Tone down shouting

High school boys and girls basketball teams are now in keen competition to achieve the necessary Heal points in order to earn a slot in the upcoming state tournaments. After attending several games at different sites this season, I wonder if the games have been changed to a shouting competition – not among students and fans – but by the senior leaders, the coaches.

In defense of the players, I imagine it must be frustrating to control the ball and concentrate on the plays while trying to interpret vociferous directions from the sidelines. Instead, timeouts should be used more often to change strategies in game plans.

Let’s take a couple of dribbles backward to a time when a small voice could once again be heard.

Arden Boardman

Lee

Cheering debacle

For the casual reader or sports fan, the comments made by Bangor’s cheering coach, Stephanie Crane [BDN, Jan. 29], may seem like “sour grapes” or poor loser. However, if you have a member of Bangor’s cheering team living in your household as I do (senior captain Maria Coffin) or was in attendance, you too would be very disappointed with the judging.

Cheering, unlike other high school sports, has no scoreboard to define a clear winner or loser of the contest. Instead, the judging is done by a panel of five or six seemingly experienced judges.

The teams hit the floor and do their routine while parents, friends, classmates cheer them on. For the most part, the cheerleaders know right away if they have hit or missed their routine, but the judges are the only ones who “really know.” So it isn’t until the very end of the competition when the announcements are made do we fans “really know” who has won or lost.

The girls work as hard as any football or basketball team, with four to five late-night practices plus Saturdays. How judges can sit at a table and miss a very key element of a team’s routine is beyond my wildest guess.

We had the privilege of having an experienced cheering coach and judge sitting with us at Augusta on [that] Saturday and she did her own scoring in the program of the 18 teams that competed; she had Brewer and Lewiston a very close first or second and she had Bangor fourth. She, along with all the Bangor fans, was shocked when they didn’t make the top six!

Congratulations to the Brewer team, you deserve winning Eastern Maine and we will be cheering for you at the states.

Gilbert H. Coffin

Bangor

Larger venues needed

I am writing to express my concerns with the cheerleading competitions held in Hampden and Hermon high schools.

The fan base for these events keeps getting bigger every year and the local schools like Hampden and Hermon cannot accommodate the crowds. I have been attending these competitions for 10 years and nothing seems to change. The answer to my question “why the small schools?” is that the Bangor Auditorium is too costly! Well then, why not the University of Maine?

Last year in Hermon, it was grossly overcrowded. Thank god there was not an emergency. It would have been devastating.

I realize the local school does make some money on their concession sales, but this year in Hampden the athletic director informed the fans to pack in like sardines or the cheerleaders would have to move to another portion of the building in order to accommodate all the fans. I can’t believe that they think they can get 15 schools and the fans into the small gymnasiums.

Cheerleading competition has been growing over the years and it’s time that the cheerleaders get the same recognition as the basketball tournaments do. The local schools can no longer accommodate the crowds. They are talented athletes and fierce competitors and deserve better. You can see this by the recent regional competition that was held in Augusta in the Civic Center.

There are scoring issues, i.e., Bangor cheerleaders. Believe me they were not the only ones who were disappointed with the scores compared to the way they were scored in the PVC and Big East competitions. I know that there are other disappointed fans and cheerleaders out there, so let’s hear from you, too. The cheerleaders deserve more!

Duane A. Jewell

Lamoine

What about MCI?

I read with interest a recent article in your paper (BDN, Jan. 24, by Ernie Clark) regarding Lee Academy’s postgraduate basketball program. It would be nice to see similar articles about Maine Central Institute’s postgraduate team. Day after day I look for info (scores, schedules) in your sports section about the MCI postgraduates! Nada! How come?

David McGaffin

Pittsfield

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