Super Bowl III

by Ian Lynch

Front (L to R): Linda Pivacek, Tom Young, Geoff Wood, Ian Lynch Rear: Cliff Bernzweig (honest, that's his chin), Carl Bernzweig, Tom Clay

So what does a Witchity do in the winter to stay wicked sharp for the World Series?  Compete in the Super Bowl, of course!  The Super Bowl of Birding is another competitive birding “big day,” only this one takes place the weekend before that other Super Bowl. The playing field is Essex County, Massachusetts and Rockingham County, New Hampshire.  Not only is this more like a half-marathon (it runs from 5 AM to 5 PM) but there is the added twist of every species having a specific point value.  Adding to the need for cunning strategizing is the fact that each top value species (5 points) has to be phoned in to the Joppa Flats Mass. Audubon Sanctuary with the first team to do so earning a 3-point bonus.  It is a different game, one that was irresistible from the start for us Witchities, not to mention that there is a home field advantage for erstwhile Witchity (and original captain) Tom Young and myself, who both lived in Essex County for many years.  So for each of the three years of the Super Bowl, Carl and Cliff Bernzweig have made the reverse trip that I make each May, coming to Massachusetts from New Jersey.  And since we have three local non-Witchities on this team, we decided that the winter plumaged team required a different nom de guerre, so for the Super Bowl we are the Wicked Pishahs.

Surprisingly, World Series wisdom has taken a while to get a grip on the Pishahs.  During Super Bowl I, we actually stopped at a fast food restaurant for lunch!  OK, well only two members went in for food, while a majority of the team remained in the parking lot (making any species countable by this game’s rules) to record the only Cedar Waxwings we saw that day.  The Pishahs finished fourth in our first outing despite our lackadaisical approach.  That all changed in Super Bowl II when sharp skills and a cunning plan netted a second place finish (and the Director’s Award) for the team.  With the grand prize that close in our sites we pushed ourselves to accept nothing less this year.  So with 86 species and 195 points (a Super Bowl record) the Wicked Pishahs were crowned champions of Super Bowl III and hoisted the Joppa Cup (well, we didn’t exactly “hoist” the award since it is topped by a Swarovski crystal sculpture of a Great Blue Heron that is perilously attached to the base).

National Public Radio’s sports show, Only a Game, made the right choice of teams to shadow for the Super Bowl, “embedding” journalist Michelle Seaton with us.  You can hear her report here  The story begins at 38 minutes, 50 seconds.  You can also read a stories about the event here  and   here.

Don’t tell the competition, but we have big plans for Super Bowl IV.  We believe that treating the Super Bowl with the same ruthless efficiency required in the World Series that we can top our totals from this year.  In the mean time we’ll just have to see if we can follow one winning effort with another come May in New Jersey.

6:37 PM - Saturday, February 4, 2006 - post comment