Goodbye, farewell and amen. Back in February 1988, I left Uncle Sam’s canoe club and walked into a ramshackle building that no longer exists on Wilson Street in Brewer. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner… Read More
A few of my favorite things (raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens … ) Jerry Trupiano’s “way back!” googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length;… Read More
Idle thoughts from a mind gone haywire… I don’t know what this says about the history of the team, but Tim Wakefield is now fourth on the Red Sox list for career strikeouts with the team. Yes, Tim Wakefield. Only Roger Clemens, Cy Young and… Read More
I drove to western Kentucky and back recently, and I’m ready to report a couple of things. The temperatures were in the upper 60s. The sun was shining, and people were wearing jackets and politely complaining about it being chilly while my family and I… Read More
Sitting in the comfort of our family room Sunday night I heard something said on the TV that made me do something my wife would have thought next to impossible – get up from the recliner. No kidding. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var… Read More
All was right in Red Sox Nation in 1967. The team so captured the hearts and minds of New Englanders – and a 14-year-old in Tennessee – that nothing has been the same since. That team prompted the group Earth Opera to release a song… Read More
This, that and another thing or two. The Harlem Globetrotters bring to mind happier times. Times when ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” was still shown in black and white. When Jim McKay was young. When we were young enough to be full of optimism. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
Idle thoughts from a mind gone haywire. Let me see if I’ve got this straight. The University of Maine hockey team, which has been ranked No. 1 in the nation from time to time this year, has to go on the road and play a… Read More
Scenes from a Saturday night. At 6:20 p.m. the student body sections were in full voice at the Bangor Auditorium. It was 45 minutes before the scheduled tip-off of the Class A boys basketball state championship game and the catcalls had already started. googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
If ever there were a basketball tournament that could have been used as a backdrop for the movie “Hoosiers,” it is ours, here in Maine. Take your pick. Class A, B, C, D. Doesn’t matter. Basketball, for the most part, is played below the rim… Read More
Idle thoughts from a mind gone haywire: Isn’t it ironic that one of the Maine Principals’ Association tournament sponsors is Coca-Cola, and nothing but Pepsi products is sold at the Auditorium? googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = [];… Read More
Basketballs. Basketballs and more basketballs. The Class B, C and D Eastern Maine tournaments have come and gone. We have heard a countless number of versions of the national anthem, “Smoke on the Water” and “Louie, Louie.” googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes… Read More
OK. No matter what you’ve been told, it has been cold at the Bangor Auditorium. I want a new one. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i… Read More
At 5:20 on a Friday evening at Brewer High School, parking spaces were at a premium for a 7:30 game. After a slow, long wait the traffic finally cleared enough to find one at the back end of the school. A quick glance around revealed… Read More
I have a sawbuck that says LeBron James’ eligibility will suddenly be returned to him and fast. The reason? Money, of course. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0;… Read More
This, that, and another thing or two. What is sport to one may not be to another. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) {… Read More
This shirttail thing has to come to an end. I’ve been investigating, and I’m pretty sure it’s a conspiracy. All of these high school basketball players got together secretly – maybe in the banquet room at Dysart’s over a couple of root beer floats –… Read More
The weather outside is cold but inside a mill town gymnasium, 10 little girls are being transformed into softball pitchers. Not your picnic softball, slo-pitch pitchers, but full windmill, rock-and-fire pitchers. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = [];… Read More
The Downeast Hurricanes are looking for a few good men. The team is the latest area endeavor into the world of semiprofessional football. The team is the dream of owner Bill Harris of Hampden; Damon Jordan of Bangor, who is doing what he can to… Read More
As usual, it has been a year of sound bites and images. Some good. Some not so good. At Winslow, Sukee Arena. Last winter. A sea of people wearing Gardiner hockey jerseys for an Eastern Maine playoff game with John Bapst. John Bapst skated just… Read More
Dennis Franchione was all about staying at Alabama. That was until Texas A&M came along and money whipped him silly. Franchione had this saying to his Alabama players – “Just hang onto the rope.” googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var… Read More
“Pass the corn, please,” she said. “I haven’t been this hungry since Dick O’Connell was the Red Sox general manager.” It is all about the Red Sox during our annual pilgrimage to Plymouth, Mass., this Thanksgiving. The Red Sox and the Patriots. And the Bruins. Read More
This, that and another thing or two … Does it bother you that all of these people were saying no to the Red Sox general manager job? googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false;… Read More
The smoke in the smoking lounge at Bangor-Brewer Lanes was thick Saturday afternoon. So was the malarkey. James Milan and his father, Charles Milan III, held court smoking cigars that had been meant for a victory celebration. They were simply cigars now. googletag.cmd.push(function () {… Read More
It’s funny how we see people differently. Someone funny to you might be boring to someone else. But most people saw Roman Maxsimic the same way. Talk to someone about Maxsimic and the word “rock” will come up. They say he was a rock. His… Read More
They put the numbers through the grinder and measured how everybody stacked up against one another. They brought out the slide rules, abacuses and scientific calculators. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for… Read More
High school playoff time is a time of emotion. Of joy. Of pain. It is also the beginning and the end for so many of the seniors who will spend their final minutes on the field of their choice. They inevitably leave the field in… Read More
To say that Ralph Payne was a good football player in his day would be a gross understatement. One night, an eon ago, I sat in Brewer athletic director Dennis Kiah’s family room, along with Payne, and watched films of the 1970 Brewer football team. Read More
There’s a lot of yappin’ going on over the radio airwaves about what’s wrong with them Super Bowl champion Patriots. Here’s the answer – a lot. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for… Read More
I wasn’t here 50 years ago when WABI-TV (Channel 5) first began broadcasting high school tournament basketball. In fact, I wasn’t anywhere 50 years ago. So there’s no sentimental attachment here. In fact, there are some things the station does that I don’t like. As… Read More
I was flooded by Isidore, or at least the mail I received about Isidore. Jeez, where have I been since 1978. I mean, I’ve read a newspaper or two since then. I must have missed the story in 1978, which announced that future hurricane names… Read More
Idle thoughts from a mind gone haywire. I was lucky enough to spend some time in my old stomping ground down in Bucksport last Friday. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var… Read More
Bob Cimbollek has been called a lot of things in his life. It’s that way sometimes when a person is good at what he does. It’s also that way when he did it, to paraphrase Frankie Blue Eyes, his way. But therein lies the rub. Read More
Dead letter office (aka Ask Don). Having written sports columns in a variety of publications over the past 10 years or so, I’ve accumulated a fair amount of mail from readers. Mail is a good thing for columnists. It justifies our existence to our bosses… Read More
Idle thoughts while waiting for the players and management to screw baseball into the ground. – . – googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++)… Read More
OK Major League Baseball, if you’re going to strike, go ahead, do it now. Oh yeah. And do us all a favor – don’t come back. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for… Read More
Where were you when Abby Spector’s lights went out? Personally, I was in a golf cart about midway down the fairway (on the cart path, no 90-degree angles, please) on Sugarloaf’s 15th hole. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes… Read More
Get ready to be bowled over. Yeah, I know, it’s 80 degrees outside, but are you ready for some football? The camps have opened, the pads are popping and Saturday night, you get the real deal – The Japan Bowl, a knock-down drag-out affair in… Read More
This, that and another thing or two. This past weekend’s Red Sox-Yankees series proved only one thing – both teams need pitching help. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i =… Read More
Everything is better at a ballpark. The grass smells better. Hot dogs taste better. The sounds are unlike those you hear anywhere else. Maybe it’s the language the kids speak. Old men like me still understand the words. We once spoke them ourselves. googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
Idle thoughts from a mind gone haywire: After sitting in front of a TV for more than three hours, explaining to my 8-year-old why 12 cars started simultaneously careening out of control, and interpreting for her what Darrell Waltrip was saying (I was raised in… Read More
Mike Carrier had been planning to leave his home in Orland and drive to Brewer to watch the Class B state softball championship game between Erskine Academy of South China and Greely when the phone rang, delaying his trip for a few minutes. You’d think… Read More
Idle thoughts from a mind gone haywire. With the U.S. soccer team doing so well in the World Cup, a hero is bound to emerge. Meet Clint Mathis, America’s first true, natural-born goal scorer. The truly great goal scorers possess similar attributes. They are normally… Read More
When did Mike Tyson become P.T. Barnum? When did that transformation take place? On an HBO boxing program last Saturday night, it was suggested Tyson is one sly fox. That the crotch-grabbing and obscenity- laced tirades are nothing more than show. Promotion with an X… Read More
Twenty years from now you’ll say you were there. Just like the millions who claim to have been at Fenway when Carlton Fisk hit THE HOME RUN in 1975. Not only will you not have switched channels when the Celtics fell behind by 20-something, but… Read More
This, that and another thing or two. So you want to play semi-pro football? Well, ladies – that’s right, ladies – you have one more chance at being invited to the New England Storm’s tryout camp. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes =… Read More
Fred Nichols is planting flowers. He is also painting. And scheduling. And promoting. He is preparing for the beginning of the Bangor harness racing meet. It begins Friday night at 7:15. Nichols is entering his ninth season as the meet director. googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
Thank goodness for the sensibility of the French. They did the sports fans of the world a great favor Sunday. Sunday, while Trot Nixon was accidentally on purpose throwing his bat at Tampa Bay pitcher Ryan Rupe, the French had already been to the polls… Read More
During Sunday’s Maine State Candlepin Open championship matches at Bangor-Brewer Lanes in Brewer, an observer remarked that the turnout of fans wasn’t as large as he had expected it to be. “Yeah, I know,” Charles Milan III responded. “If I were bowling, they would have… Read More
In Pete Gent’s “The Franchise,” Taylor Rusk is a young quarterback preparing for life and a Super Bowl. The life part, he finds, is much harder to deal with than the game. Drew Bledsoe is much like Mr. Rusk. He appears now to have many… Read More
It is perhaps the mother of all corners in a world of corners. Think about it. There’s the Corner Store, kitty-corner, the corner of Buck and Main, Corner Car Wash, Corner CITGO, the Corner Cupboard, and the Corner Country Store. And those are just in… Read More
Hard-core University of Maine hockey fans already knew who Steve Piotrowski was before the Black Bears national championship game with Minnesota. The casual fan found out more than they ever wanted to know about him Saturday night. It was Piotrowski’s arm that went up with… Read More
It’s official. Pedro is toast. Just ask anybody around here in the sports department, and they’ll tell you. Here, let me give you an example. I’ll ask that guy at the desk next to mine. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]];… Read More
Close your eyes and listen. Do you hear it? The pounding of the ball off the hardwood floor echoes. Constantly. Can you hear it? Open your eyes. Do you see the colors? Thousands of colors. The uniforms. And the faces. Can you see them? googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
Paging Dr. Tyler. Dr. Suzanne Tyler. Paging Dr. Tyler. Dr. Tyler, do what you have to do. What the law requires the University of Maine to do. Wait until the hockey season is over, and post the job for head men’s hockey coach at the… Read More
It’s time for March Madness and with it comes, naturally enough, some March Madness trivia. While you’re at it, why not take a shot at a few other questions we’ve managed to dig up. Good luck. May all of your brackets bring home the bacon. Read More
Joe Gamache Sr. will be happy to know that his son is talking to the public again. After months and months of fielding phone calls from people looking to talk to his son, the elder Gamache has been taken off the hook, so to speak,… Read More
This, that, and another thing or two. Talk a little hoop with George Stevens Academy boys coach Matt Mattson and you will be impressed with his mind for the game. He talks Xs and Os but you come away from the conversation understanding exactly what… Read More
Idle thoughts from a mind gone haywire. Had the worst $2 hot dog in my life Saturday at the Bangor Auditorium. The bun was warmer than the dog. Maybe it’s that nouveau cuisine. Hot dog a la froid? But it was far worse than the… Read More
The sad case of Donte Stallworth came to a close Monday when the University of Tennessee wide receiver decided to give up the fight against the NCAA and become a professional football player. First, a disclaimer. Yours truly is a card-carrying member of Volunteers Nation. Read More
It’s been a few years since Johnny Bos was in Bangor. But when he was around he sure put on a show. He liked heroes and villains and had a hero in Lewiston’s Joey Gamache. He’d tell anyone who’d listen that in addition to being a nice guy,… Read More
Eddie Pinstripes finally called Saturday night. I had been expecting him to call since the end of the World Series when his precious Yankees lost to the Diamondbacks. I began to become a little concerned when he didn’t call right away. But it turns out… Read More
The big Red Sox news fresh off the hot stove was delivered by Sports Illustrated last week when the magazine revealed that Nomar Garciaparra and Mia Hamm are hand-holdin’, goo-goo-eyed, break-out-the-handcuffs in love. And they have been for a few years. No kiddin’. How did… Read More
It is just another late fall day in Maine. The leaves are about all gone. Snow tires are being put on cars in preparation for what’s to come. The skies are grayer than a battleship, and it is chilly. But out on the left coast… Read More
Resolutions, questions, this, that, and another thing or two. I resolve that the next time I write a Hampton Clarkson story, I will get his school right. I knew that he attends Worcester State (not Westfield State). I knew it when I typed Westfield State. Read More
As we head off into the holiday sunset, here’s some sports trivia to ponder with your eggnog. Happy holidays and good luck. 1. Who was Joey Gamache’s opponent in his last fight? googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes =… Read More
From his mobile home, Sessa Menendez can see his life’s work. It is now a pile of ashes and charred ruin. It resembles nothing of the 16-lane bowling alley and Laundromat that had sat there until Friday morning. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var… Read More
The name was unmistakable. How many Hampton Clarksons could there be? The Hampton Clarkson on the TV screen was scoring touchdowns for Westfield (Mass.) State. In fact, he was scoring the final two touchdowns, the winning touchdowns, in the Owls’ ECAC North conference championship game… Read More
No doubt you knew Ed. Maybe not the same one I knew, but you knew an Ed. Ed was the guy who could do anything and do it well. He was the kindest person you ever met, but had enough devil in him to keep you laughing. Read More
Russell’s sounds like a pool hall, all right. It just doesn’t look like one. At least not the kind of pool hall some people might remember if they close their eyes and think about it. There is the sound of balls clinking and dropping into… Read More
Now that the circus, uh, wrestling has left town, it’s safe to let you in on a little secret. It’s not real, you know. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i… Read More
Last week we visited a soccer field where they didn’t keep score. This week we visited a field where the scored mattered more than anything else. It was state championship soccer. Both teams had gone through a lot to get there. Both teams were on… Read More
They turned on the lights at Doyle Field one night not so long ago. They did it for second- and third-graders. And they may not have known it at the time, but they also did it for the parents. It was the final night for… Read More