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WORCESTER, Mass. – Alfond Arena fans have grown accustomed to the familiar tunes belted out by the University of Maine pep band during hockey and basketball games.
On Friday, downtown Worcester turned a bit blue as the band invaded an eatery across the street from the Centrum before Maine’s first-round NCAA tournament game against Ohio State.
The site was the Firehouse Cafe, which – with the organizational help of the UMaine Alumni Association – was a natural spot for a pregame celebration.
“They organized a little gathering here at the Firehouse and told us they’d like us to be here to play,” said Chris White, director of sports bands. “We found it, and here we are.”
Passers-by on the street that runs in front of the Centrum could hear a band playing, but couldn’t see the UMaine contingent without doing a bit of exploring. The curious fans – including several who undoubtedly followed their ears when they heard the famous Maine Stein Song – had to follow a walkway into a courtyard to find the band.
The 25-member band enjoyed balmy 60-degree temperatures while they seranaded a sizeable throng of Maine fans who were eating inside.
The natural ampitheater was perfect for White and the band, but there was one problem with the arrangement: After an initial 20-minute set that began two hours before game time, the band found it was disturbing the peace.
“They asked us to stop due to the lawyers’ offices right there,” White said with a laugh, pointing to a building that makes up the back wall of the courtyard.
But White promised that Bear fans would be welcomed back at the Firehouse on Saturday before the Bears faced Clarkson.
“It’s not a work day [for lawyers], so tomorrow we’ll be all set,” he said.
The University of Maine will travel to Ohio State for a two-game series in late October next year.,
The series will coincide with a Big Ten football game between the Buckeyes and the visiting Iowa Hawkeyes, who are coached by former University of Maine head coach Kirk Ferentz.
“We want to play good teams and we’ll have the opportunity to play in a new 17,000-seat arena,” said UMaine coach Shawn Walsh, referring to the 17,500-seat Value City Arena.
Maine will open with a series against the University of Minnesota, according to Walsh.
Walsh was named one of the nine finalists for the Spencer Penrose Award given to the nation’s top coach.
Walsh won the award in 1995 and is one of four former winners along with Michigan State’s Ron Mason, St. Lawrence’s Joe Marsh and North Dakota’s Dean Blais.
One of the other finalists is former University of Maine assistant Gary Wright, the long-time head coach at American International College in Springfield, Mass.
Notre Dame’s Dave Poulin, UNH’s Dick Umile, Clarkson’s Mark Morris and Alaska-Anchorage’s Dean Talafous are the other finalists.
Bob Norton, the NESN college hockey analyst for ECAC games, said he misses the trips to Orono. NESN and Hockey East parted ways two years ago and SportsChannel New England now does Hockey East games.
“I miss Dysart’s [Restaurant in Hampden]. I miss the bread pudding,” grinned Norton.
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