College hoops opens, Gronk visits Providence, Taylor & Travis... and thank you, Tito.

Thinking out loud … while wondering if pushing the "up" button on an elevator three times really puts it into "hurry-up" mode.

∎ Hey, last week was the first day and first week of college hoop practice, with the squeaking of sneaks and tweaking of twine not far away. Happy New Year!

∎ And happy birthday, Providence coach Kim English. He turned 35 last week, ready to embark on one of the biggest, most important journeys of his young life thus far. Just sayin’.

∎ Did you see where Gronk attended a Friar practice last week? Yup, Rob Gronkowski got in a pretty solid workout at the Ruane Friar Development Center, and from watching the video, he’d be an impressive presence at power forward for someone.

Didn’t he only play football for three years at Arizona? Hmm.

∎ Late Night Madness is the official "unofficial" start to the season this weekend at PC, with the men’s and women’s basketball teams having some fun with a homecoming crowd on Saturday night at the AMP. URI’s Homecoming Hoopfest will tip off on Oct. 13 for Year Two of Archie Miller, with nine new scholarship players on the roster.

∎ Still thinking in the Big East: 1, Marquette; 2, UConn; 3, Creighton; 4, Villanova; 5, St. John’s; 6, Providence; 7, Xavier; 8, Seton Hall; 9, Georgetown; 10, Butler; 11, DePaul. Tell me where this is off?

∎ Biggest non-story of the week — Mac Jones’ alleged “cup check” of the Jets’ Sauce Gardner. Really? You ever been in a football pile-up? There’s more groping going on in there than a Saturday night at the drive-in movies.

More: 3 big takeaways from Patriots' 15-10 win over Jets

∎ Jabrill Peppers sets a tone for the Patriots’ defense. Strength-wise. Leadership-wise. Watch him play. This “D” might have their next Devin McCourty.

Oh, and this Patriots “D” might also have their next star in Christian Gonzalez. Gonzo is a silent assassin at cornerback. Not big on talking, yet — but he can move, stick and make the play before the receiver knows what hit him. Looking forward to his matchup with Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb.

And Brendan Schooler is putting the “special” in special teams. Hey, Zach Wilson was terrible at QB last week for the Jets, but he also had to face a better-than-just-decent Patriots defense.

∎ X post of the Week, from @PatsCap: “In their first three games, the Patriots have had eight different offensive linemen start. That has happened only once [the 2017 season] before during the Bill Belichick era. Would be nice to get some continuity both short term and long term on the offensive line.”

∎ If you believe in Pro Football Focus stats, Trent Brown was the No. 1-graded offensive tackle in the NFL last week, and David Andrews was No. 7 at center. So that’s a start.

∎ Did You Know: The NFL’s top two teams in value face off this week? The Dallas Cowboys, says Forbes, are worth $9 billion, with more than $500 million in operating income. The Patriots are second in value, worth $7 billion, and third in operating income at $206 million, behind the Cowboys and New York Giants.

∎ The Swifty Effect: Travis Kelce added 325,000 Instagram followers on social media last week, now totaling more than 3 million. This is, of course, after having Taylor Swift show up and scream for him as he scored a meaningless touchdown against the Chicago Bears.

∎ His jersey also has overtaken Patrick Mahomes’ as the NFL’s top seller. There was a 63% jump in female football watchers, ages 18-49, last week.

∎ Hey, Taylor? Especially since you keep a residence in Lil’ Rhody, how about a lil’ love for Providence College, whose students will undoubtedly keep singing your songs at games this next season in the AMP?

∎ Former Friar guard A.J. Reeves is learning about life in the pros, if he hasn’t already: He was traded to the G League Long Island Nets from the Maine Celtics.

∎ Breathe in deeply — hold it: Cannabinoids might be coming off the list of banned substances by the NCAA. The Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects (there is such a thing) has recommended their removal from the list of banned drug classes.

This would, of course, mirror society on a larger level with the legalization of marijuana in 18 states, two territories and the District of Columbia. Now exhale.

∎ If you think the transfer portal, NIL and conference realignment are hurting college sports, and maybe college football in particular, think again. Viewership among all channels carrying college football is up 14% over last year. More than 20 million people watched college football last Saturday night alone, which is more than watched the NFL on Sunday night.

∎ Great win for Bryant football in beating Princeton in OT last week, the first non-Ivy loss for the Tigers in six years. The Bulldogs play at 25th-ranked URI this week, likely a little upset after losing to Villanova.

∎ Bryant hoops opens on Nov. 6 against Manhattan, but get this nonleague slate — at Rutgers, at national runner-up Florida Atlantic, at Xavier, at Cincinnati, OIe Miss and at Brown. But no URI.

∎ My buddy, “Big E,” says that with the rise in self-driving vehicles on the road, it’s only a matter of time before we get a country song about a guy whose truck leaves him, too.

∎ Know what was truly amazing about the 70 points Miami hung on Denver last Sunday? Mike McDaniel allegedly declined to go for a field goal toward the end — because if they made it, that would have set a single-game NFL scoring record.

∎ Shades of Sammy Baugh: Hall of Famer Baugh and his then-Washington Redskins lost to George Halas and the Chicago Bears, 73-0, in the 1940 NFL Championship Game. After the game, Baugh was asked what might have happened if his team’s first drive had resulted in a touchdown. He replied: "What? The score would have been 73–7."

∎ There have been only four games in league history with the winning side scoring 70 points or more. I thought Miami was the fastest NFL team I’d ever seen in person two weeks ago against the Patriots — and today, the Broncos hardly know what hit them.

∎ If you’re one of those who struggles to find shows and sporting events, like football, on your TV, this ain’t exactly good news: Thursday Night Football audiences on Amazon Prime are growing, showing that fans are getting used to streaming.

∎ The first two TNF games this season outdrew every TNF game last season in total number of viewers. Better to embrace the horror than miss out on the big games?

∎ It shouldn’t be surprising that players’ unions in the NFL, NHL and MLB supported the Writers Guild strike. Their push for improved compensation and job protections in the middle of all the talk about artificial intelligence makes sense. It also reopens revenue streams for media companies and agencies that sponsor and support professional leagues and teams.

∎ Not for nothin’, but several companies with extensive sports media ties also saw their stocks rise in initial Monday trading this week, including Amazon, Apple and Netflix.

∎ A staple of the Red Sox over the last few years — long games — seems to be waning throughout MLB. There have been only nine nine-inning games played this season to exceed 3 hours and 30 minutes in length. Just two years ago, before rule changes, there were 390 such games.

∎ Save the Sox? Sure, they’ve now had three losing seasons in the last four — yup, told ya’ so — but glad to see we haven’t forgotten to save baseball, too.

∎ Thanks, Terry Francona, for keeping things real, for engaging with media, and for those two World Series championships you helped bring to a starving region.

∎ Brooks Robinson didn’t save baseball for me as a kid but he certainly was a major part of it. I played third base in Little League and always tried to play like Robinson and pretended to be him, even if I wasn’t the best at it. But he gave me something to shoot for — with my Brooks Robinson-model glove, and I will forever hold those memories close.

Perhaps the greatest defensive third baseman in history, Robinson died last week at age 86.

∎ Minor league baseball is getting a new address in the area — Brockton, Mass. While the Rox will still play in the summer collegiate Futures League, a new Frontier League team (Single A) will also call the City of Champions home.

∎ Received the news last week that former WJAR-TV news anchor Ginger Casey had died at age 68 after an illness. Had the honor and pleasure of working with her during the 1990s at Channel 10. She was classy. I recall how professional and relaxed she was when then-President Clinton visited the Cranston studios for a live Town Hall meeting. Godspeed, Ginger.

∎ If you recall the days of Pete Gillen coaching at PC, then you might remember the name of Rick Cordella. Rick was a walk-on for the Friars during their Elite Eight run in 1997, and a valuable practice piece of the puzzle, for guys like Austin Croshere, God Shammgod, Jamel Thomas, Ruben Garces and Derrick Brown.

Hope those guys were nice to him. This week, Rick was named as the new president of NBC Sports. Congrats, Rick. How’s that for moving on up?

∎ Speaking of moving on up: Grab your ankles, the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission approved a rate hike last week, so your electric bill is likely to move on up this winter, too. Need to push the "down" button on that elevator ride the utilities are on, amiright?

Interested in having your questions on Rhode Island sports (and yes, that includes the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Think out loud and send your questions, comments and local stories to jrbroadcaster@gmail.com. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/threads right here! Join me on Twitter/X, @JRbroadcaster; on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke; and on Instagram and Threads @JRbroadcaster.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence basketball Gronkowski Taylor Swift Travis Kelce Francona