Here are a few tids and bits to chew on besides those early holiday cookies:

First, in case you missed it, a piece of Holman Stadium history has recently left us. It was learned that last month that Francis Whitford, better known to those on Main Street and Holman as Frannie, passed away.

You couldn’t go to a Nashua Pirates or a Nashua Pride game and not notice or hear Franny, whose passion was baseball and chasing foul balls. He often won those races.

If you ran into him anywhere around town, he’d ask you about the teams he always watched. It’s been a long time since he’s been around Holman – the main reason being he was struck by a car right near the Amherst Street Firehouse – according to his obituary the Nashua Fire Department had adopted him — that’s near Holman, and had been in a rehab facility ever since until his passing. He’ll always be part of Holman history.

ARMY-NAVY WILL BE MISSING A KEY FAN

The Army-Navy Game that will be at Gillette Stadium next Saturday always has a ton of meaning. But it would really have even more meaning locally, except that former Nashua High School football legend Carl Tamulevich, a former Navy fullback who also was a standout Hall of Fame lacrosse player at Annapolis is no longer with us. The Nashua High School and Lions Club Legends of Holman inductee passed away in July of 2022.

Tamulevich eventually made a career for himself in Navy’s athletic administration, retiring in 2022 as senior associate athletic director. He was all about Navy, stories about how he used to greet teams’ busses, etc. when they returned on the road from major victories is legendary in Navy circles almost as much as his athletic feats.

Tamulevich would have absolutely loved seeing the Army-Navy Game being played just an hour away from his hometown, that’s for sure.

KEEP AN EYE ON THE RAIDERS

Hard to believe the winter season is already here, but in some ways it has been for a while if you’ve been over at Rivier University. The Raider winter seasons have been going on since early to mid-November and if you haven’t noticed, are ten times more competitive than in the past. Mens and women’s hoop as well as hockey are four good takes sports fans in the area should be taking advantage of.

TWO PRIME TIME GAMES BETTER THAN THREE

Think ESPN and the NFL aren’t breathing a sigh of relief that the Chiefs-Patriots game was flexed out of next Monday night after Sunday’s horrendous showing? As for the Christmas Eve game, it’s an NFL Network – not NBC – game and appears to be etched in stone. Either way, the whole thing is sad to see. Remember, the Steelers and Broncos aren’t exactly offensive juggernauts either, and the NFL is hoping that the Broncos have something to play for while Santa does his work that night.

OH SCHEDULE DAY, OH SCHEDDULE DAY?

We’re probably any day for the Silver Knights schedule coming out, according to what we’re hearing from the Futures Collegiate League and a nifty little Facebook tease from the team to “stay tuned” for the schedule. But in case you missed it, the annual FCBL All-Star Game will be in Norwich, Conn., hosted by the champion Sea Unicorns at Dodd Memorial Stadium. The fun thing is it’s a two-day event, with festivities including a home run derby on Monday July 22 and the game on Tuesday, July 23.

When, of course, it’s 40-50 degrees warmer than it will be in the coming weeks.

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

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