Good morning!
On a muggy and gray Saturday morning, about 100 spectators showed up at McGuirk Alumni Stadium to watch the UMass football team prep for the season opener at Pitt. The offense was suited in white jerseys, defense in maroon, and quarterbacks in black.

Receivers practiced catching over-the-shoulder passes on the sidelines, offensive linemen worked on position technique and defensive linemen on movement. “Keep moving your feet or this could be a mess inside,” warned defensive line coach Jim Reid.

One player, No. 7, was making calisthenics look easy, almost like a dance exercise. He ran from midfield with his knees high and arms swinging back and forth and reached the end zone ahead of his teammates.

“Who’s number seven?” I asked Tim Schmitt, who was standing with Jim Rogers and Vinny Grandonico near Section 20. “Ellis Merriweather, and the Rutgers transfer is number eight,” said Schmitt, referring to Kay’Ron Adams who was offered a scholarship by Iowa his senior year at Warren G. Harding (Ohio) High School, according to onthebanks.com.

Schmitt is a football referee (“The guy with the white hat”) and is still waiting to get his first assignment. “The MIAA’s new website’s a mess,” he said. Rogers played baseball for the Paper City Tigers in the Tri-County League, and Grandonico went to Hopkins Academy and played soccer at UMass. His son Gary played hoops at Frontier and Tufts.

All three are longtime fans who’ve followed UMass football through thick but mostly thin since UMass upgraded (haha) to the FBS.

Two years ago at Garden City (Kan.) Community College, Merriweather averaged 5.5 yards per carry, but last season he averaged just 2.7 yards during the truncated four-game season. He’s getting the benefit of the doubt because the porous offensive line gave him nowhere to run.

Either Merriweather had drastically slimmed down or I was confusing him with the other No. 7, freshman defensive back Jordan Mahoney whose brother Jaylen starts for Vanderbilt.

Another player who caught my eye was Melvin Hill, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound wide receiver from Mobile who was recruited by former coach Mark Whipple. Hill’s cousin Ellis Lankster played for the Bills and Jets.

Watch for stories about Zack Magdis, if only because he’s covered in tattoos. A 6-foot-2, 235-pound redshirt freshman linebacker out of Worcester Academy, Magdis had seven tackles against Marshall last season.

UMass coach Walt Bell used five quarterbacks last season, and they combined for one touchdown pass and five interceptions. Andrew Brito transferred to UCF but isn’t on the ourlads.com depth chart. Will Koch and Mike Fallon are both gone and Josiah Johnson is at tight end.

The only one back, Garrett Dzuro, is second behind Colorado transfer Tyler Lytle, according to ourlads.com’s depth chart (last updated in July). Redshirt freshman Zamar Wise was third on that July depth chart and Brady Olson fourth.

The inclination is to pull for Olson from Milford High School. Insiders say he’s a Power Five player, meaning he’s good enough to be in the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 or ACC. In December, Milford coach Dale Olson (Brady’s uncle) told Milford Daily News sportswriter Tommy Cassell, “Brady’s got a big-time arm, sees the field well and has great pocket presence.”

Lytle’s the front runner because Pac-12 quarterbacks don’t transfer to schools like UMass to sit on the bench. They either get assurances or look elsewhere.

After the quarterbacks took reps, the cornerbacks practiced coverage and both sides made goal line stands. They also rehearsed a fake field goal. It reminded me of the game at Delaware when UMass scored on a fake field goal but ultimately lost, 37-34.

It was the ninth straight time that Delaware coach Tubby Raymond had beaten UMass, prompting Jim Reid to wish for a win so he could run over, shake hands and say, “Nice game, Harold.”

UMass staff is wearing shirts this season that say, “How do you show respect? Listen, Affirm, Serve, Be Kind, Show Gratitude” — not exactly bumper sticker material.

Indeed, there are 130 teams in the FBS and they all spout the same rhetoric. In two weeks, the Minutemen play Pitt at Heinz Field at 4 p.m. (ACC Network). UMass is a 38-point underdog and has a 1.4 percent chance of winning, according to ESPN.

“I’m excited,” said Lytle.

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UMASS GRID NOTES: Home games against BC on Sept. 11 and Eastern Michigan on Sept. 18 will kick off at 3:30 p.m. The Maine game on Nov. 13 will kick off at noon, and the Army game at West Point on Nov. 20 will also start at noon. … New Mexico State hosts UMass on Nov. 27. The game is a must-win for UMass — the Credibility Bowl — and the cause will be helped by an Aggies schedule that has them at Alabama and at Kentucky the previous two weeks.

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Yong Kim is a licensed physical therapist at ATI in Amherst, and his sister’s sister-in-law is golfer Lydia Ko. Already a million-dollar earner on this year’s LPGA Tour, Ko won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

“She had the talent the moment she picked up a club,” says Kim. “Golf is expensive in Korea, it starts at $200 a round and screen golf is everywhere. The family moved to New Zealand and that’s where she became good enough to turn pro.”

Kim added that South Koreans who medal at the Olympics are exempted from military duty.

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The only thing I valued more than Elliott Smolensky’s dental expertise was his friendship. Nobody had a smile quite like Elliott’s. Mr. Flash, our friend Marilyn Medina called him. He’d greet me in the dentist chair, kiss me on the forehead and shoot me full of novocaine.

Despite being vaccinated, Elliott got COVID-19 and died on Aug. 9. A legion of his friends are grieving and praying he’s with his son Blue and all the others before us.

RIP Elliott, the memory of your smile will always linger.

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MLB NOTES: Dennis Eckersley on Yankee first baseman Luke Voit’s hissy fit after he was benched for Anthony Rizzo: “It’s just not the thing to do, Rizzo’s the guy.” … WFAN’s Richard Neer says Javier Baez is swinging at pitches like a “Blindfolded kid with a pinata.” … One-time Red Sox MVP Mookie Betts has a bone spur that will limit him to his fewest at-bats since he broke into the bigs in 2014. … In Miami, Rafael Devers’ cousin Jose Devers had shoulder surgery on Aug. 10 and is out for the season. … Brock Holt threw a 31 mph eephus pitch for a called strike in Oakland two weeks ago. Most eephus pitches either wind up going to the backstop or over the fence, like Bill Lee’s to Tony Perez in the 1975 World Series and Rip Sewell’s to Ted Williams in the 1946 All-Star Game. … Red Sox radio voice Sean McDonough might be in line for the full-time job. Fans of a certain age compare him to one of their all-time favorites, Ned Martin. … Sirius-XM’s Scott Ferrall calls Jonathan Loasiga “Johnny Lasagna.” … Jack Morris was suspended this week for unkindly mimicking Shohei Ohtani. “He’s the only Tigers announcer who doesn’t constantly exaggerate the team’s progress,” said Crosby Hunt, who grew up listening to Ernie Harwell on WJR. … Anybody else think those close-ups of Rafael Devers losing long streams of spit from between his teeth are disgusting? A better visual is Aaron Boone spitting sunflower seeds. … Hard to believe Christian Vazquez caught his 540th game on Wednesday. Seems like yesterday he was battling Blake Swihart and Sandy Leon for the job.

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SQUIBBERS: Amherst College is being sued for discrimination by former men’s lacrosse coach Rashad Devoe. Devoe, who is Black, was fired this past spring. Ironic, considering the school seemingly has a 19-point plan for everything. … The trial date for throughbred trainer Jason Servis and a dozen others charged with doping racehorses has been pushed to next year. Servis and lame duck New York governor Andrew Cuomo have the same lawyer, 48-year-old Rita Glavin. … NY Post beat writer Mark Cannizzaro unearthed a pithy quote by Bill Parcells: “The NFL,” said the two-time Super Bowl champion coach, “is not for the well-adjusted.” … Pioneer Valley Regional School track and cross country coach Jim Bell hopes the new superintendent can find the money to replace its worn out cinder track. “It would be nice. It would be telling the kids they matter.” … Drew Pearson at his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction: “Tonight don’t just honor the man, honor the mission. Don’t judge me by reaching the heights of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, rather judge me from the depth from which I came.”

Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for four decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet95@
yahoo.com