Great day for local standouts Manis, Guy.

Here's something to smile about in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Two local athletes are on the verge of making their dreams come true after decisions that were made on Friday.

Former Holy Cross and Bishop Feehan High School basketball star Lauren Manis, who was the most recent guest on my "The Owner's Box" podcast, learned Friday night that she was made the 33rd overall selection in the WNBA Draft by the Las Vegas Aces. And earlier in the day, Mansfield High School junior defensive end T.J. Guy, also an outstanding basketball player for the Hornets, made his commitment to play football at the University of Michigan starting in 2012.

Holy Cross' Lauren Manis, drafted by Las Vegas

First, to Manis; the only player in the history of Holy Cross basketball (regardless of gender) to score 2,000 career points and grab 1,000 career rebounds was Las Vegas' only pick in the three-round draft, the Aces having traded their first- and second-round selections to the Dallas Wings last May in return for WNBA all-star center Liz Cambage.

Manis, a 6-foot-1 senior, averaged 18.6 points and 11.5 rebounds this season, while connecting on 46.3 percent of her shots from three-point range. She started 121 of 122 games for the Crusaders in her four-year career, which ended prematurely when Holy Cross' game against Bucknell in the Patriot League Tournament was abruptly canceled on March 11 because of the COVID-19 crisis.

In our recent podcast (see link below), Manis spoke optimistically about playing professionally. She had secured the services of an agent and was hoping for a WNBA tryout, or perhaps to play professionally overseas. She was concerned about the uncertainty about tryouts because of the postponement of most professional sports during the ongoing crisis, but clearly, being a draft pick has removed a lot of that uncertainty in short order.

If you're not familiar with the Aces, they entered the WNBA in its inaugural season of 1997 as the Utah Starzz. They moved to San Antonio in 2003, becoming the San Antonio Silver Stars (and later just Stars), and then moved to Las Vegas in 2018. They are owned by MGM Resorts International, and their coach -- Celtics fans are not going to like this -- is former Detroit Pistons' bad boy Bill Laimbeer.

Laimbeer has coached the Aces for two seasons, reaching the conference finals of the playoffs last season before being eliminated by Washington. He's 35-33 over two regular seasons.

T.J. Guy, verbally committed to play football at Michigan.

As for Guy, the Hornet standout was a hot ticket in college football recruiting for the past two years, given his unique mix of size, strength and speed, and the ever-increasing level at which he terrorized Hockomock League competition over that time.

Guy had offered a verbal pledge to Boston College earlier in the process, but pulled back on that when Jeff Hafley replaced Steve Addazio as BC's head coach. He was also being courted by Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Nebraska and Connecticut.

At 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Guy has room on his frame for more muscle and should be able to put it there without sacrificing the quickness that makes him a dangerous edge rusher. He is ranked 44th in the nation at his position by one major scouting concern. And let's not forget that he's a very good basketball player, and could have a shot to reach 1,000 career points for Mike Vaughan's Hornet cagers next season.

As promised, here's the link to Lauren Manis' appearance on The Owner's Box, recorded earlier in the week:

The new "official" logo.

What you see above is the new "official" logo for The Owner's Box, my six-month-old podcast (which is available on almost all major podcasting platforms as well as on links on this blog). I asked seven trusted individuals to choose from among five different font treatments for the second line, and five of them chose the typewriter font as their preference.

I kind of like that, because it does reference my former career as a sportswriter -- and yes, I did start in the era of typewriters. The four other fonts didn't suck -- one of them was the same font used on those signs in the Notre Dame stadium's runway that say, "Play like a champion today." -- but there's a synergy between the font of the first line (which resembles the numbers on traditional uniforms) and the reference to a 50-year reporting career represented in the second line.

Be sure to check out my current podcast with former Holy Cross basketball star Lauren Manis. Links can be found to the left of this post on the web version of this page.

Thoughts during the apocalypse, Part 22.

Another day into the new reality, and the observations came fast and loose:

The new morning routine: Making the coffee.

** As I started my "new normal" this morning, which included pouring the beans into the trusty Cuisinart and cranking out palatable coffee, I clicked on the television and watched the daily coronavirus briefing given by Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker.

It wasn't great news. Massachusetts (as well as neighboring Rhode Island) is apparently just entering the surge phase of the pandemic, as opposed to other states that are starting to show the downward turn that is giving Washington hope that it can pull off a "phased reopening" of the nation.

There wasn't much new from Gov. Baker otherwise. He was asked if he was prepared to extend school closures as has happened in other states, but he was noncommittal. Schools here in the commonwealth are closed until at least May 4, while other states have either ended the school year altogether, or extended closures until mid-May.

Baker said he would decide "soon," at one point narrowing that down to the end of April. That delay in making the decision is what's giving the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association hope that it can get the spring sports season up and running the second that schools re-open on May 4.

That stands in direct contrast to the current information that's out there about sports. The pro sports leagues that would be active at this time of year have not announced any plans to reboot their seasons. The Tokyo Olympics are off until next year. The mayor of Los Angeles claims he can prohibit all major events in his city until the end of the year, including concerts and sporting events, but it remains to be seen if he has the power to stand in the way of Major League Baseball or the National Football League (I'd bet on the latter two).

During the press conference, a reporter asked Baker if he had any thoughts about the Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics looking to resume play. "Right now, I'm just concerned with the spike in coronavirus cases," Baker said, rather dismissively. Given the sudden spike in reported cases, Baker's pique was understandable.

But as I watched that, I thought that perhaps the governor should extend his priorities to those in the state's school-sports community that seem to be promoting unrealistic expectations for a resumption of competition. You'd think that the state's student-athletes should be protected from such risk, and guarded from being given false hopes.

(BREAKING: I've just learned that New Hampshire's state athletic association has canceled the spring sports season. I'm feeling those dominoes falling again.)

** I've been asked how my knee feels, and I am happy to report that it does feel better, although not 100 percent by any stretch. As the accompanying diagram indicates, I think the problem is with the LCL in my left knee -- the outside of my knee is where the pain and instability seems to be worst -- but gradually, and perhaps thanks to the new brace I've been wearing, my mobility has improved a lot and I can walk almost normally, albeit at a reduced pace. I don't think I've torn anything, just probably stretched it the wrong way.

Of course, I'm no doctor and I don't play one on TV. I also recognize that if I was carrying less weight on my frame, a lot of my problems would either be reduced significantly or go away altogether. It's a battle I've fought since I was in sixth grade. I was in the best shape of my life perhaps twice -- from 1968-71 when I was playing baseball in high school (or more accurately, working hard in practice and then sitting on the bench in the games) and from 1981 to maybe 1987 when I was around 200 pounds and working out regularly at the health club inside the former Sheraton-Mansfield (now Holiday Inn).

It's a formidable task for a 66-year-old man, but once the knee feels a little more stable, I think I'll return to the treadmill for nightly walks. One way or another, I have to mow my own lawn, and the backyard is starting to get pretty thick. Grass waits for no man.

I was also asked, "why don't you just go to a hospital?" I was polite, but seriously? With the hospitals teeming with COVID-19 patients? No, thanks. They need the hospital beds and examinations far more than I do. I'll tough it out.

** Someone who is going to make a few bucks when it's safe to re-open is my dentist. I've got three issues that need repair. The temporary goo you can buy at CVS only works for so long. Getting old is a bitch … but it does beat the alternative.

** I'm very pleased with the most recent episode of The Owner's Box, No. 20, which features former Holy Cross basketball standout Lauren Manis. She's by far the youngest among the 11 guests I've had on the podcast so far, and her perspective about trying to plan for her future in the midst of a global pandemic is very interesting. Please follow the links to my podcasts that you can find on this site, to the left-hand side of the page under "Podcast Central!"

** The phone is ringing and the caller ID says that U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III is on the line. It's a recording asking me to tune into a virtual town hall to discuss the coronavirus crisis. I wouldn't mind talking to our young representative, who's running for the U.S. Senate, but I'm kind of COVIDed out for tonight.

I probably wasn't singing "Happy Birthday" to Bill Belichick.

** Today is Bill Belichick's 68th birthday. My guess is that the Patriots' coach might want a franchise quarterback as a present.

Strange it is that it was 20 years ago today that Belichick made Tom Brady the team's sixth-round pick in his first draft here, No. 198 overall. Of course, Brady has hit the road to don the pewter and red of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, leaving Belichick with Jarrett Stidham and the recently re-signed Brian Hoyer behind center.

This year's draft may also include a search for a quarterback, although I don't think that the Patriots are going to jump through hoops or shock the world with a blockbuster trade that will move them up to the top of the draft. They do have a ton of draft choices this year, and may very well have the draft currency to pull off such a deal. But with only about $1.1 million in cap space at this point, a huge move would probably require a couple of painful cuts to reduce the overall salary cap number.

Some of the Las Vegas oddsmakers believe the Patriots might not make it to nine wins this year. Maybe Patriot Nation should be wishing for a pandemic-related cancellation of the 2020 season … although I think that the loss of an NFL season might be the one thing that sends a large segment of the nation off the deep end.

** Enough for today. I have laundry to do and I think I can get up and down the stairs OK. I'll be speaking to you tomorrow from over a bowl filled with short rib Bolognese. Stay safe, my friends.

Thoughts during the apocalypse, Part 21.

Coyle and Cassidy High School in Taunton is closing soon.

Another day on the long, long road back to normalcy, but I heard a story today that underscores how different the new normal will be after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coyle and Cassidy High School in Taunton, once the preeminent Catholic high school in southeastern Massachusetts, will be closing its doors once the current school year ends. According to the Taunton Daily Gazette, the Fall River Roman Catholic diocese made the decision because Coyle-Cassidy, already bleeding money because of dropping enrollment numbers, would have remained open only if it could have drawn funds from the diocesan treasury to cover its budget shortfalls.

The diocese said that dwindling revenues during the pandemic has made it impossible to keep Coyle-Cassidy and an elementary school in Buzzards Bay open. About 100 students from the Taunton area will transfer to Bishop Connolly High School in Fall River and be transported there free of charge.

That’s hard to believe, given that Coyle (as most people still refer to it) has been a part of the region for more than a century. The school can trace its roots back to 1911 when its founder, Msgr. James Coyle, added high school classes to the original St. Mary’s School. In 1931, after Msgr. Coyle’s passing, funds were allotted for a new high school named after him.

Predating other regional Catholic schools as it did, Coyle High drew a monopoly of students and athletes from all over southeastern Massachusetts. Indeed, my cousin David attended Coyle and played football there, and then went on to Holy Cross — where he had the misfortune of playing on the team that lost a season to a hepatitis outbreak.

Brenna Gonsavles of Norton,
Coyle-Cassidy’s top scorer.

By 1971, falling enrollment forced the diocese to merge the former St. Mary’s High School for girls (which became Bishop Cassidy High in the 1950s) with Coyle High, the newer Cassidy High building becoming the home for the merged school. The enrollment trend continued unabated over the decades as more successful and newer schools such as Bishop Feehan in Attleboro and Bishop Stang in Dartmouth siphoned away students.

Coyle-Cassidy was not one of my former newspaper’s core coverage schools, but its athletic teams played in the same league as Bishop Feehan, and a fairly strong rivalry developed between the schools. For a while, they even played their Thanksgiving football games against each other, which is a big deal in Massachusetts. Eventually, though, Coyle-Cassidy returned to playing crosstown rival Taunton despite the wide disparity of enrollment figures — in part because Coyle had rarely won on the holiday. The schools still played after the dissolution of the holiday rivalry, but Coyle hasn’t beaten Feehan since 1991.

An even better rivalry developed between the girls’ basketball teams of Feehan and Coyle-Cassidy. Although Feehan won most of the Eastern Athletic Conference championships over a 15-year period, Coyle-Cassidy always had outstanding talent — and would usually clean up in the smaller-enrollment divisions of the state basketball tournament, while Feehan had to do battle with the largest schools in the section.

Feehan and Stang have since departed the crumbling league that included Coyle-Cassidy, and those intense battles will forever be a thing of the past. Hard to believe ...

On to other thoughts:

** I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ve been dealing with a really sore left knee over the past few days, almost to the point where I couldn’t walk without wrapping every Ace bandage I have around it just to get around the house. It only barely worked.

I’m not sure how I did this. I’ve had a troubled left knee since high school and I really messed it up playing intramural football when I was in college, but as it was in the days before arthroscopic surgery became widely used, I declined surgical repair and the accompanying full-leg cast it would have required, and I’ve been paying for that decision ever since.

I may have done it when I stumbled over a small frost heave while mowing my lawn for the first time this season last week. It’s gotten stiffer and stiffer and more painful, but with the huge wrap, I was able to get over to the local CVS in search of help.

I found it in the form of a Velcro-assisted knee brace. Most OTC knee braces I’ve found over the years have been very tight on my large and relatively muscular legs, but this one enables me to adjust the fit with Velcro straps. Now my knee has strong support that isn’t choking off the blood flow to my foot, my mobility is better, and I can feel the improvement every day.

At this rate, I may be able to mow the lawn on schedule next Monday.

** Is there a more stupid person in the White House (Donald Trump excluded) than presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway? In one of her recent TV appearances, she said that the World Health Organization should have been better prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic because there were 18 other COVID viruses before this one. Problem is, the 19 refers to 2019, the year the virus was first documented.

What a maroon.

** Also, I’ve never been happier to have direct deposit than now, as the printed coronavirus stimulus checks will have Trump’s chicken-scratches signature on them. I got mine this week and I never had to see Agent Orange’s signature on a single penny.

** Is there a guiltier pleasure of a movie than “Wild Things,” the trashy tale of sex, money and betrayal in south Florida starring Matt Dillon, Denise Richards and Neve Campbell? Add Kevin Bacon and Bill Murray to the mix, and this 1998 flick turns bad cliches into an art form. It’s been making the rounds on Showtime these past few weeks, and every time it comes on, I can’t help but watch it as if it’s the first time.

About the only other really bad movie that tops “Wild Things” as a guilty pleasure is “Showgirls.” Yes, this is what it’s come to during our happy little pandemic. And they wonder why we’d like to see sports back on the tube.

** OK, that’ll do it for tonight. Hopefully the knee will feel better tomorrow, because there are things that really need to be done around here and I need two legs to do them with. See you tomorrow.

The Owner's Box, Ep. 20

Holy Cross' Lauren Manis scored 2,000 points and grabbed 1,000 rebounds.

We're now 20 episodes into our experiment in audio expression, and this is a special one -- especially for the younger athletes that may have permission to listen to this old man's ramblings.

Lauren Manis.

Lauren Manis, the former Bishop Feehan High School basketball standout who re-wrote the record books at Holy Cross, is my special guest. Manis, the 6-foot-1 senior from Franklin, is the only athlete in Holy Cross history (regardless of gender) to have scored 2,000 points and grabbed 1,000 rebounds in his or her career, and one of just three NCAA Division I basketball players to have accomplished that feat this year. And of the 11 individuals that have guested with me on the podcasts since I started them in October, she is by far the youngest one of them -- unless you count my usual level of maturity, that is.

Manis and her Crusaders were at Bucknell University on March 12, awaiting their semifinal-round game against the Bison in the Patriot League Tournament, when they got the news from Holy Cross AD Marcus Blossom that the league had decided to scrap the rest of the tournament in response to the growing coronavirus crisis. The Crusaders were entering the game with a four-game winning streak and the confidence that they could advance to a championship game -- and a possible meeting with Boston University (and Manis' former Feehan teammate, Katie Nelson) with an NCAA Division I tournament berth at stake.

Manis at Feehan in 2016.

Manis also talks about how she considered transferring to another school as inner turmoil struck the Holy Cross program midway through her career, but decided to stay because of the love of her teammates and the quality of a Holy Cross education. We also discuss how her work with a sports psychologist helped her bolster her self-confidence and improve her game, and her plans to play professionally once the coronavirus crisis allows her to get a tryout.

I've been a big fan of Lauren's since she first stepped onto the hardcourt at Bishop Feehan back in 2013. She improved her game every single year of her career, and people in the know believe that her best basketball may be yet to come. It was a pleasure to chat with her, and to offer that conversation to you via my podcast. I think that young basketball players of either gender can glean some inspiration and solid advice from what Lauren had to say. Enjoy!

Thoughts during the apocalypse, Part 20.

The windmill, she be listing to port, matey!

So, as if we didn't have enough to worry about during the ongoing COVID-19 panic, now we have to keep our eyes peeled to the immediate area surrounding our homes for flying debris and falling trees while we're in the midst of a springtime storm with hurricane-force winds.

And wouldn't you know it? Just as I typed that, a fire truck and a pickup truck from the municipal electric department just pulled up in front of the house across the street. There's actually another house behind the one that fronts the street, and I think they may have lost their main power wire. But we're still safe and sound here.

Indeed, I had to postpone a planned recording of my next podcast today because my guest is without power at her home. It's not a problem. The main thing is that she and her family are safe. We'll record Episode 20 tomorrow; it's not like I have a heck of a lot else to do otherwise.

At this point, I have to give due props to the Mansfield Municipal Electric Department. I moved back to this town five years ago, and I can count on one hand (with three fingers to spare) the number of power interruptions I've had. And one of those two lasted only seconds. But in a way, that doesn't surprise me. I lived here for the first 17 years of my life and another 15 after college, and the performance of the electric department was exemplary. So it was also for the 11 years I lived in nearby North Attleboro, which also has a municipal electric department of its own.

Contrast that to my 12 years as a Foxboro resident, in which my apartment complex was served by National Grid (or whatever it's being called these days). You may recall that we had a really nasty October storm during that time, and the power was out in my apartment for five full days -- and I had no choice but to occupy a friend's vacation house in North Falmouth, where power had been restored much more rapidly.

So far, no damage here. My mother had the foresight about 20 years ago to cut down the last three tall maples in the yard and thus remove whatever threat they posed to the house. There are a couple of evergreens on the north-facing fence that have grown a little too tall and probably should be trimmed back, and an old dogwood in the front yard is growing at a slight tilt, and I'd really hate to lose that one. It blooms into white blossoms that last from May to August, and it's absolutely gorgeous.

There are a few trees of minor concern in the neighbors' yards, and one tall and dead maple regularly deposits fragments in my backyard. Eventually, it will run out of said fragments and just fall into the pond. The only other issues so far were having to race after my lawn chairs as they headed for the driveway under their own power, and then straightening the little windmill in the backyard.

I guess we just have to buckle down and ride out this one -- kind of what we've been doing for the last four weeks, just for different reasons.

On to other topics to distract me from watching whitecaps form on the pond:

** Early this afternoon, about 25 members of the Patriots Hall of Fame Nominating Committee met electronically to vote for the three players or coaches we believe should be on the ballot for the fans to pick one. Our votes are weighted in order of importance, so our first-place vote has a larger value than the second-place vote, and so on.

I am enjoined from revealing any of the details of the meeting and the discussions that took place, but I can reveal my own conclusions, so here is the ballot I submitted:

Parcells: My No. 1 pick

1. Bill Parcells. I continue to reject the notion that fans should not vote for the Tuna because he left the Patriots after four years for the Jets. Most of the people that espouse that premise don't know if a football is puffed or stuffed. If you had been there (as I was) and you know how totally disorganized the entire Patriots organization was before James Busch Orthwein hired Parcells, there's no way you can't recognize what an impact he made, and how it extended so far beyond the results on the field. I am totally convinced that if not for Parcells' sense of organization, this discussion would not be taking place here. It would be taking place in the shadow of the Gateway Arch between other writers and other team officials that would be running the St. Louis Stallions. And Tom Brady would probably now be the manager of the Washington Nationals, following a mediocre career as a catcher for the Montreal Expos (which, or course, became the Nats).

Seymour should win.

2. Richard Seymour. A lot of us feared last year that Seymour would make it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame before he'd make it into the Patriots Hall of Fame, and that would have looked pretty silly. However, that may actually happen this year if fans don't vote for the talented defensive end when the ballot goes online. Yeah, he didn't leave here under the best of circumstances. He pissed off Bill Belichick somehow -- remember when he was benched for returning late from his grandfather's funeral? -- and once you get on BB's shit list, you wind up in Oakland or some other god-forsaken outpost. But there's little doubt that Seymour should make it in on his fourth try at the fans' vote. He was a game-changing player at a position where the Belichick-era Patriots have not been particularly strong, and fans really need to recognize that before they're made to look stupid by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Wes Welker was my No. 3 pick.

3. Wes Welker. It's the first year of eligibility for the franchise's all-time leading receiver, and I opted for him over another first-timer, guard Logan Mankins, and four-time bridesmaid Mike Vrabel. Welker basically invented the slot receiver role as it's used in New England (and Julian Edelman is a worthy successor), and as I said during my brief presentation, he was always willing to put his best foot forward. OK, I admit that was a reference to Welker's famed press conference before a game against the Jets, when he tried to sneak in several "foot" references as a tweak at then-coach Rex Ryan, whose foot fetish made it into the papers at the same time. Best. Press. Conference. Ever.

I also asked that efforts be made to convince team owner Robert Kraft to put Parcells in the Hall as a "contributor," as he did with former owner Billy Sullivan and beloved broadcaster Gil Santos. My reasoning is that both Parcells and Kraft are 79 years old and it would be better and more meaningful for all parties concerned for this to happen while both are still alive. Alas, I got scolded by Patriots' VP-Media Relations Stacey James for making a suggestion about changing the procedures during the meeting of the committee, which I didn't really think I was doing. I just thought I was offering a reasonable solution to a conundrum.

Always the bad boy, that's me. I should have jokingly nominated former media relations director Tom "Moose" Hoffman right afterward. But hey, Stacey is a busy man and he's working very hard to organize all this under incredibly trying circumstances. And besides, he got me a cake when I retired.

By the way, we also picked the All-Decade Team for 2010-19. I have a feeling that maybe one or two of the players I picked at certain positions may not make the final cut, but as I said during the meeting, I tend to recognize the Patriots' dynasty as two different eras -- the three championships from 2000-09 and the three from 2010-19. And as a result, I leaned toward players that contributed more to the latter dynasty than maybe one or two that might have been better players, but were already honored on the 2000-09 All-Decade Team.

But as I also said, I will bow to the wisdom of my peers when the results become public.

** That's about it for today. My left knee is killing me and I actually had back spasms last night -- what's up with that??? -- but the temperature was a solid 95.7 upon waking and there are no sniffles at all today. I'm just falling apart from old age, I guess, and not the coronavirus. See you all tomorrow.

Thoughts during the apocalypse, Part 19.

Air traffic on Saturday, April 12.

When I woke up this morning, I heard a strange buzzing noise from outside my house -- something that was strangely familiar, yet seemingly alien at the same time, as if I hadn't heard it in a long time.

So I went outside to investigate, which was disconcerting to the visitors to my backyard that apparently have figured out that the resident human has been staying inside more than usual. Three squirrels, one bunny and the lumbering woodchuck all scattered for the four winds once they heard the porch door opening, and spotted the burly guy with the adidas shorts emerging from it.

About halfway between the door and the gate to the pond's edge, I figured out what the noise was -- airplanes. And lots of them.

Not the usual jets gliding their way to Logan Airport, about 5,000 to 7,000 feet up, mind you; there have been fewer of those since the start of the coronavirus pandemic about a month ago and the concurrent reduction in flights by the major carriers, but there are still enough of those in the air that the recognizable drone of decelerating jet engines hasn't become simply a memory yet.

But what I have noticed to be lacking were the sound of smaller, propeller-driven aircraft. Private pilots have apparently been grounded like the rest of us during the crisis, most of them heeding the stay-at-home suggestion and not taking their Cessnas and Piper Cubs up for recreational travel. My town has an airport (it's referred to as 1B9 on the maps) and it usually does a brisk business in non-commercial flights. The one paved runway is not long enough to accommodate jets, but there are plenty of single-engine and twin-engine planes that call Mansfield Municipal Airport their home.

Apparently, Saturday was a day when travel restrictions were to be damned all over New England.

The photo that accompanies this post is a screen-capture shot of my flight-tracking software. Usually good for tracking the long lines of commercial jets that are heading in and out of Logan, T.F. Green Airport in Providence of Bradley International between Hartford and Springfield, the software can also track private aircraft that fly out of the many smaller airports that dot the landscape as long as their pilots file flight plans.

As you can see, around 1 in the afternoon (OK, I slept late. Aren't we all doing that lately?), the skies were filled with small aircraft, both propeller-driven and executive jets, as well as a few commercial jets -- much fewer than I would expect to see at midday of a normal weekend. The big dot in the middle is roughly where I was, not far from Mansfield Muni, and the yellow dots are other small airports in the region.

Busy day. Very busy day. I hope they all brought hand sanitizer.

Other thoughts on another day spent without need to leave the property:

** I didn't take pictures of this, but I took the time later in the day to make a personal delicacy on my barbecue grill.

Williston, Fla., crossroads of a thousand lives.

As a means of explanation, I used to venture with my parents down to the small town of Williston, Fla., every year to visit my mother's parents, at least until I was in high school. Williston was a very tiny town about halfway between Jacksonville and Tampa, and just 25 miles from the University of Florida in Gainesville. But travel to Williston in the 1960s was really like going to one of the farthest ends of the earth away from civilization. The town had been bypassed by Interstate 75 right about at that time and almost immediately became isolated from the social advances that were taking place elsewhere in the nation.

Yes, when I was first old enough to wander the community by myself to occupy my time, the tiny movie theater, restaurants and shopping concerns all had separate entrances for white people, and separate entrances for "coloreds." And since I was from Massachusetts and had no idea whatsoever what that was all about, it was certainly educational.

That all disappeared (at least legally) once the Civil Rights Act of 1964 came into law, and Williston grudgingly came into the 20th century -- although it could be argued that some remnants of segregationist culture have yet to disappear as we enter the third decade of the 21st, not just there, but as we have seen of late, all the way to the White House.

Frog's Pad, on U.S. 27 just outside Williston, Fla.

Anyway, Williston retained one characteristic from its segregated past well into the 1970s. White folks lived on the northwest side of the railroad tracks, while African-American families lived on the southeast side. U.S. 27 took a sharp bend to the south (and on to Ocala, which later became prime territory for the breeding of thoroughbred horses) after the tracks, and just a few hundred yards on the southern side of the city limits was a small roadside stand called "Frog's Pad" -- a little convenience store that had a large, round structure attached to its southern side, with a constantly smoking smokestack rising from the middle. This was where the most amazing barbecue pork or beef were always constantly slow-cooking.

My father and I would always slip away from the Chambers domicile and drive the few miles to Frog's for those delectable sandwiches, soaked in a tangy hot sauce. Understand, my father was a Sicilian from Massachusetts, who had snatched Will Chambers' daughter away from the safety of Dixie in 1945 when he was a Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy and she was a young secretary working in the Jacksonville Navy Yard. So he was pretty much a fish out of water where polite redneck culture was concerned -- but boy, did he take to that southern barbecue, and his son did as well.

Pork BBQ sandwich from Frog's.

Even years after I stopped going to Florida, and long after my grandparents had passed, I would find ways to return to Williston for the sole purpose of getting a pork sandwich at Frog's. The Patriots made it easy for me when they would play the Jaguars or Buccaneers -- 100 miles of travel down there is like a trip to Attleboro and back up here. It wasn't quite that easy when the Patriots were playing the Dolphins, but I would somehow find the time to make the 600-mile round trip, just for a pork sandwich.

You must also understand that the barbecue you get up here isn't at all like that barbecue. Frog's was more of the Carolina style, more reliant upon shredded pork or beef doused with thin-consistency, spicy sauces, whereas the ribs you might get at a local restaurant are more of the Kansas City style, drenched in thick, sugary sauce.

So I set about trying to duplicate the taste myself. After several years and several different sauces, I found a very close approximation in the spicy sauce made by Stubb's of Austin, Texas (available at most local supermarkets). I don't have the patience to buy a smoker and let a cut of meat cook slowly all day, but I eventually happened upon a process that would come close to the flavor I cherish from my past, without the air fare, hotel stay and rental car expenses.

And here it is, in seven easy steps:

Ingredients: Four pork cutlets, two bottles of Stubb's spicy BBQ sauce, bulkie rolls.

First step: Marinate the pork chops by submerging them in one bottle of BBQ sauce for at least two hours.

Second step: Grill the chops over medium-high flame for 20 minutes, turning every five minutes. Use the marinate to brush the chops at every turn.

Third step: Line a medium-sized bowl with aluminum foil. Cut two chops into small sections and chop them up in a food chopper so that they are almost ground to pebble size. Transfer from the chopper to the foil-covered bowl and add more BBQ sauce. Crimp the foil to enclose the pork and sauce with a steam outlet at the top. Repeat with the other two chops.

Fourth step: Return the foil-covered pork to the grill. Cook for another 10 minutes over medium-high heat to infuse the sauce with the chopped-up pork.

Fifth step: Prepare two buns by separating and using a spoon to flatten the centers of the tops and bottoms. This enables you to get more pork into the bun and hold it in place.

Sixth step: Using caution, open the foil to reveal thoroughly cooked pork. Scoop generously into prepared bun and add more BBQ sauce to taste. Scoop unused pork into Ziploc bag for reheating later.

Seventh step: Enjoy.

** Once again, I'm almost too full to move. It's a busy day Monday with the meeting of the Patriots Hall of Fame Nominating Committee and then the recording of a new podcast, so I will bid you adieu for now, and dream of taking the turn off U.S. 27 and catching a whiff of the flavor-filled smoke rising from the smoker in back of Frog's.

Thoughts during the apocalypse, Part 18.

Is there any chance that the Cape bridges could be closed? In a word, no.

I'll be honest. I don't know how much longer this social-distancing thing is going to last. I've noticed signs in the last couple of days that the suggested means of "flattening the curve" of the COVID-19 pandemic is meeting increased resistance here in my corner of the country.

On Friday, as I took my weekly drive into Boston to pick up my weekend's worth of food, the Southeast Expressway was crowded -- maybe only 1960s-level crowded, but crowded nonetheless. Still, I've gotten used to it taking just 25 minutes to get from Mansfield to Hanover Street, which will probably be just a wistful memory by the time this crisis is over.

Then on Saturday, I was returning from a shopping tour -- wore gloves and a mask, of course -- when I saw at least three clusters of multiple cars at houses not too far from where I live. I can't say for a fact that two of the three were parties (I had no doubt on the third), but those certainly seemed to be instances where people were clearly ignoring the stay-at-home suggestion in place here in the commonwealth. We're not yet under mandatory quarantining orders, probably because our coronavirus numbers may not be spiking as they are in other states, but then again, there are some in this state that are still holding out unrealistic expectations that schools are going to be back in session on May 4. There's an awful lot of denial going on, and we could all still be in store for tougher times to come -- and I'm not sure people are going to take too kindly to that.

Imagine, if you will, this was Michigan. There, the governor has banned travel for individuals from their primary places of residence to vacation property they may own elsewhere in the state. I'm not sure how enforceable that is, but it was enacted following concerns expressed by resort communities in the northern part of the state, citing a lack of medical facilities there that would have to cope with a sudden spike in coronavirus cases.

That's reminiscent of concerns expressed a few weeks ago by some of Cape Cod's year-round residents over a similar influx of mainlanders, leading to requests that the Bourne and Sagamore bridges actually be closed during the pandemic.

No such luck, said the Army Corps of Engineers, who manage the three Cape Cod Canal bridges (don't forget the railroad bridge in Buzzards Bay). They are essential highways in every sense of the word.

Personally, I'm satisfied to stay in the house at least five days of the week. I've been making food runs on Fridays because as the only person in the household, I can't stockpile food for more than a week without it going bad. Then I pick one other day to brave the supermarkets or pick up prescriptions. I think I'm dealing with it relatively well because, as an only child, I spent much of my upbringing learning how to occupy myself without siblings around.

But some people are struggling with it, and I have a bad feeling that it's all going to bubble over and go terribly wrong at some point.

Now for some other thoughts as the pandemic enters its fifth week:

** Here's one sense of normalcy: I mowed my front yard today.

The backyard is still lagging behind in growth, probably because it doesn't get enough afternoon sun. Also, my backyard is half regular grass and half of some stuff that I believe is called "zoysia" grass, which grows really thick and plush during the growing months, but then turns a very pale yellow when it's dormant. I once joked that you could see my yard from space because I noticed once on Google Earth that if you zoom back out to about 40 miles (or roughly an elevation of 211,200 feet), you could still see a yellow dot where my backyard was if the view was during the grass' dormant period.

Well, that's still about 10-12 miles shy of the boundary between our atmosphere and outer space, but never complicate a good story with facts.

Anyway, there are still yellow patches in back and only a few areas where grass growth is worth mowing, so I let that go. Plus, my left knee has been very sore lately, and I taxed it enough by mowing the front. My lawn may look plush and flat, but there are little bumps and ruts everywhere from the winter front heaves, and my left ankle seemed to catch every one of them.

The mowing resulted in about two-thirds of a bag filled with clippings, still less than the full bag that usually results. But it looks nice and neat. And the sneezing fit that send some dog-walkers scurrying to the other side of the street? Just my usual grass allergies.

** Facebook is getting ridiculous. Given some of the shit that people post on the site, I had something pulled off one of my posts today that made no sense whatsoever.

I wrote the following: "I have a social distancing suggestion. Someone too close? Just fart."

OK, that may be a little raw, but it is good advice, and it does work.

Meanwhile, somebody tried to post a witty rejoinder below my post, and while my post wasn't removed, the response was. Now if only Facebook would be just as diligent with the neo-Nazi crap, hate speech and Republican propaganda, and maybe the world would be a better place.

** A sad note to close today's thoughts. I learned today that one of the most decent individuals I've ever known in the coaching profession, former Norton High girls' basketball coach Al Nuttall, passed away this weekend as a result of the coronavirus.

Al retired from teaching at NHS in the mid-2000s and from coaching a few years before that, but as I said, he was one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. He loved his athletes and would do anything for them, and no one was more cooperative than Al when it came to reporting scores and providing the local media with the information we needed.

I believe he retired to Florida, and when I saw the Facebook post from longtime Norton town official Bill Gouveia referring to something written by Al's son, it really hit home hard. But at the same time, I will always remember Al quite fondly. Every high school kid should have a teacher like Al Nuttall as a role model and an inspiration.

** Stay inside and wash your hands. It's what Jesus would want for this Easter Sunday.

Former Feehan standout Monique LeBlanc named Brown coach

Monique LeBlanc, a former Bishop Feehan High basketball standout, was named the new women's basketball coach at Brown University on Friday.

Brown coach Monique LeBlanc

LeBlanc, a Cumberland, R.I., native, was selected to The Sun Chronicle's all-star team in 1997 and 1998 and finished with 839 career points at Bishop Feehan, having played under coaches Ed Gagnon and Art Anderson.

She played her collegiate ball at Bucknell University and then coached at Bucknell and Northern Arizona before taking over the Merrimack College program in 2011.

Last season, Merrimack's first in NCAA Division I play, LeBlanc guided the Warriors to a 20-9 record. She holds the Merrimack women's program in career victories with 129.

LeBlanc succeeds former Foxboro High and Boston College standout Sarah Behn, who held the position for six years.

For Brown's announcement, go to https://tinyurl.com/svqg2j4.

Patriots Hall of Fame committee will meet "virtually."

It's time to select the nominees for the Patriots Hall of Fame vote.

We members of the Patriots Hall of Fame Nominating Committee had a test yesterday of the technology it will take on Monday for us to do our jobs, and I'd have to say it went well.

Under the guiding presence of Stacey James, the team's vice president in charge of media relations, about a dozen of us or more (it was hard to tell) hooked up together electronically via Cisco Technologies' Webex service to hold a virtual meeting in advance of our actual session on Monday. Maybe there were one or two glitches (and an awful lot of backlighting that obscured the faces of a few individuals), but I think we're ready to undertake our annual responsibilities of picking the three nominees for the fan vote that will select the next member of the Patriots Hall of Fame.

Usually, we all gather at Gillette Stadium to accomplish this task -- either in a luxury box, or maybe in one of the Patriot Place restaurants. But that won't be the case this year as the nation continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic. I'm just glad we're going to be able to do it, period. It's one of those small, hopeful signs that at some point during 2020, we're all going to be able to get out of our houses and gather again to celebrate the fruits of our labors.

For those of you unaware of what this is all about, this is the 14th year that a nominating committee has met to select three finalists. I've made it to all but one of them; had to finish the winter-sports all-star section for The Sun Chronicle in 2018, my last year employed by the newspaper, and couldn't get out of the office. This will be my second year with "retired" status next to my name.

There are usually around 20 of us involved, including retired media members, current beat writers, broadcasters, Hall of Fame members and team officials. I probably won't know exactly who is participating this year until we all turn on our computers Monday. Sadly, we lost veteran member Dick Cerasuolo, retired from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, earlier this year.

Patriots Hall of Fame members, from left: Steve Nelson, 

Michael Haynes, John Hannah, Steve Grogan

We pick three players or coaches that have been retired from football for at least four years, and then fans vote online for the player that they want. From what I've been told, the largest vote-getters in our committee meetings have almost always been the fans' eventual selections.

Since 2007, we have thus added Stanley Morgan, Ben Coates, Jim Nance, Sam "Bam" Cunningham, Drew Bledsoe, Troy Brown, Tedy Bruschi, Ty Law, Kevin Faulk, Raymond Clayborn, Matt Light and Rodney Harrison to the Hall. In addition, a "senior selection committee" (of which I am also a member, having covered the team for 41 seasons before retiring) has added three other players from the more distant past -- Jon Morris, Houston Antwine and Leon Gray -- to bring the players' membership to 27. And, team owner Robert Kraft has utilized his ultimate say by making two very worthwhile selections as "contributors," former owner Billy Sullivan and long-time broadcaster Gil Santos.

(As an aside, I've only disagreed with two of the selections. I thought Faulk's vote was skewed by his appearing on national TV during the 2016 NFL Draft wearing a Tom Brady jersey at the height of the Deflategate controversy, and I thought Gray's tenure in New England was too short and that his Pro Bowl selections with the Houston Oilers were being erroneously factored into his Patriots tenure. But we are a democracy.)

Wes Welker, first-time eligible in 2020.

I imagine this year's meeting will go pretty quickly, and that's presuming that technical glitches will not blast us all into the ozone. There are two first-year-eligible players of note, guard Logan Mankins and wide receiver Wes Welker. Defensive end Richard Seymour, who came close to selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame this past year, has been on the fan ballot three times and has not won. Linebacker Mike Vrabel, the current coach of the Tennessee Titans, has been on four times without success.

My guess is that the three nominees will come from out of that foursome, although I suspect that a few of my colleagues will suggest fan favorites such as Mosi Tatupu, Russ Francis or Lawyer Milloy -- perfect if we were picking a Hall of Very Good.

Bill Parcells: Yes, he should be in.

And someone will probably bring up Bill Parcells again. I've done it several times, but I think that ship has sailed. He's been on the ballot three times without success, and while that isn't necessarily the kiss of death (Clayborn made it on his fourth try), I have to recognize that a large segment of the voter base will not vote for the Tuna because of the way he left here for the New York Jets.

I think that's wrong, of course. No one did more in four short years to bring legitimacy to this franchise than Parcells. The team he took over in 1993 was a mess from the top of the front office all the way down to the last janitor. Parcells brought structure and organization to a team that had none, and he put down the foundation for the dynasty that would follow after the Pete Carroll hiccup. Fans that still have their panties in a bunch over his departure should simply get a life.

Personally, I believe that Kraft should put aside whatever differences he may have with Parcells and add his name to the Patriots Hall of Fame as a contributor. Neither man is getting any younger, and I'd think both would want to enjoy a moment of this sort while they are still alive.

And no, Tom Brady is not eligible. And he won't be until four years after he retires. Had he decided to retire at the end of last season, I would have definitely suggested at the next meeting that we waive both the nomination process and the fans' vote and just put him in. But the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? We'll see you soon enough, Tom. Hope Gisele enjoys "Tompa Bay."

Our other task Monday will be to select an All-Decade team from 2010-19, and again, this shouldn't be too difficult. After all, are we going to debate Jacoby Brissett as the quarterback? I can see maybe only two or three positions where a consensus won't be reached in mere minutes.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the meeting, virtual as it will be, and chatting with some of my old friends like Ron Hobson of The Patriot Ledger, Howard Ulman of the Associated Press and Glen Farley of the Brockton Enterprise, all now wandering aimlessly through the mists of retirement as I am.