On Pan Mass ride - lots of info

[karynnj]

Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown Dismiss Political Differences, Saddle Up for 110 Mile Ride to Raise Money for Cancer Research

31st Annual PMC is Aug. 7 & 8

STURBRIDGE, Mass. (August 6, 2010) — Among the 5,100 cyclists who will begin their Pan-Massachusetts Challenge trek on Saturday at sunrise will be two very familiar Massachusetts politicians who most often meet on opposites sides of the aisle. But Sens. John Kerry and Scott Brown will put their political differences aside, suit up in spandex and bike 110 miles from Sturbridge to Bourne on first of the two-day event to raise money for cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through its Jimmy Fund.

Senator Brown is riding in honor of 27-year PMC rider and retired Mass. Supreme Court Justice, Samuel Zoll, who was diagnosed this past spring with cancer of the gallbladder. Brown tells the story that Judge Zoll gave him a second chance when he was a juvenile offender some 35 years ago. Senator Kerry is a seven-time PMC cyclist who is also a survivor of prostate cancer and whose wife, Teresa Heinz, is currently being treated for cancer. This week, Vicki Kennedy, widow of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, sent an email to Kerry supporters seeking contributions to his PMC fundraising effort in her husband’s memory.

On Friday, Aug. 6, Senator Brown’s daughter, Ayla Brown, who was a semi-finalist on “American Idol,” and is now a correspondent on the “CBS Early Show,” will sing at the PMC’s opening ceremony. The show is being produced by NECN and will air live from 7 to 7:30 p.m. Riding with the senators will be PMC Founder and Executive Director, Billy Starr, who has ridden each of the PMC’s 31 years; NECN’s gourmet producer Jenny Johnson and weather gal Danielle Niles; WBZ-TV’s David Wade; WEEI’s Gerry Callahan; Boston Bruins announcer Jack Edwards; Miami Dolphins CEO Mike Dee; wife of Red Sox President and CEO Larry Lucchino, Stacey Lucchino will head up the Red Sox Team 9, on which David Ortiz’s wife, Tiffany, will ride with Sue Farrell, wife of Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell. Riding on the Boston Bruins Team are former players Bob Sweeney, Frank Simonetti, Shawn McEachern and Gary Doak. Jen Andruzzi, wife of former New England Patriots Player, Joe Andruzzi will ride, as will professional cyclist and Tour de France stage winner, Magnus Backstedt, who is also a survivor of melanoma and whose sister is being treated for breast cancer.

http://panmasschallenge.wordpress.com/

There's a link for Vickie's letter. I wonder if all the wingers that mocked Kerry's cycling spandex will be consistent when they see that Brown is dressed similarly.

[karynnj]

1. The link to Kerry's profile appears not to work there

(It did yesterday)

[Luftmensch067]

3. I don't like it that you can't pull up JK's donations page right now!

What if people want to make last-minute donations!?

[wisteria]

4. I had to go directly to the site and chose his name so that he would get credit..

Is Brown's working?

[karynnj]

6. yes

The link not working is actually on their site.

[Luftmensch067]

7. I just called in and reported it to the PMC number

The woman seemed very concerned and said she'd look into it, maybe it was overloaded. Impressive that I got a real person right away and she seemed anxious to fix it!

[karynnj]

9. Much better response than I had - as it is important they get the donations

It is impressive that they have a real person there - I bet it gets fixed really quickly.

[karynnj]

11. Thanks to you it is fixed

Not to mention that Kerry's amount raised for 2010 is $105,169.69 (This actually compares well with $133,933.22 for 2008 in a better economy shortly after Kennedy's diagnosis. (In 2006, the first time (I think) he sent it to his list it was $53,301.49 and the next year was half of that. )

Given that number, I can see why the person you spoke to was concerned.

Brown is still at $4,000 - likely meaning he made little attempt to raise money.

[Luftmensch067]

13. Hooray!

Thanks to you for letting us know it was broken! I am so excited that this is his second best fundraising year so far!

[wisteria]

2. I doubt it.

And,how come Brown is noted before Kerry? Oh, and don't get me started on his daughter's interesting media job and the plug for her singing.
It will be interesting to see who raises more money. Repubs aren't to big on the giving to charity part.

[karynnj]

5. I noticed that, but they put Kerry first in the title

Kerry's link no longer seems to work. It did yesterday - because I contributed a little from the JohnKerry.com link into it. But on the Brown page - which I looked at to see if all the links were broken - he had raised $4000. I doubt he sent emails as Kerry did. (I wonder if Kerry's yacht problem will hurt his ability to raise money here.)

It might be that the personal story of the man that Brown is running for - and their connection is less known. Apparently he was a judge before whom Brown appeared when he was young and apparently a juvenile delinquent.

[wisteria]

16. I am sorry, I can't resist-Brown is still a juvenile and he is delinquent. n/t

[ProSense]

8. Speaking of Scott Brown

Bill Press smacked him down good

[karynnj]

10. I saw that - I can't believe how the MA papers are still letting him

be seen as a man of the people - and not really calling him on the bad votes.

[wisteria]

17. Or contridictory statements like he has made on Kagan. n/t

[ProSense]

12. Way OT, but

this doesn't happen often (recognition from an unlikely source)


Yesterday, I posted a piece about this here




edited word

[Luftmensch067]

14. Man, I don't put a toe outside this group unless someone here posts something

But when I do, I see that there are some seriously clueless people out there!

[Luftmensch067]

15. NECN video coverage of kickoff event

here: http://www.necn.com/08/06/10/PMC-Kickoff-Bipartisan-pedaling/landing.html?blockID=285354&feedID=4215

Scott Brown is all class here -- what a wit! But JK knocks him down a few and he's left looking like the interloper he is. Cannot wait to see him GONE from the public arena.

[wisteria]

18. That was nice-except for the unnececcessary "old" comments from Brown. Thanks for posting it. n/t

[Luftmensch067]

19. As I said; "all class" -- NOT!

Brown looks like a total boob here.

[karynnj]

25. Brown was worse in the Boston Herald

Brown, whose daughter Ayla performed at the event’s opening ceremonies in Sturbridge last night, was quoted as saying earlier this week that he is sure Kerry will keep up “for the first couple of miles.”

This is Kerry’s seventh time riding. His wife, Teresa, is undergoing treatment for cancer.

“The bottom line is that riding 110 miles is humbling,” he said. “Our blood, sweat and tears are nothing at all compared to what cancer survivors have gone through. . . . God willing I’ll be able to ride it again for many years.

http://news.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view/20100807scott_brown_john_kerry_bridge_gaps_in_pan-mass_challenge/srvc=home&position=also

[wisteria]

26. I sense a theme here-young versus old. But, it could just be a joke between them. n/t

[ObamaKerryDem]

27. I'm sorry, but what an ass Brown is!

Seriously, how damn rude! He'd better hope he looks even half as good or has even half the energy JK does in about 15 years or so. Let alone still be a Senator or hold office in that long or as long as JK has (I sure hope not! I hope he's voted out in 2 years).. (not to sound shallow, but since Brown invited the topic with his snarkiness, I happen to think JK looks better, even despite the age difference. But regardless, JK is the better Senator, hands down).

Can't stand Brown..or the Herald. I wish JK well on the ride, though. What a great and deserving cause.

[karynnj]

29. I agree with you on all counts

Brown already looks like he has had some serious hair loss - ao, he will not have Kerry's hair in 16 years! Not even close. He always looks like a large grade school kid next to Kerry. Definately a gravitas shortage!

[karynnj]

22. In politics something can be said for setting expectations

Here, Kerry set the expectation that Brown, 16 years younger will beat him. Brown mentioning Kerry's age - actually in a pretty flattering way - essentially gives Kerry an excuse if Brown beats him. However, if Kerry manages to get a better time, Brown's comment looks pathetic.

In addition, it was only Kerry, who got to the serious issue this is about - fighting cancer. Brown seemed to ignore that and oddly seemed almost tongue tied.

This is a nice video.

[MBS]

21. wow, Brown is such a doofus

love those bow-legs of his, too :evilgrin:

JK's comments were excellent: serious and witty, too

[MBS]

20. nice Globe story on JK re Pan Mass in "metro" section today

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/08/07/for_kerry_ride_challenge_is_personal/

I loved Cam Kerry's statement about his brother,which I've highlighted in bold below. Yeah, that's my senator, alright! :)


Senator John Kerry is set to participate in his seventh Pan Mass Challenge, a 110-mile bicycle ride to raise money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. (Gerald Herbert/Associated Press/File)

FOR KERRY, CHALLENGE IS PERSONAL
Kennedy’s memory, wife’s illness help fuel senator’s cancer ride

By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff | August 7, 2010

WASHINGTON — It was nearly one year ago that Senator John Kerry witnessed the final days of his friend and colleague, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, as the legendary lawmaker fought a losing battle with brain cancer. Kerry himself was diagnosed eight years ago with prostate cancer, a disease that killed his father.
. . .

It will be Kerry’s seventh such ride for the program, and among fellow riders will be his occasional training partner, Scott Brown, the Massachusetts Republican.

But this year will be different, Kerry said, because of the connections of two women: Victoria Reggie Kennedy, who has sent appeals across the country for people to sponsor Kerry’s ride in memory of her husband, and Kerry’s wife, Teresa, who has been fighting breast cancer.
. . .

With Teresa’s fight and the memory of Senator Kennedy in mind, the 66-year old Massachusetts senator, who has two artificial hips, has been rising before dawn in the nation’s capital, saddling his bike for a grueling training regimen to prepare for the bike-a-thon for cancer research. He also hopes his ride brings attention to what he calls environmental causes of cancer, such as toxins in the air and water.
. ...

time, Teresa Heinz Kerry urged women to get regular mammograms, a test she said detected her cancer early.

His wife, the senator said, is doing well after surgery and radiation treatments for breast cancer, and the couple are both proponents of early diagnosis.

Some of Kerry’s closest friends said Kerry rarely discusses his own struggles with cancer, although he did address it publicly during his 2004 campaign.

“He’s never mentioned it to me once, and we go back decades,’’ said US Representative William D. Delahunt, Democrat of Quincy. The bike ride, said Delahunt, “is his way of expressing concern, to express commitment, to express his feelings.’’

Chris Greeley, a former staff member and friend of the senator’s for nearly 30 years, recalled how he was cheering on his wife during a Waltham breast cancer walk-a-thon recently when he heard Kerry’s voice, from a bike, yell out a hello.

Biking has long been a kind of therapy for Kerry, whom friends describe as perpetually in motion, even in a Senate chamber that seems to slog along at a slow, partisan pace of late.

He travels with his bike, taking it along on his 2004 presidential campaign and even making time for a long excursion at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in 2008. Staff members say that despite his busy Senate schedule, he insists on carving out time for rides.

“John’s only got one intensity level, all out,’’ Cameron Kerry, the senator’s brother and riding partner, said in an interview.

. . . .
Senator Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who survived prostate cancer last year, said Kennedy had once told him about Kerry riding through torrential rains to complete a ride from Boston to Hyannis.

. . .

[karynnj]

23. Great article - thank you for posting

I love that quote as well. I hope he has a good ride.

[karynnj]

24. The PanMass blog has a really nice photo of Brown and Kerry

&sref=http%3A%2F%2Fpanmasschallenge.wordpress.com%2F

Here is the blog's link - http://panmasschallenge.wordpress.com/

Brown's smile looks a bit forced.

[YvonneCa]

28. Easy to see who the victor is...

...there... :7

[karynnj]

30. Team Kerry came in 18th, 19th, 20th and 21th acording to a post on Facebook

by Roger Lau. Obviously good riders. (I wonder if JK were one of these - it doesn't say if this was the whole team)

[karynnj]

31. Nice photo of Kerry with his hand on his heart during the playing of the national anthem

From the Boston Herald of all places - Note the lesser Senator in the background.

[Luftmensch067]

32. Very nice photo

Thank you for posting.