Bears recall White House visit> President helped team feel at home

The University of Maine’s national championship hockey team had a memorable visit to the White House Monday.

Five members of the team: assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Grant Standbrook and players A.J. Begg, Eric Turgeon, Doug Janik and Jim Leger were asked what their most vivid memory of the visit was.

Leger said he wore an American flag tie and was kidded about it by Coach Shawn Walsh and some of his teammates.

“When I met the President, he said, `Nice tie. I have the same one.’ I looked to see coach and the kids behind me and smiled.”

He also said he will always remember joining his mates in picking up Congressman John Baldacci and hoisting him over their heads.

“Brendan Walsh said to him, `Excuse me. How does a bill become a law? And then we picked him up. He was a really nice guy about it,” said Leger.

Standbrook said he will never forget, “the look on Baldacci’s face when the team threw him up in the air. I orchestrated that. I told the reporters to have their cameras ready. When we first tossed him up in the air, he had a look of total fright. He didn’t expect it. Then he realized what we were doing and he started to get his comb out. He worked awfully hard along with some other people to set up the visit. I felt he might enjoy it and it would be good mileage for him.”

Standbrook also said he will never forget the 15 minutes President Bill Clinton took to chat with the team about a variety of topics.

“He made us feel like we were the only people in the world he had to deal with that day but, in reality, we were at the bottom of the priority list. He was a terrific host. One of the busiest men in the world made these kids feel great,” said Standbrook.

Turgeon said those 15 minutes in the Rose Garden will also remain his most lasting memory.

“For 15 minutes, all of us 20-, 21-, 22- and 23-year-olds turned into 10-year-olds,” said Turgeon. “It was kind of funny to sit back and watch guys frantically passing cameras around. People were sneaking up behind the President with their cameras while he was talking to coach [Walsh]. Cameras were flashing left and right. Kids were pushing and shoving trying to get close to him. It was funny to see us act like kids again.”

Begg said “meeting the President was unbelievable. To be in the Oval Office, where not many people get in, and then to meet the President on top of that. It was great to see all the guys again, especially the guys who have moved on. It was good to see them one last time.”

Janik said he will always remember shaking President Clinton’s hand in the Oval Office because it is something not a lot of people get to do. And he added that it was “really special to be there with the whole team. We worked so hard and we were rewarded once again.”

Ferentz excited about Iowa

Former University of Maine head football coach Kirk Ferentz is looking forward to his first season as the head coach at the University of Iowa.

Ferentz had been an assistant for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens before being named to succeed Hayden Fry in December. Ferentz had been an assistant at Iowa under Fry from 1981-89 and enjoyed it, which led him to return.

He became the head coach at Maine, after his first stint at Iowa, and went 12-21 in three years including a 6-5 mark in his final season in 1992.

“Things have been going well. The people here have been tremendous and we have an excellent staff. Our players have worked real hard,” said the 44-year-old Ferentz, who isn’t sure what to expect this fall.

“I haven’t been involved in college football in nine years and until we go through the league , I won’t have a first hand look at where we’re at,” said Ferentz. “It’s an extremely competitive league. Our focus will be just on our own performance. That’s the only thing we can control. We want to do a good job every day and improve every day.”

Iowa went 3-8 under Fry a year ago.

The father of five has fond memories of his three years at Maine.

“Like anyplace, there were plenty of good people around: players, coaches, administrators and friends. Walt Abbott was a great guy. That was a great learning experience for me. It was my first head coaching job. I stubbed my toes but I learned from my experiences,” said Ferentz. – Recruiting is more difficult

College baseball recruiting has changed dramatically in recent years, according to three-year Maine coach Paul Kostacopoulos.

“When I played in the early to mid-80s, not too many schools got after it recruiting-wise. Nobody came up here from the south and there weren’t a lot of people from New England, either,” said Kostacopoulos. “Now if you go to a high school baseball showcase, there will be 25 schools there.”

He added that recruiting has become much more challenging because several programs in the northeast have significantly upgraded their number of scholarships; the Major League draft has expanded to 50-plus rounds and players want to play right away because they know they can transfer to another school without having to sit out a year.

“But I’m not making excuses. It’s tough for everybody,” said Kostacopoulos who added that the key to successful recruiting is having a lot of names.

He considers his predecessor at Maine, John Winkin, as a recruiting “pioneer.”