The tip-off to the annual eight-day event known as the Eastern Maine Tournament is tonight, but for many of the media members assembled for this rite of late winter, it’s more of a reunion than a work assignment.

So, what’s the main allure of Maine’s high school basketball signature event? The game action, the personalities, or the renewal of longtime friendships and acquaintances?

“I would say all of the above,” said Dale Duff, program director and sportscaster for Bangor all-sports radio station WZON (620 AM). “I enjoy seeing people from various parts of the state you might only see that one week of the year.

“But also, when you deal with that age group, you never know what’s going to happen with the games and every year, you still see something happen that you don’t see very often, or haven’t seen before.”

Duff is one of the more seasoned media members, having started out as a high school student in the mid-1970’s.

“This would be my 27th or 28th tournament since taking over for Bill Green at WLBZ [television, channel 2] in 1980 or ’81,” Duff recalled. “As far as radio, I actually started doing games for Houlton radio with Bob Blanchette when I was a sophomore or junior in 1974. We started doing games for WZON in 1993.”

The tourney broadcast formula for Duff and The Sports Zone is a simple one: Do all tournament games that don’t conflict with a University of Maine hockey, men’s basketball, or women’s basketball broadcast, and when possible, air a high school game on the Internet (zoneradio.com) and UMaine sports on the radio.

“This is actually a good week for us to do tourney coverage because there are only five Maine games from opening tourney day to championship Saturday, so that’s not bad over eight days,” Duff said. “We’re shooting for 50 tourney broadcasts, but it could be more.”

It’s going to be a busy week for Presque Isle native and former coach Bill Casavant, who has been calling games on the radio for Aroostook County teams since 1984.

He’s literally a one-man operation for Channel X Radio, a three-station network consisting of Caribou’s WCXU (97.7 FM), Madawaska’s WCXX (102.3 FM), and Fort Kent’s W276AY (103.1 FM).

“I could have five games on Monday,” said Northern Maine Community College’s director of admissions. “I love it. That doesn’t bother me at all.

“When I first started out with Del Hodgkins, we’d do 30 to 35 games in a week. We would do all of the Class A tournament, whether PI or Caribou was involved or not, and all the different class finals too.”

Casavant won’t be totally on his own. He and wife Daryl will spend the week in Bangor and she will keep the scorebook for the games he broadcasts.

“Well, that’s the idea, but I’m not going to guarantee that she won’t get antsy and go to the mall,” he said with a laugh.

Houlton native Ken Holck is a relative newcomer to tourney broadcasting compared to Duff and Casavant, but with eight years’ experience behind him – all with Houlton’s WHOU (100.1 FM) – he’s no rookie.

He and fellow announcers Kevin Sjoberg and former Hodgdon boys coach Rob Moran, plus statistician and floor interviewer Matt McCluskey, will be busy.

“We’re covering eight schools and doing 13 games minimum, but we could end up doing the entire Class D girls tournament if Central Aroostook wins Monday,” said Holck, WHOU’s sports director. “We’re guaranteed at least doing all the rounds since we have four local teams in one bracket.”

This isn’t Don Shields’ first pass through the Bangor Auditorium either. The Fox Sports Maine radio program director is heading up an effort that has his three-station (Rockland’s WRKD, Madison’s WIGY, and Gardiner’s WFAU) network covering all the East A, West C and West D games from the Augusta Civic Center along with a fourth station (Rockland’s WMCM) airing Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference team games from Bangor.

“It’s our second year doing this,” Shields said. “When they decided to move Eastern A to Augusta, we decided to do the games and it was a big success.

“It became doable because of the strength of the stations in Central Maine and the fact a lot of local teams would be involved in our broadcasts.”

This is Chris Popper’s first trip to the roundball rodeo, but the account executive for Cumulus radio is excited that Ellsworth member station WDEA (1370 AM) is in the mix.

“We stepped in when one of the other stations stopped doing Ellsworth and MDI [Mount Desert Island] games and we’ve had a fantastic response.”

Popper will call games with Charlie Farley and Rob Eaton.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net

TUNING IN THE TOURNAMENT

TELEVISION

Maine Public Television (Maine Public Broadcasting Network

WCBB Augusta (Ch. 10 and Digital Ch. 17) and WMEA Biddeford (Ch. 26 and DCh. 45) – All Eastern Maine Class A semifinals and finals; all Western Maine Classes B, C, and D semifinals and finals; Classes A and B state finals; Class D girls state final; and Class C boys state final.

WMEB Orono (Ch. 12 and DCh. 9), WMED Calais (Ch. 13 and DCh. 10), and WMEM Presque Isle (Ch. 10 and DCh. 20) – All EM Classes B, C, and D semifinals and finals; all B, C, and D state finals; all WM D semifinals; and WM D girls final.

RADIO

WCXU Caribou (97.7 FM) and W276AY Fort Kent (103.1 FM) – All Ashland, Caribou, Central Aroostook, Fort Kent, Houlton, Presque Isle, Van Buren, and Washburn games.

WCXX Madawaska (102.3 FM) – All Ashland, Caribou, Central Aroostook, Fort Kent, Houlton, Presque Isle, Van Buren, and Washburn games.

WDEA Ellsworth (1370 AM) – All Ellsworth and Mount Desert Island games, plus live, hourly updates on all games on WDEA, Brewer’s WQCB (106.5 FM), Ellsworth’s WWMJ (95.7 FM), Old Town’s WBZN (107.3 FM), and Bangor’s WEZQ (92.9FM).

WDME Dover-Foxcroft (103.1 FM) – All Central, Dexter, Penquis, and Piscataquis games.

WFAU Gardiner (1280 AM) – All EM Class A and WM Classes C and D games.

WHOU Houlton (100.1 FM) – All Ashland, Central Aroostook, Greater Houlton Christian Academy, Houlton, Katahdin, Presque Isle, Southern Aroostook, and Washburn games.

WIGY Madison (97.5 FM) – All EM Class A and WM Classes C and D games.

WMCM Rockland (103.3 FM) – All Belfast, Camden Hills, and Rockland games.

WRKD Rockland (1450 AM) – All EM Class A and WM Classes C and D games.

WSYY Millinocket (1240 AM) – All Katahdin, Mattanawcook Academy, Schenck, and Stearns games.

WZON Bangor (620 AM) – All EM Tournament games not conflicting with UMaine hockey or basketball broadcasts.

INTERNET

www.whoufm.com – All games broadcast by WHOU Houlton (100.1 FM)

www.mpbn.net – Selected EM and WM semifinals and finals games plus selected state finals (Classes A and B boys and girls, and D girls).

www.zoneradio.com – All EM Classes B, C, and D games, state games, and selected local Class A games.