T HERE'S an episode of "The Simpsons" where Moe the bartender steals Homer's drink recipe and calls it the "Flaming Moe," and outraged Homer spends the rest of the show muttering "Moe ... Moe ... Moe ... Moe ... Moe .... "
We know how he feels. There's been such an overload of battleship Missouri "Mighty Mo" news in the last week you'd think it was the Rolling Stones. And, at the risk of making a mountain out of a mo-hill, here's a checklist of mo' famous Moes in history:
MOE Howard, the head of the Three Stooges, the surly one with the Ben Cayetano ricebowl haircut.
MOE Keale, the Hawaiian singer and actor.
MOmotaro, the legendary Japanese folk hero whose name means "peach boy".
"Big MO" is a sports phrase for "momentum." It's also the nickname of a famous Boston fire engine, also known as "Old One-Eye," which leads us to...
MO Udall, a one-eyed Arizona politician and one-time presidential candidate.
MOE Green was the Bugsy Siegel character shot in the eye in "The Godfather." What's with Moes and eyelessness, anyway?
MOE Bandy is a country singer known for the tune "Barstool Mountain," but not "I Got My Mo-Jo Workin'"
"MO" Dean is the perfectly groomed iceberg wife of Watergate weasel and co-conspiritor John Dean.
"Little MO" Connelly was the national women's tennis champion in 1953.
MO, one of the tigers who need to be caught by the toe, along with Eenie, Meeny and Miney.
MO Vaughn is a hard-hitting first baseman for the Boston Red Sox, but not the inspiration for the song "Mo Vaughn On Over."
MOE Berg was a mediocre catcher for the Washington Senators in the '30s, but his facility with languages made him a mediocre spy in World War II. A teammate eulogized, "Moe could speak lots of languages, but he couldn't hit in any of them." It seems, after all, we can't get away from Moes and World War II.
