Boswell Rides Again (MAO of the Week for 9-21)

We thought we might have lost him in those pre-season days of August, but Tom Boswell, T-Boz, has come home in a big way, now pulling down his third Manny Acta Optimist of the Week award. Even the award’s own namesake, he who embraces ‘Tism above all others, has not (yet) received such a tremendous honor.

Boswell truly caught our attention early this week with a call for a September celebration. A celebration for a baseball team that did not lose 120 games by a stunningly wide margin. It was perhaps the biggest step on T-Boz’s return to the loving of optimism he had seemingly shunned a month previous.

He followed up this minor masterpiece with an exhortation to enjoy the 2-0 ride the Skins are giving us. Compiling reasons for optimism in the same manner Rocky McIntosh and Area 51 are compiling memorable defensive plays, Boz doubles the ‘Tism by simultaneously dismissing any slight negatives that may be attempting to nag the faithful.

Not content to leave it at that positive note, however, he took things even a step further with his heartfelt (if, at times, overly fawning) tribute to The Bobby, RFK Stadium. While we at the DCO may be a tad too young to remember such things as a victory over the Cowboys (curses upon them) in the 1972 NFC Championship game, we can remember grand ‘Tism-filled spectacles such as muddy domination of Jerry-Glanville-and-MC-Hammer-backed Falcons teams en-route to Super Bowl glory and the true definition of home-field-advantage in seat-bouncing taunts of “we want Dallas” (curses upon them). Throw in an HFS-tival or two, and there are some fine childhood and high school memories.

It was a touching (if, again, perhaps excessively gushing) tribute to a stadium that, much like the baseball (and sometimes soccer) team that resides in it, has been slammed far too much these past three years.

It will be a busy weekend for DCO. Specifically, a busy Sunday. The DC Optimist will be in attendance at the Nationals’ last home game at RFK, hoping to track down Man Act for some desperate last-minute ‘Tism nuggets. Just a few hours later, Bobtimist Prime will grace the parking lots of FedEx Field, preparing to watch Eli Manning (continue to) do his best Ryan Leaf impression. Not a bad way to spend the day.