PARKER: Life of Reilly: Marriage in future

By Penny Parker, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 1, 2008 at 1:57 a.m.

Text size  

• 0 Comments
• Email
• Print

Rick Reilly and fiancee Cynthia Puchniarz in Sydney, Australia.

Rick Reilly hadn't been that nervous since he teed off on the first hole at Washington's Congressional Country Club while his playing partner, President Clinton, watched the noted sports columnist's first swing.

ESPN's Reilly compared that stomach- churning feeling to how he felt Wednesday night when he took a knee and asked longtime girlfriend Cynthia Puchniarz to marry him.

"I've been on live national TV and I wasn't that nervous," Reilly said of his wedding pitch at the rooftop bar at Vita restaurant.

Reilly's ruse was a printout of a piece he was allegedly writing about Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre.

"She's a high school teacher so she's really good with words," he said. "Occasionally, I ask her to read things I write. She knows my style so well. We're at the bar (and) I said, 'I'm writing this piece on Brett Favre, would you mind reading it?' "

Instead, it was a poem about Reilly's blonde bombshell - with a proposal in the last verse.

"She looks up and I'm holding the ring," Reilly said. "I get down on one knee. Her answer? 'Are you serious?' She was sure it was a joke."

For Reilly, 50, and Puchniarz, 46, it will be the second walk down the aisle. They each have three grown children from previous marriages.

When and where will the nuptials take place?

"Hell, we don't know," he said. "It was all I could do to get myself together to do all that."

MATTHEWS MINUS BAND: Contrary to reports you may have seen elsewhere, the Dave Matthews Band is not performing at Red Rocks with Sheryl Crow and Earth, Wind & Fire on Aug. 24. It'll just be Matthews himself, possibly with second guitarist Tim Reynolds in tow. They'll fly in while the rest of the band stays on the road on the West Coast. Also on the bill is country band Sugarland. Matthews fans across the country are already gnashing their teeth - this is a private concert for the DNC delegates only, and no tickets will be sold to the public.

DNC DINING? New York Post gossip gal Cindy Adams had an item Tuesday saying that delegates received a "paper" from the DNCC guaranteeing a political "pig-out" at the Pepsi Center during the Democratic National Convention.

"Next month's Democratic National Convention Committee, hoop-de-dooing in Denver's Pepsi Center, is consumed with onion rings, cheeseburgers, ribs, gravy, Snickers bars and hot dogs," Adams wrote. "They've actually sent delegates a paper guaranteeing the Convention will serve french fries, greasy catfish, chicken fingers, fried mini doughnuts, potato chips, pizza, sausages and bacon."

However, Democratic National Convention Committee spokeswoman Natalie Wyeth said, "We're not aware of any letter that went to our delegates on this (food?) front."

THE SEEN: Forget about the upcoming DNC, breakfast at Racines on Friday morning was the DPC - Denver Power Convention. Seen in just one hour, says the restaurant's consultant John Imbergamo, were Denver Chamber honcho Joe Blake, Dem power broker Howard Gelt, uber developer Evan Makovsky, homeless helper Jamie Van Leeuwen, Colorado Restaurant Association prez Pete Meersman, dress doll Molly Broeren, high-powered attorney Jim Lyons and CRL influencers Roger Sherman and Brittany Morris.

Concerts for Kids queen Christie Isenberg, hubby Walter Isenberg, CBS 4 talent Molly Hughes and husband John Butler, dining with singer-songwriter Peter Cincotti, in town for a Friday benefit concert in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, dining at Elway's Cherry Creek Thursday.

EAVESDROPPING on a younger woman to an older man on the train at DIA: "You're just a dirty old man."

"No, I'm not old!"

Penny Parker's column appears Tuesday through Saturday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail parkerp@RockyMountainNews.com.

Featured

• Holiday movies

  

  Check out our movie page to read reviews and see your holiday options.

• Holiday Lights

  

  Is your house the jolliest on the block? Submit your holiday lights display.

• Mount Crushmore

  

  Which four Broncos greats should be immortalized on Mount Crushmore? Vote here.

• Broncos-Jets Action

  

  Visit our photo galleries for some hard-hitting action photos from Sunday's game.

• Bronco Dean's rant

  

  Listen to Bronco Dean's postgame rant on the Jets.

• Rocky Multimedia

  

  The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on what's happening today.

• Stein's View

  

  Editorial cartoons by Ed Stein

• Holiday Gift Guide

  

  Looking to get a jump-start on the holiday shopping season?

• The Rocky @ 150 Years

  

  Read the Rocky's coverage of Colorado's cannibal, Alfred Packer, in 1886.