When University of Maine assistant basketball coach Mike LaPlante first said he was considering other positions to further his career, I heard a “bird” in Bangor chirp that LaPlante was a weasel.

A weasel? For unexpectedly withdrawing his name from consideration for the head coaching position at UMaine, citing a desire to pursue other job opportunities, and doing just that?

A weasel for giving up the chance to be a head coach in the AMERICA EAST conference to take an assistant coaching job at Auburn University in the Southeastern Conference?

A weasel would have been offered and accepted the head coaching job at UMaine and then changed his mind. But LaPlante did something far more unexpected – and strange.

LaPlante wagered on a position he believed could help him the most and gave up his chance at a position many would say he earned.

When Rudy Keeling ended eight years as head coach at UMaine in June by taking a job at Northeastern University in Boston, LaPlante was named UMaine’s acting head coach, effective July 1. At the time, he was identified by senior associate athletic director Dino Mattessich as a strong candidate for the head coaching position.

As the search progressed, LaPlante was chosen as one of four finalists for the UMaine job.

But, on the eve of his on-campus interview, LaPlante withdrew.

Interesting, considering LaPlante, a native of Holyoke, Mass., played for the Bears from 1985 to 1989 and was assistant basketball coach under Keeling since 1991.

Interesting, as LaPlante didn’t even give himself the chance to have another job offer to consider. He didn’t give himself the chance to have to say, “No thank you.”

Instead, LaPlante said he wanted to keep his options open so that he might test the job market.

And, in so doing, LaPlante avoided the chance UMaine might say, “No thank you.” He avoided the chance he’d come away looking like a loser and walked away smiling.

I call him a winner.

– Deirdre Fleming, BDN

This is just in response to the opinion piece by M. “Ernie” Gagne of Lewiston in the Sounding Off column of the NEWS on Aug. 17.

Mr Gagne: You certainly will not get any quarrel from numerous people in the Orono-Bangor community with regard to the University of Maine athletic administration not hiring Mike Coutts as the new head baseball coach. He was and is a fan favorite and is highly regarded by those of us who have worked with him at UMaine.

However, why did you have to single out Friends of Maine Baseball for a hit at the end of your piece, saying that you didn’t need friends like us?

We, like you, are only longtime volunteer supporters of the program. Just as you must justifiably take pride in your fund-raising work with the Mike Bordick Golf Classic, we also take pride in the work we have done to support the program, to raise needed funds for its operation, to get people in the stands, and to try to do things to promote the program and the fine young men who choose to play baseball here.

The Friends of Maine Baseball only hope to do what we can to provide a quality experience for these young men. We were not the people responsible in any way for the decisions made in hiring a new coach.

If you must be angry at someone and choose to express it in the local newspaper, please choose your targets more carefully and get your facts in order. To blame Friends of Maine Baseball for ignoring your obvious choice as the new head coach would be comparable to blaming the Friends of Maine Football for the decision to play at Mahaney Diamond.

In either case, your blame would be misplaced and a sad commentary on and sorry tribute to a group of hardworking volunteers.

– Nonni Daly, Vice President,

Friends of Maine Baseball