Vote for year’s top sports story

It’s time for some shameless self-promotion. It’s time to cast your vote for the WZON/Bangor Daily News Maine Sports Story of the Year.

No, this is not an attempt to influence votes for what may be my favorite story of the year, which may not necessarily jibe with the votes coming in. Instead, this is an attempt to inform our faithful readers, who may not have been so faithful and need a little help with the candidates.

Votes may be cast by visiting bangornews.com or zoneradio.com. This is the seventh time the NEWS has hooked up with popular Bangor all-sports radio station WZON (620 AM) for the Maine Sports Story of the Year.

Here are the seven candidates, which are not listed in any order of preference. Actually, they were drawn by random from a hat – not any ordinary hat either – but a World Series champion Boston Red Sox hat. Sorry, Yankee fans, but I had to work that phrase in somehow.

. Newburgh race car driver Ricky Craven decides to step out of his Nextel NASCAR ride with PPI Motorsports and moves to the NASCAR Truck Series with Rousch Racing.

Craven, who does have two NASCAR victories to his credit, struggled this season, and it seemed just a matter of time before he would come to a “mutual parting of the ways” with PPI, which seemed to be the dominant spin on how his ride finally ended last summer.

He still wants a NASCAR ride, has talent and may find his way back via the Truck Series and one of NASCAR’s top teams in Rousch.

. Portland’s Nova Seafood baseball team wins the American Legion national baseball championship.

When Maine athletes compete on the national stage and succeed, it’s a great story. These were high-school-age athletes who didn’t succumb to the pressures of the national spotlight.

. The Maine Principals’ Association votes for sweeping changes in the high school basketball tournament for 2006. The Class A tourney will be played during the February school vacation week while the Eastern A tourney moves from Bangor to Augusta and Western B from Augusta to Portland.

It seemed a given that all of this would happen as it passed through a maze of committees and was rubber-stamped by the MPA’s membership. The state of high school basketball has changed in Eastern Maine as Class A teams are becoming rare while the Class C and D ranks continue to grow.

Geez, do I feel old when I tell my children that I remember the day when Fort Fairfield, Houlton and Fort Kent had Class A basketball teams. It will take some getting used to covering Class A tourney basketball in Augusta. Hmm … I wonder who I can assign to cover that?

. The University of Maine football team scores its first-ever victory over a Division I-A opponent, defeating Mississippi State in the heart of SEC country.

It was only the third game of the season for the Black Bears and they seemed destined to go on to bigger and better things. Unfortunately, they didn’t.

. Portland’s Ian Crocker wins gold, silver and bronze medals in swimming during the Athens Summer Olympics, becoming Maine’s most-decorated Olympian.

Some good old-fashioned nationalistic pride – and from a Mainer.

. Mount Ararat high school pitcher Mark Rogers becomes the highest-drafted high school athlete ever from Maine, signing a $2 million contract with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Rogers is special, not just because he could throw heat in the 90s, but because he has class. He was the best in Maine and one of the best in the nation, but he displayed a professional air many in the majors still don’t possess.

. The University of Maine hockey team rallies in the NCAA playoffs and again advances to the national championship game where it is beaten by Denver.

The state has been transfixed by this program since it began in 1977. It sure is refreshing when a team from Maine can not only compete with the best in the country, but also beat them on a consistent basis.

Those are your candidates for story of the year. The results will be published in the Bangor Daily News on Jan. 1 and aired by WZON.

Sports editor Joe McLaughlin can be reached at 990-8229 or jmclaughlin@bangordailynews.

net.