Idle Thoughts, while waiting for Daniel Jones to torch the Steelers, a shaving nick to sideline Aaron Judge until 2024 and for (and Dr. I has never said this before) a high school soccer game:

• Dr. Idle, Dr. I to his close friends, would like to apologize to everybody for his complete misrepresentation of the truly encyclopedic facts about COVID-19, unearthed this weekend via email and the HCS (Human Comments Section).

Seems 190,000 haven't actually died from it. The numbers can't be trusted. Only people with underlying health issues can die from it anyway. Thus we should allow high school football players — because of all their "hard work" — to breathe and sneeze on the vulnerable members of the population because who cares about them anyway? Why don't they just stay home?

Got that? Now don't you forget it.

• This from a high school principal in the region: "It would be a great gesture for the entire Connecticut football machine to place its fall energy into a civic endeavor: fall clean up in their community, assistance to the elderly, a day at the soup kitchen."

Hmmmm. Wonder how the lunatic fringe will spin THAT one.

• Did y'all hear the Raptors' bench Wednesday night when Jaylen Brown was shooting big free throws in overtime?

One player yelled "hey batter, batter ... swing!"

Normally, Dr. I isn't a fan of that, especially when his team is playing. But that was priceless.

• Speaking of: No two teams in the NBA move the ball better than the Celtics and Heat. Can't wait.

• This from Dr. Frank Maletz, a longtime orthopedic surgeon in the region who has done wonderful work with Parkinson's patients (with the help of the great Kent Ward).

Dr. Maletz, responding to the HSFC (High School Football Crisis) writes, "They all need bumper stickers that read "COPE WITH NOPE."

But then, he's only a doctor. What would he know?

• So Dr. I, being such an inquisitive soul, is curious about why he keeps seeing the term "novel coronavirus." Hadn't seen the "novel" part until recently. This from a hospital website:

"A 'novel' coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. Because it's so new, very little is known about how this coronavirus acts. And since there is no vaccine and no established immunity from past cycles, experts believe everyone is susceptible."

Cue the HCS (Human Comments Section) for the real story. Fire ... ready ... aim!

• News item: The CIAC just put a gag order on all its minions. No comments about fall sports may be issued unless they come from the Kremlin in Cheshire.

Note to the state's governing body: Keep alienating your constituency and Independence Day will get here sooner than you think.

• Dr. I salutes all the teachers today. Not easy doing simultaneous in-room and Google Classroom work, all while wearing a mask in many places with no air conditioning. Respect.

• The Celtics are 3-15 in the last 18 games Tony Brothers has officiated.

Danny Ainge needs to whisper in someone's ear here.

• So do Washington fans gather Sunday somewhere and go "here we go Football Team here we go?"

• Are Red Sox fans in Witness Protection?

• Remember: BC grad Brian Flores leads the Dolphins into Foxboro today. It is thus impossible for Belichick to be the smarter coach. He only went to Wesleyan. (Yes, this was for Wesleyan grad Casey O'Neill, our intrepid voice of GameDay).

• Finally, welcome to the world to Scott Bono, the newborn son of Mike and Erin of Waterford. Mike is a former baseball player at Waterford High. He teaches there now. Erin is Dr. I's favorite English teacher. Pretty good chance Scott grows up with the unique ability to fix anything — and still know the correct usages of "who" and "whom."

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro