The best part of Cindy Blodgett’s career at Maine is just how long it will endure. The question for the women’s basketball program is how it will endure now that she is gone. First, Ms. Blodgett.

Could the university or the state have asked for a better person to be the one to put the women’s program on the map? The dignity, class and accessibility of her career at the university could not have been more positive.

Despite all the bad that sports seem to endanger at so many levels today, the examples set by the shining lights like Cindy become even more important. It is why her example will have an impact far beyond the four years on the court at Maine.

How many young girls have watched and read about Cindy and decided to pick up a basketball and have their own dreams? How many girls and boys have watched and heard of her exploits and how she has handled the situation and learned that a little humility can go a long way toward good? How many of us of every age have watched and admired and been reminded that being a good person still has its place in sports and in life?

No, this isn’t making a person more in print than in life. This is a real person who fits the bill, and remained real. She represents the best of what sports is, from both the athletes’ perspective and what they can give back to society.

The best part is this is just the beginning of a life. What she takes from the on-court experience will now become part of whatever life she makes for herself. One has the feeling the giving will also continue, and that will be but further evidence of the character of the person we have come to respect.

For the women’s program, it is transition time. Life after Blodgett will be a new growth period. There are achievements, wins and losses and national tournaments, that will be used as guide posts by the public, the athletes and the university. Be careful here. As has happened in other sports at Maine, we must decide whether we are supporting the program and the athletes who play it or are we with them win, lose or tie.

No program loses the likes of a Cindy Blodgett and doesn’t suffer to some degree. It is not a time to turn away from the program and wait for the wins to pile up again before paying attention. Rather, this is when loyalty to the program may well decide just how successful it will be.

This is a program worthy of support. It has shown it can maintain substantial interest and be a focal sport for the university. It is a program that can use Maine talent as well as be an attraction for nationally talented women athletes. It is also, like most Maine programs except for men’s hockey, a sport that will struggle to reach the best of the nation’s teams. That’s a fact. The university’s location is and always has been a hindrance to recruiting athletes.

The success of the hockey program is unique because of the limited number of schools that field teams and the fact the cold weather small-town atmosphere is where the most of the players come from anyway. Not so with basketball. Recruiting women will run into the same problems the men’s program does.

No less reason to support the program. It has made great strides from the days the women played at odd hours in the Pit. The program stands on its own now, in large measure due to the efforts of one Cindy Blodgett, both on and off the court. Thanks lady, you have done yourself, the university and the state proud.

NEWS columnist Gary Thorne, an Old Town native, is an ESPN and CBS broadcaster.