Lumberjacks’ coach displays poor taste, foul sportsmanship

Around the horn…

Coaches, teachers and parents will attempt to positively influence a young athlete from the time they start running around a playground to the day they graduate from high school or leave home.

They try to teach the values of sportsmanship.

So, imagine how frustrated they feel when they see a person involved in professional sports, such as Bangor Lumberjacks manager Kash Beauchamp, totally go against all those lessons in a display of utter foolishness.

He did just that when he was ejected from a Northeast League baseball game for arguing balls and strikes last Thursday night in Orono.

Actually, after watching the video of the tasteless display, I’d say there didn’t seem to be much arguing on Beauchamp’s part. Instead, he was throwing dirt while on his knees, pulling his shirt over his face, basically showing how the phrase “bush leagues” must have originated.

If he was attempting to energize his team, he failed. The Lumberjacks lost 14-0. If he was trying to be unprofessional, he succeeded. He was suspended for one game the following day by the Northeast League.

Such a display, unfortunately, is not surprising in today’s world of professional sports. It hits harder, however, when it happens in your own backyard.

The Lumberjacks have billed their brand of baseball as one featuring a family atmosphere, but that certainly wasn’t the case Thursday night. They need to remember that many of those watching their games in the stands, or game highlights on TV, are children.

If they want to break precedent and be a professional sports franchise that actually cares about its fans, then they should make sure displays such as Beauchamp’s don’t happen again. A franchise with that degree of sincerity also might break another precedent and be the first successful professional sports team in the Bangor area.

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Usually anything that indicates that summer is nearing its end is tough to take, but that doesn’t seem to be the case in the new advertisements detailing the upcoming home games for the University of Maine football team.

The team opens at home under the lights against Division I-AA powerhouse Montana at Alfond Stadium on Aug. 30 at 6 p.m. Other games in Orono include playing Atlantic Conference foe UMass on Sept. 20. The Black Bears will match up against other league opponents starting at 2 p.m. on Oct. 4 and 25, and Nov. 15.

The night games and the recent success of UMaine’s football program probably are key factors in the brief lapses of thinking ahead toward fall, and away from these summer days. Alfond Stadium also has become a great place to watch football games, and the team usually features some of the best players from Maine high schools with a healthy dose of top out-of-state recruits.

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Congratulations to Ed Rice of Orono for the recent publication of his book, “Baseball’s First Indian, Louis Sockalexis: Penobscot Legend, Cleveland Indian.”

Rice is well-known on the local road racing scene for his commitment and diligence when tackling a job, as is proved by his creation of the annual Terry Fox Run, a popular 5-kilometer road race which raises funds for cancer research.

With that level of dedication, it wasn’t surprising to see the amount of hard work Rice poured into research and writing, and then finding a publisher for his book.

The book is available at BookMarc’s in Bangor and at the University of Maine Bookstore on the Orono campus.