Oh, that and love.
There are many things my friends Steve “Dico” Dicomitis and his new wife Kristy (nee Kennedy) agree on, but the most important is that they want to spend the rest of their lives together.
The wedding parties dressed in the locker rooms. They even emerged from the big inflatable Griz helmet, smoke and all.
You see, the one other thing the couple really agrees on is that they love the Grizzlies. They have season tickets. They've followed the Griz to every corner of the United States. And it was that love that led to a very Grizzly marriage Friday night.
“It's the one team we can agree on,” said Kristy, whom I've known as a friend (and twice as a roommate) for nearly 20 years.
True enough. Kristy, a Yankees fan who can't resist shortstop Derek Jeter's flaming blue eyes, and Dico - a Bostonian with an accent so thick that talking to him makes you hungry for a bowl of “chowda” - drools with every Red Sox victory. And in case you don't know, there ain't no love between the Red Sox and the Yankees, the most storied rivalry in all of sports.
So what the heck are they doing together?
“Basically, this whole thing started with a bet,” said Dico.
That was four years ago at - of all places - a Great White concert at the Elbow Room. Dico was wearing (as always) a Red Sox cap, and the two made a very friendly wager as both baseball teams headed into the playoffs.
“Whoever goes the furthest in the playoffs, the loser has to buy the other dinner,” said Dico.
“He lost,” said Kristy.
“Yeah, I lost. But I won,” said Dico.
Awwwwwwww.
The two were engaged last March, and planned to marry in August 2008. That's next year.
Then Dico got a phone call from a friend at the Atlanta-based College Licensing Company, which regulates and licenses collegiate sports logos, including the Griz.
“They basically said, ‘How'd you like to bump your wedding up?' ” said Dico.
A whole year, in fact. Their wedding is the first in the company's new College Color Days Weddings series, which will visit a new campus every year and arrange a mascot-themed wedding.
“I said, ‘Let me talk to Kristy,' ” said Dico.
Kristy didn't want to at first, especially when the deal was that they were to get married in the stadium right before the Grizzlies' home opener.
“When they said that about the stadium, I said, ‘There's no way I'm getting married in front of 23,000 people,'” said Kristy. “I misunderstood.”
So Kristy agreed. And it helped that the CLC and UM largely paid for the wedding and let the couple decide on all the particulars.
Still, Kristy was a bit hesitant, but what could she do? She's in love with the big guy.
“I don't like the limelight,” she said. “I honestly never really envisioned how I'd like my marriage, because I pretty much figured I'd elope. This is far cry from anything close to eloping.”
The wedding was short and sweet, less than the length of a halftime. The couple kissed, was introduced as man and wife. They walked back down midfield as spouses to the Grizzly Fight Song.
Monte did a flip off the podium.
They'll be in the audience Saturday as the Grizzlies take on Southern Utah.
As newlyweds, they'll root for their Griz, the one team that they can agree to love together.
Just don't count on any Boston-New York conciliation as they share their new home.
“When we do the downstairs, it's will be maroon and silver - not Yankees and Red Sox,” said Kristy.
Reach Jamie Kelly at
523-5254 or at jkelly@missoulian.com
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