Eleven-year Baltimore Blast veteran Giuliano Celenza announced his retirement today. (Photo courtesy of the Baltimore Blast)
Hashmark-fail isn’t for Giuls, it’s for me. Just so you know.
You see, today I was mostly useless. And by “mostly,” I mean “100 percent.” I had this big feature planned for announcing Giuliano Celenza’s retirement, and unfortunately, it will have to wait, because…well…I suck. And there aren’t enough hours in the day (i.e. I’m getting really sleepy really fast…yes, I’m an old lady like that). I plan to deliver tomorrow. (In the meantime, tide yourself over by trying to find a Celenza-related joke I slipped in a long time ago here. Staci Wolfson, making herself laugh since 1985.)
But for now I’ll say this. I’m sad. I know, right? As if you guys care about my random thoughts and complaints about being a lazy #fail. But you’re sad too because we’ll all miss the little pitbull in the No. 4 jersey.
A native of Highlandtown, Celenza turned down a chance to play for the Clemson Tigers and instead became a local star for Pete Caringi and the UMBC Retrievers, alongside former Blast captain P.J. Wakefield and current long-time defender Billy Nelson.
And the Blast and their fans were the ultimate beneficiaries of Celenza’s reluctance to leave his mother’s home cooking (I’m not making that up).
Over the course of his career, Celenza has scored 424 points, 26 in the 15 games played so far this season.
Not to mention five championships.
Celenza says he hopes to top his career off with a championship win this season, and the first step toward that will be Friday night as the Blast take on the Chicago Riot. Should the Blast come away with a win, they will have secured the regular season title and homefield advantage for the championship game, which will take place March 25 at 1st Mariner Arena if the Blast host it.
If that’s not enough of a reason to show up Friday night, the Blast will be honoring Celenza and his lengthy career. I’ll see you there.
Filed in: Baltimore Blast, MISL.
Tags: Baltimore Blast, Bawlmer, Billy Nelson, Giuliano Celenza, P.J. Wakefield
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