Thank you, Mrs. Quinlan
It’s a little late and I apologize for that, but it was sad to read last week about the passing of Mrs. Betty Quinlan of Lawrence.
Quinlan, 90, was the widow of Green Bay Packers world champion Bill Quinlan, who passed away in 2015.
Having met Bill a handful of times, he was truly a legend in these parts. I only met Mrs. Quinlan once, and she struck me as Bill’s equal when it came to legendary people.
The meeting happened at the old Skip’s Hamburgers in Merrimac, probably 15 years or so ago. My son, Ollie, was 9 or 10, and the Quinlans were enjoying their dinner.
When I told Ollie that Bill was a former Green Bay Packer, he had to meet him. And Ollie was not the kind of kid, who was going to take no for an answer.
Betty was so nice to my son that day, welcoming him to their table. Bill signed a Packers team photo for Ollie, and we were off to our burgers and curly fries.
Her kindness was so special. It struck me as one of those days I would never forget.
Thank you again, Mrs. Quinlan.
North Shore Am coming up
Registrations are being accepted for one of the region’s summer golf staples, Bill Flynn’s North Shore Amateur Championship at Far Corner Golf Club on August 12 and 13.
Amateurs, who play out of golf courses on the North Shore and carry a USGA handicap of 8.0 or less are eligible for the event.
The entry fee for the 36-hole medal play tourney is $100. And the field will be capped at 72 players.
For more information, check out farcornergolf.com.
Wolff a Cape League All-Star
No luck in the recent Major League Baseball Draft for Andover’s Kyle Wolff.
The first baseman from Boston College did pick up some pretty good news this weekend, though, as he was named to represent the Harwich Mariners in the upcoming Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star Game.
The game, featuring an array of the nation’s top college baseball talent, will be held on Saturday at Red Wilson Field in Yarmouth. A home run derby will kick off at 2:30 p.m., followed by the game at 4 p.m.
Methuen’s Lowe now at PrepOne piece of new that slipped by me last month that’s worth tossing out there in the dog days of summer was that St. John’s Prep hired Corey Lowe to head up its boys basketball program.
A couple thoughts on that one:
First, Lowe replaces one of the true good guys in hoop coaching, Dave Clay.
Lowe, who lives in Methuen with his my wife Nicole and children Everly, Theo and Otto, has an interesting past when it comes to Valley hoop.
First and foremost, he starred on some MVC-killing teams back in the day with Anthony Gurley at Newton North.
Later, after a solid career at BU, he coached at Bradford Christian Academy, where he led their girls program to a 20-3 record and reaching the prep school Class C Final Four in 2023.
It will be interesting to see if he can revive the Prep program and torture the MVC clubs again, starting with the Commonwealth Motors Christmas Classic in December.