Input sought on high school TV basketball

For the last sixteen years, I have been blessed to be able to broadcast Woodland and Calais High School basketball on former channel 8 on the Adelphia cable system. The 2002-03 season has brought new blessing to be able to produce and broadcast high school basketball on WBGR channel 9 in Bangor.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank announcers Wayne Frost, Carroll Conley, Tim Collins, Travis McKinney and Woodland’s Christopher James for the excellent play-by- play they have provided. When I started a partnership with WHCF, WHMX, and WBGR, my desire was to be fair in broadcasting equal amounts of games between girls and boys teams as possible.

The excitement for the players coming up to me asking if we were there to broadcast their games on WBGR was a blessing to me this year. Every game in Bangor involves a 232-mile round trip which has allowed me plenty of time to analyze the pros and cons of each game.

I would like to hear from the fans to know if broadcasting these games is something they would like me to continue next season. Thanks for allowing me to broadcast high school basketball in the Bangor area this season.

Thanks for a great season.

Maurice Brown

St. Croix Video

Productions, Baileyville

Scheduling conflicts unavoidable for MPA

Friday’s article (BDN, Feb. 13) entitled “Church duty blocks teen’s hoop dream” brings attention to several points regarding flexibility and compromise (or lack thereof) in today’s society. While I’m all for freedom of religion and its practices, one cannot forget that not everyone chooses to participate in organized religion.

Often, particularly in the state of Maine where service-oriented jobs are prevalent, work weeks involve six or even seven days. Frequently, Sunday is the only day that a family can spend together participating in an activity of their choosing. While extra-curricular activities can be considered a “family-oriented” activity, some families choose Sunday as a day to simply “hang out” together after a hectic work week. Obviously, this leaves fewer options for scheduling games.

According to the article, three or four of the seven games scheduled for Friday or Saturday were rescheduled to other days. Likewise, a season-opening football game was rescheduled from Friday to Thursday to accommodate Rosh Hashana. This is a good example of compromise.

Mr. Durost [of the Maine Principals’ Association] makes the point that the playoffs involve many teams, and due to this fact, not everyone’s schedule permits flexibility with regard to what day a game is played. While it’s regrettable that any players have to be excluded from playing in a game due to any circumstance, there are simply some occasions that conflicts happen. What may be convenient for one family, may be a hardship for another.

Perhaps there is more room for compromise on the MPA’s part in this particular situation, but from my interpretation of the article, there’s only so far that Mr. Durost and other principals can go to make everyone happy. At what point can the Greenlaws’ accept the “resounding” vote to keep Sundays clear of activities?

Melissa Fish

Glenburn