Finding treasure in old comic books is a labor of love.

Old comic books have been the pot of gold at the end of my rainbow.

I spent the whole day trying to finish this summer’s project.

Since June, I’ve been diving into two huge plastic bins filled with literally hundreds of comic books from the 1960s through the 1980s, with the intent of finding ones that may be valuable on the comic book trading market and cashing in in them.

 I’ve already sent three boxes filled with about 80 old superhero books to a comic book emporium in Texas that has been giving me good prices for the books in my possession that they are seeking to buy. Today, I put the finishing touches on the last box I intend to send for a while — 63 DC and Marvel books that will bring the summer’s total to around $1,000.

Most of the books cost me only 12 to 25 cents when I bought them at Stearns News Store or Cuneo’s in Mansfield, and even adjusted for inflation, I’m doing quite well in return. But sadly, many of the later books have no value because that’s when the whole phenomenon of comic book collecting began, and speculators cleared the newsstands of books they thought would increase in value. As it turned out, they didn’t.

One thing I’ve noticed is that the books I’ve turned in, from both Marvel and DC, have formed the foundation of today’s cinematic universes.

The characters and plots are those of the stories from the 1960s and 1970s, and not those of more recent vintage. The Avengers you see on the screen were mostly the characters as they were first introduced to the public by Stan Lee and his talented cohorts at Marvel, even if necessarily updated a little due to the passage of time. 

Indeed, to get his new DC movie universe kick-started, “Superman” writer/director James Gunn drew heavily from what’s called the Silver Age to forge the characters in his most recent movie -- and likely the ones he’s already formulating as his future projects.

For instance, the Green Lantern comic from the late 1960s in which bowl-cut anti-hero Guy Gardner was introduced to the DC Universe netted me almost $100 even though it had sat in a musty garage for almost 50 years — and even though the character didn’t adopt his current cinematic persona for almost 10 years after his debut.

Had that comic book been pristine, and not subjected to the seasonal extremes of temperature that characterize New England, my return for that book could have been four figures.

It’s been a demanding and allergic, but nostalgic, walk down memory lane. But hundreds remain, and so all that I can’t sell have been wrapped up, returned to the cleaned-out bin, and they will henceforth be stored in the basement, where the temperature is more constant and a dehumidifier will help preserve them for the day when I might revisit this treasure hunt.

Still, I owe thanks to my folks, Tony and Jeanne, for not just throwing those comic books out when I went to college — as they did all the old Playboy magazines I rescued from the big trailer when I helped my pals in the Boy Scouts on their Troop 17 paper drives.

And I thought they’d never find those.

So what's new this fall?

The Mansfield High field hockey team began practice on Monday.

The area's high school football teams started their practices last week and the rest of the school sports kicked in today, so I guess that it's fair to say that the 2025 fall sports season is underway.

It will be exactly 15 days from now when Del Malloy and I will kick off the North TV telecast schedule with a field hockey game between the Mansfield Hornets and the King Philip Warriors at KP's Arnold Macktaz Field (Sept. 3, 3:45 p.m., live on the North TV Community Channel), so I thought it would be a good time to take a quick look at some of what will be new when the fall season takes the next step into game competition.

League crossover games:

The Hockomock League is trying something new this year when it comes to scheduling for field hockey, boys' soccer and girls' soccer.

All of the schools in the league have left two game dates open in late October for the purpose of conducting a series of crossover games that will not count in the league standings.

If I have understood the explanations correctly, the first round of games will be conducted entirely within divisions. The Kelley-Rex first-place team at the time will play the second-place team, the third-place and fourth-place teams will play and the Nos. 5 and 6 teams will play. The same schedule will be in place for the Davenport.

Then on the second day, the winners of the 1 vs. 2 games in both divisions will play each other, and so on. The teams that didn't win in their first-round games will take on their opposite numbers from the other division to complete the slate of six games.

The big difference is that the teams are playing each league opponent only once in games that count toward the league standings, making for an 11-game "regular season" as opposed to the usual 16-game schedule that included two games against a divisional opponent and one apiece from the other division. In addition to creating some late-season drama with this crossover series, it also gave the individual schools more opportunities to add intriguing non-league games to their schedules.

Girls' volleyball will continue with the traditional league schedule format. The other sports are trying it as a one-year test, and whether it continues is up to how much the schools liked (or disliked) it.

All of the games will count toward the MIAA power rankings that determine the divisional tournament pairings. 

Football alignments:

Since the end of last season, fans of the MIAA football tournament were eagerly awaiting the results of a major realignment. The MIAA released one version several months ago that raised a few eyebrows -- including the news that Catholic Memorial (the best team money can buy in Division 2) would be dropping to Division 3 because of its total enrollment, instead of going up to Division 1, which would be more in line with the level of competition for the Knights and all of their talent appropriated from several far-flung territories.

No more CM vs. KP Super Bowls, finally.

Well, that was before the appeal process -- and when that was finished, CM stayed put in Division 2, where it won three of the last four divisional Super Bowls, all three of those against very good King Philip teams.

But KP finally got some relief. The Warriors, with a listed enrollment of 1,096 students, were dropped to Division 3 -- which, team for team, may be the toughest and most competitive division in all of Massachusetts high school football.

Seven Hockomock League schools -- Sharon, KP, Milford, Oliver Ames, North Attleboro, Mansfield and Stoughton -- are part of the Division 3 mix this year, although Sharon will not be playing a league schedule this year because of low football turnout and the lingering effect of having a player suffer a paralyzing injury in last year's Thanksgiving Day game against OA. 

And if that wasn't tough enough, the MIAA also decided to drop Marshfield and Barnstable to D3 as well. Both schools have played KP in the playoffs in each of the last two Division 2 tournaments (it's been three in a row for Marshfield against KP), and the Warriors hammered Marshfield in the 2023 Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium.

CM, the school with the allegedly smallest enrollment in D2, can now become a thorn in the side of the second-smallest school, Bishop Feehan, which also happens to be a North TV school.

Feehan is the only remaining local school in D2. Attleboro, Taunton and Franklin all remain in D1, Canton stands alone in D4 from the Hockomock, as does Foxboro in D5. One blessing to realignment is that the MIAA wised up and dropped Diman Vocational to D4 from D2, where it suffered a cringeworthy opening-round defeat in the 2023 playoffs at King Philip. But there is no silver lining to that, as strong programs like Walpole and Norwood also fell to D4 this year.

Tri-County, another North TV school, remains in Division 6.

Field hockey rule changes:

The MIAA almost automatically adopts rule changes established by the National Federation of High Schools, so in each of the sports, there has been some minor tweaking this year.

Field hockey still unmasked.

The national association still hasn't gone far enough in preventing field hockey facial injuries, in my opinion, by leaving the use of face masks optional. Players can choose to wear wire-caged masks during penalty corner plays, but they must take those masks off before resuming play outside the 25-yard area. If the game moves too fast to allow them to shed the masks, they can continue to wear them within that penalty area, but wearing them outside 25 yards will result in a player misconduct penalty.

Given all the debate about player safety -- a debate that was hijacked by the anti-transgender zealots that claim an army of boys is lining up to have their penises removed so they can play girls' sports -- you'd think it would make sense to require masks. And it's not because of transgender athletes. It's because the vast majority of games these days are played on artificial turf, which naturally speeds up the game and results in harder and more powerful shots off a pristine surface. But MAGA never complicates a good rant with facts.

The only other rule change that people will notice is that home teams will now wear their dark colors to show off the school colors, and road teams will wear what used to be the home whites.

Volleyball rule changes:

Six rule changes were approved, but this is likely to be the only one anyone will notice. I quote directly from the NFHS website:

"Rule 9-4-8c was added to the section on multiple contacts, adding second contact to the list of permitted instances, joining a team’s first contact and after a player touches the ball on a block. In addition to eliminating an official’s judgment call, the change allows for play to continue and does not create an advantage for the offending team.

"'In addition to the impact this judgment call has had on the flow of the game, the multiple contact fault has consistently been a point of contention between coaches and officials,' said Lindsey Atkinson, NFHS Director of Sports and liaison to the Volleyball Rules Committee. 'It is the committee’s belief that the elimination of this fault will contribute to less disputes between coaches and officials and ultimately benefit the overall environment of the match.'"

All of that is gobbledygook to me, of course. That's why I have my friend Alex Salachi, the former volleyball coach at Xaverian Brothers High School, in the expert analyst's seat at our North TV volleyball telecasts. I'll let him explain it to me at some point, and I'm sure he will point it out when it happens during any of the four games we do this year.

Soccer rule changes:

Not much of consequence to report here, although the NFHS did adopt six rule changes for high school soccer. Perhaps the most significant one is to make head coaches more responsible for the behavior of any team personnel on their sidelines.

Gibby Reynolds, chair of the Soccer Rules Committee and an administrator with the Oregon School Activities Association, explained the change as such: "Head coaches have a high degree of responsibility for their team areas and bench behavior and are to be held accountable now that officials are allowed to warn, caution or eject head coaches for misconduct committed by bench personnel. This change promotes a culture of respect and positive behavior on the sidelines."

The NFHS has also sanctioned substitutions during hot-weather water breaks, and clarified that the player number required on the front of all uniforms can appear either on the jersey or the shorts, or both.

Nothing like good kits talk.

Football rule changes:

Once again, there were several football rule changes -- but maybe only one that will show up on the field.

Fumbling out of bounds won't be a help.

The NFHS outlawed yardage gains by fumbling a football forward and out of bounds without it being recovered by the opponent. Previously, if you fumbled the ball and it managed to roll forward and over the sideline, your next down would start at the point where the ball went out of bounds. Now, in that same situation, the ball will return to the spot where the ball was first fumbled.

One other significant change reinforced the prohibition of in-helmet electronic communications. You still can't get the play calls from the coaches through speakers in your helmet. But for teams that use large placards held up by players to signal play calls from the sideline (as King Philip does), you can now substitute a fixed-position electronic sign board for that purpose.

I'm not sure anyone in the Hockomock League will be willing the shell out the loot for that gimmick quite yet. 

One other change was in regard to the exact dimensions for the uniform sleeves, but that doesn't go into effect until 2027 and I couldn't explain it to you before then anyway. Expect your favorite team to be shelling out more money for replacement uniforms before then.

And with that, let's all get our stadium seat-cushions and snacks ready. It's almost time for high school sports -- still the best value for your entertainment dollar in my book.

MARK FARINELLA covered his first high school sporting event on Saturday, Sept. 27, 1969 -- a 22-6 loss by the Mansfield High football team to North Attleboro -- almost 56 years ago. Fortunately, it's been uphill ever since. Contact him at theownersbox2020@gmail.com.

Ponderous thoughts I was pondering ...

Seriously, wouldn't you like to see Caitlin Clark in a green uniform?

Ponderous thoughts I was pondering while putting the finishing touches (at least for the time being) on all my in-game notes for the upcoming schedule of North TV telecasts this fall ...

** I put a somewhat whimsical post up on social media last week in which, in a tone thoroughly mocking of the 47th President of the United States -- complete with "Thank you for your attention to this matter!" -- I suggested that because the Indiana Fever have figured out how to win without Caitlin Clark, she should be traded to the Connecticut Sun to help facilitate that franchise's hoped-for move to Boston and to bring a great talent to a major-market city that's just dying to see her play on a regular basis.

Like the Fever would do that. Yeah, I know.

That actually might be cause for armed insurrection in David Letterman's hometown, which has so thoroughly embraced its WNBA team in a manner that hasn't been seen there since Peyton Manning brought legitimacy to the Colts many moons ago. Clark put women's basketball on the map in Indianapolis and started a nationwide revolution there, so it's highly unlikely that team would consider dealing its meal ticket after just two years (or one and change, given Clark's extended injury absences this year).

To be honest, I don't think there's much the current Sun franchise could offer in return. After a full housecleaning last year, including head coach Stephanie White, the Sun has the worst record in the WNBA at this writing, a thoroughly dismal 5-26, and the Mohegan tribe would probably have to throw in millions of dollars in free chips for play in the casino to make any deal worth even remote consideration.

But here's the rub. Overlooking the WNBA's tepid response to the franchise shift proposed by former Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca, it would take a lot more than the mere presence of a WNBA team at the TD Garden to make it successful if the Connecticut Sun of present configuration is the team that is playing there.

I worry that a bad team -- a really bad team -- would not survive for long in Boston. That would also be the case for an expansion team (which the WNBA would consider for Boston in 2033, when most of the league's best stars of the present would be on the downslope of their careers).

I don't think it all rests in the hands in attracting the usual Boston professional sports fan to their games. No, there are a lot of knuckle-dragging morons that post their sexist and misogynistic opinions on local social media that could not be dragged to the Garden for a WNBA game, even on Free Beer Night. I do believe from my long-time association with women's athletics that there is a potential market for the team, and to some extent, that's already been proven by the enthusiastic sellout crowds that greeted the two WNBA games that have been played at the Garden in the last two seasons.

But with a team based here in town, the novelty would wear off quickly if the players representing Boston couldn't get out of their own way.

That calls for drastic measures. Again, discounting the WNBA's reluctance to sanction the sale and shift, Pagliuca would have to spend a lot more than just the $325 million sale price and the $100 million practice facility to make it work. He'd have to spend ungodly sums of money to attract free agents, and then come up with more creative ways to get established stars into Boston uniforms. 

Obviously, there's not much Pags could do to get Clark to Boston via trade. But her contract will be up after the 2027 season, and if he has the team, there would be no better time than to put on the full-court press in the effort to get her here. Her current contract is ridiculously low-balled in relation to her value to the league, so while there may be a salary structure in place, there's no doubt in my mind that a major-market pro town would afford her almost unlimited endorsement opportunities that Indianapolis couldn't hope to match.

So was I joking? Well, yes ... and no. Stranger things have happened in the world of sports. Usually by someone else sticking it to us, in fact.

Thank you for your attention to this matter!

** Speaking of the WNBA, have I mentioned how really badly the officiating sucks in that league? 

Someone needs to tell them that it's not a great idea to turn the W into another hackfest like the NBA has become. Glorifying contact over fundamental basketball is the wrong approach. I'm not against increased physicality, mind you, but some of the calls I see during WNBA games -- or the ones I don't see -- are just embarrassing.

** And, speaking of another troubled league, does anyone else find it a little funny that Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft (son of Patriots owner Robert Kraft) is attacking incumbent Mayor Michelle Wu for supporting the White Stadium soccer stadium plan, calling it a sweetheart deal for entitled millionaires -- funny, in that Kraft's dad is an entitled billionaire that's also battling Wu over his plans to build a soccer stadium in Everett for the beleaguered Revolution franchise.

Candidate Josh Kraft.

The elder Kraft wants to build a more appropriately-sized home for the Revs on property adjacent to the Encore casino complex, but Wu -- who should really have no jurisdiction over what happens in another municipality -- has been relentless in seeking her piece of the pie in mitigation assessments to allow the Everett plan to proceed. She claims, and maybe not entirely without merit, that building a 35,000-seat stadium on an inaccessible plot in Everett will challenge existing roads and means of access that snake through Boston. 

By the way, I've noticed that Josh speaks more and more like his dad as the years have passed. So I guess my Robert Kraft impression (known as one of the better ones in the Commonwealth) would be valid for a Mayor of Boston as well if the younger Kraft is elected. 

I live to serve.

** As for the Revolution itself, well, they are in 13th place in MLS and basically have become irrelevant. I used to scoff at soccer fans that blasted the Krafts for ignoring their team and not being serious owners, but I can't say I disagree any more. 

Between the miserable on-field product and the unrelenting effort to move the team out of Gillette Stadium and away from its loyal suburban (and money-spending) fan base, it's pretty clear that they have long since ceased giving a shit about building a winning franchise.

Why they don't just sell is beyond me. 

** And while we're on the topic of Kraft holdings, I have to admit it was a guilty pleasure of sorts to see the Patriots beat the Washington Commanders by 30 points in the preseason opener. But I've long since learned not to take preseason results too seriously.

What impressed me the most was not all the points or the impressive performances of the running backs. It was that the sideline operation seemed to be smooth, organized and purposeful. It certainly did appear that Mike Vrabel and his assistants were well in control of the situation throughout -- in direct contrast to the shitshow when Jerod Mayo's staff hit the field for the first time a year ago.

So much more to be done and not a lot of time in which to do it, but I'd say at least one aspect of the Vrabel Era has received a first-semester passing grade.

** Yes, I did start the templates for all of my game-day notes for the upcoming sports season. I'm not kidding. I'm very organized, and now I can just update each game's sheet as the season progresses. It's like an assembly line, and I'm Henry F***ing Ford (without the racism). 

And with that, I bid you adieu until the next time I get inspired to set the fingers to the keyboard. Stay cool, everyone.

MARK FARINELLA is brushing up on field hockey rules before returning to the microphone on Sept. 3 when Mansfield plays King Philip. Contact him at theownersbox2020@gmail.com

We're back on your TV set!

The KP football team will be coming at you on your TV or computer screen.

(Post updated Aug. 12 with a second schedule correction)

I got a pleasant surprise in my email box yesterday when Peter Gay, my boss at North Attleborough Community Television (North TV), sent me the 2025 fall season sports schedule that we will be proudly bringing to you viewers in North Attleboro and Plainville, and world-wide through the magic of live or on-demand streaming on the Interwebz.

It's a good schedule, filled with plenty of exciting games in all of the fall team sports. So rather than just tout its merits, here is my share of the overall schedule for your perusal. Remember, these telecasts are free to North TV subscribers in Plainville and North Attleboro, and for a nominal fee, you can become a "North TV Insider" wherever you live and have access not only to live games, but also everything we have in our digital library whenever you want to view it. Just go to the North TV website (northtv.net) and click on the "North TV Insider" tab for all the details.

From what I understand, we're still working on a few things about the channel lineup for the rare occasions when we have multiple live games on the same night, normally football Fridays. And of course, this schedule could be tweaked a little as we go along. But here are the games (listed by sport) in which I will have an involvement as an announcer -- and I've added one KP football game and two KP girls' soccer games that will be done by the North Attleboro crew just so you don't think we've left them out:

FOOTBALL

Friday, Sept. 5, Walpole at King Philip, 7 p.m., channel TBA. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Del Malloy, Marcus Vaughn.

Friday, Sept. 12, King Philip at North Attleboro, 6 p.m., Community Channel. Announcers: Jared Ware, Ethan Hamilton, Anthony Pirri.

Friday, Sept. 19, Norwood at King Philip, 7 p.m., channel TBA. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Del Malloy, Marcus Vaughn.

Friday, Sept. 26, King Philip at Foxboro, 7 p.m., channel TBA. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Del Malloy, Marcus Vaughn.

Friday, Oct. 3, King Philip at Natick, 6 p.m., channel TBA. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Del Malloy, Marcus Vaughn.

Saturday, Oct. 4, BC High at Bishop Feehan, 1 p.m., Community Channel. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Ethan Hamilton, Anthony Pirri.

Friday, Oct. 17, King Philip at Taunton, 7 p.m., channel TBA. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Del Malloy, Marcus Vaughn.

Friday, Oct. 24, Milford at King Philip, 6 p.m., channel TBA. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Del Malloy, Marcus Vaughn.

Friday, Oct. 31, Attleboro at King Philip, 6 p.m., channel TBA. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Del Malloy, Marcus Vaughn.

Nov. 7, 14 and 21: MIAA playoffs, details and channel TBA.

Thursday, Nov. 27, King Philip at Franklin, 10 a.m., channel TBA. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Del Malloy, Marcus Vaughn.

FIELD HOCKEY

Wednesday, Sept. 3, Mansfield at King Philip, 3:45 p.m., Community Channel. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Del Malloy.

Tuesday, Oct. 7, Wachusett at King Philip, 3:45 p.m., Community Channel. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Del Malloy.

Saturday, Oct. 18, Uxbridge at King Philip, 2 p.m., Community Channel. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Del Malloy.

BOYS' SOCCER

Wednesday, Sept. 10, Oliver Ames at King Philip, 3:45 p.m., Community Channel. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Martin Grealish.

Tuesday, Sept. 16, Sharon at King Philip, 3:45 p.m., Community Channel. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Martin Grealish.

Wednesday, Oct. 8, Oliver Ames at North Attleboro, 3:45 p.m., Community Channel. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Martin Grealish.

Monday, Oct. 13, Bishop Feehan at King Philip, 10 a.m., Community Channel. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Martin Grealish.

GIRLS' SOCCER

Tuesday, Sept. 30, King Philip at North Attleboro, 3:45 p.m., Community Channel. Announcers: Jared Ware, Martin Grealish.

Friday, Oct. 3, Attleboro at King Philip, 3:45 p.m., Community Channel. Announcers: Jared Ware, Martin Grealish.

Monday, Oct. 13, Bishop Feehan at King Philip, noon, Community Channel. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Martin Grealish.

GIRLS' VOLLEYBALL

Monday, Sept. 15, Foxboro at King Philip, 5 p.m., Community Channel. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Alex Salachi.

Monday, Sept. 29, Stoughton at King Philip, 5 p.m., Community Channel. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Alex Salachi.

Friday, Oct. 10, Tri-County at Blue Hills, 5 p.m., Community Channel. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Alex Salachi.

Wednesday, Oct. 22, King Philip at Attleboro, 5 p.m., Community Channel. Announcers: Mark Farinella, Alex Salachi.

And there will be plenty more televised games involving North Attleboro, Bishop Feehan and Tri-County, so there will be plenty of good local sports viewing available to you this fall. It's my eighth season of calling games on North TV, and I'm tanned, rested and ready to go.

MARK FARINELLA knows he's too old to become the next Al Michaels, but he can dream, can't he? Do you believe in miracles? Contact him at theownersbox2020@gmail.com.

The Owner's Box After Dark, Ep. 61.

Highlights galore began from those two windows on the right of the KPHS press box.

As promised, I finally took the time to record what became the longest episode of The Owner's Box After Dark ... although you can breathe easily, Episode 61 is not just all me sitting in the studio and yammering at the camera.

I took the time to record snippets of video from some of the games I announced during the 2024-25 school season for North TV, Mansfield Cable Access and Foxboro Cable Access, as a way of paying tribute to the athletes I had the pleasure to cover -- and to remind me that as of today, there's just one more month left before I'll be doing my first football game of the new season.

That will be the King Philip Warriors' home opener on Friday, Sept. 5, against the Timberwolves of Walpole High. That game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start at Macktaz Field, and I'll have more details about North TV's broadcast plans as soon as the schedule is firmed up in a few weeks.

You'll see and hear some of my best calls of the year, most of them from the fall and winter seasons. The voice was a little weak in the spring season and the highlights are a little on the pedestrian side because of a bronchial infection that hit me right at the end of the winter season. But I'm tanned, rested and ready to go for what will be my eighth season behind the local microphones.

When I started, I had no idea this episode would run as long as it did. It was well over an hour and a half at completion, and I didn't even get to add anything other than football, basketball, baseball and softball highlights. My first three attempts to upload it to YouTube resulted in some glitching toward the end, a few screen freezes, although the audio runs well throughout. 

I even revisited the finished product and trimmed more than five minutes out of it, hoping that would eliminate the glitching, but there's still a little of it at the end of the finished product. I think that's a good reminder to keep the episodes under an hour, as I believe I tested the capacities of my software to its limits.

Lesson learned -- although this episode still features great moments like Drew Laplante's 60-yard TD run for King Philip on the fourth offensive play of last year's Super Bowl against Catholic Memorial, and Maddy Steel's game winning three-point shot within the last second of Bishop Feehan's victory over Worcester South. There is also my usual array of vintage commercials and those supremely entertaining Japanese ads, and the introduction of "Lightning Round" topics at the end of the episode -- although this inaugural round moves more like a slow summer rain than a fast-moving thundershower. We'll work on that.

Anyway, it's free to watch, so who's complaining?

MIAA rules still keep dedicated coaches at a distance.

Foxboro starts a fast break against Bishop Feehan in the Franklin summer league.

As I've come to expect from practically all of the local coaches I've known over the years, Heather McPherson and Lisa Downs care deeply about their athletes.

Not only do they play an integral and all-encompassing role in their basketball players' lives for the four-plus months of their seasons every winter, the head coaches of the Mansfield High and Foxboro High girls' basketball teams respectively track their athletes' progress in their other sports as well as in many aspects of their academic and personal lives throughout the year -- or at least as much as the rules allow.

It should come as no surprise, then, that these two coaches (among many others) have spent a lot of time at Franklin High School this summer, watching their teams compete in the annual Nick Strong Foundation summer league that has one more evening to run before the basketballs go back on the shelves until November.

They're not on the sidelines, however. They can't be.

The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association has two rules in its handbook that address whether coaches can coach their own teams out of season -- Rules 40 and 41. In a nutshell, it's prohibited. There are several paragraphs to each rule that explain this prohibition, and as is usually the case, they say in a lot of words what could be said in a lot fewer. Fortunately, there is a paragraph within the explanation of what is allowed and what isn't that succinctly sums it up.

"Coaches may not have direct or indirect influence over out-of-season teams, competition, activities and decisions made by student-athletes and their families," the corollary to Rule 40 states. There are a few exceptions; for instance, high school coaches can coach AAU teams as long as no more than 50 percent of the athletes on those rosters would be prospects to play for their own high school teams in the winter. But otherwise, the rules are very specific about coaching by head coaches or their assistants.

Both aforementioned local coaches adhere to the rules. They must, because any action that might be taken against them by the MIAA carries a one-year suspension as a penalty.

It's not easy. Invested as these coaches are in their athletes, it takes great resolve and restraint not to do what comes so naturally to them during their Hockomock League seasons. I often sit with or near the coaches that I know, and it's sometimes worth a chuckle to see them squirm, gesture or nervously vocalize their reactions in hushed tones to what is transpiring on the courts. It's all very measured and restrained.

There was a time, not very long ago, when the coaches couldn't even attend summer league games without risking sanctions. That was amended out of common sense, but in my conversations with male and female basketball coaches alike, the general consensus is that Massachusetts' hard-and-fast restriction against out-of-season coaching is unfair, archaic and detrimental to the sport and its participants.

And from what little research I was able to do prior to writing this missive, it's not the norm for high school sports in America.

The National Federation of High Schools has a page on its website that offers links to all of the state associations that govern school sports. But finding a direct answer to a specific question -- Does your state prohibit high school coaches from coaching their players on out-of-season teams? -- proved problematic.

That search query, or similar wording in condensed form, usually directed me to that state's handbook of rules and regulations. Most were available for public viewing. Most were also extensive to excess, making a search for specific situations almost impossible to complete in a short amount of time. I once thought the MIAA Handbook was difficult to navigate, but Pennsylvania's handbook reminded me of my days of trying to find relevant information within the thousands of volumes of state and federal law books within the Northwestern University law library. 

From my hasty research (which definitely would not have gotten me a passing grade in one of my journalism law classes at NU back in the '70s), I think I determined that Massachusetts is the only New England state with a firm restriction against out-of-season coaching. New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont do not appear to keep their coaches from running summer programs; Maine has a specific period of time (two weeks before the fall season begins) in which coaches can't contact their players, and Connecticut recently loosened restrictions that were very close in severity to the Bay State's.

Outside New England, I immediately found three states (Alaska, Georgia and Wisconsin) whose rules mirrored ours. Several other states, including New York, California, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Arizona, either had no restrictions or established specific periods in the summer (usually July) in which coaches could have out-of-season contact.

This was driven home to me recently. More than 130 boys' and girls' teams from the six New England states participated two weekends ago in the 14th annual Wally Seaver Invitational tournament conducted at Mass. Premier Courts in Foxboro and the Dana Barros Center in Stoughton. The tournament benefits fundraising efforts in the quest to find a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), better known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, and it's dedicated to the memory of Paul "Wally" Seaver, who coached varsity basketball for many years at Milford High and Franklin High and devoted his life to the sport before his passing from ALS in 2013.

Foxboro's Adrianna Porazzo
starts a possession at Franklin.

I followed the progress of the Foxboro girls (whose games I occasionally announce on Foxboro Cable Access), who compiled a 4-1 record at Dana Barros over the two days of play. The competition was very high for what I've come to expect from summer ball, and the Warriors did quite well before, in their third 32-minute game a week ago Sunday, they ran into a buzzsaw in the form of the girls' team from Bedford (N.H.) High School.

Bedford is a very talented team, don't get me wrong. They had skills, they had size and they had a sense of purpose, and at least the latter may have been attributable to the fact that head coach Kevin Gibbs was on the sidelines, as it was his right to be. New Hampshire does not prevent its high school coaches from coaching in the summer, while Foxboro coach Lisa Downs had to be content with her perch in the stands.

Throughout the tournament, the Foxboro girls didn't run any plays from their in-season playbook. Their substitution patterns and game management had no resemblance at all to what could be expected this coming winter. More than anything else, their muscle memory and program pedigree carried them through the two-day gauntlet. But when it came time to face a team that was operating with the same organizational sense as it does in December, the result was predictable -- Bedford broke open the game midway through the first half and won 54-28.

That loss will probably serve as a character-building event for the Warriors, who will have to replace 3,057 graduated career points (Kailey Sullivan, Ava Hill, Addie Ruter) before entering the 2025-26 season. And they'll get another chance to gauge their progress when Bedford visits Foxboro for a preseason scrimmage in early December.

The MIAA offers several rationales for its restrictions against out-of-season coaching. The association claims that it can lead to too much specialization for the athletes, and possibly lead to heightened participation expectations and burnout. The MIAA encourages young athletes to partake in more than just one sport; while a noble goal, it does come into conflict with a growing trend in which parents put athletes on what they think is a fast track toward college scholarships. The kids may forgo playing a second high school sport to play their chosen preference in the AAU ranks nine months of the year, and then add another two by participating in AAU ball and summer leagues. 

But at the same time, it can also be suggested that the bond between coaches and athletes can be strengthened without the restrictions upon when they can interact. It would also afford coaches to keep closer tabs on their athletes and enhance their status as role models and mentors. Coaches that earn the trust of their athletes can be vital in the effort to keep them out of trouble as they advance through their often-tumultuous high school years.

I also see it as an opportunity for younger coaches to work their way up the ladder. Let's just say that a veteran head coach that already devotes a lot of time to his or her team would like a break in the summertime, but doesn't want to surrender the supervisory opportunity over his or her program. What a great chance this would be to allow a trusted young assistant to take the reins for a summer league program, to guide it along the head coach's established guidelines but also get great experience managing a team in the top position. 

Right now, the rule prohibits anyone associated with the coaching staff from performing those duties out-of-season. As silly as it is to restrict head coaches, this almost seems excessively punitive to take coaching opportunities and learning experiences away from younger assistants. 

I believe that would work -- as long as everyone involved adhered to the letter and spirit of the law. Unfortunately, not everyone always does. There are always a few outliers that would find ways around the wording to create some sort of advantage for themselves in later competition -- just as they do now when it comes to sanctioned practices and recruiting. I'm not pointing any fingers here, but we all know it happens, and that's probably why the MIAA is so reluctant to make changes in its out-of-season restrictions.

So the coaches continue to sit and watch, lending support but restrained from contributing in a more significant fashion to the supervisory welfare of their athletes because of an archaic rule against out-of-season contact.

It doesn't seem fair. It doesn't seem right that in an age in which it's a lot tougher to find good coaches that have the best interests of their athletes at heart, the ones that are willing to give their time and effort selflessly are told to keep their distance or risk punitive measures.

It's time for a change.

MARK FARINELLA, former sportswriter and forever an advocate for women's rights in athletics, can be reached at theownersbox2020@gmail.com.