The Owner's Box After Dark, Ep. 51.

Let's kick off the second season of "The Owner's Box After Dark" with a tale of woe -- how miserable my vacation was, how sore my knee was, and how overgrown my lawn was when I got home. It's all there in the first segment, including a video spin behind the handlebars of my mower as I try to knock down more than a month's worth of overgrown grass in my back yard.

I also take a look at the Patriots' training camp -- but not from the perspective of a reporter, because I'm not one of those any more. Instead, I discuss how incredibly restrictive the NFL is being about granting access to the reporters covering camps. Most of the restrictions were put in place at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and even though most COVID restrictions have been lifted or lessened in all walks of life, the NFL is keeping the news media at more than an arm's length from its players regardless. Is it excessive or a wise precaution given the uptick in Delta variant cases nation-wide? We shall see.

It's all in Episode 51 of the After Dark franchise, which is back in the studio and back to its old glitzy self. Enjoy!

Thoughts from an underwhelming vacation.

Just another cloudy day during the vacation of 2021. Looks like the sun from Mars.

Although I am retired from the daily responsibility of a work schedule and no longer need to take formal vacations, I am a creature of habit. And thus, as I have for the better part of the last two-plus decades, I arranged to take the same two weeks of vacation time this year as I have before at a North Falmouth house owned by a good friend.

I recently joked on Facebook that I was asked what it was like to take vacation during one of the least appealing stretches of summer weather in recent memory, and my response was, “I’m retired. Every day is a vacation.” But it really wasn’t that much of a joke, as the following reflections and observations will attest.

** Yes, the weather sucked. As the top photo indicates, that was pretty much what a good day looked like here on the Cape for most of the first week of my time here — foggy and unappealing. Otherwise it was mostly raining. The last few days haven’t been awful, but given the expectations one normally has for a vacation, it certainly underachieved. 

** This vacation was doomed from the start. As I have related to you since April 2020, my left knee finally needed surgical repair in the wake of an injury that was suffered in 1971 and then aggravated considerably in 1973. I was given two options at the time because arthroscopic surgery was then only one of those exciting prospects that would be available in the world of tomorrow: Either be in a cast from hip to ankle for about six months, or live with it and hope that a more sedentary existence didn’t aggravate it again. I chose the latter. 

I had the surgery on Aug. 11 and underwent seven months of physical therapy. Sometimes it seemed as if I was making progress, but for the most part, it didn’t. And in the last few months, simple tasks such as climbing bleachers, walking short distances, climbing stairs or mowing my lawn became torturous endeavors. So it is now, with pain now developing in my right knee and my back because of the way I’m hobbling around.

Where I am, it requires some measure of walking to get to the beach — either a half-mile from the house, or maybe about 400 yards from a normal parking space on the side streets closest to the beach to the place where I generally sit. Neither could be accomplished at my current level of soreness, and the last stretch of about 50 yards of soft beach sand was something I didn’t even want to attempt, given the instability of my left knee. 

But that’s just part of my pique.

I’ve been told that the local beach “improvement association” wants the Town of Falmouth to enact several restrictions to vehicular traffic down here in the future, including making several streets one-way heading to or from the beach, eliminating almost all on-street parking except for residents, installing large speed bumps and marking off wide bicycle lanes, and other annoying yuppie stuff that assumes that everyone going to the beach is in the peak of health and would be willing to run a marathon first before going for a swim.

Already, I’ve seen a high level of entitlement in the people down here this year. They walk in the middle of the street with their multi-level strollers and three other kids riding their little bikes every which way in the roadway, paying no heed to oncoming traffic. They look at me cross-eyed if I happen to pass them in my car (while going less than 15 MPH, mind you). And everywhere I see those signs of admonition that command, “DRIVE LIKE YOUR KIDS LIVE HERE.” To each of those signs, I would love to post a corresponding rebuttal that says, “Teach your fucking kids not to play in the street.”

I love this area of the Cape and I have ever since I started coming down here in the early 1970s. But I can’t abide by this infestation of entitled yuppies and their bratty puppies. When I was a kid, my parents taught me all the right things about highway safety — look both ways before crossing, don’t run after the ball if it gets loose until all the cars have gone by, get out of the way of oncoming traffic, and so on. I guess today’s thirtysomethings can’t be bothered to impart that knowledge upon their whelps. 

Yes, I have become a “get offa my lawn!” old man. And I’m damned proud of it.

So much for privacy, huh?

** A modern “Sophie’s Choice.” Neighbors to the back of the house where I stay recently cleared all the foliage growing on the boundary line, leaving a straight shot and clear view between the deck where I sit and their porch. Privacy is tough to come by down here in a thickly-clustered neighborhood, but I wonder if they would have regretted their decision more if I had been able to walk around to the outdoor shower this year.

One of the joys of summer on the Cape is the traditional outdoor shower. While it is enclosed, I would usually walk around the deck and around to the shower wearing nothing more than a bath sheet and a pair of flip-flops. That’s a sight that begs for increased privacy. But with my knee issues as well as the new lack of privacy, I opted for the indoor shower the entire time. 

** I’m back to counting cars. One of my favorite pastimes is counting the number of cars that pass me on my way to and from various stops, and making note of their country of origin. It’s an interesting way to track what the latest trends are among automobile buyers.

How do I do this without driving into a tree somewhere, you ask? Simple. I just turn on the cell phone’s voice recorder, put it on a seat, and as I drive, I call out the country from which each car that passes me is considered to be from. Yes, there are blurred lines these days because most English cars aren’t made in England, Chrysler is owned by Fiat and I believe some holding company in India has the reins of well-known Swedish import Volvo. Or maybe it’s Chinese. I don’t know. But as long as I think Volvos come from Sweden, so they do for these purposes.

A rare moment of light traffic. 

I don’t get distracted, but if the traffic on the other side of the road is too busy, I know enough to pause and not run any risks — which is better than what some joker in a Volvo did earlier today, when he or she bolted out from the parking lot of the Catholic Church in Mashpee to cut across an intersection, almost T-boning my new car. Fortunately I saw that might happen and relied upon the Teutonic Turbocharger under the hood to bolt me across the intersection (no lights, no stop signs and I had the right of way) without incident. And that asshole had the gall to beep at me!!!

Anyway, here is the tally after four days and a total of 2,396 cars that have passed me:

1. Japan, 1,023 (42.7 percent); 2. USA, 900 (37.6); 3. Germany, 268 (11.2); 4. South Korea, 114 (4.8); 5. Sweden, 46 (1.9), 6. United Kingdom, 39 (1.6); 7. Italy, 6 (0.3).

A few observations — Toyota has a wide lead in the number of Japanese cars, and I’d say that Subaru has beaten out Nissan for the No. 2 distinction, although I have not noted the individual makes. … Among US automakers, it appears to me that the most popular passenger cars are Jeep products, equally split between Wrangler and Cherokee models. There are a lot of Chevy, Buick and GMC SUVs in the mix. Most of the US cars that pass me, however, are Ford, Chevy, GMC or Dodge/Ram trucks and vans. … If I had to guess from the German cars I’ve seen, I’d say that BMW may have a slight lead over Mercedes-Benz, and again, most of those are SUVs. Volkswagens seem to be less popular down here than in the past. … Among the Korean contingent, I think Kia has a slight lead over Hyundai, but not by very much at all. … And among the rest, all but one of the Swedes have been Volvos, with one aging Saab among the bunch. Most of the Brits are Land Rovers with a few Mini Coopers thrown in and a smattering of Jaguars. And as for the Italians, there have been four Alfa Romeos and two runty Fiats. No Maseratis or anything more exotic. And I still think the Alfas, with their pucker-face grills, are what Edsels would look like if they were being made in the 2020s. 

** One last thought. I’m back to wearing masks in public. With all the talk about the danger of the Delta variant, I have not taken any chances when visiting overcrowded supermarkets or the movie theater. Hate to say it folks, but I think we’re all going to be masked up again by September.

I’ll be back at Fulton Pond Studios shortly. For those of you going on vacation (and needing it) in the weeks to come, I wish you happier times. And yes, I’ve already planned to be back here in September when the invaders have left.

The Owner's Box After Dark, Ep. 50.

It's the first anniversary for the After Dark series of video podcasts, and I celebrated it by producing a retro-look episode. 

The Owner's Box After Dark was born on July 13, 2020, when I cranked up my laptop computer while vacationing in North Falmouth, Mass., and set 16 minutes of random thoughts to video. Eight episodes later, I returned home to my studio, bought expensive editing software and started creating the After Dark episodes that quickly evolved into the format you normally see today.

In this 50th episode, I recap some of what appeared in Episode 1 and then offer a brief history of the advances made in the format over the next few months. Then I revive the "Counting Cars" segment that was a familiar part of the first eight episodes, offer some opinions about the changes I've seen in the vacationers that arrive on Cape Cod at the same time I do, and finally, I ask all of my loyal viewers to take care of themselves and be vigilant amid reports that the Delta variant of COVID-19 is starting to carve out a foothold in the United States.

It looks a little rough because I didn't have all of my video editing options available to me, but that was kind of the intent, anyway. Enjoy.

 

The Owner's Box, Ep. 40.

Foxboro High coach Lisa Downs, left, will be able to coach her team mask-less this winter.

Forty episodes! And my guest on this episode of The Owner's Box has appeared in 12.5 percent of all of them. She's Lisa Downs, the coach of the Foxboro High girls' basketball team, and we met up at Mass Premier Courts last week to talk about the joy that is summer hoops.

You may recall that last year at this time, local high school basketball players were either convincing their parents to drive them to New Hampshire (where COVID-19 restrictions were looser) to play in thrown-together AAU tournaments, or just shooting around on local playgrounds trying not to violate social distancing guidelines. The result was a lot of anxiety as players and coaches alike worried about whether there would be a season at all, let alone how well they were able to prepare for it.

Now, the athletes are back in on the courts for their high school summer leagues, and almost everyone is expecting it will mean better basketball this coming winter as long as we continue on the path toward a healthier post-pandemic existence. That's what Lisa and I talk about amid the din of a basketball night's bustling activity. We also take a look back about how she and her athletes were able to get through an 11-game schedule last winter unscathed by COVID-19, and we look ahead at a new season, a new format for the state basketball tournament, and we discuss whether the folks at Duck and Cover Productions will give Lisa her five-time-appearance commemorative jacket, or just continue to be cheapskates.

It's all in an entertaining summertime edition of the best podcast to come out of Mansfield. Enjoy.

40,000 and counting!

Just a quick note of thanks to all of you for pushing my blog over the 40,000 views level.

When I rekindled this blog early in 2020, I didn't know what to expect. It had been started nearly a decade earlier and was tied in with the blog at the newspaper for which I worked, and at the time it faded away, I barely had 500 total views. Now, in the space of a year and a half, that number has mushroomed -- especially in recent months, with the popularity of my podcasts adding to the draw of this site.

I think it will be a real hoot when we reach 50,000. Maybe time for a contest! 

Many thanks to all of you, wherever you may be.

The Owner's Box, Ep. 38.

Mansfield boys' hoop coach Mike Vaughan earned his 300th career win last season.

The Original Gangsta of my podcasts, the audio-only The Owner's Box, is back with an excellent interview with Mansfield High boys' basketball coach Mike Vaughan, who visits for the second time, and the first time since January 2020.

With the pandemic practically over and the courts at Vaughan's Mass Premier Courts facility in Foxboro teeming with local athletes, I figured it was a good time to catch up with him to recap the events that led to the leap of faith into the 2020-21 season, how Vaughan was able to add several games to give his players as close to a normal season as possible, the thrilling quest of senior guard Matty Boen to score his 1,000th career point, how the athletes responded positively and responsibly throughout the season even with the specter of COVID-19 hovering over them, and what the future may hold for his next team.

We also talk about the upswing in live streaming of high school sports and what the future may hold for that in face of the MIAA's prior objections to live televising of games and the effect it may have on the gate for local athletic budgets.

It's a wide-ranging interview and it's always fun to talk basketball with Mike, who has won 313 games at Mansfield High in 17 seasons and has a string of nine straight league championship to take into next year. It's definitely worth the hour's time and the cost (it's free!). Enjoy.

The Owner's Box After Dark, Ep. 49.

It's been about three months since Missy Traversi of Bishop Feehan fame was named the head women's basketball coach at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and she and I were finally able to find a mutual time to conduct a far-reaching interview about her new challenge -- the entirety of which appears in the 49th episode of the After Dark franchise.

Conducted in our studios and her office at West Point thanks to the magic of Skype, the interview touches upon Traversi's path to her new job (which was quite unexpected), what she learned about Army tradition upon arriving "on post," how she thinks her ability to create new cultures in programs she takes over may dovetail with the already-existing culture of military discipline at West Point, and what adjustments she has to make in her own approach in an atmosphere that is more regimented and restrictive.

And, since Traversi has been coaching now since 2008, she talks about the benefits and pitfalls that she has encountered personally along the way to becoming a coach at the NCAA Division I level.

It's an After Dark exclusive! This old guy can still get a story out there before anyone else. Enjoy.