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. 

Ponderous thoughts I was pondering ...

That's me on the left, charting a football game from the old Memorial Park press box.

Ponderous thoughts I was pondering while awaiting the promised downpours that may transform my yard from the consistency of your Shredded Wheat breakfast to something that's once again green and full of life ...

**As I drove past Memorial Park in Mansfield earlier today, I noticed something was missing.

Even from the distance between Park Street and the field where the Mansfield High football team had played from the 1930s until the opening of Alumni Field behind the high school in 2001, I could see that our old press box was gone.

I'm not sure when it was demolished, but it had to be fairly recently. Indeed, just a few weeks ago I drove past the old ballyard where I once played varsity baseball and noticed how badly the press box had fallen into disrepair.

That's not the first time that had happened, however.

When Memorial Park was first built as a Work Projects Administration development at the height of the Great Depression, several stone-and-mortar structures were constructed ringing the baseball diamond and football field to serve as locker rooms and restrooms. The largest structure was a giant bandstand behind the south end zone of the football gridiron -- and all of these structures remain in place today, nearly 90 years after the park's opening.

Permanent bleachers were not part of the original plan because the field was to be used for both football and baseball. The east sideline, which served as the home side, featured assembled (and frequently replaced) grandstands built of steel and wood, while during football season, temporary stands were erected in the midst of the baseball infield to serve visiting fans, and then disassembled at the close of the football season.

In the 1950s, the park added a large manually-operated scoreboard behind the north end zone, and a small wooden press box that was elevated behind the home stands. But by the time I reached high school in the fall of 1968, the manual scoreboard had long since been abandoned, and the old press box was torn down for being both unsafe and an eyesore.

The town's recreation department, which operated the field independently of the school department, sank some money into the field at about the same time. A new electronic scoreboard replaced the rotting structure in the north end zone, and a free-standing press box was built with a cinder-block foundation and three separate rooms to house the clock operator and public-address announcer, media members and home-team coaches. And it was all painted in spiffy Hornet green.

I remember feeling great pride that, as a fledgling sports reporter for the weekly Mansfield News, I would have a chance to view the field from a brand new perch once the 1969 football season began. I was actually hoping to be the public-address announcer as well -- yes, I had the voice for it even then -- but the athletic director gave that job to his son instead. That was my first introduction to nepotism.

But it didn't take long for my euphoria over having a new base of operations to be dashed.

A few weeks into the season, a group of burnout punks -- and we had a lot of those in Mansfield back in those days -- decided to take out their insecurities on the brand new press box. They absolutely trashed it -- kicking holes in all of the particle board and plywood walls, ripping out electrical connections, stomping holes in the floorboards, pouring out the contents of several beer cans everywhere, and the pièce de résistance -- several of these sub-human slugs went as far as to defecate repeatedly in all three of the rooms.

The only thing these louts couldn't damage was the cinder-block foundation.

It was feared at first that the new structure would have to be declared a total loss and then razed, but the town bit the bullet and rebuilt it. They even used sturdier building materials the second time around to serve as a deterrent to future vandalism by the punks that roamed the town under the cover of darkness. Increased police patrols in the vicinity of the park also helped.

Eventually, I got to use the new press box before completing my high school career and heading to college. It was later named for the former athletic director that gave his son the announcing job -- and in retrospect, I wouldn't have had the ability to handle it and to chart the game for my newspaper coverage anyway -- and it served the Hornet football team and the town's youth leagues for many years. Even after the high school team departed after the 2001 season to an artificial-turf facility behind the school itself, the press box continued to serve its purpose.

Decades ago, a holiday game at Memorial Park.

There have been times over the years when I wish the Hornets could still play at Memorial Park. Like Community Field in North Attleboro, it was a relic of a bygone era, but a majestic one. All those stone structures gave it the look of something out of antiquity, although none of them were very energy-efficient and not well-insulated against temperature extremes. I always thought that it could have been re-envisioned with artificial turf and new lighting and permanent stands.

But because it was under the auspices of the recreation department and not the school department, I suppose there always would have been conflicts over its use. Alumni Field is fully controlled by the school department, and while it has its flaws -- notably, an east-west alignment that creates harsh sun angles in early evening, and its piecemeal design dictated by surrounding wetlands -- it's not subject to inter-departmental conflict. Recently, the town underwrote the final pieces of a gradual expansion of grandstands that took more than 20 years to complete, and added a modern digital scoreboard, and the resulting stadium is as good as any in the area.

But I'll miss that old green press box at Memorial Park. It was my first "home" as a journalist. More proof, indeed, that you can never go home again.

** Sad news to report, amid the nostalgia that has characterized this column so far. I have just learned of the passing of William S. Bruno, 91, who was a well-known figure around Mansfield since his high school days, and the uncle of my close friend ("brother from another mother," as I call him), former classmate and current broadcast partner for Mansfield and King Philip basketball, Alex Salachi.

Willie Bruno, MHS Class of '52.

"Willie," as he was most popularly known, was a 1952 graduate of Mansfield High, where he played baseball and football at a high level and captained and quarterbacked the Hornet football team in 1951. He worked for a while at the clothing store in town that was owned by my father and his three brothers, but he also had the "writing bug," so he started to work as a part-time sportswriter for the Mansfield News in 1952.

He only did that gig for about a year before he was inducted into the U.S. Army in April 1953, but he made it a memorable one. Willie had a natural and engaging writing style and the experience of having been a legitimate athlete. His boss at the News, Dick Yager, said young Willie didn't have much of an idea what newspaper operations were like when he first started, but that he was a quick study and became ultra-productive in the role.

One of Willie's crowning achievements at the paper before he left was a multi-part series highlighting the accomplishments of some of Mansfield's greatest football teams of the more distant past. That underscored his respect for the town's history and the past accomplishments of talented athletes whose feats of glory might have been forgotten under the shifting sands of time.

"Now, wait," you may say. "How do you know all this? You weren't even born yet!" That is true, I entered this existence on Jan. 7, 1954, a year and a half after Willie graduated from MHS. I grew up knowing him primarily as Alex's genial and sports-minded uncle. But when I started working at the Mansfield News in 1969, I made it a point to research back editions (thanks to a sparkling new microfiche reader in the office) so I'd have an idea of what came before me -- and so I wouldn't fall into the trap of writing about mundane accomplishments as if they were the greatest thing that ever happened in our sleepy little hamlet. 

Still enjoying games in his 90s.

When I saw Willie's writing and realized that he also appreciated the context of history, it indicated to me that I may have been on the right path. And knowing that he did good work as a young man fresh out of high school, he inspired me to reach for a similar level of accomplishment, if just a little bit earlier in my life. Indeed, I consider him one of the major inspirations for what became my life-long career.

Willie went from the Army to Bridgewater State College and then entered a career in education. He became a teacher and then an administrator in several neighboring communities, and served for quite some time on the Mansfield School Committee and the town's School Building Committee. He eventually retired to the coastal town of Mattapoisett, where I could always contact him if, in my later career as the 500-pound sports gorilla at The Sun Chronicle in Attleboro, I needed to dig up some factoid of local sports history that eluded my own searches.

I offer my deepest condolences to my friend Alex, for whom Willie became more than just a mentor after he lost his own father during his college years, as well as to his wife Ann Marie, daughters Julie, Beth and Maria, sons Paul and David, and the entire extended Bruno family.

** I seem to be missing the point of the change in college sports these days. The specter of "Name, Image and Likeness" (NIL) benefits certainly has changed the game, and not necessarily for the better. 

Admittedly, college athletes have been taken advantage of for many years. Their performances, fueling the rise in popularity of their sports, raked in billions of dollars for their institutions without returning anything to the so-called amateur athletes that made it all happen. Now that's no longer an issue, but probably because we don't produce too many high-level Division 1 athletes in these parts, I haven't really taken the time to measure or grasp exactly how significant those benefits are.

Recently, however, I heard that a female basketball player from a nearby community was recently recruited to a middle-of-the-pack Division 1 school, and she was given $80,000 as well as a new Jeep in addition to her scholarship. And to be honest, I'm not sure the young lady in question is that impressive of a recruit.

We're all going to hell in a handbasket.

** OK, I gave in and went to see "Fantastic Four: First Steps" at the theater even though I never really had much interest in that Marvel franchise during its heyday. I bought a few FF comic books in the 1970s and only recently benefitted from the experience by reselling them for about $100. 

Kirby and Pascal: Bor-r-r-ring.

The best thing I can say about the movie? I won't have to see it again.

Sure, it was a novel idea to make it a period piece in a parallel universe, but that wore thin quickly. The increasingly overexposed Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic) spent the whole movie either looking concerned, or brooding, or basically playing a wimpy second fiddle to Vanessa Kirby (Sue Richards/Invisible Woman). The Thing and Human Torch had their moments, and they turned the Silver Surfer into a hottie, but the little robot was a pain in the ass. And what did Natasha Lyonne’s character have to do with anything? Waste of a quirky talent.

To me, the movie was just one big gimmick. Both this one and DC's James Gunn-authored "Superman" have turned to the so-called Silver Age of comics for inspiration, when stories were far too exaggerated to be even remotely believable. I'll give props to MarvelStudios for creating an alternate universe in which the kitsch of the 1960s was merged with elements of science fiction that the FF's presence might have influenced, but having grown up in the '60s, I found it too unreal to be relatable.

But hot damn, that product placement! Too bad they don't serve Canada Dry in the Showcase Cinema's drink dispensers. Or maybe they do. I was too pissed off to look when my Cherry Coke Zero button malfunctioned halfway through my cup and I had to complete the choice with Pibb Xtra. Ugh.

All in all, I have yet to see any reason to believe that the FF will be any better as a lasting film franchise this time around, although the desperation move of turning Robert Downey Jr. into Dr. Doom will draw some suckers into the next movie. 

I understand John Malkovich’s scenes were cut from this, and my guess he won't be terribly upset as long as the check clears.

**OK, time to shuffle off. I've got a very important missive in the works for next week, so keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, let's get those Epstein Files out there once and for all!

MARK FARINELLA wrote for 42 years for The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, Mass. Feel free to contact him at theownersbox2020@gmail.com.

The Owner's Box, Ep. 59.

Here's the new "album cover" for my six-year-old audio podcast.

Sometimes, and I really don't know why, I get away from my podcasting duties. Such was the case over the past seven months; part of the reason was my work schedule through late May, but I've had plenty of time to sit down at the microphone and transcribe my thoughts for global consumption.

I finally got around to it on Saturday afternoon, but in a novel way. 

Thanks to some new equipment I've procured over the past year -- a new headset, a new and more portable mixing board and a new laptop computer that is compact enough to use remotely but powerful enough to record my audio podcasts -- I took advantage of a beautiful day in the neighborhood to set up an outdoor "studio" and record Episode 59 of The Owner's Box.

It went off seamlessly ... save for the fact that I kept referring to it as "Episode 57" throughout (I edited out those references after discovering my error). I have a whiteboard in my home office on which I record the current number of both my audio and video episodes, but I forgot to update the audio number last December for the two podcasts I recorded then. Shame on me.

It's a solo episode, in which I talk about the summer basketball leagues going on in our area, my thoughts on Patriots training camp and the Red Sox, and my current efforts to turn old comic books into cash by selling them to collectors. I also mention that many of these old books have relevance to the spate of new superhero movies being released this summer.

Here's a link. Hopefully it will be the harbinger of many more to come -- including some in which I can take the show on the road, as was my original plan for this summer.

Ponderous thoughts I was pondering ...

Foxboro's Alaysia Drummonds, left, will be returning to the Warriors' lineup.

Ponderous thoughts I was pondering while bemoaning the transition of my backyard from a lush, green carpet to an expanse of Shredded Wheat in just the short span of two hot, dry weeks:

** It's July, and that means the return of one of my favorite summertime activities -- summer leagues for the local high school basketball teams.

Over the last few years, I have gravitated more to the girls' basketball league at Franklin High School run by the Panthers' long-time head coach, John Leighton, because most of the local schools have chosen to compete there rather than at Mass Premier Courts in Foxboro. Nothing against MPC, I'm told -- but some of the coaches believed that the competition level in the girls' league had dropped in recent years, with some of the larger schools dropping out to play elsewhere, leaving smaller schools with less-developed talent pools to be manhandled by the power programs that remained.

At Franklin, most of the top programs in this corner of southeastern Massachusetts are represented.

Hosting site: Franklin High's two courts.

Six Hockomock League schools will be represented, including four-time state champion Foxboro (and a semifinalist last year), Mansfield, Oliver Ames, Attleboro, North Attleboro and host Franklin, which will field two teams. The Tri-Valley League is represented by Kristen McDonnell's Norwood team as well as Medway, Medfield, Bellingham, Millis and Hopkinton. The Bay State League will send Walpole and Natick into the fray, and let's not forget Bishop Feehan (playing under the monicker "Rock Ball"), which has been to three straight Division 1 title games.

Starting this Monday and running through Aug. 6, there will be eight games played twice a week, four each on the two 84-foot courts inside the Franklin High gym, starting at 5 p.m. Teams will play by unique summer-league rules, which include 20-minute halves of running time, clock stoppage only inside the last minute of play, and usually only one free throw on what would be a two-shot foul situation. It's all to keep the games moving so four games can be played on each court during a four-hour window.

And of course, the teams' regular-season coaches can't be on the sidelines for the summer games. That's beholding to an archaic (and totally outdated) MIAA rule that prohibits varsity coaches from coaching their own teams out of season. But that rule was amended several years ago to allow coaches to watch from the stands without actively coaching, which is how I can have enjoyable conversations with people like Foxboro's Lisa Downs, Mansfield's Heather McPherson and Feehan's Amy Dolores during the games.

The competition is usually pretty good, although not all of the varsity players can show up at every game. Some are still active in their summer AAU programs, or participating in camps for the other sports they play, or just enjoying some serious beach time. But I'm generally pleased to see the level of commitment these kids have to give up some of their personal time to play summer ball with their winter teammates-to-be. And this is really where the process begins for the coaches to see how the holes in their teams caused by graduations will be filled when play begins in earnest five months from now.

On Monday, the games I'll be most interested in seeing are in the 6, 7 and 8 p.m. slots -- Feehan vs. Franklin White at 6 (Court 1), Mansfield vs. Natick at 7 (Court 2) and Walpole vs. Foxboro at 8 (Court 2). Of course, I announce Mansfield's games on Mansfield Cable Access, and do occasional games for Foxboro and Feehan on Foxboro Cable Access and North TV respectively.

The games are open free of charge to spectators, with Court 1 the usual varsity court as you first walk into the gym, and Court 2 the adjacent one, Be forewarned -- sometimes the stands are not open on Court 2 because exercise equipment is set up in their place to accommodate early football workouts. It pays to bring a small folding chair.

Here's a link to this year's schedule: Franklin Summer League

** As good as I might think this Red Sox team can be, my optimism has been crushed repeatedly this year by the abysmal performance of their bullpen. So many strong games by the starters, particularly Garrett Crochet, have been wasted because the procession of rag-arms sent to the mound after the sixth inning can't hold a lead.

Crochet: Wasted so far.

And where the hell has been the run support for Crochet? I found it hilarious, though, that in a recent game, when the Sox got him eight or nine runs early on, he had one of his worst efforts and gave up five runs, although he did manage to salvage the win. 

One more gripe -- when things start to go wrong, this team tends to fall apart entirely, especially the defense. Wild throws and dumb decisions quickly turn a salvageable situation into utter chaos.

By the way, I wasn't upset when they traded Rafael Devers. Disappointed, yes, but more in the player because I felt he had become selfish and a distraction. His performances in San Francisco since the trade have not changed my opinion any. In the long run, with a little more enlightened roster building, the Sox should be better off.

** I'll keep my political rants to a minimum. I just see the passage of Donald Trump's Big Ugly Bill as just another addition to the list of things that Democrats will have to fix once they re-take the presidency, the House and the Senate. And as the harm from Medicaid cuts and funding for social programs starts to grievously wound the GOP's MAGA base, that support will erode quickly -- starting with the 2026 midterms.

However, I do have one fear. Trump now apparently has the power to suspend elections by declaring martial law according to the provisions of the Big Ugly Bill. I have got to believe that if he attempts to take that step, all hell will break loose.

This country is in deep distress. Even if Trump should drop dead within the next year, that still puts the Maybelline Hillbilly, J.D. Vance, in the seat of power. And even if the Democrats regain control of the Senate and House and are able to impeach and remove Trump from office in 2027, you still have to deal with Vance to get to Hakeem Jeffries (who will then be Speaker of the House) in the line of succession.

My most fervent wish is to outlive all this and see the America I love restored to a nation that reveres freedom, liberty and inclusion. At 71, the odds may be against me -- but dammit, I will try.

** By the way, has anyone seen gasoline at $1.98 a gallon anywhere in the country? No, I don't believe so. Just another pile of bullshit that the increasingly addled Trump slings at the nation on a regular basis.

Of course, I own two cars for which regular gas is verboten. My two Panzers use premium, which is a 180-degree turn from the me that owned two hybrids in a period from the mid-2000s until 2019. The trade-off is that I drive half as much, or even less, than I did prior to my retirement.

** Great crop of bunnies this year in the backyard. These young buns are absolutely fearless and they have accepted me as one of their own. I guess they realize that I'm not a threat to them. They've seen how badly I walk when my knees are aching, and they know there's no way I could chase after any of them even if I wanted to.

Sometimes, there's nothing more peaceful and relaxing than sitting in the yard, watching these innocent creatures cavort around and nibble the grass while a cooling breeze wafts across the yard from the adjacent pond. 

** Have you seen that the American equivalent of Dr. Joseph Goebbels, White House string-puller Stephen Miller, has sued the Los Angeles Dodgers for alleged violations of Trump's executive orders regarding diversity, equity and inclusion? 

What a fucking asshole. Is it any wonder that his former classmates at Santa Monica (Calif.) High School regard him as the most hated alumnus of the school? Apparently, he was this much of a dick when he was a kid, too. 

How do people like this attain positions of power in this country?

** I've about had it with the approach taken by insurance companies to win your business without telling you how they do business.

Worst national offenders in my opinion are Liberty Mutual's campaign featuring "Limu Emu and Doug," the GEICO gekko and the Aflac duck, and I've also had it with Jake from State Farm. But the one that makes me hit the remote switch is the series of local ads on Red Sox games called "The Bostonians" for Plymouth Rock Assurance. There is nothing at all that would convince me to do business with a firm represented by a house filled with mascots or stereotypes trying to purport itself as a situation comedy.

I think that's one of the reasons why I chose Arbella to handle my car insurance. Their ads generally tell me about their service and how they will serve me, and when I have needed them to perform those services, they have followed through.

And no, I don't get a break on my insurance bill for mentioning that.

** Hey, King Philip football fans! Mark down Friday, Sept. 5, on your calendars. That's when I return to the microphone for North TV's coverage of live high school football as the Warriors take on the Timberwolves of Walpole High, a 7 p.m. start. 

I'm not sure where those games will be appearing, however. I'm told by my boss, Peter Gay, that we may have to shuffle around the North TV channels because of recent technological upgrades. But one way or another, we will be there for you and I'll let you know how and where once we get closer to the season.

MARK FARINELLA wrote for The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro for 42 years prior to retirement in 2018, but he's proven that there's no easy way to get rid of him, as he will begin his eighth season of high school TV sports announcing in the fall. Contact him at theownersbox2020@gmail.com.