: favoritism, self-righteousness, vindictiveness,  victimization, insularity, close-mindedness. No one with a legitimate claim would go before this group, the worst city agency. That includes the Pittsfield School Committee. A decommissioning is in order. FYI, members are Antonia Buckley, Kathie Penna, Peter Marchetti, Sopheap Nhim, chair Drew Herzig, Jessica Christensen, and Marietta Rapetti Cawse. Both the clerk’s position and a membership remain vacant, which tells you all you need to know. The carpetbagging Herzig left California for Oregon in the late 2000s, booked Oregon for Pittsfield in 2016, walking out of a term as city councilor. In our book, that’s a quitter.

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“Hit ’em where they ain’t” — Wee Willie Keeler.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.

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