Best wishes to young Alex Hetherman as he continues to battle forward at Children’s Hospital in Boston. Alex is going through a heart procedure and had two big time visitors last week while in the hospital.

New England Patriot’s player tight end Rob Gronkowski made a special visit to Alex and made quite an impression on the youngster. The “Gronk” gave him an autographed game shirt and other signature items during his visit. Angela and Shawn Hetherman, Alex’s parents, were in disbelief when Gronk came into the room to greet their son. According to Shawn, Gronk is the biggest human being he has ever seen, and the Patriot tight end is a great person as well. Alex fed off the popular Gronkowski’s enthusiasm and positive attitude.

Imagine Gronkowski making his way through Children’s Hospital less than a week after the Super Bowl. The 22 year old underwent surgery of his own last Friday—on his ankle.  It was quite a gesture for him to reach out to the kids at Children’s Hopital (file under Class Act). Alex had another surprise visitor in Celtics legend Tommy Heinsohn who gave Alex an autographed basketball. Tommy has been lifting kids spirits for more than a half a century.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Alex. Good luck!

Moving on to Overlook in Charlton: Former Nichols legendary football coach Mike Vendetti is rehabbing after surgery. Coach, who turned 80 last May, is looking forward to getting back home. Keeping his former players out of the Charlton facility has been impossible. Vendetti’s loyal assistant coaches, Ed Kunkel and Rene Langevin, have been keeping Nichols Nation up to date on the status of Vendetti. Coach Mike just lost his wife, Joan, in early January. It hasn’t been easy for the Vendetti family, but—as always—they continue to teach all of us how to deal with life. See you soon, Coach.

The 73rd Clark Tournament will begin on Sunday in Worcester. You can tune into WGFP-AM 940 and join Matt Morway and Pete Geanis for all the local games. The veteran radio duo has more years covering the Clark Tournament than anybody, and their experience and knowledge regarding the history of the “Clark” goes back to the seventies when Geanis was a freshman coach at Shepherd Hill before, eventually becoming the head coach. Morway was the Oxford ball boy back in those days which was also when the “old” Clark Gym was used. The Oxford Insurance Agency has once again stepped up to be a key sponsor for this special event.

The Oxford Pirates will play Littleton on Sunday in the small school quaterfinals at 2:45 pm while the Bartlett Indians will play North Brookfield at 7:45, also a small school matchup. I like both local teams to advance to the semi finals. Oxford is the best defensive team in the small school division and Bartlett is made for the spacious Clark gym which allows the Indians to run at the pace they want. Bartlett has the deepest history in the Clark among the local teams, and at the same time, Oxford has had its share of good experiences. Shepherd Hill will represent the locals in the large schools division. The Rams will play Clinton on Monday, Presidents’ Day at 6 pm. With Shepherd Hill’s enrollment being the largest in the Clark Tournament, one would have to say that they are the favorites to win it all this year, especially after upsetting Quabbin this past Sunday.

Good luck to all the local teams at the Clark Tournament.

I am glad I slept on the Patriots’ loss in the Super Bowl before I put pen to paper to give my opinion on the “strange” game that the Giants won 21-17 in a great football game. Not that the world is waiting for yours truly’s opinion, but here is my two cents’ worth. There are 32 teams in the NFL and the New England Patriots are the second best team in the league. They are the model franchise in the league and as a fan, the Patriots are going to have a shot to go to New Orleans next year to compete in the Super Bowl.

Your Patriots are not the 0-4 Buffalo Bills of the nineties nor are they the Minnesota Vikings of the seventies. They are not the team that finally gets to the Super Bowl once every ten years. So, quit crying in your Pepsi. The Patriots will be in the hunt again next season. The good news is that their defense got better at the end of the season and that will help prolong Tom Brady’s career. Yes, Brady is the focal point of our frustration this week and he might have had his days in the sun already, but come on, he still commands respect from 31 other teams in the league. He has a few more runs at the Vince Lombardi trophy. Don’t throw him under the bus.

A couple of things we will probably never see again in the same game took place in Indianapolis on Super Bowl Sunday. First was the safety on the Patriots’ first possession. Second, was the last score for the Giants when the Patriot defense let them score so the Patriots could get the ball back again for one final shot at a hail mary pass. Both plays were bizarre and needed explanation. The tough one was when you have to let the other team score because the time and the score are against you. That was desperation and frustration at its best. Other than that, the game was a chess match between two veteran coaches. All young coaches please take note of this. Regiment and discipline were the key words throughout both coaches’ preparation. Finally, one player usually does not make a difference in the Super Bowl, but the 21-17 score really favors a healthy Patriot Rob Gronowski as being the player who gets the Patriots a victory. So let’s all of us move on, the Celtics are back and pitchers and catchers will be reporting soon to Florida and Arizona.

Looking forward to upcoming Clark Tournament during President’s week in Worcester. There will be plenty of local teams with Bartlett, Shepherd Hill, and Oxford representing the South County. WGFP will be there to broadcast and follow the local teams. Matt Morway and Pete Geanis will once again be making the calls at the Clark on the 940 AM dial.

Finally, a tip of the hat goes out to longtime friend and teammate Mike Hackenson. Mike retired from the Principal’s seat at Bartlett last week after 34 years of dedication and loyalty to helping kids in the Oxford and Webster school systems. Hackenson wore a lot of hats during his career. Classroom teacher, assistant football coach, head baseball coach, athletic director, principal at Oxford and Bartlett. His baseball teams at Oxford won a state championship in the eighties and another one won the District title when proposition two and a half negated the state playoffs. As the Principal of Oxford, Hackenson served a rare dual role and took on the Athletic Director duties also because of the tough economical times. The guy has been a winner his whole life. Enjoy, my friend, you deserve it.

I am glad I slept on the Patriots’ loss in the Super Bowl before I put pen to paper to give my opinion on the “strange” game that the Giants won 21-17 in a great football game. Not that the world is waiting for yours truly’s opinion, but here is my two cents’ worth. There are 32 teams in the NFL and the New England Patriots are the second best team in the league. They are the model franchise in the league and as a fan, the Patriots are going to have a shot to go to New Orleans next year to compete in the Super Bowl.

Your Patriots are not the 0-4 Buffalo Bills of the nineties nor are they the Minnesota Vikings of the seventies. They are not the team that finally gets to the Super Bowl once every ten years. So, quit crying in your Pepsi. The Patriots will be in the hunt again next season. The good news is that their defense got better at the end of the season and that will help prolong Tom Brady’s career. Yes, Brady is the focal point of our frustration this week and he might have had his days in the sun already, but come on, he still commands respect from 31 other teams in the league. He has a few more runs at the Vince Lombardi trophy. Don’t throw him under the bus.

A couple of things we will probably never see again in the same game took place in Indianapolis on Super Bowl Sunday. First was the safety on the Patriots’ first possession. Second, was the last score for the Giants when the Patriot defense let them score so the Patriots could get the ball back again for one final shot at a hail mary pass. Both plays were bizarre and needed explanation. The tough one was when you have to let the other team score because the time and the score are against you. That was desperation and frustration at its best. Other than that, the game was a chess match between two veteran coaches. All young coaches please take note of this. Regiment and discipline were the key words throughout both coaches’ preparation. Finally, one player usually does not make a difference in the Super Bowl, but the 21-17 score really favors a healthy Patriot Rob Gronowski as being the player who gets the Patriots a victory. So let’s all of us move on, the Celtics are back and pitchers and catchers will be reporting soon to Florida and Arizona.

Looking forward to upcoming Clark Tournament during President’s week in Worcester. There will be plenty of local teams with Bartlett, Shepherd Hill, and Oxford representing the South County. WGFP will be there to broadcast and follow the local teams. Matt Morway and Pete Geanis will once again be making the calls at the Clark on the 940 AM dial.

Finally, a tip of the hat goes out to longtime friend and teammate Mike Hackenson. Mike retired from the Principal’s seat at Bartlett last week after 34 years of dedication and loyalty to helping kids in the Oxford and Webster school systems. Hackenson wore a lot of hats during his career. Classroom teacher, assistant football coach, head baseball coach, athletic director, principal at Oxford and Bartlett. His baseball teams at Oxford won a state championship in the eighties and another one won the District title when proposition two and a half negated the state playoffs. As the Principal of Oxford, Hackenson served a rare dual role and took on the Athletic Director duties also because of the tough economical times. The guy has been a winner his whole life. Enjoy, my friend, you deserve it.

The Bartlett boys’ basketball team earned "RESPECT" last Friday night when they beat Division One cross town rival Shepherd Hill 66-59 in Dudley before a standing room only crowd. The large crowd aroused memories of the rivalry when it all started back in the early seventies when Webster and Dudley severed educational ties and Charlton teamed up with Dudley to form Shepherd Hill. It was a bitter divorce back in the early seventies and the bitterness created a high octane rivalry that carried onto the athletic fields. A game like last Friday night would have been sold out days before the opening tip off of the scheduled 5:30 p.m. JV game. I witnessed the very first boys’ basketball game between Bartlett and Shepherd Hill in Dudley in 1974 when the late Eddie Jarosz and Marty Paglione led the young Rams over Bartlett. Bartlett’s rich basketball history at the time was in shock after that loss and that game set the tone for many years to come.

Over the years the rivalry has lost its luster because the bitterness has worn off from the seventies divorce, but this past Friday had evidence that both communities can get up for a big game. Both teams still play for pride and this is a new era with a different cast of characters. The fans were behaved on Friday, but the tension was inevitable as the (9-4) Indians crossed the French River bridge to battle the pre game favorite (9-4) Rams. Both teams are heading to the Clark Tournament and the Districts later on this season which says a lot about the quality of both hoop programs. Shepherd Hill has been flirting with being a top ten Central Mass. team all season and don’t forget that Bartlett was coming off a miserable loss to Oxford on Tuesday.Credit the Pirates for handcuffing Bartlett’s leading scorer Nick Kobel to a single point. The Pirates get my vote as the best defensive team in South County this winter. They are relentless and tough. The Pirates are also heading to the Clark and the post season Districts.

As for the Bartlett-Shepherd Hill rivalry, they only play each other once during the season and there are some Ram fans who want to discontinue the football game. Both schools played each other twice in the same season in the late eighties. For you history buffs, Shepherd Hill beat Bartlett in their initial football contest in 1973. 2013 will mark the 40 year anniversary of that game. Time does march on. The greatest football game between both schools was played in 1987 in Webster in overtime. Bartlett won. By the way, the Patriots win the Super Bowl 38-35.