Idle Thoughts, while waiting for Daniel Jones to win the NFL MVP and for the masses to afford groceries and gas again:

Dr. Idle, Dr. I to his close friends, received a disturbing text the other day from Shannon Brenek, an Idle Thoughts Cabinet Member, of New London.

She sent along a story about the growing popularity of nude pickleball.

(No, really.)

Before Dr. I offers the bare facts here (couldn't resist), he should tell you that pickleball is a fast-growing, racket/paddle sport that uses aspects of badminton, tennis and ping pong. It is popular among seniors.

Seems that 172 members of the Cypress Cove Nudist Resort in Kissimmee, Fla. have taken to playing in the raw, according to thepickler.com, a blog dedicated to the sport.

"We tell people, just bring your tennis shoes. We provide the paddles and the balls," member Mike Sullivan said, assumably with a straight face.

(At this point, Dr. I believes it's in his best interest to move on to a different topic.)

• Congrats to New London attorney extraordinaire Tony Basilica, who was recently honored by his alma mater, Wesleyan University.

Big Tone was named to Wesleyan's all-decade football team of the 1970s. He was a starting defensive lineman.

• Just a reminder: Under current CIAC rules, it is illegal for a coach to instruct his/her players in the offseason for the purposes of enhanced skill development.

The same coach may, however, arrange for his/her players to be paid.

• Watching games at Fenway just feels more enjoyable when the words "New York" sit atop the American League East standings on the Green Monster.

• Can we get the state softball finals out of mosquito-infested DeLuca Field in Stratford?

West Haven, UConn, Central Connecticut are all better options.

But then so is Dr. I's basement.

• The CIAC football divisions are out for next season.

Four technical school cooperatives and two other tech school programs are in Class MM, the state's third-largest division, thus proving the CIAC just doesn't care about competitive balance.

In the first round of the Class L playoffs last year, Windsor only beat Cheney Tech 62-0.

Six of the 23 programs in Class MM will have technical school tentacles in 2022, leaving Fitch, Masuk, Hillhouse, Bunnell and Killingly (among others) to dine on them in the playoffs.

• Local Notre Dame grad Jay Berryman, an attorney with Suisman Shapiro, was annoyed with Dr. I's recent reference to his alma mater's loss to the gutty, gritty BC Eagles in baseball.

Berryman has asked Dr. I to acknowledge ND's berth in the College World Series.

Never let it be said that Dr. I isn't a Columnist Of The People.

• Recent social media post: "Besides Jerry Rice, Eli Apple, and Darryl Strawberry, who is another athlete from sports history whose last name is a food?"

Dr. I came up with Chet Lemon, Tim Salmon and Jeremy Lamb. Leave your answers in the HCS (Human Comments Section). Or not.

• Why can't any of those golfing defectors just admit they went for the money?

• If soap opera actress Maura West married UC Davis men's basketball coach Jim Les, that would, more or less, make her Maura Les.

• Can someone from MLB explain how this "Ohtani Rule" doesn't give the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim a competitive advantage?

If Ohtani is removed from the game as a pitcher, he gets to remain in the game as the designated hitter.

Sorry. They need to fix that one.

• And while we're at it: "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" belongs in the Department of Redundancy Department.

Or how long till we start calling them the Toronto Blue Jays of Ontario?

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro