That was our Speaker of the House, Robert A. DeLeo, attired in a Patriots Super Bowl hoodie and hat, making a donation of T-shirts to all the players Saturday in the Winthrop Parks and Recreation Youth Basketball Clinic at the Cummings Elementary School. The Speaker’s support of all youth and high school teams in the town is well-known to parents, coaches, and those who run the boosters’Â organizations. He hosts an annual team dinner for the football team, is a frequent attendee at WHS games, and is always boasting about Winthrop’s athletic success to his colleagues in the House of Representatives.
The Speaker told us that he is looking forward to following the basketball and hockey teams in the upcoming State Tournament. Who can ever forget the Speaker of the House sitting in the front row at the TD Garden rooting on former coach Dave Brown’s Vikings in the state championship game? He may be the most powerful Democrat in state government and have responsibilities state-wide, but the Speaker’s heart is in Winthrop and his favorite teams are the Vikings — even on Thanksgiving morning.