Pine Nuts – Joe Montana

Glancing back upon my ten years of living on the Island of Maui, the best party I can remember was thrown by a Russian guy, Rodonovik.  And here’s how it came to be…

The 1981 San Francisco Forty Niners made it to the Super Bowl, and I thought it might be fun to have a “Forty Niner Faithful” party to celebrate the occasion and watch the game together on somebody’s TV. So I announced on my morning radio show that I would be taking one representative from the first twelve ethnic groups to call in. Each representative could then bring one guest and a hot dish from his former homeland… 

As the names came rolling in, I dropped them into a hat: Nagamini, Macadangdang, Hoopii, Koo….  

When we had a dozen faithful I cut it off, and there were some unhappy listeners who let me know they were not going to invite me to their next party.

I mixed our twelve names in a hat and pulled out that lucky person to be honored with hosting the Niner Party at their home: “Rodonovik!”

On Super Sunday here we came, an even dozen 49er faithful of differing ethnic backgrounds with guests and a hot dish from their homeland, all arriving at Rodonovik’s in Kihei at the same time!  As none of us knew each other, we wore name tags, and I had a Niner jersey made up that said, “Hi, I’m Joe Montana.”

Well, you never saw such confusion in the kitchen, but the ladies got it all worked out and pretty soon we were seated in the patio area with plenty to eat and drink. Rodonovik had mounted TV’s near the ceiling at both ends of the deck. It was a heartwarming sight.

During the course of the game we toasted and cheered with each Forty Niner score, and during the second half, we took to toasting and cheering on first downs.

When the game was over, and we had won, we went out on the town as one. The ladies were designated drivers, and we were a sight for sore eyes, the most diverse looking gang ever to walk into a Maui bar arm in arm!  And because my shirt said, “Hi, I’m Joe Montana,” I was the happy recipient of a few gifted beers. You never saw a more convivial bunch than what we were on that Super Sunday…

Fast forwarding, on my birthday that year I took a call live on the air and heard, “This is Joe Montana, I want to wish McAvoy a happy birthday.”

“Oh, sure!” I demurred, “This is one of my buddies from Rodonovik’s party, I just know it!  Besides, I’m Joe Montana.”

“Yeah, I heard about your shirt…”

It was Joe Montana, and I was reduced to an awkward teenager. 

“Joe!  You’re the greatest!”

It’s embarrassing when your hero is younger than you are, but it’s quite alright when that hero is Joe Montana…

Audio: https://open.spotify.com/show/7Fhv4PrH1UuwlhbnTT23zO