Good morning!
Former Turners Falls High School football coach Donald Russell died on Feb. 2 in Plano, Texas, at the age of 93. He was born in Quincy and graduated from Bates College in 1951 where he was a two-way tackle for coach Raymond “Duckie” Pond.

Russell taught for a few years in Maine at Hollis High School and Thornton Academy in Saco, but football was in his blood and he came to the Powertown in 1955 to teach and coach at TFHS.

“It’s been so long,” said Stash Koscinski, “but I liked him. The coaches were always friendly with us.”

Russell left for Connecticut in 1960 to coach the Wesleyan University freshman football team. As fate would have it, Powertown natives Warren Thomas and John Zwyna had both been accepted to Wesleyan and followed him to Middletown.

Five years later, Russell became the head coach and in six seasons racked up a 37-19 (.661) record, including 8-0 in 1969. It remains the best career win percentage in the Cardinals’ record book.

Russell’s coaching tenure paralleled the Vietnam War, and American soldiers were dying in southeast Asia. “All of this took place during tumultuous years on campus with demonstrations, bomb threats, and sit-ins,” reported Wesleyan’s public relations department. “The year the football team went undefeated, Wesleyan had to get a restraining order to prevent a demonstration from interfering with the Homecoming game with Williams.”

Russell hung up the clipboard to take over the physical education department. Otherwise, he would’ve coached Jock Burns, who played for Jim Smith at Deerfield Academy, and Bill Belichick, who played for coach Steve Sorota during Andover’s undefeated season in 1970.

At Wesleyan, Russell helped form the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), was a president of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and was influential in helping women’s athletics get off the ground under Title IX.

In September, his former players got together to honor him via Zoom. “He became ill shortly after that,” said Thomas. “He was highly regarded and very well respected.”

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The last time I saw Charlie Olchowski was during the Frozen Four in Buffalo. Charlie skated for Harvard during the filming of “Love Story” but was never mistaken for Ryan O’Neal. He sent me a donut-related text this week that said, “You [already] pegged them to be the best, didn’t you?”

He was referring to Donut Dip, which was named the best donut shop in the state by Food & Wine. They liked the cider donuts and hot cross donuts that are made during Lent, which starts Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17. I prefer the powdered crullers, but outside away from the car.

Donut Dip is on Riverdale Road in West Springfield. It opened on July 5, 1957, and was inspired by other franchises like Krispy Kreme (1937), Dunkin Donuts (1950) and Tim Horton’s (1954).

Owner Dick Shields said his father couldn’t think of a name for his store. “We came up with Good Donuts, Donut Delight, Dandy Donut, finally a salesman said how about Donut Dip?”

And a donut shop was born.

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Charlie Weis was the Patriots offensive coordinator when Tom Brady won his first Super Bowl. This week he told Sirius-XM’s Bob Papa: “During the game, I sent him a text, not so much about the Super Bowl but about life and how he carries himself. He’s been inundated by everyone in the free world but sure enough this morning, I wake up, pick up the phone, and there’s a message from him. He probably did the same thing with a thousand other people, made them feel important. That’s why No. 12 from Tampa is just different.”

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Sports Illustrated senior writer Ben Reiter narrates a podcast called Edge that recounts his ill fated prediction that the hapless Astros would win the 2017 World Series. He wrote it in 2014, while they were accumulating enough first round talent to make a run at the flag.

Five years later, the accolades turned to derision when former ’Stros pitcher Mike Fiers revealed the team’s sign stealing scheme to The Athletic. Spies used a centerfield camera to steal the catcher’s sign and banged a trash to tip off hitters what was coming.

Reiter tracked down Blue Jays reliever Mike Bolsinger, a 15th-round pick who signed a $1,000 signing bonus ($667 after taxes). In Houston before 39,287 fans on Aug. 4, 2017, Bolsinger allowed four runs, four hits and three walks. He cleaned out his locker before the game was over, correctly assuming he’d be demoted to Triple-A Buffalo.

The cheating scandal ruined his career. It was his last major league appearance and “the most embarrassing night of my life.”

The six-episode podcast is presented by Cadence 13 and Prologue Projects and is being streamed on radio.com.

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SQUIBBERS: Nobody asked but seven-inning doubleheaders are for college, and putting a runner on second base in extra innings is for Wiffle Ball. … Our cold winter bodes well for maple sugaring, unlike last year when the finished product looked like molasses. … Happy days for Greenfield native Ryan Benjamin, the Bucs’ long snapper in 2002 and 2003. He grew up playing youth ball with two other future pros, Chris Corrinet (NHL) and Peter Bergeron (MLB). … WFAN’s Danielle McCartain cut off a caller who tried to impress her with details about the previous night’s Knicks game. “Eddie, we can read our own box score,” said McCartan, who has a sports cred that Sirius-XM’s Shae Peppler sorely lacks during her shows with Charlie Weis. … Five wins in six games for Matt McCall’s Minutemen, who outscored URI 27-0 from beyond the arc in last weekend’s 75-63 win in Kingston. … In case you’re wondering, this year’s Frozen Four is April 8-10 in Pittsburgh, a day trip from Amherst. … UMass students are upset they have to stay in their dorms, but it could be worse. When the pandemic hit in China, college students were also forced to stay inside and officials locked the doors from the outside. … So long, Andrew Benintendi. His batting slump may have been the result of always fouling the ball off his ankle. That had to hurt, and it probably made him gun shy. … Jason Blewitt oughta think about using a pseudonym for his job. He is a Gulfstream Park handicapper. … Dartmouth College recently reinstated its men’s and women’s golf teams, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Hanover Country Club from staying shuttered. … Who got the best out of Jon Lester, the Red Sox or Cubs? Percentage-wise it’s a tie. Lester was 110-63 with the Red Sox and 77-44 with the Cubs. Both records compute to a .635 win percentage. Lester signed a one-year deal with the Nationals and needs seven wins to reach 200. … Regarding Boston’s Big Three at the point, Ray Bourque scored 410 goals, Bobby Orr potted 268 and Zdeno Chara netted 150. Just saying. … Deposed Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen is CEO of Roc Nation Sports owned by rapper Jay-Z. The slick talking agent will long be remembered for trying to get over on the Big Apple media. During a summer swoon after predicting the Mets would win the NL East, Van Wagenen was unruffled. “Our optimism,” he said, “has to be adjusted.”

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