Paul Cataldo
Tom Coughlin and I go back to our old BC days, and he stops by occasionally for a glass of wine. When Tom says he'll be over at 7, you'd better be standing at the door at 6;55.... but he's a jolly enough drinking companion, and he has great insight into professional football.
Coach Coughlin and I were sharing a bottle of burgundy the other day, talking about discipline. The conversation soon came to the poor SOBs in that Martha's Vineyard fishing tournament that caught a true leviathan of a tiger shark- 1100 pounds- only to miss the contest deadline by 6 minutes.
For those of you who didn't grow up on a harbor or don't have The Discovery Channel, an 1100 tiger shark is a nasty thing to have in your local waters. If you were swimming around and this nightmare rolled up on you, you'd pretty much want to make your peace with whatever God/Gods you follow. The story I heard only listed the weight, but my people assure me that this porker goes about eleven or twelve feet, depending on the sex.
That's a Pontiac with teeth.... BIG teeth, maybe 3 inches long, serrated, with a curve unique to Tiger Sharks, and in many terrifying rows. You, your husband, and your oldest child could fit your heads into its' mouth at the same time. They eat by latching onto prey and tearing off great hunks of flesh with violent shaking motions. While more of a tropical fish, it isn't that unusual for them to be in New England waters. If you are less into science than I, let's just say that this is a shark that could indeed f**k you up.... probably quite badly.
Not the kind of thing you want to see coming at you while you're floating on a rubber raft, trying to forget about that rotten job back there in the city.....but it is PRECISELY the thing you want to see when you're trying to win $5000 or so in a local shark fishing derby.
It just took them a little while to boat the beast. They got back to Oak Bluffs a mere six minutes too late to claim the contest prize, which went to some dude who boated a "smaller" 9 foot Mako. Everyone was impressed with the catch, but deadlines are deadlines.
Fishing isn't an easy life, and while six minutes may not seem like a lot to you or me, it's life or death to a fisherman. Fall off the boat in December, and you'll be dead in six minutes. If the crew of the Castafarian were man (tough term to use- many fishing boats have women on the crews) enough to boat a tiger shark, they probably didn't complain that much. Ex-shark to the next shark....
Paul Cataldo
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