’96 Bears could put fans back in Alumni seats

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Something interesting could be in the making.

Since losing to Northeastern 22-21 in its season opener, the University of Maine football team has offered signs this could be a wholly different football season. That could mean Alumni Field stadium may add to its new architectural design an atmosphere it hasn’t had in years.

When Maine plays Rhode Island today at home, the 2-1 Bears already could match the number of wins they have had in each of the last three years, when they went 3-8.

All indications seem to suggest Maine will prove it’s a different kind of squad.

In its second game at Fordham, Maine made up a 10-point halftime deficit and bounced back for a 24-13 victory.

Last week, Maine beat up Boston University at home in the mud 45-8. Even the equalizing effect of the soaked field didn’t hinder Maine from building a 30-0 halftime lead and finishing strong. And the 45 points were more than the total points scored by Maine in the previous three games against BU.

So, while it’s early to make predictions, it’s interesting to ponder what if?

What if Maine keeps rolling, keeps winning, and brings back some remembrance of the Bears of the late ’80s? What would that do to the look of Alumni Field? Would it bring a crowd, fill the house?

The truth is, the Bears have a way to go to improve attendance.

At the end of the ’80s, the end of the Mike Buck era, the Bears attracted an average home crowd close to 10,000. Now, attendance is half that.

In 1988 when Maine went 7-4, they attracted 8,146 per game. In 1989, one of two seasons Maine went to the NCAA playoffs, the home average was 9,927.

Since then, the home attendance has been dropping along with the Bears success.

Last year, Maine’s average home attendance was 4,412. The year before it was 5,413. At last Saturday’s home opener, an estimated 1,935 fans showed up in the rain.

However, with the university keeping to it’s previous pledge of free admittance, the stadium having safer bleachers and the Bears rolling off their huge BU victory, seemingly toward their best season in four years, maybe anything’s possible.

And maybe something interesting is in the making.

– Deirdre Fleming, BDN

I have seen the new football bleachers at the University of Maine, and they are OK. Even when one is sitting in a deluge and watching one’s favorite college team get whupped good, as we did last Saturday with our beloved Boston University Terriers.

During the past three years, I’ve seen lots of visitor bleachers at numerous Maine high schools and, in comparision, the UM bleachers are not bad at all. They’re spacious, easy to climb, and provide a good view of the field. Especially of those BU athletic trainers working on injured players.

In a downpour, the aluminum benches were just fine. Last Saturday afternoon, we just brushed the puddles away and sat down. On a hot, sunny day, however, I’m afraid some folks may get blisters on their backsides. Sort of like sitting in a big bake oven.

It has been my experience that there are two kinds of visitors bleachers at Maine schools. Both are designed to insult visiting fans and to make sure that if the visiting team is winning, at least some folks cheering for them will be miserable.

The first type consist of teeny, tiny bleachers that accomodate about 10 people and have no more than three levels of seats. This ensures that the fans have to stand on the top level throughout the whole game in order to see any of the action. Either that, or watch a line of sweaty guys in Spandex chug Gatorade for 2 1/2 hours.

The other type of bleachers is my personal nemesis. That kind is the 100-year-old bleachers, donated by the now-deceased boosters, that haven’t been repaired in about 100 years. You know those bleachers, about three stories high, made of unpainted, bowed wooden planks. As you climb up, the whole structure sways like the deck of a China clipper ship, making you beg for Dramamine.

The worst part is that the bleachers structure is completely open, straight down. I have to close my eyes and crawl on all fours to get up to a seat that gives me a view over the heads of the team members. Look down between your legs and you get a nosebleed. Drop your program and you can watch it drift away like a cloud.

Little boys, usually about 9 years old, love to scamper up and down this kind of bleacher, watching folks like me blanch and pray for a safety harness. Or they like to roam under the bleachers, hoping for a naughty peek.

I hate this kind of bleacher. Once I’m up there, I would rather never move again, not even if my team wins, not even for a cardboard dish of nachos at the concession stand.

So in my opinion, I think the new UM bleachers are just swell, though the guys in my household wish the athletic department would hire some of those pretty servers to deliver the nachos, like they do down at the Fleet Center in Boston.

Now, if they could only do something about those Black Bears.

– Jeanne Curran, BDN

Readers may submit “Sounding Off” comments to the Bangor Daily News’ Sports Desk at P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402-1329. Our fax number is (207) 990-8092. All comments will be edited for accuracy, clarity, content, and taste.