The Owner's Box

Host Mark Farinella flies solo to explain why it's been more than a month since his last podcast. It's been a rough patch around The Owner's Box lately as a result of a personal tragedy and some nagging health issues, but things are looking up. Farinella also talks about the end of his third season as a play-by-play announcer and hints at what may be in store for the podcast.

Ray Martel, the executive producer of New York Mets baseball broadcasts on WCBS in New York City, visits host Mark Farinella to talk about the changes in sports broadcasting -- including announcing games from remote locations instead of the ballparks -- that were wrought by the year-long coronavirus pandemic. They also tackle the question of whether some of these cost-saving methods might become p...

Host Mark Farinella and his North TV football broadcast partner Glen Farley exercise their lungs before a recent high school game by shouting over the pre-game music to discuss the state of school sports in Massachusetts after the "Fall II" season created as a response to COVID-19. There's also a Final Rant about the upcoming NFL Draft.

Host Mark Farinella speaks with two football coaches in southeastern Massachusetts, North Attleboro High's Don Johnson and Attleboro High's Mike Strachan , about how the communities rallied to support their football teams following the cancellation of the 100th annual Thanksgiving game in November. The teams will play in North Attleboro on April 24 to celebrate the Rocketeers' football centennial,...

Host Mark Farinella welcomes Norwood (Mass.) High School boys' basketball coach Kristen McDonnell on her third visit to The Owner's Box. McDonnell, a four-time state champion girls' basketball coach who took over Norwood's boys' team last year, talks about the progress the 9-2 Mustangs made in the recently-concluded, COVID-shortened 2021 basketball season, as well as various other basketball-relat...

Host Mark Farinella gets a different perspective on the pandemic from Foxborough (Mass.) High School's Katelyn Mollica, one of the best basketball players in Massachusetts. Starting in March with the cancellation of a state championship game, the senior guard and her teammates were faced with the unique challenges of losing personal contact with each other, worrying if their careers would end a ye...

Host Mark Farinella welcomes former Xaverian Brothers (Westwood, Mass.) High School basketball coach Alex Salachi, his broadcast partner for King Philip Regional High basketball cablecasts om North TV and select Mansfield games on Mansfield Cable Access, to preview the upcoming season for the four teams they regularly cover and to discuss some of the changes in the game wrought by the ongoing COVI...

Host Mark Farinella chats with Adelphi University women's basketball coach (and Bishop Feehan High School alumna) Missy Traversi about her efforts to get a new season underway while still coping with the ongoing threat of the coronavirus pandemic -- the same one that called an abrupt halt to a 27-3 season back in March.

Host Mark Farinella welcomes Foxborough (Mass.) High School girls' basketball coach Lisa Downs to The Owner's Box for the fourth time to talk about the uncertainty surrounding plans for a winter sports season in Massachusetts, and how that is impacting her athletes.

Host Mark Farinella flies solo to address the issues that formed his decision in the 2020 presidential election. Then he shifts gears and discusses the alarming possibility that the resurgence of the COVID-19 crisis may sidetrack plans for high school sports in Massachusetts' winter season.

Host Mark Farinella kicks off the second season of "The Owner's Box" with a discussion of the dumpster fire that is the 2020 Boston Red Sox with baseball reporter and author Maureen Mullen, a return guest. They talk baseball and the current state of journalism, and we get an update about Maureen's athletically gifted nephews and niece.

Host Mark Farinella dusts off the archives and finds quotes from Foxboro High girls' basketball coach Lisa Downs , former Xaverian Brothers High coach Alex Salachi and Norwood High boys' coach Kristen McDonnell that hinted to a recent action by the state's governing board for high school sports to delay putting MaxPreps in charge of power-seeding Massachusetts tournaments. Also, Mark adds a Final...

Athlete, coach and musician Paul Souza , a former resident of Mansfield, Mass., talks with host Mark Farinella about his recent battle with and recovery from the coronavirus. Souza, now living in Indianapolis, also talks about his plans to get back behind the microphone with a new band.

Author Christopher Price , a former beat writer covering the New England Patriots and current Boston Globe web editor, stops by The Owner's Box to chat with host Mark Farinella about his published works, including "The Blueprint" and "Drive for Five" about the Patriots, and a forthcoming work about the history of the Hartford Whalers, due at booksellers in 2022.

Foxborough (Mass.) High School girls' basketball coach Lisa Downs returns to the podcast to talk with host Mark Farinella about her team's state Division 2 championship, the effects of the coronavirus lockdown on her preparation for a new season, and her work with her community's food pantry during this time of crisis.

Host Mark Farinella chats with Mike Redding, veteran head football coach and former head girls' basketball coach of Mansfield (Mass.) High School, about football, roundball and his new job as the school's athletic director. Plus, a special remembrance of a former MHS football coach, the late E.B. Cunningham.

Host Mark Farinella chats with a long-time friend, Ed Berliner , the former host of a trend-setting nightly show called "Sports Pulse" on Comcast-New England's CN8 channel. A veteran news and sports anchor in several cities, Berliner now runs a media consulting firm and is the host of the video podcast, "The Man in the Arena."

Host Mark Farinella is visited by Holy Cross basketball standout Lauren Manis, the only player in school history regardless of gender to score 2,000 career points and grab 1,000 career rebounds. Manis talks about her dedication to self-improvement, her reasons for not transferring midway through her career, and the bittersweet ending of her senior season when the COVID-19 crisis canceled the Patri...

Adelphi University women's basketball coach Missy Traversi joins host Mark Farinella to talk about the abrupt, coronavirus-related cancellation of the NCAA basketball tournaments, and also what changes are being made in recruiting plans and procedures during the ongoing crisis.

The television "voice" of the Boston Bruins, Jack Edwards, stops by The Owner's Box to talk with host Mark Farinella about the interruption in the National Hockey League season, what ramifications that could have for the Bruins and NHL going forward, and he offers Farinella some tips on doing play-by-play.

Norwood (Mass.) High School boys' basketball coach Kristen McDonnell returns to The Owner's Box, chatting with host Mark Farinella about her first season at the Mustangs' helm, as well as touching on other big news from the recently concluded season.

NFL Network producer Lisa Edwards led one of just two reporting crews allowed inside Gillette Stadium on St. Patrick's Day when Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady announced he would not return to the team after 20 seasons. Edwards returns to the podcast to tell host Mark Farinella about the unique experience, made even more difficult by the COVID-19 crisis.

Host Mark Farinella welcomes Alex Salachi, former head coach of the Xaverian Brothers High School basketball team and current treasurer of the Massachusetts Basketball Coaches Association, to discuss the role of the coaches' group. They also chat about some of the sweeping changes coming to Mass. high school sports in the future.

Foxborough (Mass.) High School girls' basketball coach Lisa Downs pays her second visit to The Owner's Box, where she and host Mark Farinella talk about the upcoming state tournament, as well as several controversial proposals that would change how champions are crowned in Massachusetts.

NFL Network field producer Lisa Edwards is host Mark Farinella's guest, explaining what it takes to get the news of the league into your homes, as well as much, much more.