Here’s a few tids and bits for our final column for 2024:

First, it was shocking and sad news that Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson passed away some 10 days ago. The unexpected news hit the baseball world hard, including the baseball world right here in Greater Nashua.

You see, many may not know this, but Henderson actually played at Holman Stadium in 2003 as a Newark Bear in the independent professional Atlantic League vs the Nashua Pride. He’s part of Holman history in a big way, because his major appearance that year was in the Atlantic League All-Star Game that packed the stadium and had fans along the fence peering in down the left field line. It was one of the biggest nights in the modern day history of Holman, a crowd of nearly 5,000 and Henderson was the game’s MVP. He parlayed that to a return to the Majors shortly after, signing with the Dodgers.

The umpire behind the plate that night? None other than Nashua’s Jeff Kleiner, who posted his own memory on social media.

“I can tell you first hand he was a gentleman,” Kleiner wrote, noting he asked the clubhouse attendant to ask Henderson to come to the umpires room.

“Five minutes later, in walked Rickey. We had a nice chat and he was a class act. I asked if he would sign the lineup card for me. He did graciously. He is the ONLY player I ever asked for an autograph from in nearly 40 years of baseball, and I’ve (had) the honor to be on the field with many of the greats.RIP Rickey.”

—- Congratulations to Nashua Athletic Director Lisa Gingras, who was one of 10 athletic administrators from around the country honored at the 55th National Athletic Directors Conference in Indianapolis. Gingras and nine others were recipients of the 2024 Bruce D. Whitehead Distinguished Service award given by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA). The award is presented annually to NIAAA members in recognition of their length of service, special accomplishments, and contributions to interscholastic athletics at the local, state and national levels. Recipients are nominates by their state athletic directors associations and then it goes through a national screening and selection process.

“Lisa’s dedication to local, state and national athletics has earned her recognition and respect within her community,” the NIAAA said in a statement. “She continues to inspire her colleagues and students through her tireless work, fostering an environment where student-athletes can thrive both on and off the field.”

—- Can we please erase the narrative that Patriots owner Robert Kraft rushed to hire Jerod Mayo as his new head coach last January? There was no “rush”. There was a succession plan in writing. Kraft has known for a couple of years with the agreement he made in writing with Mayo that he would be Bill Belichick’s successor, as was reported last year. Had he not followed through on that, Kraft would have had to buy out both Mayo and Bill Belichick – two coaches, not one – to not coach his team. There’s not an owner in sports who would do that.

And as for firing Mayo after one year, the one key thing is he certainly hasn’t lost the lockeroom but games like last weekend couldn’t help him. The NFL coaching world is littered with one and dones, and here’s one coach who almost became a member of that club: Bill Parcells. Parcells took over a Giants team when the late Ray Perkins was leaving a so-so Giants team at the end of the 1982 season to take over for his idol, Bear Bryant, at Alabama. Parcells, then the Giants defensive coordinator, was elevated without really any search at all. He went an abysmal 3-12-1 and Giants GM George Young was reportedly ready to fire Parcells and offer the job to the University of Miami head coach Howard Schnellenberger, who had coached in the NFL before. But it never happened – word was Schnellenberger declined – and Parcells kept his job, and well, the rest is Hall of Fame history — and key to what shaped the Patriots dynasty, believe it or not. Not to say the same thing would happen with Mayo, but it’s one example when patience is needed.

— As we get ready to wrap up the holidays and get into the routine of the winter season, keep an eye on the Rivier University women’s basketball schedule and perhaps check out the early January box scores because Raiders standout Lyric Grumblatt will likely surpass the all-time Raider career scoring mark of 2,192 set by her coach, Deanna Purcell. A nice angle, right? Grumblatt got her 2,000th career point back on Nov. 27 and now has 2,082 career points by our count, needing 111 points to break the mark. The team is back in action on Jan. 2-3 in the Pearson Memorial Tournament in Wellesley, Mass. (two games) and is back home at the Muldoon Center on Jan. 7 vs. Elms. It might be a longshot to do it that night, which leaves likely the Jan. 9 game at Emmanuel or the Saturday, Jan. 11 game vs. New England College at the Muldoon. It will be a special moment whenever it happens.

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