Today could have been an embarrassing and costly day for the University of Maine athletic department. Instead, it likely will be remembered as just another fall Saturday on the Orono campus. But it’s more than that.

Last evening, five tired construction workers were being pelted by chilling, wind-whipped rain while trying to finish assembling the new visitors’ bleachers at Alumni Field in Orono.

All week, the crew from E&D Specialty Stands Inc. of North Collins, N.Y., has been working 14-hour days to have the stadium ready for today’s Maine-Boston University football game. The project was expected to be completed this morning.

A glance at the facility in mid-July would have revealed only the demolition debris from the weather-worn home grandstand built in 1946. Chances of having replacement bleachers in place prior to UMaine’s Sept. 14 football opener appeared remote.

However, the university’s response in implementing a renovation plan, and the workers’ diligence, have made it possible for the game to be played, with all 4,000 seats available.

The alternative plan decided upon by the UMaine administration, which called for the game to be held on the baseball facility at Mahaney Diamond, might have been disastrous.

Despite overgrowing the grass at Mahaney all summer, two days of rain would have softened the turf considerably. Having 300-pound linemen running around on the field surely would have resulted in substantial damage.

Chewing up the baseball field would have resulted in complaints from baseball benefactors and boosters. And any scars remaining next spring would have detracted from the field’s beauty and functionality.

All would have meant more bad publicity for the athletic department, which has had more than its share in the past two years. And even though the university had allowed the football stadium to deteriorate to its former state, we should appreciate its efforts to rectify the problem.

Several UMaine entities teamed up to make the project a success. They include athletic director Suzanne Tyler and her staff, Anita Wihry’s people at institutional planning and facilities management, the engineering department, the grounds crew, and UMaine’s carpenters, plumbers and electricians.

Alumni Field doesn’t look the same. The stands are smaller, but they are safe and better able to meet the fans’ needs. And the Bears will have a true home-field advantage.

That’s teamwork.

– By Pete Warner, BDN

Was John Holyoke of Bangor Daily News (BDN, Sept. 7) just “Sounding Off” or was he serious? He states that Rockland District High School is a school with a healthy 540 student body who are marginally intersted in football at best. If he was serious, he would know RDHS has 455 students. If he attended a Rockland game, he would change his mind about their interest and support.

What really bothers me is his attempt to discredit the concept of cooperative teams by implying that Rockland has only self-serving motives. Certainly, we are breaking new ground in Maine high school sports, but as reported by Katrina Veeder of the BDN, many other states already have cooperative teams. MSAD 5 offers itself as the pilot program for the cooperative team concept for all sports, not just football.

Mr. Holyoke states that students do not have an inalienable right to play sports. He describes a free enterprise system where enough demand for a sport will create private, if not public funding. This advice is great when you live in Bangor, but not when you live in a small community.

Do not let his tainted outlook on cooperative teams sway you. Consider the benefits afforded small communities that pool their resources to improve themselves. Believe it or not, we are doing it for our kids and other kids from small schools. I would love to see a cooperative team from the mid-coast play a Bangor High School team. Students at Rockland and other small communities deserve comparable facilities, equipment and programs.

Please support this concept for our kids sake. Dennis Norton, president, Tiger Football Committee Inc.

The saga of the 7-foot N’diayes’ basketball careers at the University of Maine came to an end with the announcement that their entrance applications had been rejected, thus making their signed letters of intent null and void.

What puzzles me most about this is the media report that other schools have already made recruiting overtures to them. Have these coaches and athletic directors spent the last couple of years on a Russian spaceship? Why would they put their high profile programs in jeopardy by recruiting athletes that have been rejected by the “notorious” University of Maine athletic program? My quess is that there was very little grounds to reject them.

Therefore it is my supposition that the “rejections” were in reality, a magnanimous gesture on the part of the much-maligned UMaine athletic program. Did the scenario in the decision room play out in this way: Do we really want two unhappy giants roaming our halls and running our courts just to fulfill the legalese of a letter of intent? How can we release them of their obligation, defend the integrity of contracts and still save face?

Enter the Buckley Amendment which states that schools cannot release any information regarding academic records! BINGO! We will reject them, but will not have to explain why and they will be happily free to play elsewhere and Coach John Giannini can set his sights a bit lower as he gets on with the Xs and Os.

– Len Davis, Orrington

Readers may submit “Sounding Off” comments to the Bangor Daily News’ Sports Desk at P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402-1329. Our fax number is (207) 990-8092. All comments will be edited for accuracy, clarity, content, and taste.