THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, July 21, 2023 Page 3 ~ Malden Musings ~ “Steve Freker...said no one” By Peter Levine W ho knew Steve Freker was such a big softie!? Behind that rough, tough exterior lies a heart at least as big as Pine Banks Park! Steve wears many hats within the city he loves so much, and one of them happens to be, accomplished journalist. He almost single-handedly kept the Malden Evening News alive in its later years and now toils for the paper you are currently reading. Freck was a one man show at the MEN, reporting on everything from sports to politics, even letting this old hack grace the pages on occasion. Here I present to you a condensed article he wrote under the banner “Inside Information by The Editor,” which appeared in 2015. It is brilliant, like much of his work over the decades. In this he blends his love of the holiday season with clever, observational-type humor to create a column that John O’Brien would be proud of. I present a small portion of the worst column I have ever read...said no one! • A lot of people have really gone out of their way this holiday season to let me into parking spots, get in front of them in traffi c jams and overall, show some outstanding Christmas and holiday spirit out there on the roads...said no one. • To borrow an oft-used phrase from the old Pete Carroll (Patriots Era), I am so jacked and pumped for the Red Sox season to begin, especially with the remarkable way the Sox have rebuilt the pitching staff ... said no one. • The seats at Fenway are wicked comfortable...said no one. • There really are not enough traffi c lights in Malden. They should do a traffi c study and perhaps add some lights to some more intersections around the city...said no one. • Can they please stop showing all those Christmas specials like “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and the original animated “How the Grinch Stole Christmas?” They’re 50 years old! We’re getting sick of them...said no one. • What did you say? You think we are perilously close to the point in human history where, instead of fi lling in time away from “real life” with iPhone and computer action, it’s the other way around, that “real life” is the distraction? No way. You are dead wrong...said no one. • Jimmy Fallon didn’t have any decent guests at all on his show this week...said no one. • They should tear down Fenway Park and build one of those 60,000seat megaplex baseball stadiums in its stead; it’s long overdue...said no one. • The Christmas/holiday pageant/assemblies at lots of our local schools should be discontinued, since they are too long and too ANGELO’S A FULL SERVICE 1978-2023 Celebrating 45 Years in Business! s! Regular Unleaded $3.359 MidUnleaded $3.739 Super $3.989 Diesel Fuel $3.739 The Freker family celebrating yet another Hall of Fame induction for brother Steve, pictured from left to right: Karen, Gary, Steve, Jack and Mike. old-fashioned...said no one. That was fun, wasn’t it?! I’m gonna give it a try.... • Red Sox fi rst baseman Triston Casas exhibits humility beyond his years and, when all is said and done, may be considered the best defensive first baseman since George “Boomer” Scott...said no one. • The Six Twenty-One Tavern & Grille on Broadway serves bad food, and nobody ever goes there...said no one. • Parents of teenage girls throughout New England were overjoyed that Taylor Swift decided to play multiple shows at Gillette Stadium and all agreed that tickets were moderately priced...said no one. • Fellsmere Pond aka The Rez has the cleanest and best smelling water on the North Shore...said no one. • The Saint Rocco Feast in Edgeworth on the second weekend of August for the past 93 years is boring with really awful food and entertainment...said no one. • As I walk around the city, I search and search, but cannot fi nd one (Fireball) nip bottle on the side of the road...said no one. • Nobody misses Steve Bouley, Jimmy Palermo, Brendan Duff y, Karen Anderson, Richie Cremone, John Coughlin, Walter Mullaney, Sean Lucey, Bill Mini, Mac Singleton, Jimmy Damiano, Hank & Donna Pitts, Donny Brunelli and Phil Longo…said (absolutely) no one. • Malden Square on a Friday night is a sea of tranquility where FedEx trucks don’t park on sidewalks, Uber drivers don’t double-park on Pleasant Street and motorists don’t make 12-point turns trying to pull into a parking space...said no one. It is said in “Malden Musings”... • Did you know that former Maldonian Barry Alman (Amerige Park hoopster now a San Diego transplant, whom I wrote about a couple weeks back) was an extra in the 1989 movie “K-9,” with Jim Belushi. According to Barry they fi lmed for three days in Barrio Logan (San Diego) and he can be seen on screen, solo, in the scene where Belushi rents a car and drives into the crack house across the street. Thanks for the Malden trivia, Barry! • This is one of the (many) reasons I love Malden so much! Steve MUSINGS| SEE PAGE 14 Heating Oil at the Pump $4.759 $3.15 9 DEF HEATING OI 24-Hour Burner Service Call for Current Price! (125—gallon minimum) DEF Available by Pump! Open an account and order online at: www.angelosoil.com (781) 231-3500 (781) 231-3003 367 LINCOLN AVE • SAUGUS Hours. Mon.-Wed. 6AM - 6PM / Thurs. & Fri. 6AM - 7PM / Sat. 7AM / Sun. 9AM-5PM www.eight10barandgrille.com OPEN DAILY FOR DINNER AT 4 PM. 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