Here’s a few tids and bits as we deal with another storm, more snow, more ice, more wind, all on Presidents Day Weekend, which is really the beginning of checkpoints toward the end of this long, cold, icy tunnel:

First, Many probably didn’t really think much of anything if they saw the passing of former longtime NFL coach (Bears, Lions, Jaguars, either as assistant or head coach) Dick Jauron.

But some likely remembered Jauron’s father gave Jauron his Nashua ties. His late father, Robert Thomas Jauron, was born in Nashua in 1919, was a former standout Nashua High athlete, elected to the Nashua Hall of Fame and started and operated Jauron Sporting Goods in Nashua for several years.

Jauron was the head coach of the Bears during the the first couple of years when Nashua’s Ted Phillips was the team President/CEO. Thus the Bears were really Nashua’s team in the early 2000s.

—- Congrats to the Bishop Guertin High School gymnasts and the Souhegan boys swimmers. The weekend brought a couple of not quite unlikely but underdog state champions. What the titles have in common is that both teams were basically No. 2 seeds who blew by the favorite top seeds. Hanover was the odds-on favorite in Division II swimming, but the Sabers managed to get by them by 10 points. The Cards were the No. 2 seed, but a point in gymnastics is like 10 in basketball and they had a record-setting performance. Both were the first crowns in school history. You just never know when high school post seasons get underway, right?

—- Seriously, NHIAA? Fans better make their flight arrangements for the Division I and II boys basketball semifinals. The last few years, the Division I semis have been at Exeter. Not this time, as the Division I and II boys semifinals are slated for the Spaulding Rec Center in Rochester. Divison I on Wednesday March 12 (5:30, 7:30 p.m.) and Division II on Monday, March 10 (same times). Could they have come up with a spot more out of the way? Yes, they are at the mercy of schools volunteering their staff and facilities, and also they have to be large enough to accommodate a crowd. Colleges (UNH, Keene State) are being used for finals but nothing more, with Keene State getting the Division III boys and girls (we may see the Campbell boys there) on March 1. Bow will host the Division III boys semis, and it would be shock if Campbell isn’t there. Exeter will serve as the girls semis in Division I, but that’s it. At least that was only a 40-45 minute drive for most from this area.

In boys hoop, there were as of mid-week six teams with double digit wins in Division I, Portsmouth and Exeter on the seacoast. The rest are from around this way, and the furthest that may have to make the trip is Keene. One far point to the other. Gulp. In Division II, there were six with double digits in wins going into the weekend, the closest to Rochester being Coe-Brown/Northwood. The furthest? Try Hanover.

Really, they couldn’t have picked – or given limitations had to pick – a worse place. If there’s this kind of a venue problem, it’s time to figure something, anything, out for the future.

— Well, what did we tell you about the Super Bowl? The line of scrimmage matters, people, and that’s where you need to draft. Not just the Patriots, but any team. You pressure the QB and it leads to mistakes. Philly’s offensive line wasn’t able to free up Saquon Barkley as it had in the other playoff games, but they didn’t need to. Control the line of scrimmage. Think about it, when the Patriots lost to Denver at Denver in those AFC title games, where did the really lose out? Up front.

—- There could be some news coming out of Hudson in the next week or so, perhaps sooner. Longtime Alvirne AD Karen Bonney is retiring, and a hire, sources say, is expected to be made early next week. And once that is done, the vacant football coaching search will begin in earnest. Stay tuned.

—- Baseball fans, enjoy the next two seasons, because Major League Baseball is headed toward another union-owners collision course in the next two years. The current deal expires in December of 2026, and there’s no doubt the owners going to try once again to limit salaries. If you’re paying attention to some of the deals that are being done – other than a couple of pitchers and the ridiculous Juan Soto contract – there’s starting to be a squeeze put on with some veterans. Red Sox fans can rejoice now that Alex Bregman is in the fold, but that’s an example of a team playing hardball, which is what the union won’t go for. You see, you add Bregman to the list of players who can’t suddenly get that long term deal they thought they’d get.

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—- One final question: Anybody miss the NHL All-Star Game? Didn’t think so.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on X, formerly known as twitter