Bay League shines

I would like to congratulate the teams and managers of the Bay League, which recently concluded its inaugural baseball season. This league, designed and coordinated by Rufus Candage, noted Blue Hill sports enthusiast, provided a summer season of superb baseball for players not involved with Senior Little League, American Legion, or summer college baseball leagues.

From all reports, it was a rousing success. There has been a baseball void for this group of players since the demise of the Eastern Maine League, a void that no longer exists.

The memories of this summer I will cherish, while shoveling snow this winter, will be the crack (literally) of wooden bats, the players involved in the game for the sheer love of playing it, as well as the enthusiasm and the positive role-modeling exhibited by coaches and players alike.

In Kinsella’s book, “Field of Dreams,” Terrance Mann counsels Ray, “The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that was once good, and that could be again. Oh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.”

Well, Rufus Candage did build the Bay League, and people did most definitely come. For that I am extremely grateful. Would that major league baseball could follow similar steps.

Steve Johnson

Blue Hill

Bangor stands out in Senior World Series

I wanted to take a moment to thank you and your fine city for a wonderful experience [at the Senior League World Series in Bangor]. No one associated with our team had ever traveled to the Northeast before. To be quite honest we really didn’t know what to expect (some of the tales we hear in this part of the country are not always nice). We weren’t sure how a team of southern redneck country boys would be accepted.

We know now! Your entire town treated us so well. We expected to be treated fine by the tournament staff, but even they went above our expectations. What really made us feel welcome was how we were treated by the Bangor fans in the stands, and the Bangor people on the streets.

To see Bangor kids buying “Southwest” hats and shirts, making banners for our players, and cheering for us as a team, meant more to us than anything else. We had been away from home (state, region, and World Series) for 21 days. That’s 21 days away from some of our family members, 21 days away from all of our friends. We truly felt like we were back home, we weren’t as homesick.

I was fortunate to have two sons on the team, Braxton and Brandon. Brandon is only 15, and he is hoping that we can put another run together next year so that we can visit Bangor again. I told [tourney director] Mike Brooker that if we were unsuccessful in returning on the field next year, and he needs help recruiting volunteers to run the tournament, to give me a call. We would love to come back and repay some of the kindness to the Bangor community that they showed a bunch a country boys from Texas.

I also wanted to thank [the Bangor Daily News] for all the attention you gave all the teams, my players especially. I know that it is part of your job. But you did it with passion, and my team felt very special because of it. Just being able to walk over to the media tent made them feel like what they had to say meant something to the entire world.

We were sad to leave on Sunday morning (Aug. 18th). And the boys were hit with reality right away – school started down here the next day. We got out of school last year on May 28th, finished league play through the month of June, first all-star district game was on July 3rd, and returned from all-stars on Aug. 18th. School on Monday, Aug. 19th. But we wouldn’t have changed a thing. OK, maybe one thing – tried a little harder to throw strikes against the Florida team in the semis.

Thank you again, and thank you to your entire city for a wonderful summer.

Chad Watson

Spring, Texas

Mainers should be in New England XC meet

This week high school athletes from across Maine will begin to compete in this year’s cross country competition. It’s exciting because this year for the first time Maine will host the New England Cross Country Championships and high school cross country teams from New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut and Rhode Island will compete here in Maine. Sadly, no Maine teams will be allowed to compete because of a vote at its spring meeting at the Maine Principals’ Association decided against allowing Maine teams to participate.

This is nothing new, the MPA has not allowed Maine teams to compete in the New England championships for years. Coaches from other states often ask why Maine does not send teams. They know that many Maine teams would be competitive. And now, when Maine is the host, it is downright embarrassing that the MPA does not believe that Maine kids should have the opportunity to compete as teams.

So Maine will send its best individuals, many of them will qualify for All-New England honors, but when the top teams are announced at the meet in Portland, Maine schools will have already lost in a meeting of administrators rather than on the course.

As I understand it, the MPA thinking goes something like this. If we allow teams to go, the districts with money will send teams and the poor districts wont. Hogwash!

What teams really want is the opportunity to go. If you know your teams are not allowed to go then you don’t have to deal with the funding issue. That’s what the principals really want, one less funding request to deal with.

Of course they will say if we let these teams go it will open the flood gates and every sports team will want to go to tournaments out of state. I’d like to know how many other sports have regional championships for teams which other sports have even asked to go. Funding for such participation as with any other school programs is up to the voters and their elected school board members. If they want their district to go they vote for it, if they don’t, they don’t, but that does not necessarily mean that a good team could not go if it does not receive school funding.

If there is no formal organization I’m willing to bet that most communities will come forward to support their kids even if the principals won’t. As far as other sports are concerned they should also have the opportunity to pay their own way. If they want it bad enough, they will find a way to pay to get there.

As for the principals that voted not to allow teams to go, they should be ashamed. At a time when the state says they need to keep our best and brightest students here in Maine, they are fostering an attitude that tells some of Maine’s best athletes and scholars (most cross country runners are academic leaders as well) that you probably should leave the state because we don’t really have the means to support you here. As the MPA has assured, Maine loses!

John Archard

Vienna

Red Sox need spark

Thanks, for the strike has passed and the deadline is over, but where do the Red Sox go from here?

I’ve been a true Red Sox fan all my life from the big disappointment of 1986 with Bill Buckner to the recent passing of the great Ted Williams.

We’ve had a lot of great talent over the years but nothing like the talent we have now. But it seems we’re going downhill slowly even though we’re still in the race for the American League title or a spot in the wild card race.

Just don’t count us out yet, but what can we do to get a spark started in good old Fenway to get us a World Series title that we’ve been waiting for so long?

Arnold Prior

Machiasport

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