Suzy Anderson recalls the days when everyone skied- John C.L. Morgan
in Aroostook County. She and her friends skied to school. They wore their ski
boots in class, and skied after school. They competed in winter carnivals and
raced each other on weekends. Then Anderson left northern Maine to go to
college. When she returned in 1974, the skis had disappeared. They'd been
replaced by gas-powered snowmobiles. "None of the kids were skiing. There was no
skiing whatsoever. It was because of the snowmobiles," Anderson recalled.
"Skiing was essentially over."
Showing posts with label maine sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maine sports. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Snowmobiles Killed the Skiing Star
AP:
Friday, August 6, 2010
Westbrook Couple Helps Disoriented Beach to Beacon Runner
PPH:
With limited ability to speak English, [Wude] Ayalew somehow encountered a- John C.L. Morgan
couple from Saco visiting [Fort Williams]. They called a friend in Westbrook,
Kiros Alemtsehay, who is originally from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.
"She was scared," Alemtsehay said. "I told them, just keep her there. I'll come
and get her." Before long, Ayalew was in Westbrook meeting Alemtsehay's wife
Jessica and their two children. After a few phone calls, [Tracy] Sesselberg
drove out to Westbrook and picked up her wayward runner.
Monday, June 28, 2010
On Vintage Base Ball
PPH:
- John C.L. Morgan
Related: The Presumpscots of Cumberland Mills (April 9, 2009)
Related: Prince of the Poor Man's Media: Or, This Week's Episode in Shameless Promotion (April 6, 2009)
Related: The Sportswriter: Boston Red Sox (July 29, 2008)
The players of the Dirigo Vintage Base Ball Club of Augusta -- or ballists, asAnyone who hasn't seen the old Conan O'Brien skit on old-time ballists can check it out here.
they were called in the 1860s--hefted long, narrow bats and waited their turn to
strike. "I love baseball and I love history," said Rohman, a Civil War
re-enactor. He organized the Dirigo side five years ago after researching
everything from the rules of the period, the uniforms and the terminology.
- John C.L. Morgan
Related: The Presumpscots of Cumberland Mills (April 9, 2009)
Related: Prince of the Poor Man's Media: Or, This Week's Episode in Shameless Promotion (April 6, 2009)
Related: The Sportswriter: Boston Red Sox (July 29, 2008)
Monday, April 13, 2009
On Scarborough Downs
At the risk of turning this Web site into vice central, I encourage you to ring in the new season at Scarborough Downs with my small stable of past posts about the racetrack:
Why You Should be a Scarborough Downer (April 25, 2008)
On Location: Scarborough Downs (April 15, 2008)
- John C.L. Morgan
Why You Should be a Scarborough Downer (April 25, 2008)
On Location: Scarborough Downs (April 15, 2008)
- John C.L. Morgan
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Roger Levesque Inks with Seattle Sounders FC
Apropos of nothing but my willingness to plug America's domestic soccer league and Maine soccer players done good, Falmouth High graduate Roger Levesque has signed a contract with the Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer (MLS).
Levesque, who was an All-American twice during his stint at Stanford University, was drafted by an MLS team in 2003, but had played for the Seattle team in the second division from 2004 to 2008.
The Sounders begin their inaugural season (and MLS's thirteenth season) tonight against the New York Red Bulls at 9p. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
- John C.L. Morgan
Related: The Sportswriter: Thoughts on Tonight's U.S. vs. Mexico World Cup Qualifier (February 11, 2009)
Related: Blue Blazes Booter Signs with Stanford University (February 5, 2009)
Related: The Sportswriter: Three Ideas for a Better American Soccer Fan (November 1, 2008)
Levesque, who was an All-American twice during his stint at Stanford University, was drafted by an MLS team in 2003, but had played for the Seattle team in the second division from 2004 to 2008.
The Sounders begin their inaugural season (and MLS's thirteenth season) tonight against the New York Red Bulls at 9p. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
- John C.L. Morgan
Related: The Sportswriter: Thoughts on Tonight's U.S. vs. Mexico World Cup Qualifier (February 11, 2009)
Related: Blue Blazes Booter Signs with Stanford University (February 5, 2009)
Related: The Sportswriter: Three Ideas for a Better American Soccer Fan (November 1, 2008)
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Sox Blogs
The view outside your window notwithstanding, baseball season unofficially kicked off this week, as Red Sox pitchers and catchers have reported for spring training.
So, for what's it worth, I recommend Full Circuit Clout, a old-timey blog (the only performance-enhancing drug you'll read about there is Duffy's Pure Malt Whiskey) that has thankfully stirred from its winter slumber, and Kevin Thomas's Clearing the Bases, the Press Herald blog that mixes Sox tidbits with Dog news.
- John C.L. Morgan
Related: Taylor Smith's Ideas for a Better Westbrook
Related: The Sportswriter: Boston Red Sox
So, for what's it worth, I recommend Full Circuit Clout, a old-timey blog (the only performance-enhancing drug you'll read about there is Duffy's Pure Malt Whiskey) that has thankfully stirred from its winter slumber, and Kevin Thomas's Clearing the Bases, the Press Herald blog that mixes Sox tidbits with Dog news.
- John C.L. Morgan
Related: Taylor Smith's Ideas for a Better Westbrook
Related: The Sportswriter: Boston Red Sox
Monday, January 26, 2009
Three Reasons
(Editor's Note: A Maine Principals' Association (MPA) committee is scheduled to discuss and probably vote on a number of proposals affecting high school sports in Maine later today. Though I think there are a handful of other reasons to find most of the proposals distasteful, the three listed below are, I believe, the most compelling.)
Scope of financial savings is unclear
Speaking on WJAB's "Weekend Jab" last weekend (sorry, the interview isn't archived), Cheverus High School athletic director Gary Hoyt estimated the three ideas--reducing the regular season schedule by two, limiting non-countable games to two, and limiting the number of playoff-eligible teams in Heal point sports--would save his school between $5,500 and $7,500 per year, but added that such savings do not take into account the possible losses in revenue from gate receipts and tournament earnings (Hoyt mentioned a pre-season hockey tournament that yields approximately $9,000).
Lewiston High School athletic director Jason Fuller and Kennebunk High athletic director Marty Ryan echoed Hoyt's findings. Fuller, paraphased in a January 18 Lewiston Sun Journal article: "Cutting games will save money, but the savings are minimized by lost gate receipts and concession sales, Fuller said." And Ryan, quoted in a January 25 Portland Press Herald story: "Kennebunk's Ryan calculated his school would save $6,100 if those measures are passed. 'But,' he quickly added, 'at the same time we'd lose some revenue, because of lost (home) games.'"
And Westbrook Schools superintendent Stan Sawyer, writing in an American Journal op-ed last week (sorry, no link) states: "[The MPA's] proposal is not the most effective way to address the financial issues we are facing in school sports. On the contrary, we strongly believe that [their] approach will not find much savings, if any."
To be sure, the plural of anecdote is not data. But I've waded through the most informational media mentions these proposals have garnered and do not recall reading or hearing even one proponent (come to think of it, I think the MPA executive director Dick Durost has been the only full-throated proponent on record) cite specific--or general, for that matter--dollar figures in regards to savings. Moreover, claims that some schools would be forced to chop whole sport programs if these proposals aren't enacted have only been vague and unspecified.
The proposal to limit the number of non-countable games is misguided
Though Durost has always framed the issue of non-countable games as a question of fairness (it is not fair, the argument goes, to allow one deep-pocketed school to play, say, seven non-countable games, while a less-fortunate school can afford only two exhibition games), it should be seen through an economic lens. Consider, for example, the Maine High School Invitational Hockey Tournament. Besides occupying southern Maine's ice arenas during what I assume is a relatively slow holiday season, this year's edition included twenty-four (by my count) non-Maine teams. That means Maine's service sector--hotels, restaurants, shops--were able to reserve hotel rooms, fill bellies, and sell goods that otherwise would not have been occupied, eaten, or sold. Paradoxically, the MPA is pushing for the reduction of a yet-to-be-determined amount of tax dollars by eliminating an event that, well, generates tax dollars.
Now, to be fair, this event is an outlier among non-countable events, but it is emblematic of the positive economic and competitive impacts non-countable exhibitions and tournaments yield for various programs. Booster programs' coffers are bolstered (Westbrook's soccer boosters, for example, benefit from the annual Calpine pre-season tournament the Blue Blazes host each August) and teams willingly travel to various tournaments to play a cost-efficient number of extra games, often against teams they would otherwise not compete against.
Why do I get the feeling that this is the response you'd receive if you pressed the proponents of this proposal for even a rudimentary cost-benefit analysis surrounding the implementation of this idea?
Reducing the number of countable games would set a dangerous precedent and perhaps begin (continue?) Maine high school sports' march toward irrelevance
Despite my lack of legal training, I appreciate the power of precedent. The gradual revamping of the football schedule, for example, ensures the idea of Westbrook traveling to Bangor for a season-opening game (as they did in the 1970s) no longer passes the straight-face test. And I understand the past death of New England championships for team sports ensures I'll probably never match my late father's accomplishment of winning a New England championship in soccer (he played on the 1972 Gorham Rams team that defeated Massachusetts's Cathedral High, 2-0). I get that. Indeed, it is this respect for the power of precedence--coupled, of course, with the seemingly dubious claims of savings--that causes me to balk at the proposal for a reduction in countable games.
As it stands today, there are fourteen games in a soccer season and eighteen in each basketball and ice hockey. So, if the proposal to reduce the number of countable games was enacted, there would 12, 16, and 16 games in each season, respectively. Now, who's to say that next year or two years from now, the number of countable games won't be pared even smaller? Or, that five years from now I won't find myself in a similar position arguing why eight games for a regular season in soccer is too few? This, I am afraid, is not merely an academic exercise. The three sports I cited--soccer, basketball, and ice hockey--are particularly vulnerable to encroachment by non-school sports programs (read: club soccer, AAU or club basketball, and junior hockey). And though I may be wading in hyperbole--and, frankly, I hope I am being hyperbolic--I am concerned a reduction in games--and the precedence it sets--for each of these sports poses an existential threat, a gradual slouching toward irrelevance.
High school sports in Maine already face a daunting challenge recruiting demand for its product (this is, after all, the age of niche entertainment), so why would its supposed protectors enact policies that would weaken its supply, especially when the prospects for actual savings are so relatively small, if they even exist at all?
- John C.L. Morgan
Disclosure: I've been an assistant coach in Westbrook's soccer program for the last two years.
Scope of financial savings is unclear
Speaking on WJAB's "Weekend Jab" last weekend (sorry, the interview isn't archived), Cheverus High School athletic director Gary Hoyt estimated the three ideas--reducing the regular season schedule by two, limiting non-countable games to two, and limiting the number of playoff-eligible teams in Heal point sports--would save his school between $5,500 and $7,500 per year, but added that such savings do not take into account the possible losses in revenue from gate receipts and tournament earnings (Hoyt mentioned a pre-season hockey tournament that yields approximately $9,000).
Lewiston High School athletic director Jason Fuller and Kennebunk High athletic director Marty Ryan echoed Hoyt's findings. Fuller, paraphased in a January 18 Lewiston Sun Journal article: "Cutting games will save money, but the savings are minimized by lost gate receipts and concession sales, Fuller said." And Ryan, quoted in a January 25 Portland Press Herald story: "Kennebunk's Ryan calculated his school would save $6,100 if those measures are passed. 'But,' he quickly added, 'at the same time we'd lose some revenue, because of lost (home) games.'"
And Westbrook Schools superintendent Stan Sawyer, writing in an American Journal op-ed last week (sorry, no link) states: "[The MPA's] proposal is not the most effective way to address the financial issues we are facing in school sports. On the contrary, we strongly believe that [their] approach will not find much savings, if any."
To be sure, the plural of anecdote is not data. But I've waded through the most informational media mentions these proposals have garnered and do not recall reading or hearing even one proponent (come to think of it, I think the MPA executive director Dick Durost has been the only full-throated proponent on record) cite specific--or general, for that matter--dollar figures in regards to savings. Moreover, claims that some schools would be forced to chop whole sport programs if these proposals aren't enacted have only been vague and unspecified.
The proposal to limit the number of non-countable games is misguided
Though Durost has always framed the issue of non-countable games as a question of fairness (it is not fair, the argument goes, to allow one deep-pocketed school to play, say, seven non-countable games, while a less-fortunate school can afford only two exhibition games), it should be seen through an economic lens. Consider, for example, the Maine High School Invitational Hockey Tournament. Besides occupying southern Maine's ice arenas during what I assume is a relatively slow holiday season, this year's edition included twenty-four (by my count) non-Maine teams. That means Maine's service sector--hotels, restaurants, shops--were able to reserve hotel rooms, fill bellies, and sell goods that otherwise would not have been occupied, eaten, or sold. Paradoxically, the MPA is pushing for the reduction of a yet-to-be-determined amount of tax dollars by eliminating an event that, well, generates tax dollars.
Now, to be fair, this event is an outlier among non-countable events, but it is emblematic of the positive economic and competitive impacts non-countable exhibitions and tournaments yield for various programs. Booster programs' coffers are bolstered (Westbrook's soccer boosters, for example, benefit from the annual Calpine pre-season tournament the Blue Blazes host each August) and teams willingly travel to various tournaments to play a cost-efficient number of extra games, often against teams they would otherwise not compete against.
Why do I get the feeling that this is the response you'd receive if you pressed the proponents of this proposal for even a rudimentary cost-benefit analysis surrounding the implementation of this idea?
Reducing the number of countable games would set a dangerous precedent and perhaps begin (continue?) Maine high school sports' march toward irrelevance
Despite my lack of legal training, I appreciate the power of precedent. The gradual revamping of the football schedule, for example, ensures the idea of Westbrook traveling to Bangor for a season-opening game (as they did in the 1970s) no longer passes the straight-face test. And I understand the past death of New England championships for team sports ensures I'll probably never match my late father's accomplishment of winning a New England championship in soccer (he played on the 1972 Gorham Rams team that defeated Massachusetts's Cathedral High, 2-0). I get that. Indeed, it is this respect for the power of precedence--coupled, of course, with the seemingly dubious claims of savings--that causes me to balk at the proposal for a reduction in countable games.
As it stands today, there are fourteen games in a soccer season and eighteen in each basketball and ice hockey. So, if the proposal to reduce the number of countable games was enacted, there would 12, 16, and 16 games in each season, respectively. Now, who's to say that next year or two years from now, the number of countable games won't be pared even smaller? Or, that five years from now I won't find myself in a similar position arguing why eight games for a regular season in soccer is too few? This, I am afraid, is not merely an academic exercise. The three sports I cited--soccer, basketball, and ice hockey--are particularly vulnerable to encroachment by non-school sports programs (read: club soccer, AAU or club basketball, and junior hockey). And though I may be wading in hyperbole--and, frankly, I hope I am being hyperbolic--I am concerned a reduction in games--and the precedence it sets--for each of these sports poses an existential threat, a gradual slouching toward irrelevance.
High school sports in Maine already face a daunting challenge recruiting demand for its product (this is, after all, the age of niche entertainment), so why would its supposed protectors enact policies that would weaken its supply, especially when the prospects for actual savings are so relatively small, if they even exist at all?
- John C.L. Morgan
Disclosure: I've been an assistant coach in Westbrook's soccer program for the last two years.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
The Sportswriter: Why Linemen Don't Win More Fitzpatrick Trophies
"Those five guys, they pave the road for us to run. We do the easy part, they do the hard part. It takes real men to do what they do for us." - New York Giants running back Derrick Ward, talking about his offensive line in October 2007.
In his January 23 column, Press Herald sports columnist Steve Solloway laments the fact that only one offensive lineman has won the James J. Fitzpatrick Trophy (Lewiston's Gerry Raymond in 1977) since the award's inception in 1971. Now, Solloway briefly touches upon why this is the case (namely, a lack of appreciation among spectators for those who spend all game laboring in the glob of flesh known as the line of scrimmage), but he largely neglects how the collegiate and professional ranks of the sport may influence why so few linemen have been recognized as the best high school football players in Maine.
Fortunately, there's Gregg Easterbrook, a columnist at ESPN.net, who's always examining football's neglected arguments, overlooked statistics, and undervalued players (or smarter-than-expected cheerleaders, such as Standish native Alyssa Caddle). So, whether he's explaining the mathematical reasons behind his belief in why teams should almost never punt, highlighting the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens' habit of blitzing at least one defensive back on two-thirds of the third-and-long situations in last week's conference championship game, or just giving Division II football teams shout-outs on a platform generally reserved for their richer and more talented brethren, Easterbrook always demonstrates an appreciation for the underappreciated. So it is no surprise that part of his December 17 hodgepodge of football-related thoughts turned to the lack of representation of lineman and linebackers in the pantheon of Heisman Trophy winners.
After noting the irony of the award's namesake probably not being able to win the award named after him (John Heisman was an offensive lineman), Easterbrook recommends the award be re-named the "Heisman Trophy for Big-College Quarterback or Running Back Who Receives Most Publicity." To be sure, the new moniker would be a mouthful, but at least its lack of brevity is redeemed by its accuracy. That's because, according to Easterbrook, ninety-three percent of the Heisman Trophy winners since the award was established in 1935 have either been a quarterback (25 times) or a running back (43 times), while wide receivers (4 times) and a cornerback account for the remaining 7 percent. Moreover, according to Easterbrook, the last lineman or linebacker to finish in the top 3 of the voting was University of Pittsburgh defensive end Hugh Green, when he finished in second 1980. This, despite the fact that offensive linemen have been represented in the top 5 picks of the NFL Draft every year since 2000, except two (2005 and 2003).
As unrepresentative as the the Heisman Trophy has been, though, the National Football League's (NFL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) track record is even worse.
Since 1957, ninety-six percent of the winners of the NFL MVP award have been either quarterbacks (33 times) or running backs (16 times). No offensive lineman or wide receiver has ever won the award, and a defensive player has been determined to be the league's MVP only twice (Minnesota Vikings Defensive Tackle Alan Page in 1971 and New York Giants Linebacker Lawrence Taylor in 1986). And, like the benign neglect the Heisman Trophy voters pay the college game's offensive lineman, the underrepresentation of professional linemen in MVP voting doesn't necessarily reflect the value the NFL labor market has placed on offensive linemen: Michael Lewis, author of the book The Blind Side: Evolution of Game notes that "the average N.F.L. left tackle’s salary was $5.5 million a year, and the left tackle had become the second-highest-paid position on the team, after the quarterback."
Which begs the question: Why are collegiate and professional linemen continually ignored for consideration as the game's finest players? Well, in a word, statistics. If baseball is the sabermetrician's game, then football is quickly becoming her second-favorite. A couple clicks on NFL.com's stats page, for example, can probably yield information on how well New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has performed when he's played in a dome on an oddly-numbered Sunday, while wearing a red undershirt. But good luck simply finding how many pancake blocks Patriots offensive Matt Light has executed or how many sacks Nick Kaczur has allowed. In fact, "Offensive Line" isn't even an option on the Web site's "View By Position" scroll.
Which begs the ultimate rhetorical question: If the NFL doesn't care to measure and statistically appreciate its offensive lineman, how can we expect Fitzpatrick voters to do so?
- John C.L. Morgan
In his January 23 column, Press Herald sports columnist Steve Solloway laments the fact that only one offensive lineman has won the James J. Fitzpatrick Trophy (Lewiston's Gerry Raymond in 1977) since the award's inception in 1971. Now, Solloway briefly touches upon why this is the case (namely, a lack of appreciation among spectators for those who spend all game laboring in the glob of flesh known as the line of scrimmage), but he largely neglects how the collegiate and professional ranks of the sport may influence why so few linemen have been recognized as the best high school football players in Maine.
Fortunately, there's Gregg Easterbrook, a columnist at ESPN.net, who's always examining football's neglected arguments, overlooked statistics, and undervalued players (or smarter-than-expected cheerleaders, such as Standish native Alyssa Caddle). So, whether he's explaining the mathematical reasons behind his belief in why teams should almost never punt, highlighting the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens' habit of blitzing at least one defensive back on two-thirds of the third-and-long situations in last week's conference championship game, or just giving Division II football teams shout-outs on a platform generally reserved for their richer and more talented brethren, Easterbrook always demonstrates an appreciation for the underappreciated. So it is no surprise that part of his December 17 hodgepodge of football-related thoughts turned to the lack of representation of lineman and linebackers in the pantheon of Heisman Trophy winners.
After noting the irony of the award's namesake probably not being able to win the award named after him (John Heisman was an offensive lineman), Easterbrook recommends the award be re-named the "Heisman Trophy for Big-College Quarterback or Running Back Who Receives Most Publicity." To be sure, the new moniker would be a mouthful, but at least its lack of brevity is redeemed by its accuracy. That's because, according to Easterbrook, ninety-three percent of the Heisman Trophy winners since the award was established in 1935 have either been a quarterback (25 times) or a running back (43 times), while wide receivers (4 times) and a cornerback account for the remaining 7 percent. Moreover, according to Easterbrook, the last lineman or linebacker to finish in the top 3 of the voting was University of Pittsburgh defensive end Hugh Green, when he finished in second 1980. This, despite the fact that offensive linemen have been represented in the top 5 picks of the NFL Draft every year since 2000, except two (2005 and 2003).
As unrepresentative as the the Heisman Trophy has been, though, the National Football League's (NFL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) track record is even worse.
Since 1957, ninety-six percent of the winners of the NFL MVP award have been either quarterbacks (33 times) or running backs (16 times). No offensive lineman or wide receiver has ever won the award, and a defensive player has been determined to be the league's MVP only twice (Minnesota Vikings Defensive Tackle Alan Page in 1971 and New York Giants Linebacker Lawrence Taylor in 1986). And, like the benign neglect the Heisman Trophy voters pay the college game's offensive lineman, the underrepresentation of professional linemen in MVP voting doesn't necessarily reflect the value the NFL labor market has placed on offensive linemen: Michael Lewis, author of the book The Blind Side: Evolution of Game notes that "the average N.F.L. left tackle’s salary was $5.5 million a year, and the left tackle had become the second-highest-paid position on the team, after the quarterback."
Which begs the question: Why are collegiate and professional linemen continually ignored for consideration as the game's finest players? Well, in a word, statistics. If baseball is the sabermetrician's game, then football is quickly becoming her second-favorite. A couple clicks on NFL.com's stats page, for example, can probably yield information on how well New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has performed when he's played in a dome on an oddly-numbered Sunday, while wearing a red undershirt. But good luck simply finding how many pancake blocks Patriots offensive Matt Light has executed or how many sacks Nick Kaczur has allowed. In fact, "Offensive Line" isn't even an option on the Web site's "View By Position" scroll.
Which begs the ultimate rhetorical question: If the NFL doesn't care to measure and statistically appreciate its offensive lineman, how can we expect Fitzpatrick voters to do so?
- John C.L. Morgan
Friday, January 23, 2009
The MPA Reader (and Listener and Viewer)
A collection of Maine media mentions related to the controversial proposals the Maine Principals' Association (MPA) is considering in regards to high school sports in the Pine Tree State:
Bangor Daily News news story (December 20)
BDN sports columnist/reporter Ernie Clark details the proposals generated at the ad hoc committee's December 17 meeting.
WJAB interview with Dick Durost (Part 1 and Part 2) (January 9)
Chris Sedanka of the "PM Jab" radio talk show interviews MPA executive director Dick Durost.
WCSH interview with Dick Durost (January 10)
WCSH sports reporter Lee Goldberg sits down for a fifteen-minute interview with Dick Durost.
Portland Press Herald op-ed (January 15)
Cheverus High School teacher and football coach John Wolfgram is skeptical of proposals' actual savings.
Bangor News Daily column (January 16)
BDN sports columnist/reporter Ernie Clark is skeptical any savings will be found if the MPA disallows student-athlete participation in the New England championships.
WGME news story (January 16)
WGME sports reporter Evans Boston briefly summarizes of the issue and includes on-camera interviews with Dick Durost and opponent Gary Prolman.
Sun Journal news story (January 18)
SJ reporter Randy Whitehouse writes an even-handed story about the controversy.
Sun Journal column (January 18)
SJ sports columnist Kalle Oakes takes proposals' opponents to task for styles of protest.
Bangor Daily News news story (January 20)
BDN sports columnist/reporter Ernie Clark explores the backlash the proposals have provoked among lawmakers in Augusta.
Portland Press Herald column (January 21)
PPH sports columnist/reporter Steve Solloway urges opponents of the proposals to listen before they speak.
WGME roundtable discussion (January 22)
Moderated by WGME sports director Dave Eid, the discussion features Cheverus athletic director Gary Hoyt and Gary Prolman, both of whom are opponents of the proposals.
WJAB interview with Rep. Josh Tardy (January 23)
Shoe and Joe of the "Morning Jab" radio talk show interview Rep. Josh Tardy (R-Newport) about his bill seeking to limit the MPA's jurisdiction over interscholastic sports.
Bangor Daily News news story (December 20)
BDN sports columnist/reporter Ernie Clark details the proposals generated at the ad hoc committee's December 17 meeting.
WJAB interview with Dick Durost (Part 1 and Part 2) (January 9)
Chris Sedanka of the "PM Jab" radio talk show interviews MPA executive director Dick Durost.
WCSH interview with Dick Durost (January 10)
WCSH sports reporter Lee Goldberg sits down for a fifteen-minute interview with Dick Durost.
Portland Press Herald op-ed (January 15)
Cheverus High School teacher and football coach John Wolfgram is skeptical of proposals' actual savings.
Bangor News Daily column (January 16)
BDN sports columnist/reporter Ernie Clark is skeptical any savings will be found if the MPA disallows student-athlete participation in the New England championships.
WGME news story (January 16)
WGME sports reporter Evans Boston briefly summarizes of the issue and includes on-camera interviews with Dick Durost and opponent Gary Prolman.
Sun Journal news story (January 18)
SJ reporter Randy Whitehouse writes an even-handed story about the controversy.
Sun Journal column (January 18)
SJ sports columnist Kalle Oakes takes proposals' opponents to task for styles of protest.
Bangor Daily News news story (January 20)
BDN sports columnist/reporter Ernie Clark explores the backlash the proposals have provoked among lawmakers in Augusta.
Portland Press Herald column (January 21)
PPH sports columnist/reporter Steve Solloway urges opponents of the proposals to listen before they speak.
WGME roundtable discussion (January 22)
Moderated by WGME sports director Dave Eid, the discussion features Cheverus athletic director Gary Hoyt and Gary Prolman, both of whom are opponents of the proposals.
WJAB interview with Rep. Josh Tardy (January 23)
Shoe and Joe of the "Morning Jab" radio talk show interview Rep. Josh Tardy (R-Newport) about his bill seeking to limit the MPA's jurisdiction over interscholastic sports.
Update: The Portland Press Herald published a story on the reactions to the MPA's proposals on Sunday, January 25.
- John C.L. Morgan
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Quote of the Day
"I'm not going to take a financial beating in it. If you told me today I had to pay off Maine, that's $900,000 (in guarantees). I can't do that."
- Florida State University (FSU) athletic director Randy Spetman on his limits for buying out the contract FSU has with the University of Maine for a football game scheduled for opening weekend next fall. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is pushing Florida State to play the University of Miami on Labor Day, but FSU would first have to cancel their currently scheduled game against UMaine to make that happen.
- John C.L. Morgan
- Florida State University (FSU) athletic director Randy Spetman on his limits for buying out the contract FSU has with the University of Maine for a football game scheduled for opening weekend next fall. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is pushing Florida State to play the University of Miami on Labor Day, but FSU would first have to cancel their currently scheduled game against UMaine to make that happen.
- John C.L. Morgan
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Pine-Knotted Pugilist
PPH sports scribe Steve Solloway has written a column on "Mysterious" Billy Smith, the first Mainer (Tim Sample's famous criterion for such a distinction notwithstanding) to win a world boxing championship. Solloway's piece is timed to coincide with Smith's recent induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, but he mostly focuses on Smith's filthy fighting and colorful lifestyle. To wit:
Count me among those who think that's a good, playful tradition to start in our Portland's Old Port.
- John C.L. Morgan
Mysterious Billy moved to Portland, Ore. He opened a bar and named it The
Champion's Rest. It wasn't the best place to drink too many beers or the wrong
beer. Men who passed out, a story goes, woke up on tramp steamers sailing to the
Far East with a new job as deck hand.
Count me among those who think that's a good, playful tradition to start in our Portland's Old Port.
- John C.L. Morgan
Friday, August 15, 2008
Only in Maine
The Oxford Plains Speedway, an auto racetrack in Oxford, Maine, is handing out free Allen's Coffee Flavored Brandy visors to the first 200 fans to entice fans to attend Saturday night's races.
Great idea, considering The Champagne of Maine's unusual popularity in the Pine Tree State. In fact, the promo is so ingenious that I flirted with the idea of trekking up Route 26 just to snatch one of the visors for, like, six seconds.
- John C.L. Morgan
P.S. I just experienced a lightbulb moment: Maybe that's how I can attract a healthy crowd to the, ahem, free outdoor screening of "The Palm Beach Story" in Westbrook's Riverbank Park on Friday, August 22.
Great idea, considering The Champagne of Maine's unusual popularity in the Pine Tree State. In fact, the promo is so ingenious that I flirted with the idea of trekking up Route 26 just to snatch one of the visors for, like, six seconds.
- John C.L. Morgan
P.S. I just experienced a lightbulb moment: Maybe that's how I can attract a healthy crowd to the, ahem, free outdoor screening of "The Palm Beach Story" in Westbrook's Riverbank Park on Friday, August 22.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Triathlete Adds Hardware
Via the PPH, Westbrook resident Mike Caiazzo won the Zone Urban Epic triathlon in Portland on Saturday.
Caiazzo, who was hampered by an injured calf suffered in last weekend's Spirit of Racine half-triathlon in Wisconsin, nevertheless finished the course-- a 1.4 km (about .9 of a mile) swim in Casco Bay; a 40 km (almost 25 miles) bike ride throughout Portland, Falmouth, and Cumberland; and a 10 km (just over 6 miles) run--atop a field of 300 competitors to win his second Maine triathlon this month (he won the inaugural Scarborough Triathlon on July 14).
Caiazzo also finished as the top American elite triathlete (fifth overall) in the USA Triathlon Elite Long Course National Championship at the EagleMan Ironman in Cambridge, Maryland on June 8.
- John C.L. Morgan
Caiazzo, who was hampered by an injured calf suffered in last weekend's Spirit of Racine half-triathlon in Wisconsin, nevertheless finished the course-- a 1.4 km (about .9 of a mile) swim in Casco Bay; a 40 km (almost 25 miles) bike ride throughout Portland, Falmouth, and Cumberland; and a 10 km (just over 6 miles) run--atop a field of 300 competitors to win his second Maine triathlon this month (he won the inaugural Scarborough Triathlon on July 14).
Caiazzo also finished as the top American elite triathlete (fifth overall) in the USA Triathlon Elite Long Course National Championship at the EagleMan Ironman in Cambridge, Maryland on June 8.
- John C.L. Morgan
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Around the Diamond
A couple bits of baseball-related info to pass along:
- Westbrook resident Gary Lapierre is one of this year's twelve inductees to the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame. Lapierre was a member of the 1981 Portland Babe Ruth World Series team and is in the top five in both career doubles and career hits at the University of Maine (1985-1988). He also starred at Deering High School, but I don't want to stain my screen with brags of the accomplishments of that school (that, and I have no idea what his accomplishments actually were at Deering, aside from the fact that he "went on to star" there.
- Also, Westbrook alum Jordan Purington was selected to the America East All-Conference second team. Purington, a sophomore hurler at Stony Brook University, posted a record of 3-3 with an 3.83 ERA. He was also third in the conference is saves (6) and led the conferences in appearances (26). As for his Stony Brook Seawolves (whatever those are), they won the America East Championship to secure a bid in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. So they're scheduled to travel to Tempe, Arizona to take on Arizona State on Friday, May 30 at 10p. Moreover, Purington will be joined in the Tempe Regional by fellow Mainers, Ryan Flaherty and Andrew Giobbi, of Vanderbilt University.
Damn, I just gave Deering credit.
(Update: According to the Bangor Daily News, Lapierre was a three-time All-State selection in high school and captained the University of Maine team as a senior in 1988. He graduated with eight hitting-related school records.)
- John C.L. Morgan
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