He pissed us off, but he should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Bill Belichick's famed scowl is as much of his legacy as his six Super Bowl titles.

(Author's note: The following missive originally appeared as a Facebook post earlier in the week. Since then, some of its readers asked if I could share it to other platforms, and since this blog is the only platform over which I have any sort of editorial control, I dutifully comply with those wishes.)

Let me be blunt. 

Bill Belichick reaped what he had sown.

And it wasn’t just the pettiness of media members that denied him the chance to be a first-ballot inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Most beat writers would have voted for him.

Yes, he pissed off a lot of us over his long career as a head coach in the NFL. He treated most of us as if we were sub-human, conspiratorial subversives whose only task in life was to attack and destroy what he was building. Maybe there were some individuals that fit that description, but the majority of reporters that covered the Patriots over my 42 years on the beat were good people, family men and women, educated souls that had a job to do and deserved a greater level of respect and to be treated with simple human dignity, as opposed to what Belichick was willing to offer.

That being said, I believe that most beat writers here, self included, would have voted to keep Belichick in the running for first-ballot eligibility. The proof was in the pudding, as they say — six Super Bowl championships.

But media members were not the only ones Bill pissed off along the way.

If reports are accurate, former NFL executive Bill Polian made an impassioned plea to the voters to make Belichick wait a year before induction. Polian was the general manager of the Indianapolis Colts at the time of the grossly overblown “Deflategate” scandals, in which the Patriots were accused of intentionally deflating game-used footballs during the playoffs to give Tom Brady a better grip. Deflategate was mostly debunked by the time it was over, but because Belichick had already been labeled a “cheater” because of the earlier “Spygate” videotaping affair, the league fined the Patriots and suspended Brady, and further labeled its first true dynasty of the 21st century as fraudulent. 

In his own little world.

Spygate was much more legitimate of an infraction, although not uncommon around the league. What made it uncommon in its importance was Belichick’s smug refusal to admit that he had simply done what many of his profession do regularly — to try to see how far he could bend the rules until they reached the limit of flexibility.

Belichick also refused to play the publicity game that made the NFL the towering presence in American pro sports that it is today. His sour attitude and petulant press conferences after losses were embarrassments to a publicity-sensitive organization that expected its coaches to display their disappointment in a more dignified manner. He became the poster boy for bad behavior, and eventually, a running joke.

Granted, anyone that voted against Belichick because of his current soap opera should lose his or her vote. After all, this is the league that still has O.J. Simpson in its hall of fame. And please don’t tell me he was innocent.

This foolishness doesn't matter.

Many former players say that the media never saw the Belichick they did — the coach that had their backs, the coach that developed an environment that put them in positions to win. But to Belichick, that was the team’s business and no one else’s. That is how he did things, and no one had any business telling him to do things differently. 

Not even his boss, as it turned out.

The bottom line is that on the merits of what he accomplished with the Patriots alone, Belichick should be a first-ballot enshrinee. But at the same time, he burned enough bridges that it should come as no surprise that this has happened. Bill is a smart man — but as it turned out, he was never smart enough to play the NFL’s game.

It should have been just business, not personal. But to some, payback is indeed a bitch.

MARK FARINELLA covered the New England Patriots for The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, Mass., and other news organizations, for 42 years, including all but four of Bill Belichick's seasons with the team. Send condolences his way at theownersbox2020@gmail.com.

It used to be a very busy time.

The madness that is Media Day in Phoenix prior to Super Bowl 49.

I've said many times in this space that while I covered the New England Patriots for more than 40 years as a sportswriter, and certainly enjoyed being part of history during their transformation from doormat to dynasty over that time, I don't miss the job now that I'm retired. 

The long hours and deadline pressure were tough to handle the older I got -- and while I tried to coax one more year out of my aging self as a part-time writer for the Associated Press in 2019, I no longer felt like an "insider" (if I ever was one) because my presence at Gillette Stadium was no longer daily. Then COVID interrupted everything, I got a new job as a local sports announcer on cable TV, and I began to fully appreciate the comfort of watching games on TV, turning the tube off once they were over, and relaxing for the rest of the day as opposed to writing my ass off.

The aftermath of SB 38 in Houston.

But some of the more pleasant and amusing memories of all those years come flooding back as the Patriots clung to a 10-7 lead in Denver and won the AFC Championship. In another week and a half, they will be in Santa Clara, Calif., to play the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60 (I don't use the Roman numerals anymore), and once I get back from the Mansfield-Bishop Feehan boys' basketball game that day, I'll hunker down and hope that Mike Vrabel's team will bring the seventh Lombardi Trophy back to Foxboro afterward.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock on Sunday, my thoughts immediately flashed back to a couple of situations I faced during my tenure as a Patriots' beat writer. One of those was while I was sitting in a charter bus outside what was then called Heinz Field in Pittsburgh; the Patriots had just beaten the Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-17, to win the 2001 AFC Championship, and I and several other beat writers awaited word that our credential requests for Super Bowl 36 had been approved.

I had already been to two previous Super Bowls (20 and 31), but I had yet to have earned a permanent spot on the NFL's credentialing list, so I just put my trust in the Patriots' media relations department, headed by Stacey James (who still has that job today) and waited for the word from above before finalizing air travel plans and other assorted things.

Suddenly, one reporter's cellular phone beeped. Then another's, and another's, and the bus became a cacophony of cell-phone notifications. After a few seconds of nervous anticipation, my tiny Motorola phone chirped as well. I flipped it open and read the text message on its tiny screen that included all of the instructions I had to follow to ensure that I would have credentials and a hotel room for the 10 days I planned to stay in New Orleans.

Remember, we didn't yet have iPhones, whose capabilities far exceed by thousands of times than the computers that brought man to the moon in the 1960s. So as more than 20 reporters in that bus started to click away at their phones to confirm their credentials and hotels, there were frequent outbursts of anguish from those that had been disconnected or had clicked on the wrong prompt in the middle of filling out their applications. It would have been funny if it wasn't so frantic.

I managed to get through my application without error, and quickly learned that I would be in an auxiliary press box in the Superdome (what would have been a baseball press box if they had a team), which was acceptable for someone from the smallest newspaper covering the Patriots. And I got a hotel room in the New Orleans Hyatt, the NFL's headquarters hotel, which was a huge bonus. After all that was confirmed and our bus started making its way back to the William Penn Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh, I was able to help a technology-challenged veteran reporter complete his application.

I slept well that night.

In place at Lucas Oil Stadium for SB 46.

There were other times when planning and execution failed because the game didn't end as hoped. One was a wild-card game in Jacksonville during the 1998 season, when Scott Zolak started at quarterback in place of the injured Drew Bledsoe, and by halftime, most of the Patriots' reporters had their airline reservations in place. But the Patriots lost that game, 25-10. I had my plans finalized as well, but I was waiting for the final score to pull the trigger -- and thus, I saved myself hundreds of dollars in cancellation fees. I didn't pay for those trips myself, but my travel budget from the newspaper was extremely limited, and the bosses would not have been pleased with such a costly error is judgment.

The same was the case at the 2006 AFC Championship Game at the old RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Again, I and everyone else in the Patriots media corps had our reservations for Miami and another Super Bowl ready to go, but the Patriots couldn't hold the lead in that game and lost 38-34 -- and the sound that could be heard that was louder than the final gun was the sound of 40 writers clicking "delete" on their computers.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy being part of the Super Bowl scene for nine of the games. I spent 9-10 days on the trips, and all of the cities (New Orleans three times, twice for Houston and Phoenix, Jacksonville and Indianapolis) were accommodating and interesting. One of those trips, however, was a personal victory of sorts for me.

At Brigham and Women's in 2014.

Late in the 2014 season, I suffered a mild stroke. It was apparently not life-threatening at the time and did not leave any lasting impairments, although it did reveal some other problems I had that I needed to address once I recovered. I spent six days at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, but I didn't miss a single game because the Patriots had home-field advantage all the way through the AFC title game. 

But when it came time for me to go to Phoenix for Super Bowl 49, there were concerns. I had easily arranged credentials and hotel reservations long before the game, but my treatment team at the Brigham was not in love with the prospects of me being on two five-hour flights such a short time after the stroke. 

Still, I charged ahead -- although I had no idea what was in store for me over that week. 

My hotel was close to the convention center where all the Super Bowl interviews were to take place, but it was a huge facility -- and according to my iPhone, I walked an average of 11,000 steps a day over a six-day span to make the several treks from the media workroom to the interviews and back.

Convention center in Phoenix.

There were times when it was almost too exhausting, but I told myself that it was my choice to do this and that it would be no one else's fault if it proved too much. I walked and walked and wrote and wrote -- and on game day, I was rewarded with one of the greatest finishes ever to a Super Bowl, Malcolm Butler's interception at the goal line to preserve the Patriots' win over the Seahawks.

I'll tell you the truth, though -- that entire trip was exhausting. I was never happier to return home than I was after that week in Phoenix, because I honestly believed many times that I had asked too much of myself. It also underscored the need for me to pay attention to what the doctors told me, to take the medications and make alterations in my lifestyle that were designed to extend my presence on this earth. And it reminded me that no matter how dedicated I was to the job, the most important thing for me was to do what was necessary so I'd be in the physical condition to perform it.

Proud to have been part of the Fourth Estate.

It will be the Patriots and Seahawks again on Feb. 8 -- two different teams, two different coaches, two different philosophies for each. But for me, I'm glad I did what I did 11 years earlier, because it set the tone for me to make sure I'd be around to see the next time these teams play in the big game.

I won't be there at Levi's Stadium, and honestly, I won't be sad. As those teams are different, so am I -- older, wiser, a little more frail and a little more interested in the world around me and being a part of it. But I'll always be proud of what I did over those many years, and it's comforting to know that the words I wrote will still be accessible long after I'm no longer around to read them.

A new member of the 1,000-point list.

Connor Houle, right, has been a standout for Attleboro High for four seasons.

Although I have not been in the employ of The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro since 2018, I do remain a "keeper of the flame" of sorts. As I was obsessed with historical statistics and wanted to preserve records of the past, I compiled what I simply call "The 1,000-Point List" -- a compilation of all the athletes from the schools we covered that reached that level for career basketball scoring. 

At one point in time, it had maybe 10 names on it. But with the passage of time, better research methods and ongoing achievements by our local athletes, that list has grown and grown ... now well over 100 boys and girls. 

Last night at North Attleboro High, a new member was added. Attleboro High senior guard Connor Houle scored nine points in a big win by the Bombardiers over the host Rocketeers, and therefore became the 15th Bombardier to reach 1,000 points. He is also the 62nd male athlete and 116th overall to achieve the feat from among the 12 high schools covered by the newspaper (or its predecessors, the Attleboro Sun and North Attleboro Chronicle) over the time that it covered those communities.

Connor, of course, is the son of AHS boys' basketball coach and athletic director Mark Houle, who is also on the list.

To commemorate the achievement, here for your viewing pleasure is the entire list as it stands now. I expect at least one more addition before the season is out, so once we've put the basketballs back on the shelves this March, I'll update it.

The area’s 1,000-point scorers:

This list includes 1,000-point scorers that attended 12 high schools covered by The Sun Chronicle or its predecessors (not athletes from the circulation-area towns that achieved the feat at other schools).

GIRLS

Player                                            School                             Points              Games Career

1. Sarah Behn                              Foxboro                          2,562                93         1985-89

2. Kailey Sullivan                         Foxboro                          1,895              97         2021-25

3. Kara O’Neil                             King Philip                      1,883               88         1994-98

4. Rebecca Welch                       New Testament            1,825               89         1997-2003

5. Kim Lynch                                Seekonk                          1,728                94         1988-92

6. Jennifer Brown                       Foxboro                          1,701               95         1994-98

7. Mary Nwachukwu                 Dighton-Rehoboth       1,589              74         2005-09

8. Ashley Sampson                     Foxboro                          1,530              99         2014-18

9. Julie Schmidt                           North Attleboro            1,520                80         1987-91

10. Katie Nelson                         Bishop Feehan               1,439              92         2013-17

11. Katelyn Mollica                    Foxboro                          1,407              88         2017-21

12. Heather Morgan                  Foxboro                          1,394               90         1997-2001

13. Sarah Deyo                            Attleboro                        1,341              92         2013-17

14. Colleen McGahan               North Attleboro            1,330               88         1994-98

15. Lexi Sells                                La Salle/Feehan            1,297              89         2008-12

16. Camryn Collins                     Foxboro                          1,296              84         2020-24

17. Lindsay Vine                         North Attleboro            1,286               82         1997-2001

18. Lea Beattie                            Seekonk                          1,282               n/a        1974-78

19. Emily Cournoyer                  North Attleboro            1,274               86         2002-06

20. Mia DiBiase                           Seekonk                          1,237              73         2016-20

21. Jamie Cournoyer                 North Attleboro            1,223               68         1994-97

22. Rebecca Hardt                     Attleboro                        1,221               72         1990-94

23. Sue Patchett                         Mansfield                       1,214               80         1989-93

24. Sara Wright                           Attleboro                        1,209               75         1995-99

25. Monika Rothemich             Bishop Feehan              1,184               87         1993-97

26. Alyssa Rozak                         Tri-County                      1,168               78         2004-08

27. Laura Lokitis                         Bishop Feehan              1,157               70         2000-03

28. Shannon Halpin                   Seekonk                          1,149               75         1996-2000

29. Kylie D’Ambrosio                 Dighton-Rehoboth       1,144              82         2012-16

30. Rachel Sayce                         Norton                            1,134              78         1989-93

31. Maddy Steel                         Bishop Feehan               1,130              99         2021-25

32. Sierra Schrader                    Hopedale/Feehan        1,126              105       2008-13

33. Patty Cronin                          King Philip                      1,120               90         1995-99

34. Emily D’Ambosio                 Dighton-Rehoboth       1,114              75         2017-21

35T. Melissa Traversi               Bishop Feehan              1,113               68         1998-2001

35T. Maddie Jolin                       Bishop Feehan               1,113              88         2011-15

37. Alyssa Gutauskas                 North Attleboro            1,111               71         1984-87

38. Keli Rupert                            Seekonk/D-R                 1,110               81         1997-2001

39. Meg Hill                                  Mansfield                       1,090              100       2014-18

40. Cheryl Warren                     Attleboro/Feehan        1,088               75         1987-91

41. Sarah Tomaso                      Norton                            1,084               85         1995-99

42. Sarah Gannon                      Norton/New Test.        1,071               89         1997-2001

43. Jill Cullen                                North Attleboro            1,068              85         2008-12

44. Kristen Hoffman                  Foxboro                          1,056              88         2006-10

45. Angela Astuccio                   Foxboro                          1,048               96         1999-2003

46T. Christine Basile                  Bishop Feehan               1,042              69         1969-73

46T. Amanda Cavallaro             Seekonk                          1,042              80         2008-12

48. Rebecca King                        Attleboro                        1,038* 40         1949-53

49. Brianna Rozak                      Tri-County                      1,034               82         2001-05

50. Nikki Lima                              Attleboro                        1,030               79         1990-94

51. Emily Houle                           Attleboro                        1,025              90         2012-16

52. Danielle Murphy                  Foxboro                          1,024               91         2000-04

53. Holly Grinnell                       Foxboro                          1,018               85         1984-88

54. Abby Wager                          Mansfield                       1,008              81         2019-23

* — scored under six-player rules

 

BOYS

Player                                            School                             Points               Games Career

1. Jake Layman                            King Philip                      1,752              85         2008-12

2. Tyler Patch                             Seekonk                          1,746              91         2004-08

3. Tom Blessing                           Dighton-Rehoboth       1,725               90         1996-2000 

4. Leland Anderson                    Attleboro                        1,629               74         1995-99

5T. Casey Carney                        Bishop Feehan              1,463               67         1994-97

5T. Derek Swenson                    Attleboro                        1,463               92         1995-99

7. Mark Schmidt                         Bishop Feehan              1,450               68         1978-81

8. Mike Babul                             North Attleboro            1,423               86         1992-96

9. Ron Gentili                             Mansfield                       1,387               91         1958-62

10T. John Egan                            Dighton-Rehoboth       1,377               60         1987-90

10T. Cliff Reynolds                     Norton                            1,377               n/a        1961-65

12. Mark Gaffey                          Foxboro                          1,350               77         1979-83

13. Ryan Boulter                         Mansfield                       1,324              79         2012-15

14. Bill Emerson                          New Testament            1,298               n/a        1989-94

15. Patrick McGowan               North Attleboro            1,297               59         1997-2001

16. Mike McNally                       Bishop Feehan              1,262               75         1996-99

17. Tim Emerson                        New Testament            1,252               96         1992-98

18. Mike Nelson                         Bishop Feehan               1,246              89         2012-16

19. Andrew Pereira                   Seekonk                          1,236               86         2002-06

20. Josh Koneski                         Dighton-Rehoboth       1,221              84         2006-10

21. Mark Houle                           Attleboro                        1,219               64         1986-90

22. Darren Doucette                 Norton                            1,194              83         2005-09

23. Ryan Walsh                           Dighton-Rehoboth       1,186              68         2010-13

24. Scott Smith                           King Philip                      1,175               63         2002-06

25. Ricky Silva                              Seekonk                          1,170              64         2007-10

26. Tim Grinham                        Tri-County                      1,163               69         1994-98

27. Mike Myers                           Foxboro                          1,156               81         2000-04

28. Paul McCann                        Dighton-Rehoboth       1,143               76         1979-82

29. Jon Dunlap                            Norton                            1,140               83         1985-89

30. Bryant Ciccio                         Attleboro                        1,137              86         2016- 20

31. Tom Sherman                       Attleboro                        1,127               63         1992-95

32. Sean Ribeiro                         Norton                            1,124               80         1996-2000

33. Tim Walsh                             Attleboro                        1,117              74         2010-14

34T. Alden Franklin                    Plainville                         1,096              63         1947-51

34T. Kurt Beloff                          King Philip                      1,096               80         1993-97

36. Frank Oftring                        Bishop Feehan               1,095              70         2012-15

37. Jeff Doane                             King Philip                      1,091               80         1989-93

38T. Glen Field                            Dighton-Rehoboth       1,085               n/a        1962-65

38T. Jesse Martinez                   Attleboro                        1,085               75         2000-04

40. Brandon Borde                    Foxboro                          1,083              85         2016-20

41. Qualeem Charles                 Attleboro                        1,078              89         2016-20

42. John Shockro                        Attleboro                        1,061               n/a        1962-65

43. Matt Freeman                      Bishop Feehan              1,057               60         1988-91

44T. Greg Eitas                            Bishop Feehan              1,047               73         1996-99

44T. Matty Boen                        Mansfield                       1,047              77         2018-21

44T. Mike McCabe                     King Philip                      1,047               81         1997-2001

44T. John Verdeaux                   King Philip                      1,047               82         1994-98

48. Rich Lunn                               King Philip                      1,040               63         1963-66

49. Tim Cheney                           Foxboro                          1,039               85         2002-06

50. Bill O’Keefe                           Dighton-Rehoboth       1,038               59         1967-70

51. Paul Souza                             Mansfield                       1,036               58         1976-79

52. Griffin McAlear                    Norton                            1,030              64         2016-19

53. Brian Thomas                       King Philip                      1,029               62         1989-92

54. Alex Penders                        Foxboro                          1,026              66         2019-23

55. Mike Bedrossian                  Seekonk                          1,025               61         1991-94

56. Brendan Doherty                 Bishop Feehan              1,023               62         1974-77

57. Devon Maiorano                 Dighton-Rehoboth       1,009               57         1999-2002

58. Geoffrey Stearns                 Mansfield                       1,008               64         1956-59

59. John Andrews                      King Philip                      1,007               58         1986-90

60. Doug DiNardo                      North Attleboro            1,005               n/a        1968-71

61. Connor Houle                      Attleboro                       1,003              85         2022-

62. Ryan Sheehan                      Bishop Feehan               1,000              43         2008-10