Mike DiMauro: Can you believe Dr. I hasn't congratulated UConn yet?

Apr. 15—Idle Thoughts, while waiting for the NHL playoffs, more patience in the face of Road Construction Season and for Carlos Rodon to throw a pitch:

— Dr. Idle, Dr. I to his close friends, reminds himself frequently that if his current vocational landscape gets too bothersome, he's always invited to choose another career.

Translation: If one leans into dishing it out, one must endure the other party's response. Comes with the meal. Like French fries.

But on the way to channeling his inner Michelle Obama ("when they go low, you go high") Dr. I has found himself lately losing his sunny disposition.

Example: He wrote a recent column about Brett White, a former employee at the Wendy's in Plainfield, who lost his job in February after spewing racial slurs at two Black basketball coaches from Woodstock Academy. The intention was to tell White's story in the hope that, as we learned in The Merchant of Venice, mercy tempers justice.

The response from the HCS (Human Comments Section): How come DiMauro hasn't congratulated the UConn men yet?

So much for elevating the conversation.

Aside from it qualifying as the Houston Astrodome of non sequiturs — almost to be admired for its size — the comment is disrespectful to the original subject matter. The same commenter, who appears to have a bit of a fetish with the issue, also mocked another piece on the cheerleaders of Fitch, who won a state championship.

A bunch of kids do a great thing. And then they read, "It seems DiMauro still can't manage even the smallest congratulations to the UCONN men's team for bringing home the latest NATIONAL championship? Well, you know, it's not like they won a local cheerleading competition."

What compels one to post something like that?

While it's flattering to think that a few dullards out there actually believe the folks at UConn care what Dr. I writes, can we try harder to stay on point next time? If you'd like to share your thoughts about something off the original column topic, try the option generally recognized as "email." In this case: m.dimauro@theday.com. Then we can have some lively repartee. If you're up for it.

Fair enough?

— During a YES broadcast last Monday in Cleveland, Michael Kay questioned the appearance of the bat boy in the Yankees' dugout. The young man had long hair and facial stubble.

"If the players aren't allowed, I don't know if the bat boy should be allowed," Kay said. "There are (longstanding Yankees' team) rules. Rules are rules. He's disobeying two of them. I think there's facial hair, and, obviously, the hair is below the collar."

What followed is the best (or worst) illustration of what we've become.

The New York Post and social media outlets weighed in as if Kay popped a few wheelies on the kid's front lawn, assassinated his character and blackballed him from all future bat boy gigs.

"I had something to say about the bat boy? I said it didn't fit, it's against the Yankees' rules. I didn't say anything about the kid," Kay said on his show Wednesday. "People on Twitter are saying 'Old man Kay giving this kid smoke.' I'm not giving anybody smoke.

"This is really an awful time. It's an awful time. It's an awful time in our history as a planet, it really is, and as a human race. Everybody sucks. I'm telling you, they really do. To dig into something like that and say I attacked someone. I didn't attack anybody."

As previously stated: The public eye, at all levels, can be a cesspool. We're supposed to do the Michelle Obama thing. But some days are harder than others.

— Is there anything (aside from this column) more useless than these mock NFL drafts?

— It's OK, Boston baseball fans. You can still watch some great baseball in town.

Like the 11th-ranked BC Eagles.

— If former WNBA great Yolanda Griffith married former UConn forward Jeff Adrien, that would make her a line in a Rocky movie.

(Yo Adrien).

— In case you missed it: John Sterling's home run call for Anthony Volpe's first career homer:

"Anthony Volpe! A spettacolo oggi! Oh, the fox socks one to left," Sterling said.

"Volpe," which rhymes (somewhat) with "oggi," translates to "fox" in Italian. "A spettacolo oggi" means "at the show today," but is often meant as "putting on a show today."

— Happy 80th birthday to the great Gil Varjas. Not many better coaches in Connecticut history.

— Coming soon: The Day's book on UConn's fifth national men's basketball championship. Go to pediment.com for more details.

— If you're bored Friday night, come to Waterford High and watch Dr. I (and fabulous partner Karen Rollins) in "Dancing With The Stars." All proceeds benefit Waterford Youth and Family/Senior Services. Ticket link: https://wysb.formstack.com/forms/dancing_with_the_stars_2023

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro