Idle Thoughts, while waiting for Michigan/Washington, the New London-St. Bernard rematch and for all those pithy, TV news tips on how to shovel snow:

• Dr. Idle, Dr. I to his close friends, has a growing list of irritants.

A rapid climber: The general level of obliviousness in the human population.

Example: There we were Friday night at the broadcast table in the corner of Conway Gym for New London/St. Bernard. We discovered an alarming number of mammals who thought it prudent to watch the game standing directly in front of us.

Obstructed view streaming here on GameDay.

When you’re on the air, you can’t issue an absorbing, “keep it moving.” So you’re reduced to hand gestures and other strategies aimed to get the attention of The Great Unaware.

The true MVP of the night was Paula Orbe, wife of New London athletic director Phil Orbe. St. Paula, seated in the bleachers next to us, saw what kept happening and issued gentle reminders to the offending parties.

GameDay is back Friday night at New London. Please remember to get out of the way.

• Trivia: Who has made the most 3-point field goals in the history of the New York Knicks? (Answer below)

• Mad props to Sergio Lewis and Todd Morgan, who did outstanding work officiating a difficult New London-St. Bernard game Friday night.

Which invites the question: Why were there only two officials at the game between the league’s two best teams?

Three officials allows for shorter distances and better angles.

There ought to be three for the rematch.

• Observation: Have you ever noticed sports arguments get a lot harder when they involve stupid people?

Take the other day when the great Mad Dog Russo asserted on “First Take” that Shaquille O’Neal isn’t one of the best five centers of all time.

Screamin’ A and Jay Williams acted as though the Doggy just popped a wheelie on their lawns.

Maybe Shaq is number five. But no higher, behind Kareem, Russell, Wilt and Olajuwon.

And if you debate that, Dr. I suggests you put down your phone and open a history book. Because an argument could be made for Moses Malone ahead of Shaq, too.

• After the last edition of Idle Thoughts, reader John Nason wrote, “I'm certain that your column in this morning's Day Paper was excellent as usual. I can't say for sure, because I was delayed behind a left-lane dawdler on Route 32 and haven't been able to read it yet.”

John makes a point: Route 32 tends to bring out The Oblivious almost as much as high school basketball games and most aisles at Stop & Shop.

• Imagine if Rick Pitino were coaching the Giants in the season-finale Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

Given the likelihood of 30,000 yahoos wearing green in the seats, Pitino would petition the NFL to move the game to Don Bosco High.

• GameDay is proud to bring you the first ECC/SCC Senior All-Star Volleyball Classic at Mohegan Sun Arena on Monday, Jan. 29 at 6 p.m.

Playing for the ECC: Skylar Bell (East Lyme), Tessa Cantone (Fitch), Kylee Gill (Ledyard), Kiera Stewart (Bacon), Emerson Lane (Waterford), Ruby Logan (Griswold), Avery Brooks (Lyman), Madeline Nordstrom (Plainfield), Chloe Yip (Killingly), Aneiris Pacheco (Windham), Zoie Farrar (Montville), Melodie Anderson (Putnam), Emily Peckham (Ledyard), Alexandra Chabot (NFA) and Addison Soleau (East Lyme).

Tickets are $10 and available here: https://am.ticketmaster.com/mohegan/Seniorclassic

• An idle thought from comedian Tom Cotter: If Pinocchio had a cocaine problem and lied about it, would that just make matters worse?

• If we could set a boat adrift for an indefinite period of time, would we choose Pat McAfee or Aaron Rodgers as its captain?

• The short rib entree at the newly-opened 374 in Niantic. (You can thank Dr. I later.)

• A lifetime of happiness to former Fitch football player Mark Hall, who married his wife Chartelle on New Year’s Eve in Boston. The Halls are a foundation of the Fitch football program.

• Trivia answer: John Starks (982).

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro