Writing on the wall has Red Sox
reversing the curse
By Beth Teitell
Thursday, October 2, 2003
For years now, no one's quite sure how long,
a graffiti artist and the state agency that maintains Storrow Drive have been
playing a cat-and-mouse game over a sign posted on an arch of the Longfellow
Bridge that alerts westbound Storrow motorists to an upcoming ``Reverse Curve.''
Well, at least that's what the sign says when the Department of Conservation and Recreation is winning.
When the graffiti artist's ahead, it reads: ``Reverse the Curse,'' with a little hand-painted caret pointing up to the word ``the,'' and the letter ``v'' morphed into an ``s.''
Although undoing the fan's alleged ``vandalism'' is not an easy job - a maintenance person has to be lowered from the bridge at a time when the center lane of Storrow Drive is closed to traffic and the weather's warm enough - DCR spokesman Felix Browne says it's worth the effort for reasons of ``public safety'' to ``indicate to motorists that there is an unusual curve coming up and they might want to slow down or pay extra attention.''
Perhaps, but then again, Browne, an admitted ``fair-weather fan'' did use the word ``vandalism'' to describe what actually could be construed as a legitimate attempt to increase public safety.
Yes, a ``reverse'' - or ``s'' - curve poses hazards, but what about the countless lives ruined by a losing streak that's extended for 85 years and threatens to claim new victims every day?
I put the question to Bill McKinney, an acting director of the DCR and more importantly, an enormous Sox fan.
``We don't encourage graffiti,'' he said, ``but (removing it from this sign) is not high on our priority list. People can still see the `Reverse Curve' '' even when the sign's been altered.''
After issuing a few more obligatory public-safety proclamations, McKinney admitted he thought the curse might do more harm than the curves in the road, particularly on a day like today, when the motorists of Red Sox Nation are exhausted from watching the late-night series opener on the West Coast.
``Sleepy drivers could be more dangerous than the curve,'' he said.
McKinney, who predicted the Sox will take the series with the Oakland A's in four games and then go on to beat New York, said that despite his feelings as a fan, the agency would prosecute the graffitist if it caught him or her.
But I wonder if that would be worth the time and expense on the DCR's part? ``After all,'' I asked McKinney, ``what are the chances the state could find 12 jurors willing to convict the Reverse the Curse Graffiti Artist?
``That's a good question,'' he said, adding once the Sox ``win'' the World Series this October, the sign will be repainted - for the final time.
