For 30 years, between 1956-86, there were two constants in the University of Maine’s field house. The dry, stale air that would send athletes to the water fountains with regularity. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var… Read More
Football star, professional athlete, animal lover, history buff, music and art lover, packrat, and genuine friend. Those are some of the words friends use to describe Roger Ellis, a former University of Maine star lineman who went on to play pro football before starting a… Read More
When marking the deaths of well-known people in their communities, words such as “special, character, one-of-a-kind,” and “pillars of the community” are often used, sometimes to the point of overkill. That cannot be said for 75-year-old Carl Brown, who died Thursday as a result of… Read More
PORTLAND – Richard “Doc” Costello, longtime athletic director at the University of Southern Maine, has died at the age of 79. Costello, who coached nearly every sport during his 37-year career at USM, died Monday at his Gorham home after a battle with cancer. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
A 19-year-old University of Maine student and promising soccer player died Friday night in Portland, university officials confirmed Sunday. According to university spokesman Joe Carr, first-year student Adam Baxter was a native of Skegness, England. He lived in Knox Hall on the Orono campus and… Read More
It was certainly appropriate to name Garland Street Field after J. Henry ‘Hank’ Cameron. It was named after him when he retired as the principal at Garland Street Junior High School in 1982. He had served for 37 years in the Bangor school system. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
Friends and colleagues are mourning the death of one of the legendary athletes and coaches in Maine sports history, Caribou’s Gerald “Gerry” Duffy. Duffy died in Portland on Friday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 77. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot… Read More
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Four-time Iditarod champion Susan Butcher, who in 1986 became the race’s second female winner and brought increased national attention to its grueling competition, has died. She was 51. Butcher, who grew up in Cambridge, Mass., died Saturday in a Seattle hospital of… Read More
The late Evelyn Grant loved the game of golf. She also loved helping others develop that same passion she had for the game. Bangor native Grant, a member of the Maine Sports Hall of Fame and Maine Golf Hall of Fame, died on Saturday. She… Read More
MILO – Like so many other baseball players who have grown up in this Piscataquis County town, Zach Beals learned much of what he knows about the sport from Murrel Harris. From his first days on the diamond in the local youth league, to being… Read More
Ray “Pop” Vear was one of a kind. Winslow native Vear, who died at the age of 79 Wednesday, coached different sports at a variety of levels for more than 50 years and was a walking encyclopedia of sports history in the state of Maine. Read More
PORTLAND – Frank Fixaris, a sports broadcaster known for his deep baritone voice and encyclopedic knowledge of sports in a career that spanned five decades, died Friday when a fire broke out in his home in Falmouth. Fixaris’ body was found on a couch in… Read More
LEWISTON – Arnold Leo “Al” Biondi, a longtime golfer who won nearly every major professional golfing award in Maine and New England, died Friday at his home in Leeds. Biondi, who never wanted his true age revealed, won numerous golf tournaments throughout his career, which… Read More
Shirley “Slip” Corey coached Little League baseball in Brewer with his nephew, Bob DeBeck, from 1955 to 1987. Corey’s fun-first coaching philosophy and the way he positively influenced the lives of his players led to his induction into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame two… Read More
BATON ROUGE, La. – Sue Gunter, a Hall of Fame coach and pioneer in women’s college basketball, died Thursday. She was 66. LSU said Gunter, who had suffered from emphysema, died at her home in Baton Rouge. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes… Read More
HERKIMER, N.Y. – Justin Strzelczyk, a former player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, died Thursday in a fiery head-on collision with a tanker truck after he led state troopers on a 40-mile highway chase during morning rush hour. Strzelczyk, 36, was an offensive lineman with the… Read More
BANGOR – After World War II, John Hoctor pretty much did it all at Maine Maritime Academy. He was registrar, admissions director, athletic director, coach for three sports and impetus for construction of the football field. Hoctor died in Bangor Wednesday at age 88. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
WINTHROP – Lee St. Hilaire’s hockey jersey hung next to his open casket, and his football number was formed from flowers of Winthrop High’s green and white school colors at a memorial service that drew 1,000 people. The 20-year-old St. Hilaire, who was considered one… Read More
GUILFORD – Peter Nelson grew up a football player, first at Dexter Regional High School and later at Plymouth State College. But he made his coaching mark on a quite different venue – the soccer field. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes =… Read More
LINCOLN – The Eastern Maine athletic community is mourning the loss of Dale Curry, the longtime coach and athletic director at Mattanawcook Academy who died of cancer Saturday at age 64. “He was one of the best buddies I ever had in education,” said Stearns… Read More
Eric “Rick” Ylagan, a respected Bangor High School earth science teacher and coach of that school’s state championship boys tennis team, died in his sleep early Saturday morning at his home in Brewer, apparently of natural causes. He was 39. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
ITHACA, N.Y. – Philip “Jim” Butterfield, who won three national championships in his 27 years as head football coach at Ithaca College, died at age 74. Butterfield died Tuesday of complications from Alzheimer’s Disease, his family said. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes… Read More
Friends of Allen Fletcher say the 39-year-old Milford resident died doing what he loved most, competing in auto races. “When he left us, he left us doing what he loved doing,” Wally Gibbons said. “That’s all he wanted to do was drive a race car. Read More
Former basketball referee Tony Tammaro, a 1994 inductee into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame whose colorful and energetic style made him a household name across the state, died of an apparent heart attack Tuesday, according to his nephew, Mike Tammaro. Tammaro was 82. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More