So how’d that first Sunday without NFL football go?

We’re here to tell you it can be excruciating, but at least yesterday was perhaps the only day this week we won’t have something frozen coming out the sky.

OK, maybe Wednesday will be good. It likely will be a night doubling up on the high school schedule if the weather is bad.

But Sunday was tough. Celtics fans had to watch their team lose to the Washington Wizards of all teams. Auto racing fans had to sit through a long Daytona 500 rain delay, which seems to happen every year.

No football. Sports talk radio is going crazy with the Tompa Bay Super Bowl win and what the heck the New England Patriots will do to try to improve, why Brady left, why Jimmy Garoppolo had to leave and will the Patriots get him back, blah, blah, blah. The drama just never ends.

Yours truly basically still was reflecting on the weekend’s double dose of tributes to basketball coaches we have lost, and basically we’ve lost too many.

One tribute on Friday was subtle, the scrappy, never quit play of the Milford High School boys basketball game. That was their tribute to their head coach, Dan Murray, who passed away suddenly just over a week ago.

It had to be a shock, but there were some great words by Milford AD Marc Maurais, who truly had to have experienced one of if not the worst week of his several years on the job. Murray was loved by all, and the tributes for him will be coming in for awhile.

And then we move forward to Saturday when there was the incredible job by the Nashua North and South girls basketball teams to honor the memory of the late John Fagula.

You have to understand this event had all sorts of hurdles. First, the Panthers were put on pause, so they couldn’t have the event when it was originally scheduled, as do at at the Belanger Gym. But when they were finally able to play at North, it didn’t matter that it would be at the Titans Gym; they’re Nashua too and North coach Curt Dutilley worked on things with South coach John Bourgeois.

With COVID, there couldn’t be a large crowd, and even former players couldn’t take part (two tickets per player, normally parents, just for the home team allowed).

But it was well done. The image of the teams standing at halfcourt, facing the crowd as both coaches talked, will stand out. Plus the wall behind the basket closest to the gym’s main interest covered with written tributes by former players and anyone else who Fagula touched.

So this weekend, who needed football? The other image that stands out is one on the University of New Hampshire girls soccer web page. It shows the Wildcats’ Alivia Kelly, taking a shot on the UNH field turf at Wildcat Stadium with snow piled up in the background. Yes, there is a Fall 2 going on at UNH with soccer in February.

And in early March, we do get football again, with UNH opening up its different mini “spring” season.

Just before the big NFL off-season kicks off.

See? We’ll survive.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.

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