Native Information
Grafton native Sam Coveney spent hours using duck boats inside a brilliant yellow duck swimsuit as punishment for coming in final in his fantasy soccer league.

Boston’s well-known amphibious duck boats are a typical sight for a lot of, however individuals within the metropolis on Sunday might have noticed an uncommon passenger: an enormous yellow duck, perched on the boats for greater than seven hours as they hit Boston’s landmarks time and again… and over once more.
Contained in the swimsuit was Grafton native Sam Coveney, serving time being punished for selecting the worst fantasy soccer workforce amongst a bunch of his school buddies.
“It was undoubtedly an extended day. I placed on the duck swimsuit at 8:45 a.m. and took it off at 4:30 p.m. The one instances I eliminated the pinnacle of the duck swimsuit was to eat lunch and drink water,” Coveney mentioned.

The thought for this distinctive type of public humiliation was cooked up by one among Coveney’s buddies, Alex Ricciardelli, earlier than final yr’s NFL season. The loser of their fantasy soccer league would both should put on a duck swimsuit in public for 12 hours, or experience a duck boat 4 instances within the swimsuit. Coveney opted for the latter, which allowed him to chop down the 12-hour punishment because of the “elevated ranges of public humiliation” of using the duck boat repeatedly.
Coveney’s league, which consists of 12 buddies who met at Boston School, at all times decides their punishment earlier than a season begins. The punishment Coveney was topic to might have been essentially the most public thus far, however the league has by no means lacked creativity.
One yr, the loser was compelled to spend 24 hours in a automotive that the buddy group shared in school with out leaving the automobile, Coveney mentioned. They ended up driving to New York and again whereas consuming solely at drive-thru eating places and sleeping within the automotive. One other time, the loser needed to spend 24 hours inside a McDonald’s, with each McChicken sandwich eaten shaving off an hour of time within the restaurant.
“Final yr, the loser needed to watch a full season of a kind of cliche cable tv sitcoms and write a weblog after every episode. The punishments are at all times actually inventive and humorous,” Coveney mentioned.
So when draft picks like Keenan Allen and Cam Akers landed Coveney on the backside of the league’s standings, he knew it was time to swimsuit up.
Donning a styrofoam duck outfit and displaying an indication that learn “I ‘DUCK’ AT FANTASY FOOTBALL,” he climbed aboard.
Fortunately, Coveney mentioned, the swimsuit’s materials didn’t make it too stifling. He additionally strategically picked a cooler day to keep away from the opportunity of sweating profusely.
Though duck boat excursions are an effective way for newcomers to expertise Boston, Coveney, a North Finish resident, discovered he might solely take so many historic tidbits.
“I like to recommend individuals visiting Boston to take a look at the tour, as a result of it’s a enjoyable strategy to study fascinating details in regards to the metropolis, however by the 2nd or third tour, the route and enjoyable details began to blur collectively,” he mentioned.
Coveney handed the time by interacting with vacationers. He discovered specific enthusiasm from “middle-aged dads,” who eagerly handed on the thought. Bostonians could should maintain an eye fixed out for extra duck suit-clad fantasy soccer losers subsequent yr.
“I most likely had 10-15 of them ask me to pose with the signal in order that they may ship it to their buddies as an concept for subsequent yr’s punishment,” he mentioned.
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