The Owner's Box After Dark, Ep. 14

I took a little time off from the blog this week, but a lot of things happened in the world in the interim, so I felt like talking about them in Episode 14 of The Owner's Box After Dark -- Republicans, racism, even some thoughts about the city of Kenosha, Wis., and the impact it had upon my newspapering career. I also mention how to keep underwear in service for more than 11 years and there's even a commercial!

Enjoy.

The Owner's Box After Dark, Ep. 13.

In the latest video podcast, I meet up with my counterpart from an alternate podcasting universe to explain the moves made by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association to revive high school sports this fall. But first, Blue Shirt Mark helps me to introduce the new two-studio setup for Fulton Pond Studios, where The Owner's Box and The Owner's Box After Dark are recorded -- as well as my own appearances on remotely-recorded telecasts of all sorts.

Facts and fantasy collide in Episode 13. Enjoy!

There will be some fall sports after all, but not football.

Football will have to wait for the springtime.

(Updated at 11:59 a.m. Wednesday)

Welcome to the first post from my new desktop computer, and hopefully it's good news for everyone that loves high school sports.

According to reports by the Boston Herald's Matt Feld (and if you're not following him on Twitter, you absolutely must at @mattyfeld612), the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has given its blessing to allow the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association to pursue a fall-season schedule as outlined by the MIAA's COVID-19 Task Force's recommendations, and the MIAA's Board of Directors has approved it unanimously.

In a nutshell -- no football. That will be shifted to a "fourth season" slotted in-between a shortened winter season and a shifted spring season. But otherwise, sports that aren't considered high risk for COVID infection have the green light -- pending approval by the MIAA Board of Directors -- to start the fall on Sept. 18.

The sports given the OK are boys' golf, cross country, field hockey, soccer, gymnastics, girls' volleyball, and swimming and diving.

While the official starting dates for the other seasons have not been announced (and are subject to further review), it's likely that the winter season for boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' hockey, wrestling, indoor track and a few others would run from Nov. 30 through Feb. 21 (originally recommended for Feb. 28, which bothers me a little), football and other high-risk sports from Feb. 22 through April 25, and spring sports (baseball, softball, track, lacrosse, tennis, girls' golf and boys' volleyball) from April 26 through July 3.

Nothing beyond the fall is totally set, and a number of factors could sidetrack it all -- rising coronavirus cases at the forefront of those factors. Nor has there yet been substantive discussion of crowd restrictions, travel and facility concerns, media coverage and so on. The MIAA, DESE and the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs will review all the factors before deciding to proceed with another season.

The MIAA Board of Directors voted 23-0 to accept the schedule as proposed. It also voted against the conducting of any MIAA tournaments in the fall, giving the individual leagues the go-ahead to conduct their own tournaments if desired. The ruling panel also temporarily loosened restrictions on out-of-season contact between athletes and coaches as a means of facilitating football's preparation for a later season and as compensation for the loss of last year's spring season.

No fans inside Gillette Stadium for September.

The stands will be empty for the first two games of the Patriots' 2020 season.

The Patriots and Gillette Stadium announced today that there will be no fans allowed into the facility for the month of September, complying with state pandemic guidelines. The full press release appears below:

Following consultation with the Massachusetts Reopening Advisory Board, Gillette Stadium officials learned today that we will not be permitted to host fans at any events through at least the end of September. As a result, the Patriots home opener on September 13 and the game on September 27, as well as the next three Revolution home matches on August 20, 29 and September 2, will be played without fans in attendance. We will communicate directly with our respective ticket holders regarding refunds. 

Gillette Stadium fully supports the state’s position and this decision in the interest of public safety. We would have welcomed the opportunity to host fans in August and September, but are hopeful to do so later in the season. We greatly appreciate the time and support the Massachusetts Reopening Advisory Board has provided throughout this process and respect their efforts as they continue to navigate the state’s phased reopening.

Since the onset of the pandemic, Gillette Stadium officials have worked closely with the reopening board, a host of state and local officials, the National Football League, Major League Soccer and the Massachusetts’ Large Venue Task Force, as well as a team of independent experts that span many disciplines, including infectious disease, emergency medicine, architectural design and planning, crowd flow dynamics, cleaning and disinfecting, ventilation, air conditioning and food safety. With their expertise, we developed a detailed plan and are confident in our ability to provide a safe and comfortable environment for fans, thanks to Gillette Stadium’s ample space as an outdoor venue and the infrastructure that allows us to meet or exceed all CDC guidelines.

Gillette Stadium will continue its preparations to safely host fans later this fall and will rely on guidance from the Massachusetts Reopening Advisory Board and our team of independent experts. The health and safety of our players, coaches, staff, fans and surrounding community has and will continue to lead our efforts.

Ponderous thoughts I was pondering ...

I got to take a ride in the shiny red truck on Sunday night!

Ponderous thoughts I was pondering while waiting for the FedEx truck:

** Sorry about the lack of posts for the past week, but it’s been eventful in a less-than-desirable way.

As detailed in the most recent episode of “The Owner’s Box After Dark,” I had my knee surgery last Tuesday. After the initial drugs wore off, it’s been a semi-painful recovery. Although it was just an arthroscopic procedure and there were just two small incisions, it’s still an invasive procedure and my 66-year-old knees don’t respond as quickly as, say, a professional athlete’s knees would.

That being said, I felt I was really getting over the hump by the end of last week, when I found I could walk almost a mile without significant discomfort as long as I didn’t overtax the knee. I was feeling pretty good about things — and then I hit Sunday night’s speed bump.

It wasn’t the knee that was a problem. It was my nose — that fine Sicilian appendage on the front of my face. Long story short, my nose was broken when I was 6 years old, and it left me a deviated septum that has caused breathing and other issues ever since. And one of those other issues is bleeding.

Just after 11 p.m., while blowing my nose and effecting the cleanup with a classic cloth handkerchief, I apparently irritated one of the blood vessels that runs over the broken base of cartilage at the bottom of my nostril, and it started bleeding like Old Faithful.

It’s happened before — once in Falmouth about 30 years ago, again on my 50th birthday 16 years ago, and once more five years ago when I moved into my house. The last one was blood-pressure related, but this one wasn’t. Still, it just wouldn’t stop — and after about 45 minutes, when I started choking on the volume of blood that was flowing into my stomach, I called for the ambulance and I was transported to Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro for emergency treatment.

Fortunately, this was an easy fix. I’ll spare you the details of the scene, which was pretty messy as I was wheeled into the emergency ward. By 2 a.m., my little scratches were treated and I was on my way back home courtesy of a drowsy friend. And by the way, it was the same nostril in which my COVID-19 test swab was inserted a week earlier, but I’m pretty sure that didn’t cause or contribute to my situation.

Today, all seems fine — although with my seasonal allergies in play, it’s a little frustrating to not be able to blow my nose for another couple of days. And I was pretty wiped out on Monday. Once I was able to go to sleep and stay asleep after the hospital visit, I was out like a light until well into the afternoon, and I missed the visit of the FedEx truck carrying my new computer. I expect it to return today.

Like everything else in this maddening year of 2020, I’m just trying to look at things under the premise that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Will high school basketball avoid
COVID-related postponement?

** We’re getting closer to big news on the front of high school sports here in Massachusetts, but it hasn’t arrived yet. So I will refrain from a lengthy analysis here until things go past the “recommendation” stage.

Yesterday, the MIAA’s COVID-19 task force crafted its recommendation for how the 2020-21 season should be conducted, and it included the creation of a “fourth season” wedged between winter and spring, during which football and other “high-risk” sports would be conducted. I wasn’t a fan of this until the recommendation established a start date for basketball as Nov. 30, ending at the end of February — time for a season of reasonable length, although presumably without tournaments.

I think it could work — but there are still a lot of steps to be taken before this could be enacted, so let’s see how things progress before I step on the soapbox to pontificate.

But if there’s any way we can get high school sports rolling again in a responsible manner, I’m certainly willing to listers.

** I forgot to share this before, but here’s a good example of what adjustments need to be made in the national psyche.

Just after I returned home from vacation, in the last week of July, I shopped for groceries at the local Stop & Shop and found an entire aisle devoted to ... drumroll, please! ... HALLOWEEN CANDY!

Yes, Halloween candy was on the shelves a full 14 weeks before the actual event, which will probably be curtailed this year for pandemic reasons. I was so outraged, I think it caused temporary amnesia as I typed several blog posts and filmed videos in the interim. But I raise the issue today to remind all of you of the insidious nature of subliminal advertising practices — and to remind you that if you buy Halloween candy today, it’s almost a certainty that you will eat it yourself long before you would be distributing it to others.

** See you in a few days or so with a new “The Owner’s Box After Dark.” Stay safe!

The Owner's Box After Dark, Ep. 12

A much-younger Barbi Benton.

In the wake of what I hope is successful knee surgery, I go full Hugh Hefner with the arrival of my close facsimile of a Playboy Pipe. Although Barbi Benton isn't here to complete the Playboy's Penthouse motif -- Hef's former galpal is 70, living in New York and retired from show business -- I try to replicate the vibe of the nighttime coolness as my pain-killers kick in.

Before I get too giddy, I explain the surgery and give due props to the terrific professionals from Brigham and Women's Hospital. I also explain my need for a new computer, which explains some of the new graphics you may see in this After Dark, because it was made on the laptop after the desktop melted down Sunday night.


It's all live on digital recording from Studio B of Fulton Pond Studios -- another change I explain in an unusually giggly way. Ah, drugs!

Just press the button and enjoy.

Ponderous thoughts I was pondering ...

The swab goes in, it stays there for five seconds, and then that's it. Whew!

Ponderous thoughts I was pondering while watching Mitch Moreland hit a walk-off home run and briefly being fooled by the recorded crowd noise:

** A happy bit of news to report; I had a swab test for COVID-19 at Newton-Wellesley Hospital on Saturday, as part of the preparation for my planned knee surgery on Tuesday. The result came in Sunday morning, and thankfully, it was negative.

I didn't believe I had been exposed, but I wasn't sure. I have been sniffling a lot and had occasional runny noses during the past week, and the accompanying post-nasal drip was causing a cough. Since those are two symptoms of a coronavirus infection, I had a reason for concern -- but at the same time, I believe this has all been a bout with my seasonal allergies, compounded by the fact that my lawn is again bone dry and there are more allergens in the air than usual because of it.

But I had no intestinal distress, no fever (in fact, my temperature is often below 97 degrees) and no body aches beyond current concerns such as my left knee. And my exposure opportunities have been few and far between -- maybe once in March before the shutdown, possibly in the early stages of the pandemic on my weekly trips into Boston before mask-wearing became the norm, and then maybe when I first went to the Cape for vacation at the start of July. And of course, supermarket trips scare the hell out of me.

The process was easy. Since I had an appointment, I just drove to the emergency entrance of Newton-Wellesley Hospital and followed the signs to the parking garage where the testing unit was set up. I was checked in and directed to a parking space, and within a minute, a young female nurse in a haz-mat suit came to the driver's window.

I told her of my deviated septum (a plague upon my existence since I was 6) and asked if it was all right if she stuck the swab into my right nostril, and she said it was perfectly fine. I followed her instructions, endured the five seconds of insertion with little discomfort, and thanked her for her gentle manner. And I was off! Simply done, and it took less time than for me to find an open Starbucks afterward.

The result came in this morning via the Partners Healthcare app, and the news was simple. No infection present. And now, my knee surgery can proceed as planned.

We are 23 weeks into the pandemic, and finally, I'm feeling a lot less apprehensive about the days to come. But I'll still wear the damn masks until they tell us we don't have to.

Perry Mason, then and now; Raymond Burr (left) in 1959;
Matthew Rhys (right) plays the 1932 Perry on HBO.

** I just finished watching the last episode of HBO's "Perry Mason" series, and I have to say, it was definitely a worthy successor to some of the best episodic TV on the premium channels. I'm also glad to report that it has been renewed for another season.

I and some of my friends aren't happy that a "season" is comprised of only eight episodes these days. In the old days of network TV, seasons were anywhere from 26 to 32 weeks long. Even later on, shows like "The Sopranos" put up 13 episodes in a season, and the reimagined "Battlestar Galactica" gave us as many as 23 in one of its four-plus seasons. But watching "Perry Mason" these past eight weeks has been like watching a meticulously-created motion picture each week -- and it costs money to create an accurate period piece, even if much of 1932 Los Angeles can be created through CGI.

I felt invested in this world, just as I did when watching "Chinatown" for the first many years ago. Can't wait to see more.

** I have to admit, it's not often when I get to crow when I have a "Fearless Forecast" come true.

In the first episode of my video podcast called "The Owner's Box After Dark," which made it to YouTube early in July, I said that the producers of "Perry Mason" would find a way to present us with the original theme to the 1950s CBS television series starring Raymond Burr. It's one of TV's iconic theme songs, called "Park Avenue Beat" by composer Fred Steiner -- and a stylized version of the song was the closing theme to the eighth and final episode of HBO's first season of the series.

I stood and applauded. It made what I pay Comcast every month worth every penny.

** All for tonight, so wish me luck for Tuesday when they open up my left knee and try to repair 48 years' worth of neglect. Stay safe and wear your masks!

The Owner's Box After Dark, Ep. 11.

Breaking news! The long saga of my injured left knee is about to come to an end (thankfully to some), and it's all explained in Episode 11 of The Owner's Box After Dark. Also I talk about my pending appointment for coronavirus testing -- necessary before they cut my knee open -- and further discuss how the ongoing pandemic is throwing a monkey wrench into the plans to restart high school sports with the upcoming fall season.

It's live (on digital recording) and in living color, and it's all yours if you just click on the box below.

Ponderous thoughts I was pondering ...

Ponderous thoughts I was pondering while remembering what it's like to come out of anesthesia ...

Not the prettiest knee in the world,
but soon it will feel better.

** Yes, what you see in the accompanying photo is my left knee. It's not the prettiest one in the world. In fact, it's rather bulky. But right now, it's the weak link in what's otherwise a strong leg for an old guy, and that's about to change.

Yes, I know you've probably heard as much as you care to hear about my injured left knee, but this story is coming to a close. Surgery has been scheduled for next Tuesday, Aug. 11. It will be an arthroscopic procedure and it won't suddenly turn me into someone about whom Usain Bolt would ever have to worry -- as my surgeon said today, "We're not going for 17 here ..." -- but at least it should relieve most of the problems that are plaguing me right now, and the good folks from Bayer will do the rest as we go forward.

You know, I forgot to ask today for permission to use my surgeon's name on the blog or podcasts. I doubt there will be objections, but I just want to do it the right way. My surgeon is quite accomplished and I'm lucky to be able to avail myself of that person's skills, but I'll wait until I actually get the OK before spilling the beans.

When the knife comes out, the goal will be to clean out the damaged portions of the meniscus and do a few necessary repairs if needed. It shouldn't take much more than a half-hour, and it will be performed overlooking Gillette Stadium, at the Brigham and Women's/Mass. General Health Center in Foxboro. I won't be able to do much for about a week or two, I'm told, but the recovery time should be relatively swift.

And to think -- this could have all been done in 1972 at Evanston Hospital in Evanston, Ill., if there was such a thing as arthroscopic surgery in those days. When I injured the knee initially, I was told by surgeons that the options were wearing a hip-to-ankle cast for about six months, or enduring a lifetime of discomfort because of the damage that would eventually heal, but not fully.

I chose the latter, and they were right. By the time I was into my mid-30s, my ability to challenge the knee on the treadmills at the former Sheraton-Mansfield's health club had ended. Believe it or not, I could run about three miles at my best, not bad for a 220-pounder -- but once the pain became too severe, that 220 shot up significantly thereafter and has never come back down.

Now, I just want to be able to walk, mow my lawn and go up and down the basement steps to do my laundry without fearing that the knee will lock or give out and something really bad will happen as a result.

I'm picking a good time to get this done. Thanks to the pandemic, the good folks at the Associated Press aren't understaffed and therefore have no immediate need for my services during this training camp for the Patriots. And if there is a high school football season, and we're allowed to cablecast the games, I should be sufficiently healed to be able to make it to my broadcast location and do the job standing, if necessary, without too much discomfort.

I will have to postpone my plans to reseal my driveway, but those might be better left for September anyway, given the forecasts for a resumption of really hot weather next week.

In any event, I think I surprised my surgeon's assistant a little when she asked me if I was sure I wanted to do it so soon. Give me the gas and wake me up when it's done. No sense in wasting time and thinking about it; I've had other body parts removed before and I don't miss them.

** After my visit with the surgeon today, I went to Emerald Square in North Attleboro looking to replace the batteries in a few watches that had gone dead during the middle months of this seemingly endless pandemic. Fortunately, the places that perform that service are still open; the rest of the mall looks like downtown Brockton from all the empty storefronts that are a harsh reminder of the state of brick-and-mortar stores today.

Just wear the damned mask.

While waiting for the watches to be done, I had to walk around the mall -- and I do mean walk. They've taken out all the seats in the food court and along the concourses as a coronavirus precaution, so I strolled for about a mile and a half, according to the iPhone -- and if you think that's not much, try doing it with someone pounding nails into the side of your left knee.

Anyway, as I strolled, I looked carefully at how individuals were complying with mask-wearing regulations -- and it wasn't good.

Most adults (people I'd suggest were age 30 and up) were dutifully wearing protective masks, most like my own (see accompanying photo). But the young people were either wearing them with nose exposed or down below the chin.

Or, as in the case of three low-life males that happened to be at the same jewelry store as me, some were not wearing them at all. Again, I felt like saying something to these twerps ... but they looked like the types that would have no problem with harassing an old man for the remainder of my time in the mall, and I'm not willing to become a YouTube or TikTok star against my will for getting into a row with them -- especially since the condition of my knee would probably send me to the floor at the first need for lateral movement.

Funny, I didn't see too many security guards in the mall. But then again, I didn't see too many people in the mall, either. And to think, when the mall opened in 1989, The Sun Chronicle was so convinced that the advertising was going to be such a windfall, it would keep the paper alive for 100 more years. That's why we started the Sunday paper, in fact.

You know what they say. Video killed the radio star.

** Did you hear the nonsense coming out of Donald Trump's mouth today?

In a trip to Ohio to the plant where Whirlpool washing machines were made (I'm old enough to remember when those were "RCA Whirlpool"), Trump went off on one of his campaign tirades and said, among many other stupid things, that Democrat nominee Joe Biden wants to "hurt the Bible," "hurt God" and eliminate religion.

Biden, needless to say, is a devout Catholic who has been to Mass more times in a month than Trump has been in a church in his lifetime. The only things that have prevented Biden from attending services lately are the coronavirus restrictions that have kept intelligent people of faith safe from harm.

It never ceases to amaze me how many truly stupid Americans there are that have somehow placed their faith in a serial philanderer and a man without any semblance of moral fiber.

Yeah, we have a few nitwits of that sort in our little corner of Massachusetts, too. But when they give me grief about being a "libtard" (and more on that word shortly), I just remind them that they live in a state where the latest statewide polls show Biden with a 32-percentage-point lead over Trump. That's 32 points. That means that if about 3.2 million people go to the polls, 2.1 million would be voting for Biden and 1.1 million for Mr. Mushroom.

And in the last election, Hillary Clinton won the state by a 60-33 margin.

Don't like it, my friends from the GOP? Move. There aren't enough morons in Mississippi or Montana, I guess. And Florida embraces stupidity like it's a virtue.

** Speaking of "libtard," I find that word offensive -- not because I happen to be of mostly liberal political thought, but because the "-tard" part is obviously a denigrating reference to someone that might be mentally, physically or emotionally challenged. Trump and his mean-spirited supporters love to make sport of the disabilities of others, so I have made it a crusade of sorts to report Facebook users for hate speech every time I see it in a thread of anti-progressive rants.

Well, that backfired on me. One conservative snowflake reported me instead, claiming I was bullying him. So while Facebook won't remove "libtard" from the public discourse, it will scold me for trying to uphold some sort of dignity in the conversation.

OK, OK, I'll come clean. I told the poster to "GFY." I just used the three letters. I didn't get suspended, but I bet I will at some point. I'm not ashamed. I meant it.

Hey Facebook? You suck.

** So, before I get thrown off this arm of social media, don't forget to check out my podcasts, the audio "The Owner's Box" and the video "The Owner's Box After Dark." Links can still be found on Twitter if Zuckerberg gives me the boot, and you can subscribe to the audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and several other popular podcasting platforms.

I'll check in before the first incision, I promise. Stay safe and wear those masks!

The Owner's Box After Dark, Ep. 10.

The juggernaut rolls on!

In the latest episode of The Owner's Box After Dark, I announce plans for new guests for both the audio and video podcasts, I pay homage to "Playboy's Penthouse" (which provided some of the inspiration for these video podcasts), and then I get into the news of the day -- rising COVID-19 cases and what effect they may have upon plans to re-start high school sports, good news out of the Patriots' camp, another mascot change for a Massachusetts high school and what that may mean for a local school -- and most important of all, what it means to have a reliable and trustworthy hand sanitizer.

The new, improved The Owner's Box After Dark. Make it part of your balanced breakfast!

The Owner's Box After Dark, Ep. 9 -- with an all-new look!

The Owner's Box After Dark takes a step into the future with the help of new software that has resulted in a more professional look for the latest addition to this growing multi-media empire.

Host Mark Farinella (that's me!) explains the new look, and then riffs on a lot of different topics -- staying up all night to watch TV when I was a child, another round of painful physical therapy, the Patriots are back in training camp hoping for a clean COVID-19 slate, why the new Patriot Place Starbucks needs to get its act together, and the continued wait for what Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker will decide about the fall high school sports season.

Come for the spiffy new look, but stay for the scintillating content. And don't be surprised if I show up in the next one with a pipe in hand. Yes, I explain why.

Enjoy!