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Ponderous thoughts I was pondering while I was watching the workers replace the removable stands in the south end zone at Gillette Stadium:

- Someone asked me Monday morning: "Has this been a dull training camp?"

I guess the answer would have to be yes, it has been rather mundane. But that should make Patriots' fans happy, given that there have been no controversies or distractions to cover.

Reporters covering the Green Bay Packers probably have their hands full because of all the twists and turns in the saga of that Favre fellow. But I can guarantee you that not one single bit of it has been a good thing for the team as they prepare for the season ahead with uncertain leadership and very little fan support for the change that head coach Mike McCarthy wants to make.

If I'm still covering the Patriots in 2018 and Tom Brady decides to retire, then unretire, then retire again and then want to return one more time to compete for the job, I may jump off the nearest bridge - and take him with me. If there is anything at all resembling a "controversy" in the Patriots' camp, it may just be the injury-related challenges to the offensive line. Stephen Neal still recovering from last year's knee surgery - I'm beginning to wonder what the future holds for him - and Matt Light cooling his heels over another one of those "undisclosed" injuries. That may be a nagging concern if we're still seeing Nick Kaczur at left tackle in another few weeks.

But in general, no one's angry, no one's holding out, and no one's whining and crying over that spilled milk from Feb. 3.

It has been, in every sense of the word, a "professional" camp. And that's a good thing.

- From a friend who was on the Red Sox beat for the past weekend: "David Ortiz is not a very good baseball player any more." Seriously, I think the season ended when the Angels came to Fenway and swept the Sox, but I suppose there's still plenty of time left. However, with several holes in the lineup offensively and a middle-relief corps that puts out fires with gasoline, I don't think anyone should be placing an advance order for rings.

- Somebody please tell Paul Pierce that the celebration is over.

- There were probably quite a few Patriots' fans whose eyes glazed over and faces went pale when, in his speech at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, former Patriots' linebacker Andre Tippett thanked former Boston Globe football writer Ron Borges (and called him "the best") for the role the latter played in his enshrinement. It should be noted, however, that Borges - who still has a vote, I believe - doggedly kept Tippett's accomplishments before the Hall of Fame committee even though his playing days ended 15 seasons ago.

Given Tippett's 100 career sacks, and 35 in a two-year period, it certainly lends credence to the argument that the Hall of Fame is too focused upon offensive accomplishments and needs to give defenders a little more of a fair shake. It's amazing it took this long for the Hall to realize that Tippett was the sort of dominant player in the 1980s that we really don't see too often today.

- One other thing about Tippett that younger people may not know: Back in 1985, the Patriots started the season 2-3 and looked just plain awful in a 24-20 loss in Cleveland on Oct. 6. It took a while for the media corps to get anywhere near the tiny locker room in the old Municipal Stadium that day, and the reason was because Tippett was giving his teammates a spirited tongue-lashing over their poor performance.

As fellow linebacker Steve Nelson recalls it, "He really went nuts. It was because he was sick of losing. He realized it was a team that had a lot of talent and we just weren't playing up to our ability.

"We went on a little run after that, and got into the playoffs, and then into the Super Bowl," Nellie continued in an interview on NFL.com. "But I think that whole run was started by Andre's little tirade after the Browns' game. It woke a lot of guys up. Some guys talk and nobody listens, but when Andre talked, because he didn't do a lot of it, people listened." Indeed, the Patriots won six straight games after Tip's tirade and nine of their last 11 to get into the playoffs and eventually reach Super Bowl XX, the first in franchise history.

- Now that Tippett's in the Hall of Fame, and since the Patriots will have several more players enter in the years to come, it's time for the veterans' committee to get on the stick and get Gino Cappelletti into Canton. The Patriots' color commentator on WBCN's broadcasts of the games ended his career as the all-time leading scorer of the American Football League, a distinction he can never lose, and without guys like him who took a chance on the old AFL and stuck with it, the NFL wouldn't be a shadow of what it is today.

- Kudos and congrats to Michael Parente, formerly of the Woonsocket Call, who'll be joining the staff of Patriots Football Weekly this week. Mike's been part of the shrinking media corps that covers the Pats home and away in the past, and he'll be an outstanding addition to the print arm of the Kraft Empire.

- I'm starting to get that itch to cover high school football games again. I hope that's not just a mosquito bite talking, however ... and for the sake of all our local athletes, let's hope those mosquito-borne-illness scares of the last few years are things of the past.

MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com. Read Farinella's blog, "Blogging Fearlessly," at thesunchronicle.com/farinella.