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UMass sports booster John Kennedy teed off in Mississippi last month, leaving him one state to fill his card. “Montana is the last one which I will do in the spring,” wrote Kennedy, whose other mission is to play every course listed in the Top 100 by Golf Magazine and Golf Digest. “I’ve played 131 of 132 since 2011. Only Augusta National is left.”

Kennedy is grateful that the degrees he earned at UMass-Amherst and UMass-Lowell helped him parlay his intelligence into a fortune and subsequent life of leisure. His many contributions to both schools include $10 million to build the John Francis Kennedy Champions Center next to the Mullins Center. It opened in 2015, the same year AD Ryan Bamford was hired.

The problem is that men’s basketball is a cumulative 28 games under .500 since it opened, and its only winning season was in 2020-21 when it was 8-7 playing a COVID-shortened schedule.

Quite simply, Bamford has made lousy coaching hires. Pat Kelsey didn’t make it to the podium and Matt McCall was worse than his predecessor. After that five-year mistake ended in March, Bamford failed to hire Mark Schmidt away from St. Bonaventure. His next choice, deposed Indiana coach Archie Miller, chose URI for a reported five years and $9.5 million.

When South Carolina unexpectedly fired Frank Martin, Bamford had his man. Martin made his bones at Kansas State with five 20-win seasons and four NCAA appearances. He spent 10 years at South Carolina where he was good but not good enough for the cutthroat SEC.

Bamford reportedly signed him to a five year contract for $8 million, the most UMass has ever paid a coach (another reason it never wins). At the introductory press conference, Bamford looked past Martin and said, “Mr. Kennedy, thank you for making this happen.”

The savvy Martin said all the right things. “I want five star players who are ten star human beings… We’re gonna answer the bell… We’re gonna play harder and more disciplined than any team we play against… We’re gonna pack that joint…”

USA Today’s Jeff Sagarin rates UMass 128th, about where he always starts them. The season tips off on Monday at the Mullins Center against Central Connecticut Cupcake State. The Blue Devils are rated 346th, and oddsshark.com predicts UMass will win, 76-62.

“I think Colorado, Texas A&M, Harvard, USF and North Texas are really good choices for measuring how they will perform in the A-10,” wrote Kennedy, who fervently hopes his caddy doesn’t wind up being Ryan Bamford at Augusta National.

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Kevin Leach, former centerman for the Lunt Silver Blades, took his grandson to the World Juniors in Edmonton last summer to watch 12 in seven days at Rogers Place. “We got an impromptu tour of the arena but what was most impressive was going in the 99 Restaurant and seeing what is basically a Wayne Gretzky Hall of Fame.”

Leach sent a photo of a young Gretzky sitting in Gordie Howe’s lap. The Great One looks awestruck while Mr. Hockey smiles and holds the blade of a hockey stick to Gretzky’s throat. Alongside the photos is a game-by-game scoring chart from Gretzky’s ’71-’72 season with the Brantford Nadorfsky Steelers when he scored 378 goals in 85 games. “He was 11-years-old playing with 13- and 14-year-olds,” wrote Leach. “Unreal!”

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MLB may have come up with a way to placate fans who don’t want a robo-umpire calling balls and strikes. Commissioner Rob Manfred told Chris Russo that a challenge system might work. “Every umpire will have an earpiece but will call his own balls and strikes,” said Manfred. “The catcher, the pitcher and the batter have four seconds to challenge the call, and immediately the correct call goes into the umpire’s ears. They get three challenges and if they’re right they keep it. It fixes the big miss.”

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Two weeks ago I wrote that Chris Russo got his ”Mad Dog” moniker from Don Imus. That’s wrong. Russo on his show last week said New York Daily News columnist Bob Raissman gave him the name while he was at WMCA in lower Manhattan. “It was the relentless tone of your voice,” said Raissman. “It reminded me of an old Canadian wrestler Maurice “Mad Dog” Vachon. This guy would bite a person’s nose and not let his teeth off of it. You were relentless on these guys Chris, you were like a guy kicking a dog off his shoe.”

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Kudos to Jay Burnham and Andy Gresh for calling the UMass-New Mexico State game the way the fans saw it on TV. “We’re what, eight weeks into the season. That stuff shouldn’t be happening,” Gresh said after one of the 20 combined penalties.

Gresh was an offensive lineman at URI and has an easy going delivery. After a Gaucho lineman moved before the snap he said, “Just a little wiggle, but when you’re 300 pounds and you wiggle, people see it.”

It was typical but a shame nonetheless that whoever runs the sound system at McGuirk didn’t treat fans to Great Balls of Fire in honor of the passing of Jerry Lee Lewis.

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SQUIBBERS: Deerfield grad Hunter Long made his first NFL catch of the season on Sunday, an 8-yard grab for the Dolphins against Detroit. … If New Mexico State can get into Conference USA, why can’t UMass find a conference, any conference?… Undefeated Endicott College (8-0) is the highest-ranked D3 team from New England in the AFCA Coaches Poll. The Power Gulls are ranked 23rd. … Bryce Harper and Rafael Devers have the same coiled batting stance that terrorizes pitchers. … Sign outside Ford Field prior to the anticipated high scoring Dolphins-Lions game: “Punters Go Home.” Miami won, 31-27. … The Astros echoed their cheating culture when Aledmys Diaz stuck out his heavily padded elbow to be hit by a pitch in game two. It was blatant enough that the umpire ordered him back in the batter’s box and he struck out. … Three years ago Texas A&M agreed to pay UMass $1.7 million to play at College Station on Nov. 19. According to inflationcalculator.com, that would be $1,973,634 in today’s dollars. … Jim Nantz told Dan Patrick that after 32 years he’ll be done calling March Madness for CBS, but plans to keep doing the Masters. “That’s deepest in my heart. I was 11-years-old watching a Masters and I turned to my mom and dad and said, ‘That’s what I’d like to do, be one of those voices.’ I’ve been so fortunate I’m still living that childhood dream.” … The Phillies have the two best names on either roster, pitchers Ranger Suarez and Seranthony Dominguez. … “People are going to remember where they were the night of the first combined World Series no-hitter,” said ESPN’s Eduardo Perez. Right. I was asleep, dreaming of when the World Series was played in the afternoon. … Box scores reveal that Houston shortstop Jeremy Pena batted .316 (6-for-19) in five games against UMass when he played for Maine. … An end zone seat to Friday night’s UMass-UConn game at Rentschler Field in East Hartford cost $15. … Boomer Esiason on Zach Wilson’s three-word answers to reporters after his terrible performance against the Patriots: “He sounded like an entitled little brat, I wanted to punch him in the face.” … Giants’ radio voice Bob Papa after referee Jerome Boger referred to the Seahawks as the Mariners: “That sums up this officiating crew.” … Honk if you ever ordered a pie from Zapmia Pizza.

Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@icloud.com