Idle Thoughts, while waiting for high school basketball, our Kansas City Chiefs to play next Sunday and for somebody other than James Bouknight to make a three at State U:

• Dr. Idle, Dr. I to his close friends, would like to be the next in line to congratulate Tom Brady on singlehandedly guiding the Bucs to the Super Bowl.

If you missed last week's game, The GOAT threw three touchdown passes, had 12 tackles (six solo), three sacks, kicked a 53-yard field goal and taped two ankles during commercial breaks. Fox Sports also reported that Moderna consulted the GOAT on the blueprint for the COVID vaccine.

It's really a neat trick to throw three interceptions in the second half of a conference championship game, get bailed out each time by your defense — and still get all the credit for victory.

The poor Tampa defense. Held overrated Aaron Rodgers to three points in the fourth quarter of a championship game. And might as well be in witness protection while the GOAT takes all the bows.

Dr. I would never quibble with the assertion Brady is the best quarterback in the history of the universe. But can we bring a sense of proportion to the narrative instead of allowing hyperbole to run unabated to the quarterback?

• Dr. I almost needed grief counseling upon learning the NCAA recently placed Notre Dame football on probation for a year.

Recruiting violations.

Oh, the humanity.

• Trivia: Name the three college football programs in the last 25 years to have two of their starting quarterbacks eventually play in the Super Bowl. (Answer below.)

• Dr. I is a big fan of Dan Orlovsky, the former UConn quarterback who has emerged as a star at ESPN.

But Danny O's soliloquy about how the Giants should trade Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley and three first-round picks for Deshaun Watson gave Dr. I a rather notable hissy fit.

Why not throw in some turf from Met Life Stadium and an autographed photo of Lawrence Taylor, too?

Sorry. No denying Watson is better than Jones. But did he become Johnny Unitas when we weren't looking?

• Christyn Williams and Olivia Nelson-Ododa no-showed the other night at Arkansas.

The kid Bueckers is as advertised. But if those other two can't do better, the Daughters of Geno are going nowhere (relatively speaking, of course) this year.

• This guy Saleh, the new Jets coach, says Jets fans are "more invested" than Giants fans.

There are actually Jets fans?

• Question raised on social media last week: How come people are willing to separate Tom Brady's politics from his game, but struggle to do the same for Colin Kaepernick? Discuss.

• Anyone else noticing that UConn hockey gets better and better and better?

• If Tristan Thompson came to the Celtics in part to guard Joel Embiid ... and Tristan Thompson (based on last week's evidence) can't guard Joel Embiid ... then what is the point of having Tristan Thompson?

• And while we're at it: Does Brad Stevens have to play all 12 guys every night?

• Note: The Atlanta Falcons recently hired Dean Pees as their defensive coordinator.

Dr. I has always liked how Pees is one of the rare human beings whose name is a complete sentence.

• Based on the past few days, are we still sure about this global warming thing?

• Interesting to note whether local high school basketball coaches (specifically Chris Guisti of NFA and Jeff Bernardi of East Lyme) will opt to dress in comfort this year or continue their sartorial splendor.

• Super Bowl prediction: Tampa 6, Kansas City 3. Brady named MVP.

• Trivia answer: Boston College (Matt Hasselbeck, Matt Ryan); Cal (Aaron Rodgers, Jared Goff), Delaware (Joe Flacco, Rich Gannon).

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro