A special message to our local high school athletes.

If you haven't listened to Episode 21 of "The Owner's Box" (my almost-award-winning podcast), there's a special message in the middle for my friends in the local high school sports community. I figured it was worth sharing separately from the podcast, so here's the last video production I ever expect to create from the no-longer-supported Windows Movie Maker program.

Watch and enjoy.

The Owner's Box, Ep. 21.

Former "Sports Pulse" host Ed Berliner

Many years ago, a guy new to town gave me a break that I hadn't gotten anywhere else within my own media market.

Sure, over the course of some 30 years (at that time) of covering the New England Patriots, I had managed to appear on a few radio shows and even had a brief gig on 50,000-watt giant WBZ before the bosses determined that an Attleboro-based writer, no matter how knowledgeable, was no substitute for a Boston-based writer. As it was, most of my radio gigs came at the behest of out-of-town stations because I knew what I was talking about, I sounded good on the radio and I came cheap.

But in the early part of the 2000s, a fellow by the name of Ed Berliner came to town and put together a nightly sports show for Comcast, which was looking to turn its local-access channels into a regional network. The channel was soon branded as "CN8" and Berliner's nightly show was unlike anything else in the market at the time -- sports highlights and discussion, all delivered at a high-energy pace by the red-headed Berliner, a fast-talk ing New Yorker by birth who somehow tapped into the passion that provincial Bostonians had for their teams.

Ed's show was slick, but not too slick. In fact, one of the things that made his show different and interesting to a lot of people was that he sought out media members as experts who weren't "the usual suspects" -- the same crew of reporters from the Boston papers that made the rounds of every gabbing opportunity out there. As a result, the Boston market and suburbs throughout New England got to see and hear a lot of new faces talking about their favorite teams -- and despite the disadvantage of not having the built-in foundation of a spot on the VHF dial, "Sports Pulse" carved out a following.

I was one of those new faces. I made probably about six or seven appearances on "Sports Pulse" in total, and I got immediate feedback from those that watched it. Most of it was positive. And Ed Berliner was a strong interviewer and he knew how to guide a subject in a way that would make the most of the knowledge he or she had to offer.

The show lasted about four years before Comcast took a different direction with its regional broadcasting plans. But Ed and I have maintained a friendship over the years. He's now a media consultant living in south Florida and he has a successful video podcast called "The Man in the Arena," and I've been a guest a couple of times to lend my perspective, for what it's worth, about the issues of the day -- and yes, including sports.

On Tuesday, I asked Ed if I could perform a little cross-pollination of his show. With his permission, I recorded our conversation (all one hour and 49 minutes of it) and I edited it down to the length of "The Owner's Box" by sticking to sports, or at least what we talked about.

Here's the result. I hope you enjoy it -- and if you want to hear and see more, do a search for Ed Berliner's "The Man in the Arena" on YouTube.

Patriots release All-Decade team. (Updated)

Earlier this month, I participated along with 26 other knowledgeable individuals in selecting the New England Patriots' All-Decade Team from 2010-19, and the team released it today. I believe this is the fourth time I've been involved in selecting an all-something team for the Patriots, and I'm honored to have done so.

Without further ado, here it is:

OFFENSE
OT -- Nate Solder
OT -- Sebastian Vollmer
OG -- Logan Mankins
OG -- Joe Thuney
C -- David Andrews
TE -- Rob Gronkowski
WR -- Julian Edelman
WR -- Wes Welker
QB -- Tom Brady
RB -- James White
FB -- James Develin
Flex -- Danny Amendola

DEFENSE
DE -- Chandler Jones
DE -- Trey Flowers
DT -- Vince Wilfork
DT -- Lawrence Guy
OLB -- Rob Ninkovich
OLB -- Kyle Van Noy
ILB -- Dont'a Hightower
ILB -- Jerod Mayo
CB -- Stephon Gilmore
CB -- Malcolm Butler
S -- Devin McCourty
S -- Patrick Chung

SPECIAL TEAMS
K -- Stephen Gostkowski
P -- Ryan Allen
Returns -- Julian Edelman
Special Teamer --Matthew Slater

COACH -- Bill Belichick

My vote reflected about 90-95 percent of these selections, although I differed a bit on the OL (I gave Marcus Cannon the nod over Sebastian Vollmer at one tackle position) and in the backfield, but I'm glad to see James White get the RB nod. I made him my flex player and gave LeGarrette Blount the running back slot, but I also made Danny Amendola a wideout over Wes Welker, feeling that Welker got due recognition on the 2000-09 team.

Defensively, my biggest difference was where I put Rob Ninkovich (I made him a defensive end). Otherwise, it's all good.

Lawrence Guy, a defensive tackle that was named to the team, just joined reporters on a video chat to talk about his selection. He and the other defensive linemen selected all had something in common, their versatility. And he said that the Patriots' preference for players that can play multiple positions made him into a better player.

"The Patriots challenged me to get uncomfortable at certain spots," he said. "They wanted me to develop the skill sets that they knew were there, and I learned that you have to be uncomfortable first to get comfortable."

Heartiest congratulations to Guy and the other honored players. It was a privilege to join my fellow writers and broadcasters, the former players and the team officials in this task. It's a very good representation of an amazing decade.

A sports oasis in the desert.

Are you missing sports? So am I.

It's been more than two months since I've had a chance to work on a telecast of a local high school game, let alone watch the Red Sox, Celtics or Bruins. Replays of old out-of-market games aren't cutting it for me, but at least for the sake of trying to find a reasonable substitute, I figured I'd offer this sample of the past high school basketball season for your viewing pleasure.

This was the quarterfinal-round game in the MIAA Division 1-South tournament between host Mansfield and visiting Attleboro, the third meeting of the two Hockomock League rivals this year, with the winner earning the right to play on a few days later at Taunton High (as it turns out, against Needham). It may have been the best game I and broadcast partner Tom Faria did all year, because it had everything you'd want to see in high school tournament action.

I hope you'll enjoy it. And as the weeks pass, I'll see if I can't dig up a few more entertaining contests for your viewing pleasure.

Thoughts during the apocalypse, Part 25.

It's official. Being cooped up in this house has made me a little too feisty for my own good.

Been working for this one for years.

That became obvious today when I got myself banned for three days from the "Everything Mansfield" discussion group on Facebook because I questioned whether the administrators of the site were showing partisan leanings. Needless to say, I can be a real smart ass when I want to be, and my smart-assery was in full force as I argued with one of the admins over policy. In fact, I probably fulfilled the requirements to earn my asshole merit badge, at least in some people's eyes.

It didn't get nasty, or at least I don't think it did. But I can be very sarcastic -- and unlike our president, I am openly and proudly sarcastic and don't need to explain to anyone after the fact that I was being sarcastic. What's more, my brand of sarcasm is not intended to mask the truth; indeed, it is my way of enhancing the truth. Or at least that's the way I see it. Your opinion may differ. That's why it's a joy to live in a democracy.

Anyway, there was a post on the site asking people to sign the nomination papers for a woman from Attleboro that wants to run for the 4th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives that's being vacated as our local rep, Joe Kennedy III, runs for the U.S. Senate. Keep in mind that this particular site tends to lean reactionary Republican, as do many other sites of the same sort, even though that's hardly representative of the Massachusetts electorate in general, so it probably should come as no surprise that there would be electioneering going on for a Republican candidate that can't win.

And why do I say that? In 2016, all but one of the towns in the Hockomock League (our local high school athletic league) voted for Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, and that one outlier, part of a three-town regional school district, was by just a 19-vote margin. In fact, here's the breakdown:

Attleboro: Clinton 51 percent, Trump 42.
Canton: Clinton 57, Trump 37.
Foxboro: Clinton 51, Trump 42.
Franklin: Clinton 54, Trump 40.
Easton: Clinton 50, Trump 44.
-------King Philip district --------
Wrentham: Clinton 47, Trump 46.
Norfolk: Clinton 50, Trump 42.
Plainville: Trump 46 (+19), Clinton 46.
----------------------------------------
Mansfield: Clinton 54, Trump 40.
Milford: Clinton 55, Trump 39.
North Attleboro: Clinton 48, Trump 45.
Sharon: Clinton 71, Trump 24.
Stoughton: Clinton 60, Trump 35.
Taunton: Clinton 52, Trump 42.

OK, the point of all that is to illustrate that my home area is basically in the blue category, even with a candidate that was apparently too polarizing for some tastes at the top of the Democrat ticket. So, the aforementioned, would-be House candidate, as an openly-avowed Trump supporter, will have a hard time turning the district over to red. And it's fair to ask questions about whether this individual supports the off-the-charts stupidity of the Trump administration.

Of course, I handled it with the usual smart-assery. My initial response, asking if the candidate had an official stand on the president's suggestion that we should inject Lysol into ourselves to kill the coronavirus, was deleted on the grounds that I was talking about "national politics," and that we are under orders on the site to keep things local. And I was criticized for being childish. So what else is new?

This all appeared, mind you, under another post that touted the coronavirus precautions taken by a German supermarket. The last time I looked, Germany was more than 3,800 miles from Mansfield. But despite my protestations that the would-be candidate's views on national issues were directly related to how she would govern on behalf of the residents of Mansfield, I was shot down and banned for three days. And I didn't even get the chance to call anyone a fascist -- not that I would have, in any event. You can read the last part of the exchange below; I've removed the administrator's name because that person was just doing the assigned job and does not need to be shamed publicly for it.

I did make one mistake in my argument, however. The correct phrase is "All politics is local." It's the title of a book written by the former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Tip O'Neill, and it refers to the premise that no matter what they debate in Washington, it all comes back to affect every American at a grass-roots level eventually.

Understand, I don't hate Republicans just because they are Republicans. Some of my best friends are Republicans (sarcasm alert!). We've elected a few of them locally, in fact. Thanks to gerrymandering, we have three state reps that represent Mansfield, and two of them, Betty Poirier of North Attleboro and Jay Barrows of Mansfield, are Republicans that have done their jobs honorably. And we have a Republican governor, Charlie Baker, who has led the state quite well though this crisis.

But I suspect that a lot of the dyed-in-the-wool Trump toadies would refer to them as RINOs, Republicans In Name Only, and they might be right. At the very least, I don't get the sense that they subscribe to the racist, xenophobic and misogynistic tenets of the GOP under Trump, and thus Massachusetts voters of good will and a certain level of intelligence are willing to vote for them as candidates that have demonstrated respect for their fellow men and women.

So, I'm banned from stirring the shit for three days. It's my second recent banning, the last one coming because I continued to joke about a department store in town that closed a few years ago called "Benny's." A popular chain in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, bankruptcy did Benny's in -- and as we all continue to discover every day, we really miss how when we needed everyday items, we could just take a ride over to Benny's and find them. My jokes went the wrong way up the digestive tract of one of the admins, however. Not the first time that has happened.

Just as I may have convinced all of you that I am an asshole, however, one counterpoint.

We've been having a stretch of bad weather here in the Northeast, with driving rain and high winds. So it didn't surprise me earlier today when I looked out the window and saw that the "for sale" sign that had gone up last weekend in the yard of the house across the street had blown down.

So I bundled up and walked across the street, found the fastening hooks on the ground, and reattached the sign to the post while braving chilling rain and biting winds. My good deed for the day.

See you tomorrow.

The Patriots' draft picks on Day 3 (final update).

Here is the tally for the New England Patriots from the third and final day of a truly unique NFL Draft. But before we get to them, the lightning-round analysis:

1. As I said, Stidham is the man. The Patriots completely passed on the position in the draft, so it appears that Jarrett Stidham has the blessing to go forth as Tom Brady's successor. Do not expect a high-salaried free agent to appear at their doorstep, because their coffers are so bare, at least two painful salary dumps must be made to let the Patriots pay their draft class.

2. So long, Joe Thuney. Solid player with a huge salary cap number, so the Patriots took two guards and a center on the third day, and the other shoe will probably drop in a few weeks. Center Dustin Woodard, who didn't even get an NFL.com profile, may be an insurance policy to hedge against the possibility that David Andrews has blood-clot trouble again at some point.

3. Linebackers welcome. With Cassh Maluia's selection, that makes three replacements for the free-agency losses of Kyle Van Noy, Jamie Collins and Elandon Roberts. I wouldn't be surprised to see several more invited to the preseason camps, assuming the Patriots can actually have camps.

4. It's a bad look. Kicker Justin Rohrwasser admitted in a conference call that he has a tattoo of the symbol for the "Three Percenters," an ultra-right-wing splinter group. He claims he got it as a teenager because he thought it was a military-support organization. He says he will cover it; perhaps he should consider removing it. He'll be paid enough to afford it.

Who's a good boy? Nike is.

5. Star of the draft? Hands down, it was Bill Belichick's dog, Nike, sitting at the computer after the second-round pick of safety Kyle Dugger. Although, one must give the Cardinals' Kliff Kingsbury some props for showing off his pricey digs. People have actually made Lego models of his living room, complete with fire pit.

OK, I spent a long time over the past two decades miffed at Belichick for a number of reasons. But he admitted in a video clip that was shown online the last couple of days that he loves dogs. "All dogs," he said. So … I guess he can't be all bad, then. Who says this draft wasn't a game-changer?

OK, let's move on to the thumbnails for the third-day picks:

No. 159: Placekicker Justin Rohrwasser, Marshall. 6-3, 230. Played two seasons at the University of Rhode Island before transferring to Marshall for his junior year. Career, hit 85.7 percent of his field goal attempts with a long of 53. From the Marshall web site:  "Rated a two-star prospect by 247sports.com ... At URI, he connected on 15 of 20 field goal attempts and 39 of 40 extra-point attempts ... Set a Rhode Island record for points in a game by a kicker with 14 at Elon (three field goals, five extra points), which led to Colonial Athletic Association Special Teams Player of the Week honors. … Played in all 13 games … Handled field goals, extra points and kickoffs during his first season with the Herd … Made 15 of 21 field goal attempts, with a long of 40 … Made 44 of 46 extra point attempts … 71 kickoffs averaged 61.0 yards, including 30 touchbacks … Made his first MU field goal against Eastern Kentucky … 2-for-2 on field goals against N.C. State … A pair of field goals in a win at WKU … Nailed a 33-yard field goal against Middle Tennessee … Opened the scoring in a win against FAU with a 40-yard field goal, his season long … 24-yard field goal at Southern Miss … Perfect 3-for-3 on field goals in a win against Charlotte … Three field goals vs. UTSA … Accounted for 8 points in Marshall’s Gasparilla Bowl victory against USF on Dec. 20, including 1-for-1 on field goals and 5-for-5 on extra points … Recovered two fumbles on the season, becoming one of two FBS players since 2000 to have at least two fumble recoveries in a season without recording a tackle."

No. 182: Offensive guard Michael Onwenu, Michigan. 6-3, 334. Obtained in trade with Indianapolis in exchange for picks 212 and 213. Huge interior lineman that could be the excuse to dump Joe Thuney's salary. From NFL.com: "The Wolverines nabbed Onwenu (pronounced on-WHEN-you) from Detroit's Cass Tech High School as a top-10 offensive line prospect nationally. He played on the offensive and defensive lines in nine games as a freshman before settling in with nine starts on the offensive line in 2017 (eight at right guard, one at left guard). Big Ten coaches thought enough of the road grader's work in 13 starts at right guard to name him third-team all-conference in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Powerful and wide, Onwenu's natural play strength is somewhat offset by his below-average athletic ability. With better hand placement and attention to footwork, he can take a step forward as a drive blocker with the ability to move bodies around, but he'll be a scheme-specific prospect who could struggle against quick, upfield players and sub-package rushers. He has backup guard ability and potential as a Day 3 pick.

(Past picks: The Patriots have never before selected a player at No. 182.)

No. 195: Offensive guard Justin Herron, Wake Forest. 6-4, 308, 5.26 in the 40. Again, it looks like the Patriots are preparing for a salary dump. From NFL.com: "Herron was a stalwart on the Demon Deacons' offensive line for three seasons, but a torn left ACL suffered in the 2018 opener ended his campaign. He returned as a starter and team captain in 2019, earning a Senior Bowl invite. He started all 12 games at right tackle as a redshirt freshman and then lined up as the team's left tackle in 12 of 13 games during the 2016 season. The former Bullis (Md.) High School three-sport star (and trumpet player in the jazz band) became an All-ACC player as a junior, earning third-team honors. Herron is flexible and athletic with the foot quickness to compete in a camp as a zone-blocking guard. However, he's often in a state of flux and having to fight for survival due to suspect hand usage and body control. He may not have enough play strength to withstand NFL defensive tackles in one-on-one situations, but he does have intriguing athletic traits and may be looked at as a developmental prospect."

No. 204: Linebacker Cassh Maluia, Wyoming. 6-0, 248. From Curt Gowdy's alma mater, Maluia is the third linebacker picked in this draft by the Patriots, although special teams may be his salvation. From NFL.com: "Cassh Maluia (pronounced CASH mall-uh-WEE-uh) was voted honorable mention All-Mountain West Conference in 2019. The Compton, Calif., native (who played at Paramount High School) played in 13 games as a true freshman, starting twice, playing primarily as a reserve and on special teams (16 tackles). Malia posted 74 tackles, 3.5 for loss, one sack, an interception and three fumble recoveries in 13 starts as a sophomore. He started 10 of 11 games played games in 2018 (47 tackles, six for loss, one interception, three pass breakups) and served a one-game suspension after being arrested on charges of driving under the influence, underage alcohol consumption and driving without a driver's license in June of that year. He started all 13 contests as a senior (61 tackles, seven for loss, two interceptions). The quick twitch and lateral quickness can be intriguing when they pop on tape, but his inability to leverage gaps, take on blockers and play with consistent recognition of play development is problematic. Maluia has good speed, agility and short-area movement skills, but he will be a long shot to earn a roster spot unless he can become a special teams star."

No. 230: Center Dustin Woodard, Memphis. 6-2, 291. Looks like the Patriots were seeking some insurance in case David Andrews (cleared to return following blood clots in his lungs last year) struggles to come back. From Rotoworld: "Woodard was named All-AAC first team in 2018 and also awarded a spot on 247 Sports' 2016 True Freshman All-American Team. He has shown impressive versatility by playing both guard positions up until this year when he switched center and started all 14 games there in 2019. Woodard has started 52 of his 54 games played at Memphis as an anchor for Memphis offenses that produced three of the top-four offensive seasons in the school's history. Woodard earned as a 78.4 overall grade from PFF College and is likely a Day 3 prospect for NFL Draft purposes."

What to expect on the last day.

The Patriots enter the final day of the NFL draft with six selections -- Nos. 159, 195, 204, 212, 213 and 230 -- and it's not unrealistic to expect some movement among those, although it would probably take all of the seventh-rounders to get higher.

I'm one of the few that believes they won't pursue a quarterback. Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer will probably be joined by a very inexpensive undrafted free agent because the Patriots have very little cap space. As it is, there are fears that at least a couple of high-salaried players will be told to hit the bricks so they have enough room to sign their draft class. With just about $1.1 million as a base, don't expect to see Cam Newton in town any time soon.

I'd put the high priorities as kicker and offensive lineman -- and to that end, don't be surprised if they take a look at URI offensive guard Kyle Murphy, the former Attleboro High football and basketball standout, who has gotten positive reviews in the pre-draft publications.

By the way, the No. 159 pick (the Patriots' first of the day) is the only one for which we haven't printed a "who came there before" post, so here's who the Patriots have picked at No. 159 in the past:

2019 -- DL Byron Cowart, Maryland
2011 -- TE Lee Smith, Marshall
1997 -- LB Vernon Crawford, Florida State (currently Seekonk High's football coach)

My back yard is screaming at me to mow it, so I'll return to the keyboard once that job is finished. See you then.

The Patriots' draft picks on Day 2 (really the final update).

Was Bill Belichick barking up the wrong tree by picking a D2 safety?

Here is what the Patriots did Friday night in the NFL Draft. But first, I offer the lightning-round analysis:

1. Stidham is the man. The Patriots didn't select any of the "name" quarterbacks in the early going, so it would appear that the pecking order is Jarrett Stidham, Brian Hoyer and maybe someone Bill Belichick's dog, Nike, will nuzzle on the keyboard on Saturday. That's a good boy.

2. Linebacking is a priority. With so many linebackers departed through free agency this year, Belichick clearly determined there was a need to bolster the troops before all else. Jennings will be the edge rusher, while Uche has been touted as a Tedy Bruschi-type, someone of great athletic gifts who'll make himself fit into whatever use the Patriots have for him.

3. Dugger can wait. Figure one more year for Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung as the starting safeties. With Duron Harmon gone through free agency, there's a role for the Division II standout that will allow him to get playing time before he has to assume a greater role.

4. They got their big tight ends. Nobody is expecting Asiasi to be the next Rob Gronkowski, but he can develop into a really good tight end with offensive leanings if he will commit to the demanding regimen of the Patriots' offense. Keene, meanwhile, may be the new big-guy blocker who can double as an H-back.

Here are the profiles of Friday's picks:

No. 37: Safety Kyle Dugger, Lenoir-Rhyne University. 6-1, 217, 4.49 in the 40-yard dash. First D2 safety to be picked in the first two rounds since 2006. According to NFL.com, "He plays with controlled violence and carries an alpha demeanor on the field. He has soft hands and is rangy, but needs to train his eyes and improve his fundamentals before he's coverage-ready. Dugger is a versatile, scheme-friendly safety who helps immediately on special teams and could develop into a talented NFL starter."

No. 60: Linebacker Josh Uche, Michigan. 6-1, 245. Obtained in trade with Baltimore along with No. 129 in return for picks 71 and 98. According to NFL.com: "Balancing Uche's skill set and athletic potential against his inexperience and lack of instincts makes him a challenging evaluation. He's unlikely to find sustained success as a situational rusher, but it should be in play for a team to turn loose his rush instincts and agility inside the pocket as a blitzer. He plays with closing burst, can tackle and is smoother in coverage than expected, but the difference in becoming a pro linebacker instead of a short-term, hybrid athlete will depend largely upon improving his second-level instincts and finding an eclectic defensive mind to unlock his potential."

(Past picks at No. 60: 2016 -- DB Cyrus Jones, Alabama; 1982 -- LB Clayton Weishuhn, Angelo [Texas] State; 1968 -- WR Aaron Marsh, Eastern Kentucky.)

No. 87: Linebacker Anfernee Jennings, Alabama. 6-2, 256. Projected as a damaging edge rusher. From NFL.com: "Jennings was one of Alabama's top in-state recruits in 2015, as he ranked in the top 150 prospects nationally and was one of the finalists for the state's Class 4A Lineman of the Year award as a senior (14 sacks). As a redshirt freshman, Jennings played in 15 games as a reserve (19 tackles, two for loss). He then moved into the starting lineup in 2017 (41 tackles, six for loss, one sack, two forced fumbles in 11 starts), though he missed two early-season contests due to a lower-leg injury and his year ended in the national semifinal against Clemson due to a serious knee injury. Jennings worked hard to be ready for the 2018 season, when he started 14 of 15 games played and recorded 51 tackles, 14 for loss, 6.5 sacks, and a team-high 11 pass breakups. He completed his career in Tuscaloosa as a first-team All-SEC selection, pacing the Tide with 12 tackles for loss and eight sacks. He also posted 83 total stops, intercepted a pass, and broke up five others in 13 starts."

No. 91: Tight end Devin Asiasi, UCLA. 6-3, 257; 4.73 in the 40. Obtained along with the 159th overall pick from the Las Vegas Raiders in return for the 100th, 139th and 172nd picks. A transfer from Michigan who hit his stride this past season. From NFL.com: "Asiasi had just eight career catches heading into the 2019 season, but his '19 tape should be Exhibit A in assigning his draft grade. He needs to work on eliminating bad weight and improving his technique as an in-line blocker, but his athleticism and speed really stand out in space. He's a threat in the seam and with deep corners and over routes in a play-action based attack. Once he learns to attack throws and body defenders with his frame, he will offer value as a possession target on third downs. Asiasi's areas of improvement are attainable and he projects as a play-making Y with future TE1 potential."

(Past picks at No. 91: 2016 -- QB Jacoby Brissett, North Carolina State; 2013 -- S Duron Harmon, Rutgers; 1999 -- DB Tony George. Florida; 1975 -- WR Steve Burks, Arkansas State.)  

No. 101: Tight end Dalton Keene, Virginia Tech. 6-4, 253; 4.71 in the 40. Obtained from the New York Jets in return for picks 125 and 129 and a sixth-round pick next year. This was the first draft-day trade Belichick has made with the Jets since taking the Patriots' job in 2000, but the second involving draft picks, as they will get a 2021 sixth-rounder from the Jets from the trade of Demaryius Thomas last Sept. 10. Keene is seen as more of a blocker and H-back potential than a pass-catching threat. From NFL.com: "Dalton's father, Wes, played football at Murray State when recently retired Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster coached the Racers. The families became close, even vacationing together. So even though Keene was a star player in Colorado, Blacksburg was a natural fit. It was such a nice fit, in fact, that he started 12 of 13 games played as a true freshman (10 catches, 167 yards, 16.7 average). Keene was voted honorable mention All-ACC by league coaches in 2018, starting 12 of 13 games played and grabbing 28 passes for 341 yards (12.2 per) and three scores. His production through the air was down as a junior (21 catches, 240 yards, 11.4 average) though he scored five times in 13 starts and was used in the running game (11 carries, 33 yards, 3.0 ypc)."

(Past picks at No. 101: 2019 -- OL Yodny Cajuste, West Virginia; 2015 -- DL Trey Flowers, Arkansas; 1996 -- OG Heath Irwin, Colorado; 1983 -- LB Johnny Rembert, Clemson; 1967 -- DE Ed Philpott, Miami, Ohio.)

Remaining selections: Nos. 159, 195, 204, 212, 213, 230.

Priorities: Placekicker, quarterback, offensive guard, wide receiver.

MIAA finally acknowledges the obvious.

The Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association met electronically on Friday and voted 16-0 to confirm what everyone has known since Tuesday of this week, if not before -- that there will be no high school sports season in this state this year because of the coronavirus crisis.

The following is the statement issued by the MIAA afterward:

"In accordance with Governor Charles Baker’s announcement Tuesday that Massachusetts schools will be closed to in person learning for the remainder of the school year, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) regretfully has cancelled all spring sports and spring tournaments.

"Today’s decision by the MIAA Board of Directors was difficult, disappointing, and one that was deferred for several weeks as Association staff, Association members from the Tournament Management Committee (TMC) and the Board worked aggressively to construct optional structures to save the opportunity for our MIAA 80,000 student-athletes to enjoy a spring season.

"Despite this disheartening but unavoidable action, it is paramount to applaud our constituents, principals, athletic directors, coaches and student-athletes for their positive power of example and cooperation during this unprecedented crisis. The “life lessons” inherent in the games we play will be our resiliency to provide mental and physical strength to focus on the discipline and teamwork to make a difference in the challenging chapters in the Game of Life."

There is nothing in this statement that couldn't have been crafted two weeks or more before Friday's announcement, which begs the question why the MIAA could not have had this prepared for release the moment that Gov. Baker announced his decision to keep schools closed for the remainder of the school year.

As has been the case throughout this difficult time, the MIAA managed to keep presenting false hopes to the state's student-athletes right to the bitter end and then three days beyond it, when it might have been of more value to the youngsters to present a more truthful picture to them.

As I've said before, the MIAA was not wrong to prepare for the possibility that the COVID-19 crisis might subside in time to allow an abbreviated spring schedule. But as weeks passed, Massachusetts became a new hotbed of infection -- and thus, as it became increasingly obvious that the schools would not re-open on May 4, it didn't make sense for the MIAA to continue to maintain such a strong public stance that the season could be rebooted.

Even when Gov. Baker announced the school closure on Tuesday, some coaches were openly looking for loopholes in the order that might have allowed high school sports teams to somehow get around the closure of their facilities and assemble teams in defiance of the stay-at-home restrictions we're all dealing with. At that point, the MIAA should have made it crystal-clear at the moment of the governor's order that there were issues afoot that were far more important than high school sports.

Instead, it waited three more days before issuing its affirming statement -- and then made it sound as if it was the end of a heroic effort to serve the student-athletes.

Nobody is happy about this. I'm certainly not. I was a high school athlete of marginal talent a half-century ago, and I devoted my life to covering school sports for various news-gathering organizations thereafter. Nobody respects high school coaches or athletes more than I do. And this decision actually hit me and two of my closest friends in the wallet, as we would have been calling some King Philip games for North Attleboro Community Television's Plainville Channel over the next few weeks.

But above all, I respect the intelligence of young people. After all, I was one once. When I was a kid, I wanted to know the truth and base my life decisions upon it. I was skeptical of those that told me, "Don't worry, kid, we'll take care of you." I wanted to make my own decisions as much as the law would allow me.

The most important truth in all this? As I type this, there have been 50,360 deaths in the United States because of coronavirus. Take Gillette Stadium and fill it with people, and after introduction of the virus, only 10,000 people would be walking out alive. And the number is still growing.

Stay home. Stay safe. Watch the numbers go down. And hopefully, we'll be back on the fields in the fall.

Of course, it's an exceedingly bitter pill for this year's senior class to swallow. But as they head out into a changed world, I'd like to believe that they will enter it stronger and more capable of handling a crisis of this sort if it should happen again. It was a high price to pay for knowledge, but fortunately, most of you will be alive to meet the next challenge because of it.

And I thank you all for the great moments I got to watch and broadcast before we were all sent to the sidelines for reasons out of our control.

What a surprise. Patriots trade down.

Bill Belichick stands by the ready to not make a draft pick Thursday night.

The Patriots lived up (or down) to their reputation Thursday night by trading away their only pick in the first round of the NFL Draft.

The Patriots dealt the No. 23 pick overall to the Los Angeles Chargers for a second-rounder and a third-rounder, Nos. 37 and 71 overall. With the Patriots' former pick, the Chargers took Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray.

As a result of the move, the Patriots will enter today's portion of the draft with 13 overall picks, and they restored their status in the second round in the process. They now have two new selections between No. 23 and where they would have picked otherwise, No. 87 overall.

Like many of their other picks this year, the Patriots now have selections at places in the draft where they have rarely picked before. They have never made a selection at No. 37 since the institution of the joint NFL-AFL Draft in 1967, while they have picked only once before at No. 71, taking running back Kevin Turner from Alabama in 1992.

Bill Belichick was heading up the Patriots' draft from the kitchen of his summer house on Nantucket, in the Siaconset area on the eastern coast of the island. A photo of him appears above, sitting before three computers on his dining-area table (and maybe an iPad to the far left of the photo, I'm not sure), with a bottle of hand sanitizer, a TV remote and presumably a vitamin bottle sharing the table. I'm assuming he was watching the draft, although given the result of the first night, he might as well have been watching the "Xena: Warrior Princess" marathon on the SyFy channel.

We'll be back tomorrow night for more draft coverage. And by the way? One of the things I don't miss about my former career were those days when you'd expect Belichick to make a pick at a reasonable time and he'd trade down to the bottom of the round or trade out of it altogether. At least as a blogger, I can wear gym shorts and feel comfortable.

Thoughts during the apocalypse, Part 24.

Hey, folks! I haven't had too many random thoughts lately because there has been real news to put up here. But as I'm waiting for the NFL Draft to start (and yes, I will throw in a few updates over the next few days), here are a few thoughts to tide us over:

Our long national nightmare has ended. I have TP.

** I went out on a shopping run today, and I was responsibly dressed with latex gloves and a brand-new mask, a shipment of which I received from Amazon the other day. And joy of joys, I was finally able to scoop up a package of toilet paper that won't feel like sandpaper on my tushy.

As I was down to eight rolls in the house (not counting the two rolls of one-ply Scott I bought at Shaw's in Sharon last weekend), I did not feel as if I was hoarding to purchase one 18-roll package of Quilted Northern at the Mansfield Stop & Shop. That's not my usual brand -- I usually get the brand endorsed by those bears that don't shit in the woods -- but I'm not complaining.

The store offered a maximum of two per customer, but I didn't need that much -- and with only 10 more packages on the shelf, I figured others would be more in need than I was.

Risking TMI here, I don't use an extraordinary amount of TP. I figure my current supply will take me into August under normal circumstances, so I am officially out of the toilet paper market for a while.

Still not finding hand sanitizer anywhere, but I still have a fairly good supply here at home. I will probably wait a little longer before I start to worry.

** One other thing I'm finding really hard to find is one of my favorite soft drinks. The Diet Dr Pepper supply seems to have been replenished, but it's really tough to find Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Cherry. Love that stuff.

** I have to admit, I'm actually looking forward to watching the TV coverage of the NFL draft because, given how difficult it has been for a lot of the networks to hook up successfully to individuals either reporting or being interviewed at home, the hookup to 32 coaches/general managers in their homes could be one giant clusterf*ck.

Indeed, in the trial run earlier in the week, the Cincinnati Bengals' hookup froze on the computer screens on the very first pick.

The rumor earlier in the week had Bill Belichick making his pick from Nantucket. He may want to find a willing seagull ready to relay the pick to Roger Goodell with it taped to one leg.

And from what I also heard earlier in the week, new Giants' coach Joe Judge might be making his pick from his home in North Attleboro. Apparently he hasn't moved to the Garden State as yet.

** I'm a big fan of the folks working at the convenience stores and fast food restaurants during this crisis, but it's still no time for them to be sleeping on the job. I stopped at a drive-thru today (won't say where so I can protect the establishment from embarrassment), and my order came to $9.26. So I drove to the first window and handed the kid 10 $1 bills -- and waited … and waited … and waited … until I finally spoke up and asked him for my change.

He reacted somewhat slowly and then gave me 26 cents in change (which was still 48 cents short of what I was supposed to get). As I was holding up the line, I just drove up to the next window and asked the young lady handing me my food to wake up the chap at the first window and remind him not to shortchange the customers. "I don't care about the change," I said as nicely as possible, "but you folks really should wake up that kid."

Now, some folks will think that makes me a bad guy. Think what you want. I just want the person taking my money to be responsible enough to be paying attention, coronavirus crisis or not.

** Enjoy the draft. I'll be back with updates when the Patriots do something.

Patriots' past picks at current positions.

There's something really unusual about this year's NFL Draft for the New England Patriots -- the fact that from among all of the Patriots' 12 selections, they have selected only 18 players in those spots since the start of the joint AFL-NFL Draft in 1967.

Indeed, at their current positions (Nos. 23, 87, 98, 100, 125, 139, 172, 195, 204, 212, 213 and 230), only two players have been selected by Bill Belichick since 2000 within those parameters. It's really unusual, given all of the drafts that have taken  place since the merger, that a team would land in the same positions so few times.

Almost every year that I covered the draft since 1977, I researched the Patriots' past picks and printed lists of the players selected at those positions. So, even though I will not be covering the 2020 draft (which begins tomorrow) for any news-gathering organization and thus will break a string of 43 years running, here's the list of who the Patriots picked at these 12 positions in the past. And yes, I understand that Belichick will probably trade out of several of these positions.

Bruce Armstrong

No. 23

2018 -- OL Isaiah Wynn, Georgia
1987 -- OT Bruce Armstrong, Louisville

No. 87
1988 -- NT Tim Goad, North Carolina

No. 98
1987 -- QB Rich Gannon, Delaware

No. 100
2005 -- OT Nick Kaczur, Toledo
1989 -- WR Michael Timpson, Penn State
1988 -- K Teddy Garcia, Northeast Louisiana

No. 125
1997 -- OT Ed Ellis, Buffalo

No. 139
1996 -- OG John Elmore, Texas

No. 172
1975 -- WR Lawrence Williams, Texas Tech

No. 195
1996 -- RB Mario Grier, Tennessee-Chattanooga
1995 -- RB Dino Philyaw, Oregon
1972 -- OG Steve Beyrle, Kansas State

No. 204 
1992 -- RB Scott Lockwood, Southern California

No. 212
1981 -- TE Lin Dawson, North Carolina State
1973 -- OT David Callaway, Texas A&M
1970 -- DE Dennis Wirgowski, Purdue

No. 213
No previous picks.

No. 230
1997 -- OL Scott Rehberg, Central Michigan

Gronk Deal: Something for nothing.

Rob Gronkowski (87) scores a touchdown against Cincinnati in 2016.

I have a parable that fits the Rob Gronkowski situation to a T:

A few days ago, I looked at the coat racks here at home and realized I hadn't worn either of my winter-weight leather jackets in some time. So I determined it was time to transfer them to the storage closet until the consistently cold weather returns later this year.

But of course, I checked the pockets first. That was rewarding, because in one of the pockets of the brown jacket, I found three paper-money bills … a $10 bill, a $5, and a $1. Then in the inside left pocket of the black jacket, I found a perfectly folded $20 bill. So just in the act of shifting my unworn jackets from one hanging place to another, I came away with $36 that I did not expect to have -- money that had been forgotten, but can now be put to a better use.

Such is the place in which the Patriots found themselves Tuesday.

Gronkowski was a media favorite here. 

Gronkowski, that lovable lug that gave the Patriots the status of having the best tight end in the game for nine seasons, supposedly retired after the 2018 season. He's been cagey every step of the way since, hinting to returns to football while dropping a ton of weight, hawking cannabis-based pain-relief products and wrestling with the WWE. But he remained the property of the Patriots all along because of the length of the last contract he signed.

Now, Tom Brady wants his big binky back, and Gronk willingly came running to Tampa Bay. The Patriots obliged him, sending him and a seventh-round draft pick to the Bucs in return for a fourth-rounder -- even though they could have attempted to hold his feet to the fire and make his only option to play for the Patriots or not at all.

Surely, Gronk would not have done that. Both he and Brady have made it clear they have no problem walking away from the so-called Patriot Way. Both want to experience their sunset years of football in a kinder, gentler environment than under the highly regimented and restrictive yoke of Bill Belichick. And, had Gronk returned to the Patriots' roster, he would have added a salary cap hit of more than $9 million -- unaffordable to the Patriots, who have a paltry sum of $1.1 million left on their cap as the draft approaches.

So, it made sense for the Patriots to approve the deal. Tampa Bay has plenty of cap room for Gronkowski's salary. The Patriots are now in full rebuilding mode, if you haven't noticed, and more big names with big salaries will be heading elsewhere before training camp (hopefully) opens in July. And since they weren't going to get anything at all if Gronkowski remained "retired" here, a fourth-round draft pick is a happy bonus -- just like reaching into your pocket and finding money there that you forgot you had.

School's out, but the MIAA is still out in left field.

The second important topic of the day:

On Tuesday, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker ordered what most of us expected to happen for some time -- that the public and private school systems of the state would be closed for the remainder of the school year because of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. To that end, the governor's order also puts an end to the question of whether high school sports would be able to resume in this state.

As school buildings will remain closed, and with the expectation that social-distancing restriction will be in effect for several more weeks, it will be impossible for the member schools of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association to follow through with a plan to reboot the spring sports season starting on May 4.

At least that's what common sense suggests. The MIAA, for its own part, was not ready to confirm this even after Gov. Baker's announcement. This was tweeted out by the association earlier Tuesday:

What I can't understand is why the MIAA, which devoted so much of its time to preparing for a spring season that was always likely to be canceled, could not have concurrently prepared a statement confirming and supporting the action of Gov. Baker from the very moment he announced it. It is important that the MIAA, although not a state agency, show support for the decision that was made with the best interests of all Massachusetts citizens at heart.

Throughout these past few weeks, I have been critical of the MIAA for openly planning a resumption to the sports season under the premise that it was "important" to give the student-athletes hope that they would not lose the season to the coronavirus. I didn't think it was wrong for the MIAA to plan for the best-case scenario, but I felt it was extremely important for the association to also plan for the worst-case scenario -- and not to be dishonest with the athletes in the process.

I believed then, and I believe now, that it's important to be honest to the young athletes of the state. This is an unprecedented circumstance they are facing, unlike anything that has been faced by multiple generations prior to theirs. Not since before interscholastic athletics existed in their present form, in fact, has there been a national pandemic that so deeply threatened the lives of Americans of all ages. And yet it's still difficult to convince the populace to stay home, to avoid personal contact and to avoid activities that could result of rapid transmission of the coronavirus.

And all this is happening just as Massachusetts has become a hotspot for COVID-19 infection. Things aren't winding down here yet, and MIAA officials should have been aware of this and been prepared to announce the end of their push to get athletes back on the fields at the very moment that the closure of schools became official. But no, we still have to wait for the Board of Directors to come up with a statement later in the week -- and all the while, some individuals remain erroneously hopeful that somehow, loopholes will be found in the school closures and the games will go on.

Maybe it's time to consider that there are more important things to worry about than a lost lacrosse or baseball season. I'd rather see kids sadly staying home in self-quarantine than happily playing and then coming home with 103-degree fevers and life-threatening pneumonia. But for expressing this, I have become a "bad guy" again. Here are some examples of the responses I've gotten:

" ...heaven forbid we give the kids something to hope for, work towards, and look forward to! As coaches, that’s the nature of our work...and near as I can tell, the MIAA didn’t let anyone play in an unsafe environment. No one has touched a field - we just hoped for the best."

"Listen Mark just stop. these seniors are having enough time with this .the Miaa was trying the best they could my daughter is a high school senior who just has been stripped of everything they have worked for 12 years they don’t need to see your negativity I suggest you step off."

And the best one so far: "Wow you really are an ass..I hope karma gets u someday."

I have a better suggestion. Let's be honest with the kids. They were dealt a bad hand, that's certainly true. But maybe because of this, they will be better prepared to deal with crises later in their lives if a similar circumstance happens in the future. This may actually be the best lesson they will ever learn in their lives, given the volatility of the times in which they live.

Sports are great. I spent my entire life devoted to them, from the first day I put on a uniform as a member of a junior varsity baseball team, through more than 50 years as a professional sports journalist, and through my current part-time profession as a local sports broadcaster. But it's not the most important thing in the world -- as this ongoing crisis drives home every day.

Why Bill Parcells should be in the Patriots Hall of Fame.

The Patriots Hall of Fame, ready to welcome another member.

First of two important topics today:

The Patriots released the results Tuesday of the vote taken by the Hall of Fame Nominating Committee, and in alphabetical order, these are the results -- former head coach Bill Parcells, defensive end Richard Seymour and linebacker Mike Vrabel. Fans may now vote for the next Hall of Fame member, the online balloting open at patriots.com until May 8.

Later in this post, you will read the biographical thumbnail sketches provided by the Patriots' media relations department. But since this is my blog, I'm going to repeat once again why I believe Bill Parcells should be the selection, why I keep voting for him, and what gives me the right to tell you to vote for him.

Let's take the third circumstance first. I covered the Patriots (and still do) since 1977 for three different news-gathering organizations -- The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro for 41 seasons, The Patriot Ledger of Quincy for two seasons, and The Associated Press for 21 seasons. I'm still a part-time stringer for the AP two years into my retirement from daily sportswriting. I broke in covering Chuck Fairbanks as head coach, and I was there every day for every coach thereafter -- Ron Erhardt, Ron Meyer, Raymond Berry, Rod Rust, Dick MacPherson, Bill Parcells. Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick. With the exception of Fairbanks, I reported on their hirings. And with the exception of Belichick, I reported on their firings (or self-chosen departures) as well.

Bill Parcells. my choice for enshrinement.

As soon as the news was put up on the Internet, one Twitter twit ripped into the committee, saying, "Some starry-eyed revisionist historians on the Patriots HoF committee putting Parcells up for a 3rd time. A self promoting, finger-pointing, backstabbing carnival barker who did a mediocre job with 1 foot out the door the entire time."

Actually, it's Parcells' fourth time on the ballot, but let's not confuse the issue with facts.

The nominating committee had 27 people on it this year, and while we have lost some veteran members in recent times, there are still enough of us on the panel that have consistently supported Parcells' candidacy because we were there and we saw in person the impact that the Tuna had upon the entire organization.

His on-the-field numbers aren't great. He was a .500 coach, he got to the playoffs twice in four years and lost one Super Bowl, and he left immediately after that to coach the New York Jets. People are still pissed off about that, 24 years after the fact. These are the same ones that also say, "Oh, the Patriots weren't really all that bad before Parcells came …"

And they are dead wrong.

Yes, the Patriots went to a Super Bowl in 1985. But Billy Sullivan's coffers were empty at that point and the ownerships that followed were inexperienced and disorganized. The team, lacking a professional-grade front office, was also playing in a sub-standard stadium, the lease terms of which were the only thing keeping an NFL team in New England. Even the caretaker owner brought in by the league to stabilize the situation was here just to prepare the asset for transfer to St. Louis as the replacement for the departed Cardinals.

You might want to consider James Busch Orthwein as much of a savior of the franchise as Robert Kraft, though. If not for his decision to hire Parcells as head coach, Parcells' subsequent revamping of the front-office structure and sudden support at the ticket office from the fan base, New England's interest in supporting a pro football team might not have been rekindled enough to warrant Orthwein's search for local ownership.

To this day, I wonder if things would have gone better if Kraft had not begun his ownership as a rock star, glad-handing the fans on the sidelines and trying to be the next Jerry Jones, even to the point of interfering with Parcells' personnel decisions. If Kraft had been the hands-off owner then that he is for Bill Belichick, maybe Parcells' tenure would have been longer and more successful and would have naturally led directly into Belichick's tenure, skipping the Pete Carroll hiccup.

But I do not vote for Parcells based on "what ifs." He changed the Patriots' course through history as it is. If not for his presence at that particular juncture in time, it's fair to suggest that the team would not even be in New England for us to have this debate.

I don't think the fans will elect him, although I could be wrong. I think Richard Seymour would be a worthy (if personally disappointing) alternative. To that end, I have already suggested two other alternatives -- first, that Kraft put Parcells into the Patriots Hall of Fame of his own accord, as a "contributor," and second, that the fan balloting be split in an upcoming season to accommodate coaches and players. There are four coaches right now that should be considered -- Mike Holovak, Chuck Fairbanks, Raymond Berry and Parcells -- and fans could vote for one of them to help settle the argument and also help deal with the logjam of the many players that are going to be coming up for consideration in the future.

So far, my suggestions have been dismissed by those that make such decisions. I'll suggest the alternatives again. But in the meantime, I will proudly vote for Bill Parcells and I ask those of you reading this to do so as well.

Here are the biographical sketches of the nominees:

Bill Parcells was the head coach of the New England Patriots for four seasons (1993-96) and led the team to two playoff berths. After inheriting a team that had finished 14-50 in the previous four years, including an NFL worst 2-14 season in 1992, he brought the clout of a two-time Super Bowl Champion to the Patriots sidelines, infusing instant credibility in 1993. In 1994, a season-closing seven-game win streak allowed the Patriots to clinch their first playoff berth in eight years. The performance earned Parcells NFL Coach of the Year honors. After finishing 6-10 in 1995, the Patriots rebounded with an 11-win season in 1996, tying the then franchise record for wins and earning their first division title in 10 years. After a convincing victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers (28-3) in the divisional playoff game in foggy Foxborough, the Patriots hosted their first AFC Championship game and defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars, 20-6, to earn a trip to the Super Bowl for just the second time in franchise history. This is the fourth time that the Patriots Hall of Fame Nomination Committee has nominated Bill Parcells for Patriots Hall of Fame induction (2011, 2012, 2014 and 2020). On Feb. 2, 2013, Parcells was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is the only coach in NFL history ever to lead four different teams to the playoffs and three different teams to a conference championship game. He is a member of the Patriots 1990s All-Decade Team.

Richard Seymour would be a worthwhile pick.

Richard Seymour spent the first eight seasons of his 12-year NFL career with the Patriots and played an important role in delivering six division titles, four conference crowns and three Super Bowl championships to New England. He was named to five straight Pro Bowls with the Patriots (2002-06) and earned three straight first-team All-Pro honors (2003-05). His five Pro Bowl berths are the most by any Patriots defensive lineman since the 1970 NFL merger. He was also a four-time team co-captain. In 2009, he was voted to the Patriots 50th Anniversary Team and the 2000s All-Decade Team. Seymour has been a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the last two years. Seymour was drafted by the Patriots sixth overall in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft out of Georgia. He immediately established himself as one of the team’s premier players and helped the Patriots win their first Super Bowl during his rookie season. During his time with the Patriots, he anchored a defense that allowed an average of 17.8 points per game and allowed fewer than 20 points per game in six of his eight seasons with New England. Seymour also blocked seven field goals in his career. Overall, Seymour started in 105-of-111 games, totaling 460 tackles, including 256 solos stops with 39 sacks. He also recorded two interceptions and six fumble recoveries. He played in 15 postseason games with 13 starts and added 66 total tackles, 4½ sacks and two fumble recoveries. In 2004, he scored his first career touchdown on a fumble recovery that he returned 68 yards in a 31-17 win at Buffalo (10/3/04). Seymour was traded to Oakland in the summer of 2009, where he played the final four years of his career, producing two additional Pro Bowl seasons.

Mike Vrabel's fifth try for the Hall.

Mike Vrabel is recognized as one of the best free agent signings in team history. He joined the team before the 2001 season, following a four-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he was used primarily on special teams and as a reserve linebacker. During his eight-year tenure in New England, Vrabel played a major role in the Patriots dynamic run that included three Super Bowl championships in four years (2001, 2003 and 2004). He exemplified positional versatility during his Patriots tenure by starting at both inside and outside linebacker, regularly lining up on offense in short-yardage and goal-line situations, and continually making valuable contributions on various special teams units. As a Patriot, he caught eight regular-season passes and two more in the playoffs. All 10 of his receptions were for touchdowns, including touchdown receptions in back-to-back Super Bowl wins over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXVIII and Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX. Vrabel’s career as a Patriot included many highlight-reel games that also set him apart in NFL record books. On Dec. 26, 2005, on Monday Night Football, Vrabel became the first player since 1982 (when sacks became an official statistic) to have two touchdown receptions and a sack in the same game. In Week 8 of the 2007 season, Vrabel forced three fumbles, had three sacks, recovered an onside kick and scored an offensive touchdown against Washington, a performance which earned him AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors. He earned Pro Bowl and NFL All-Pro honors following the 2007 season after registering 12½ sacks and helping the Patriots to the NFL’s only 16-0 regular season in NFL history. As a Patriot, Vrabel started 110-of-125 games and the team went 95-30 in those games for a .760 winning percentage. He was a four-time team captain, including during the 2006 season when the defense set a then-franchise record by allowing just 14.8 points per game and just 237 points. His 48 career sacks with the team are the seventh-most in franchise history. In 2009, he was voted to the Patriots 50th Anniversary Team as an outside linebacker along with Andre Tippett and the 2000s All-Decade Team along with Willie McGinest.

Patriots have new uniforms, and you'll have less money because of it.

The Patriots' new uniforms, which aren't really all that new.

As promised, the Patriots unveiled their new uniforms on Monday. And why not? It's Patriots Day in Massachusetts, a state holiday commemorating the battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775, which is popularly regarded as the "official" start of the Revolutionary War.

This event, as it turns out, will be the first shot fired in a battle to separate New England sports fans from more of the money in their wallets.

Essentially, the new uniforms are tweaked versions of the "color rush" uniforms that debuted in 2016. The major changes are in the font styles of the numbers and the nameplates, and the adoption of blue pants as permanent with the blue-jerseyed home uniforms.

You may notice that for the numbers and names, the uniforms feature a simpler block-letter, sans-serif style than the previous typeface, which had been created specifically for the Patriots in 2000 (it's called "Patriot") when the familiar style of the Belichick Era was created by the adidas sportswear company. Nike has since assumed design and manufacturing rights for all NFL uniforms.

The old shirts, now obsolete.

Both the blue and white versions of the jerseys have removed the smaller shoulder numbers (once called "TV numbers" when first introduced to NFL numbers in the 1960s), and the gray shoulder bar (blue on the white jersey) has been replaced by alternating red and blue stripes that are a callback to the original uniforms worn by the Boston Patriots upon their introduction in 1960. The different-colored side panels on the white shirts are also gone.

As it stands, there will not be a red version or an official throwback uniform. The team said on its website that a true throwback would require a white helmet with the "Pat Patriot" logo on it, and current NFL rules prohibit the use of different helmets with a throwback uniform -- although there are discussions afoot to loosen that restriction. At that point, the team said, it would consider adding a red throwback to the mix.

And the "Flying Elvis" logo that was introduced at the start of Bill Parcells' tenure as head coach in 1993 remains the only logo officially displayed on the team's uniforms. It remains on both sleeves of the jerseys and both sides of the helmets.

The Patriots' announcement said that talks to alter the team's primary uniform began in 2016, so it's not as if the team decided to make a change just because Tom Brady packed his bags and shuffled off to Tampa Bay. It sometimes takes five years for such a design change to be approved and implemented. But the question that begs to be answered is, "Why change at all?" After all, the Patriots' 2000 redesign carried them through nine Super Bowl appearances and six victories, and became the look that most of America loves to hate.

The answer is simple. They want your money.

The NFL is probably the world's most successful example of communism, in that all 32 teams benefit equally from the sale of replica jerseys or other team paraphernalia. It doesn't matter that Tom Brady's old Patriots' jersey was, for a long time, the best-selling jersey in the nation; Brady didn't see any extra income personally. But if a team's jersey does well, the increased revenue benefits all of the teams.

Look in the stands on any game day, and you're likely to see tens of thousands of replica jerseys. And most of them are new. You may chuckle to see the occasional Andy Katzenmoyer light-blue shirt with the slanted numbers and the big Flying Elvises on the shoulder, but chances are most of those you see were purchased since 2000 and probably within the past five years or so. You're not going to walk into Gillette Stadium wearing a Corey Dillon shirt when your friends are wearing newer Tom Brady No. 12s.

Now, with Brady gone and the uniform changes in effect, there will be a run on the new shirts -- and they aren't cheap. The top-of-the-line replicas were selling Monday for $150 each on the Patriots' Pro Shop web site, and the next level down was $100 each. Just one sale for each seat in the stadium could reap almost $10 million for the league, and that's not counting the millions of fans across the nation that are going to want to jump on the bandwagon.

And it's not just the Patriots. The Buccaneers, Browns, Falcons, Rams, Chargers and Colts are also introducing changes to their uniforms this year, which means that millions of fans will be shelling out their hard-earned cash (at least those that still have hard-earned cash in the midst of the coronavirus crisis) to be up-to-date with their favorite teams.

It's diabolical. It's brilliant. And for Patriots' fans, it all starts today. As it says on the front page of the Patriots' website, "Check them out and order today."

Thoughts during the apocalypse, Part 23.

Major French (James Coburn), right, confronts Mr. Goldsmith (John Anderson)

for authority over a war-devastated town in a 1963 Twilight Zone episode.

No doubt, a lot of us are starting to go stir crazy as the COVID-19 pandemic runs its course and people remain cooped up in their houses. But most of us see the stay-at-home and social distancing orders as a necessary evil, a means of reducing exposure to the virus and preserving the safety of millions of Americans.

But of course, there are always exceptions. We're seeing it in several parts of the country, where right-wing zealots have been out in force -- and not respecting the guidelines to protect themselves from the virus -- to protest the quarantining and ongoing prohibitions against conducting business as normal. These nut-job protesters have been stoked into a frenzy by individuals like conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, the unhinged force behind the "InfoWars" broadcasts, and they have even drawn support from our illegitimate president as he uses the protests to attack the Democrat governors of states like Michigan and Virginia as a means of clinging to his conservative base in the upcoming election.

Donald Trump will go down in the history books -- if we get a chance to write them -- as the most incompetent president among the 45 elected thus far, one who determined that the only way to maintain power was to divide the nation along the lines of party, race and financial status. The worst example of his managerial incompetence has been his "leadership" during the coronavirus crisis. His daily press briefings have become nothing more than campaign rallies, in which he wastes the time of the nation by using his platform to attack the news media and those that don't bow to his self-perceived greatness. And when he finally gets around to what he should be discussing, his lack of scientific understanding and empathy and his megalomaniacal need to attach his personal stamp upon the crisis as if its a shining accomplishment are painfully clear. What little valid information he manages to slur into the microphones is tainted by his sheer stupidity.

I've mentioned several times that it's like an episode of The Twilight Zone, the brilliant CBS television series of the early 1960s. And I finally figured out which one -- "The Old Man in the Cave."

It came from Season 5, the seventh 30-minute episode of the 1963-64 season, originally aired exactly two weeks before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It was written by the show's creator, Rod Serling, who was an absolute genius. The following synopsis comes primarily from Wikipedia, with a few edits and additional recollections by me:

"In a sparsely populated town in 1974, 10 years after a nuclear war has devastated the United States, the townspeople have discovered a supply of canned food. However, they are waiting for Mr. Goldsmith (portrayed by John Anderson), the town's leader, to return with a message from the mysterious and unseen "old man in the cave" who will tell them whether the food is contaminated with radiation.

"Some of the townsfolk want to take their chances and eat the food, but they refrain from doing so, recalling a disastrous harvest when they failed to take the old man's advice about which farming areas were contaminated. When Mr. Goldsmith returns, he informs them that the old man has declared the recently-discovered food is contaminated and that it should be destroyed.

"Shortly thereafter, a small group of soldiers drive into the devastated downtown in a military Jeep. They are led by Major French (James Coburn), who claims to be representing some 'central states' authority. Goldsmith is wary of the newcomers; he claims that wandering packs of self-styled military men have previously intruded on the town and tried to establish authority, all unsuccessfully. French reveals that there are maybe 500 people left alive between Buffalo and Atlanta, and also talks of small, isolated primitive societies on the shores of Lake Erie and in 'what used to be' Chicago. He claims his job is to organize the region so that society can be rebuilt. However, Goldsmith believes that French and his men simply want to strip the town of its food.

Major French eats the contaminated

fruit despite the old man's warnings.

"A clash of wills ensues and, frustrated by Goldsmith's quiet and steadfast refusal to bend, French tries to dispel the townspeople's strange beliefs about the seemingly infallible old man in the cave and take control of the area. French tempts the townspeople with some of the food Goldsmith claimed was contaminated. He opens a can of fruit and eats it in front of the survivors, who then throw caution to the wind and take the contaminated food despite Goldsmith's pleas.

"Everyone except Goldsmith eventually consumes the food and drink and Goldsmith falls into disfavor among the townspeople. After being bullied and threatened with his life, Goldsmith finally opens the cave door, and it is ultimately revealed that in reality, the townsfolk have been surviving because of the readouts of a still-operational mainframe computer. Major French rallies the townspeople to destroy the machine, and afterward, the soldiers and townspeople celebrate their 'freedom' by consuming the many caches of contaminated food and drink they had previously avoided.

"However, the 'old man' was correct; without an authority figure to tell them which foods are safe, the entire human population of the town (including French and the soldiers) dies — except for the lone survivor, Mr. Goldsmith, who somberly walks out of the now-dead town, wondering if there is nothing to prevent the remnants of the human race from destroying themselves similarly."

Yeah, that's pretty bleak. As I said, Rod Serling was a genius. He knew exactly how to tap into the paranoia of the times and create parables that would serve as warnings -- not just to Cold War-era America, but beyond.

After watching video of the Michigan protests, in which some of the heavily-armed participants were waving Confederate flags and chanting "Lock her up!" in reference to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her science-based orders to protect the populace against this deadly virus, all I could see in my mind's eye was Major French ripping open that can of contaminated fruit and inviting his own demise, and consequently, the demise of all that followed him.

Rod Serling saw this possibility almost 60 years ago. But as I said, he was a true genius -- not a "stable genius."