Dr. I: A day of feeling fat watching cross country

Idle Thoughts, while waiting for the high school football playoffs, Jayson Tatum's MVP award and for the Giants to get a first down:• Dr. Idle, Dr. I to his close friends, would like you to join him Nov. 6 for the celebration.The celebration that all this election drivel will be over. No more hate ads, no more useless email, mail, texts and calls. No more lawn signs. No more posturing. No more blathering and bloviating.And to think Dr. I used to yawn at the thought of barroom sports arguments, often among people who can't spell "ox" the same way twice. Turns out they're downright professorial compared to the political echo chambers that are on "rinse, repeat" with more consistency than a Maytag.Seriously: Can some of you people come up with something — anything — original?• Quiz: Who had the most hits for the Yankees during the 1981 World Series — the last time they met the Dodgers for the title before this year? (Answer below).• The legend of local football official Kevin Moreland lives on.Moreland had us out of the Ledyard-Windham game Friday night by 7:55 p.m. (Consider that many high school football games now last nearly three hours.)This is exalted status.Dr. I was home in time to watch his beloved BC Eagles and Yankees gag within 30 minutes of each other, proving no good deed goes unpunished.• Dr. I remains a big fan of the Boston Globe sports section.And he realizes that this is the 20th anniversary of the 2004 World Series and Schilling's Heinz 57 sock.But do we really need to see 20 stories on the website about it? (And they say Yankee fans live in the past?)• Speaking of the Globe, this from the great Dan Shaughnessy: "Fenway Sports Group's efforts to make the Red Sox Tampa Bay-by-the-Charles picked up more steam this past week with a couple of huge analytics hires. The Sox named Driveline Baseball founder Kyle Boddy their interim director of baseball sciences, then poached Taylor Smith from the Rays, for whom he was serving as director of predictive modeling."Pause here for a reaction.(BWAH HAH HAH HAH HAH)How does "predictive modeling" help one conjure a bunt defense?• Dr. I could probably find something less relevant to him than the Washington Post's decision not to endorse a presidential candidate.But it'll take a while.Meantime, could the Post possibly take itself more seriously? Like: Who gives a continental damn what the Post's editors think? Or what any editor thinks? Or what Dr. I thinks?• If Ella Fitzgerald married Connecticut's former Chief Court Administrator Aaron Ment, divorced him for former Yankee pitcher Ralph Terry, divorced him for former outfielder Rob Deer and finally settled on former wide receiver Steve Watson, it wouldn't take Sherlock Holmes to know that's Ella Ment Terry Dear Watson.• Dr. I was in full agreement with UConn football coach Jim Mora last week on the bad whistle (or lack thereof) the Huskies got at the end of the Wake Forest game. Blatant pass interference."We've got to make sure we put ourselves in a position where it doesn't come down to one play where an ACC (officiating) team makes a (expletive) call against an independent," Mora said.One thing though: Mora needs to yell at his athletic director about this, not the media.Remember: It was David Benedict's choice to relegate UConn to independent status in football. UConn used to be in a conference, the American, which ultimately placed three members (Cincinnati, Houston, UCF) into the Big 12 two years ago during expansion. MIght UConn have earned one of those spots had it stayed?• A reminder to stay tuned to GameDay this week for all the ECC championship events, including girls' and boys' soccer and volleyball.And then the granddaddy of them all: Our hot new student announcing team of Stonington's Patrick McGugan and Austin Center, who will call the ECC field hockey finals.• If you ever want to feel fat, spend Saturday as Dr. I did at the state cross country championships.Forget the kids. Even their parents can't pinch more than an inch.• Trivia answer: Lou Piniella had seven hits during the six-game series.This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro