Quick hits on a nice evening

Quick hits on a beautiful summer’s evening:The FIFA World Cup starts today. Let’s hope the police in Brazil have their riot gear handy.Brock Holt may nor may not be the next superstar for the Boston Red Sox. But either way, he has a great baseball name.There are three things you can almost count on in this world: death, taxes and the New York Rangers choking.I’d like to see some of the brave souls who nailed LeBron James to the wall play through the type of calf cramps that dehydration can cause. I wonder how brave they’d be then.Tom Brady had – for him – a subpar statistical year in 2013. Whether he is or isn’t among the elite NFL quarterbacks in 2014 is certainly debatable either way. But the person who suggested he might not be isn’t as far out of the ozone as people seem to think. But you take your life in your hands, apparently, if you dare raise questions about him.Minus Jared Sullinger and perhaps Avery Bradley, I’d trade the entire Celtics team en masse for Kevin Love. Not individually. En masse.There could be quite the rivalry developing in the St. Pierre Family in Danvers. Brian is the head football coach at St. John’s Prep. His younger brother Andrew has been named athletic director at Danvers High. Their aunt, Ann Carpenter, is an assistant AD at The Prep.It never worked out for Abrom Roberts at Swampscott High, which is too bad. He’s a good guy who really likes coaching. It doesn’t seem as if athletic director Jon Flanagan – whose son just turned 1 – is interested in the job, but one of the all-time great girls basketball players from Swampscott, Katelyn Leonard, is just down the road in Revere.Love him or hate him, golf is sure a whole lot more boring without Tiger Woods to kick around. Barely stifling a yawn here as the U.S. Open begins today.Colleague Mark Farinella of the Attleboro Sun-Chronicle, who’s been doing this for almost as long as I have, says it’s always nice to see the downtrodden rise up. That’s just one of many reasons why this Revere softball story has been such a great one.A couple of belated condolences, first to Jeff and Jeremy Earp, whose father, Carlton, died last month. Jeremy worked here as a correspondent for a few yeas and Jeff is Mr. Everything for Lynn Babe Ruth.Also, Doctor James Ryan, patriarch of one of Salem’s most prominent families – and father of former Swampscott girls hoop coach Julie Halloran – died last week.Last year was an unexpected gift from the Red Sox to their fans. This year, the scale is trending the other way. That’s fine. Karma works both ways. It’s better not to be too spoiled (though I fear we’re already there).Good for Steve DiLisio. The Swampscott kid made it through two rounds at the Mass. Open, shooting a 77 Wednesday after firing a 71 a day earlier. He was scheduled to be off the first tee at 7:38 this morning – but at least he’s playing.Finally, for all that’s been said, and written, about North Reading baseball coach and Lynn native Frank Carey, the ending should have been better. But on the other hand, having your illustrious coaching career end on a balk points up perfectly the vagaries of the game. And no one understands that better than Carey. Happy retirement, Frank.