Good morning!
When UMass hockey fans get hungry for more than a win, they go to Thomas’s Smokey Pit Stop in the northwest corner of the Mullins Center for BBQ pork with mac n’ cheese, southern style coleslaw and soft warm cornbread.

The creator of this feast is former UMass football player Darryl Thomas. “I used to be down where the students come through, now I’m in a prime location,” Thomas said during last week’s game against Boston University.

Thomas buys his pork from Arnold’s Meats in Chicopee and sells over 100 pounds a game. “The mac n’ cheese is made by my mother who uses her own special recipe, that’s why on my menu it’s called Mom’s Mac and Cheese. It’s been a favorite of my family since childhood and my best selling side dish.”

Thomas hails from a long line of BBQ lovers. “My family is my inspiration. My father, uncles and grandfather all barbequed and they each had their own style. That’s why my slogan is “A Family Tradition of BBQ!”

The 48-year-old Thomas was recruited out of Cranford High School in Rahway, N.J., where he quarterbacked the Cougars football team and lettered in basketball, baseball and track.

He played for coach Mike Hodges and graduated the year Mark Whipple became coach. He remembers watching his alma mater win the I-AA championship while he was vacationing in Fort Lauderdale.

A devoted alum, Thomas drove to tailgating parties in Amherst and Foxboro. “I brought a smoker with me and a lot of the alumni started gathering around and that’s when [the administration] noticed I was attracting a crowd.”

One thing led to another and Thomas made all the right moves. He was named to the board of the UMass Gridiron Club and began catering to its members before the games. He has been a feature chef at the Franklin Dining Commons and next week he’ll be dishing out the grub at the men’s basketball opener against Albany.

An education major, Thomas was a dean at the Springfield International Charter School until five years ago when he decided to chase his dream and introduce the public to the Thomas family’s recipes. 

He traded in his food truck for a storefront location in downtown Manchester, Conn., that does takeout and gets 4.7 out of five stars on Groupon, and is looking for a spot to do likewise in the Amherst/Hadley area.

At the moment however the only way to sample his fare locally will be to buy a ticket to a UMass hockey or basketball game. “The relationship has been great,” he said of working as a private contractor for the university, and the fans concur.

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The UMass men’s basketball season starts on Tuesday when UMass hosts Albany at 7 p.m. Coach Frank Martin arrived with much fanfare 18 months ago but produced the same ole, same ole, a 15-16 record capped by a 71-38 blowout loss to Richmond.

When Martin shouted on the sidelines, the players looked at him like they couldn’t have cared less. Only three are back, including Rahsool Diggins, Keon Thompson and captain Matt Cross who likes where he is after stints at Louisville and Miami.

During last month’s A-10 media day, Martin hinted that being a first-year coach contributed to the team’s disappointing record. “Year ones… they’re complicated. You don’t know your team, the people…”  True, first-year coaches like Fran Dunphy at LaSalle, Todd Golden at Florida and Talvin Hester at La. Tech all had losing records last season, but Tobin Anderson (Fairleigh Dickinson), Speedy Claxton (Hofstra) and Chris Gerlufsen (San Francisco) all had winning records.

According to the KenPom preseason computer rankings published by SI.com, UMass is ranked 210th of 362 Division I teams.

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The UMass football team hosts Merrimack today at 3:30 p.m. The Minutemen are seeking their first two-game winning streak in forever after its 21-14 win at Army. Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams had three touchdowns, rushed for 234 yards and bled out the Black Knights with nine straight carries in the final minutes.

Asked if Adams could make an NFL roster next year, a UMass insider said, “No question. He has great cutting ability. He’s physical, he’s fast with low leverage… he’s legit.”

Merrimack, which gets a $300,000 payout to play at UMass, is 4-4 and lost to Holy Cross 42-20 in the season opener.

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The man who coached the last undefeated college basketball team is dead. “Bob Knight understood the game on a level that very few could ever grasp,” said Mike Francesca.

I only met Knight once and that was in the early years of the Springfield Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic. Those were halcyon days when two of college basketball’s best teams came to town to help raise money for a new basketball hall of fame. I saw Michael Jordan play his freshman year at North Carolina, watched Jim Valvano coach the N.C. State Wolfpack before it won the national title and listened to a fast-talking schmoozer who was climbing the broadcast ladder named Dick Vitale.

Knight and I were seated next to each other at the Tip-Off luncheon. He wore a bright red sweater and was cordial, but something about the meal had set him off. He didn’t like the service, or the food, or the napkins, or whatever. He looked at us and said, “Wouldn’t you say they dropped the ball?!” 

We all nodded at the man who began his coaching career at West Point, where his best friend was an assistant football coach named Bill Parcells.

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SQUIBBERS: Two prep school soccer rivals will meet on Wednesday at Mount Hermon where NMH (8-1-3) hosts Deerfield Academy (8-5-1) at 2:30 p.m. … According to cheapism.com, it cost $16.75 for a beer and a hot dog at Fenway Park last season, the most in the majors. Meanwhile it cost just $7.98 for a beer and a dog at Chase Field, home of the NL champion Arizona Diamondbacks. … There was more than glory at stake for the World Series champion Texas Rangers. Last year the Astros got $516,347 per share and the losing Phils each got $296,255, according to Baseball Almanac. … UMass-Lowell won its fourth straight America East cross country championship last weekend. “First time in league history,” said booster John Kennedy. “Coach Gary Gardner is one of the very best in the country.” … Sunday’s Giants versus Jets game, aka the Molasses Bowl, included 24 punts, 23 points, and three-for-32 on third down conversions. … Longtime D-backs fan Alice Cooper did not get to throw out a first pitch in the World Series. The honor on Wednesday went to Phoenix policeman Tyler Moldovan who spent a month on life support after he was shot several times by a career criminal named Essa Williams. … Tongue-twisted John Smoltz after Adolis Garcia strained his back: “These guys are strong and woundly tight.” …  Hockey shootouts aren’t exciting, especially when neither side can score in 18 tries which is what happened last week between Harvard and Dartmouth. If the game ends in a tie, so be it. … Baseball is over, the clocks get turned back tonight and the leaves are down. Winter is upon us until the Dodgers play the Padres on March 20 in Seoul, South Korea. Rogers Hornsby said it best: “People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”

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