Here are a few tids and bits to munch on as we are already crossing the halfway point of September:

Are we crossing that Bridge already? Yes, the first of the three Battles of the Bridge (fall, winter, spring seasons) begins this week between the Nashua High School North and South varsity and sub-varsity teams.

What’s your favorite from the fall version? Of course football is the one that comes to mind, and South you can bet wants to avenge that 47-0 drubbing the Titans laid on them last year. Just like North wanted to avenge that incredible ending with South beating the Titans on an untimed down the year before.

But let’s not forget the atmosphere for North-South boys soccer, and of course because it’s indoors it can get extremely loud for North-South volleyball. Last year the Titans beat the Panthers in boys soccer and there was a little taunting going on that led Nashua athletic director Lisa Gingras to give the Titans a very stern talking to after the game.

These are the things that take place during a rivalry. For many of these kids, especially in the weekday sports, it’s the most fans they’ll play in front of all year, so it becomes a big deal.

And it becomes a fun deal. See you at Stellos Stadium beginning with field hockey on Monday.

—- Wow has the landscape in the AFC East changed or what following the stunning Aaron Rodgers injury or what? For the general fan, it is a bit sad, because it would have been fun to see the Jets try to overcome their bad luck past. The Bills won’t succeed if Josh Allen keeps turning the ball over, while the Jets are talented everywhere else on the field, no one can think Zach Wilson can take them to the Promised Land. And this makes Sunday Night’s Patriots game vs. the Dolphins at Gillette very intriguing, even for just the second week of the season.

But oh, those Jets. Who cursed them? We were there in the old Giants Stadium covering the game when Vinny Testaverde took one step and tore his Achilles in the 1999 season opener vs. Pete Carroll’s Patriots, the season after taking the Jets to the AFC Championship Game. The week leading up to that game Carroll began his Wednesday press conference with “I’m feeling a little dangerous today.”

He just didn’t know how much.

—- Most if not all of the coaches and administrators we’ve come into contact with over the years are about one thing: the student athletes. That certainly holds true for former Merrimack High School administrator Peter Bergeron, who was retired when he got a call asking if he could fill in on an interim basis as the Tomahawks’ athletic director to start the fall. It’s been a misguided mess at Merrimack which led to a perfectly fine AD in Mike Soucy last spring and they haven’t been able to even fill that job on a permanent basis, although word is they’re still trying. But getting Bergeron , who was the AD at Trinity many moons ago, to at least hold the fort was one good decision there. Class act.

—– If it was another sport it would have been major news. But just what the heck has happened with the New England Revolution and the mess surrounding Bruce Arena? He was put on administrative leave over a month ago for alleged inappropriate comments, and then resigned over the weekend, the announcement made right when the team was playing a road game at Minnesota.

Arena is a soccer coaching legend and many accounts are pointing to a problem between him and his longtime assistant Richie Williams. At a press conference earlier in the week, Williams referred all questions about the controversy to MLS, but did say “Bruce definitely had a big influence on me with my career.”

And, reportedly, the players earlier this week refused to practice in protest of Arena’s ouster. Ouch. Then Richie Williams got removed as interim coach. Really? Who would’ve thought the Revs would have more drama than the Patriots?

— Hats off to Bishop Guertin alum Hayden Moses, who has moved up the depth chart on the Vanderbilt quarterback list to make the travel team. Moses was texted by Vandy QB coach and offensive coordinator Joey Lynch a few days before last weekend’s opener at Wake Forest. This current weekend Vandy is at UNLV. It was such a great story when he wound up at Vanderbilt and South alum Sean Holland (his eligibility now over) was on the UCLA roster and holding on field goals and extra points a year ago. Moses is only a junior and we bet he’ll see game action before he’s done at Vandy. Imagine that?

For now, look for him on the sidelines in a red cap signaling in plays. Great stuff.

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

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