Name: Tino Lettieri

Nickname: that would be “Tino.”

Claim to Fame, Minnesota: a soc-cer goalkeeper for both the Minnesota Kicks and Minnesota Strikers in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Kept a stuffed parrot named “Ozzie” in the back of the net during games.

Claim to Fame, Everywhere Else: raised in Canada, he represented the country in the 1976 and 1984 Summer Olympics (not 1980, though; how you like us now, Dmitri?).  Also, per Wiki, “Lettieri earned 24 caps for Canada and was their first-choice goalie from 1980 until the 1986 FIFA World Cup, where he played two of Canada’s three matches.”  24 caps, people!  That’s meaningful!  I guess!

Where He Is Now: if you’ve eaten a convenience store breakfast sandwich or calzone in the last ten years or so, you likely have Tino to thank.  He founded Lettieri’s Authentic Foods in 1994, which is now a subsidiary of Hot Stuff Foods.  More recently, he opened Café Lettieri’s in Shorewood.

Glorious Randomness: married Lou Nanne’s daughter.  Soccer, hockey, no scoring, honeymoon…nope, no jokes to be made here.  None whatsoever.  Let’s move on.

Talk Amongst Yourselves: why don’t the English call it “soccer” like everyone else who speaks American does?  It’s just so confusing!

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 3rd, 2008 at 2:38 pm and is filed under Hunt Down, Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.