WIlson: New Haven politico-prognosticators’ MVP choice.
Mike Carter doesn’t pick sides in football. But he does have a prediction for Super Bowl Sunday.
Carter, who by day works as New Haven government’s chief administrative officer, knows his football. On weekends in the fall, he referees NCAA games; he has done that for 20 years. He also works preseason scrimmages for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens and Washington Redskins.
So he needs to stay impartial. (Just as he does as the top city official in charge of snow-plowing, street-sweeping, garbage pick-up, police and fire: “You have to work within the rules and get everybody to see the same thing, be on the same wavelength. You’ve got to do what’s important and ignore small stuff that interferes.”) Even though he does have a reason to lean toward the Seahawks: “I was a classmate of Russell Wilson’s dad at Dartmouth College.”
As Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIX approaches, Carter has an unusual “team” he favors: “I“m a football official, so I’m going to root for the officials.”
He does think he knows who’ll win, and who’ll emerge as the game’s most valuable player. He weighed in on those questions along with some other high-ranking officials. Following are their predictions; come Monday we’ll know which ones know football as well as they know local government and politics.
Mike Carter, City of New Haven Chief Administrative Officer: Seattle by 3; Russell Wilson.
State Sen. Martin Looney: Seattle by 3; Russell Wilson.
State Rep. Pat Dillon: New England by 6; Tom Brady.
Democratic Town Chairman Vincent Mauro Jr.: New England by 3; Robert Gronkowski.
Mayor Toni Harp: Seattle by 10; Russell Wilson.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy: New England by 3; Tom Brady.
Housing Authority Executive Director Karen DuBois-Walton: Seattle by 10; Marshawn Lynch.
State Rep. Themis Klarides: Seatte by 10; Marshawn Lynch.