David Stern is the commissioner of the NBA. But apparently, Boston mayor Thomas Menino thinks the commissioner is "Donald Sterns."
Menino mispronounced the name of another prominent sports figure on Wednesday, this time in a ceremony at the Tobin Community Center.
The mayor referred to Stern as "Donald Sterns" when thanking him in a speech.
This is not the first time that Menino has had a slip of the tongue when referring to sports figures in his speeches. Just last month at the dedication of a Bobby Orr statue outside the TD Garden, he mixed up Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek and former Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri, saying the Red Sox’ backstop kicked the Pats to a Super Bowl XXXVI victory.
That wasn’t Menino’s only mistake of the day, either, as he referred to Orr’s goal in the 1970 Stanley Cup Final as "ionic."
Menino is just falling in line with Boston politicians who have given us many gems over the years. John Kerry once urged the Red Sox to sign "Manny Ortiz," and the late Ted Kennedy praised controversial sluggers "Mike McGwire and Sammy Sooser."
Hopefully, for the mayor’s sake, he doesn’t have to tackle a name like David Krejci or Marco Scutaro anytime soon.
