Warren Buffett’s billions safe; and goodbye to Mike Stinson

Idle chatter while waiting to see what happens now that Warren Buffett is safe … and that his $1 billion can be stashed away safely.For those who don’t know, Buffett – one of the nation’s (if not the world’s) richest men – put up $1 billion to see whether anyone could get every single game in this year’s NCAA men’s basketball correct.There may be people who bet Mercer over Duke (though I’d like to find one), Harvard over Cincinnati … and there may be people who thought North Dakota State would beat Oklahoma … or that St. Joseph’s would defeat UConn (such as me), but Day 1 probably did a lot reduce Buffet to a sort of smug satisfaction. I’m sure nobody picked all the upsets … and I’m just as sure there were a couple of other ones that were picked and that did not happen.It was a nice dream.The Tech softball team will be full of nomads this season. Because McManus Field behind the school is being refurbished, the team will play all its games on the road.That’s not horrible. Lynn’s football teams had to go traveling while Manning Field was being redone (though Tech’s’ team did play a few games at McManus).The question is where to the baseball and softball teams practice? Do they go to Barry, which is the closest park to Tech that has regulation fields?If they do, it’ll be a long walk to and from the school for those who don’t drive … and we’re not even talking about getting home to the different points in Lynn afterward.But it’s been done. St. Mary’s used to practice and play its games at Barry – and the football, baseball and softball teams now practice at Gallagher Park.Then again, the teams might just be better off practicing inside the gym. It’s big enough. And in the spring it’s not really used for anything else.Stay tuned.With the departure of Marvin Avery and Fred Hogan, there are obviously going to be a couple of interesting hires coming up in Lynn.Not only are the choices themselves going to be interesting, but in their own ways, both Hogan and (especially) Avery have been almost iconic representatives of their schools.Andy Fila was always good at this. When Ron Bennett left, Fila first hired Joe Caponigro as baseball coach, and he’s turned out to be one of the best things that’s happened at English; and even though the Jack O’Brien hire turned into a fiasco, what came out of it was Buzzy Barton and Mike Carr, who guys who have kept the Bulldogs basketball program on solid ground.It’s not an exaggeration to say these will be two of the most scrutinized hires in the history of Lynn high school sports.While on the subject of English, one of the nice things about this job is that you often meet – and get friendly with – some of the parents of the kids you cover.Four years ago, I was sitting at the scorer’s table at the Boverini basketball tournament, and Mike Stinson sat beside me and told me to watch his daughter.”She’s going to be one of the real good ones by the time she’s all done,” he said to me.At the time, Catherine Stinson was a freshman. Over the course of four years, Catherine proved to be all that and more. She was certainly among the best girls basketball players in English history … and watching her and Brianna Rudolph of St. Mary’s outdo each other on a nightly basis for the battle of Lynn girls hoop supremacy made for an interesting subplot as both schools marched to the TD Garden.Mike died Wednesday night at the age of 51. On one hand, you’re tempted to think of the last time you saw him, which, for me, was at the TD Garden. And that’s when you’re tempted to say that, in retrospect, it was nice that the family was together to celebrate Catherine’s final high school basketball accomplishment.But then you quickly realize that’s small consolation for the loss of a father, husband and a friend.Mike kept the scorebook for the English girls basketball games, and he was always a friendly and helpful face at those games. He was, beyond anything else, a good and decent guy who loved his daughters very muc