New London – There is a song lyric by Rihanna about finding love in a hopeless place that somehow was tethered to Cannamela Field over the weekend. Gold stars to Phil Orbe, the athletic director at New London High, for coordinating the ceremony to honor Jim Buonocore and his many years of coaching – and winning – in Whalerville.

The old ball coach, 88 years young, was clearly touched by the two dozen players who returned to their past and saluted a man whose presence eerily symbolized the current state of the program and the school: The best days are behind them.

Full disclosure: Good thing I wore sunglasses. Because I became oddly emotional. The old “something in my eye” thing. Buonocore’s presence aroused many emotions seemingly buried in me – and in his former players – about an undying love for the school, the city, the old days, the hallowed bowl setting and how the 06320 used to be the center of the universe in this corner of the world.

Maybe I’d just come to accept current events: the moribund football program, horror stories from the staff about student behavior and a cold, impersonal Central Office with little interest in joining the community, its people and its history. But then seeing Buonocore again inspired a commotion of emotion that refuses to accept the current state of affairs.

I have covered the last three football home games. They were played on Saturday mornings because police and school officials remain in their fortresses, unable, unwilling and uninterested in finding compromise to play on Friday nights. Ah, but that’s a rant for another day. What’s worse: Three weeks’ worth of conversation at the games with teachers, staff members and even some the kids about the frustration, hopelessness and in some cases abject disgust about what’s transpiring in the building.

Students openly disrespectful to teachers because there are no consequences for their behavior. Students getting up and walking out of class whenever it suits them. Students on their phones during learning time. Rampant pot smoking in the bathrooms. And the general feeling of powerlessness because there is no inspiration whatsoever to make any changes. Teachers are growing tired, angry and burned out. Don’t believe me? Just ask them.

Notez bien: New London High has just as many good kids as everywhere else. It’s just that the others are illustrating all over again that chaos thrives in places without boundaries in place and the people to enforce them. And let me also suggest here that if someone in Central Office is more concerned with who’s feeding me this information rather than addressing the issues raised, you, sir or ma’am, are part of the problem.

And so when will we, all those of us who have an affinity for the green and gold, stand up and do the Peter Finch thing? Finch, in the movie “Network,” does this iconic scene where he goes to the window and tells everybody to start yelling they’re mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore.

I’m heartbroken at the stories I hear. The empty bleachers at the games. The inability to play at night. But I positively enraged over the fact that many of us want to help and are being ignored.

I am an example. Pre-pandemic, I volunteered as the Cafeteria Boy at Jennings School. Loved it. I cleared the tables, laughed the days away, got to know every kid and couldn’t wait to go back (if only to bring coffee to the hilarious duo of Millie Lopez and Iris Dones in the office). Post-pandemic? Let’s just say I got the hint that somebody somewhere didn’t want me back. Can’t have the media snooping around the building.

Moreover, I heard similar sentiments from the old players who came back Saturday. We want to help. Who do we call? What can we do? Imagine the feelings tied to caring that much and then being utterly powerless.

And that’s where it begins: with the concept of power. Until teachers and administrators are given the power to take back their classrooms and hallways – with help from the police – this will get worse.

I wrote a column last year that resonated with several readers and New London alumni about a high school in Louisiana where a bunch of dads (40 of them) volunteered to patrol the hallways when student behavior was out of control. The results of “Dads On Duty” were remarkably successful.

Think we’d ever try that here? Ha. Good one. That would require out of the box thinking. That would require admitting there’s a problem in the first place. That would require empowering people from the community. Can’t have that.

I’m going to have a decision to make in a few years about where my own son attends high school. I always wanted him to be a Whaler. Not looking good. Not with this current state of affairs. We need fix this. And we need to do it now.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro