Will an NFL lockout ruin the fall? YEA: At least in New England, this sounds like trouble

The avant-garde composer John Cage developed the idea of a musical piece (4’33”) consisting of nothing but silence. No instruments, no singing, just ? silence. This hollow, empty silence is what will resonate this fall – around these parts, at least – if the embattled National Football League brings down the curtains.The Patriots have become as integral a part of New England life as the fried clams that clog our arteries and the rush-hour traffic that clogs I-95. When the leaves begin changing colors, we look forward to watching the Pats on TV ? listening to Gil and Gino ? maybe even going to The Razor. If there is no Patriots season come September, then the whole fall will be boiled down to Prince Hamlet’s description of a somewhat worse situation: “weary, stale, flat and unprofitable.”If there are no Pats, there will be no weekend games to anticipate ? no weeks of wondering how Bill Belichick can outcoach Mike Tomlin or Rex Ryan ? no postgame discussions over how Hoodie has done just that.Football has become fun in New England, and players like Tom Brady, BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Jerod Mayo have ensured that it remains enjoyable and exciting. They continue the tradition of excellence begun by Bill Parcells back in 1993, when he drafted Drew Bledsoe at No. 1 and, in later years, brought in Ty Law, Tedy Bruschi and Lawyer Milloy.Maybe it would be different if these were still the Patsies of the Clive Rush era – if fans were still going to cramped Foxboro Stadium instead of spacious Gillette, if the only thing the team was competing for was the top draft pick. Maybe it would be easier to forget football then.What would be our options if there are no Pats? College football? It doesn’t have the stature in New England that it does in the Midwest, South or West, and it never will, no matter how hard BC tries. Getting pumped about B’s and C’s preseason games? Sorry, hockey and basketball exhibition matchups are even more meaningless than the football preseason.No, what looms before us this fall is the phenomenon that John Cage’s musical contemporaries, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, described so well: “The Sound of Silence.”Rich Tenorio is the Item’s sports copy editor.