UM men’s coverage should pick up

Just a sampling of the random thoughts that come to mind as I engage the channel clicker in my brain:

It’s understandable if the University of Maine men’s basketball team is developing an inferiority complex. Wonder how the coaches and players felt when their America East preliminary playoff game against Rudy Keeling’s Northeastern Huskies was pre-empted by WZON (620 AM) for an 11-0 Maine hockey victory over non-conference and first-year varsity foe Nebraska of Omaha?

After four years of playing second fiddle to the women’s team, it’s a good bet the Maine men’s hoop team will enjoy a bit more exposure next year as Andy Bedard and fellow Boston College transfer Nate Fox are eligible to play in earnest. With the start of the post-Cindy Blodgett era, don’t expect the men to get pre-empted for women’s games several times again next season.

No figures are available, but don’t be surprised if Bangor TV station WVII (Channel 7) was in the black after all the costs were weighed against the revenue generated from its broadcast of the Maine women’s game at Connecticut last month. Despite satellite time that runs as much as $1,000 an hour and what is believed to be a four-figure rights fee paid to Connecticut Public Television, WVII may have actually made some money after selling out all its commercial spots. Add that to the exposure which the game gave the station, which has long been perceived as the weak sister of the Bangor market, and it looks like a master stroke for the ABC affiliate and yet another step toward shattering its old image.

Speaking of the Maine women, who are no longer the sure thing in the America East Tournament they’ve been in years past, if they can win their fourth straight league title – and you can bet the folks at Bangor TV station WLBZ (Ch. 2) and Portland’s WCSH (Ch. 6) are praying they do – it will be a mad dash among all three Bangor stations to be the first to secure TV rights to UMaine’s NCAA tournament games. All three – WLBZ, WABI (Ch. 5), and WVII – have aired at least one Maine women’s game this season.

While WABI secured the rights to six Maine women’s regular season basketball games in a joint arrangement with Portland’s WPXT (Ch. 51) and South Portland’s WWLA (Ch. 35), WLBZ and fellow NBC affiliate WCSH are airing all of UMaine’s games in the America East Tournament for the fourth straight year. Think the folks at WLBZ-WCSH are rooting for Maine with more than just home team loyalty on the line?

Are the producers of the Hang Time Saturday morning children’s television show collecting any royalties from WZON every time the Bangor all-sports radio station plays its theme song as an intro to the Sports Zone’s afternoon HangTime show?

Using a popular music soundtrack to accompany a plays-of-the-week type feature while the sportscaster describes the action is self-defeating. Rather than enhance the piece, all the music does is distract viewers from either the announcer, action, or both. Hopefully, this is a local sportscasting trend which will die a quick death.