WALES — Oak Hill hadn’t won a football championship of any kind since Rambo ruled the box office, a duet involving Joe Cocker was the No. 1 song in America, and current coach Stacen Doucette was eight years old. You didn’t think spinning history in a new direction would be easy, did you? The Raiders […]
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The Hot Corner: Refuting the jabberwocky of NFL culture
Today’s lesson, children, is about nonsense words. The longer we live, the more of them accumulate in our repertoire. “Jabberwocky,” brought to you by Lewis Carroll. “Sussudio,” presented by Phil Collins. And “locker room culture,” at least subconsciously embraced by every athlete since the beginning of time. Culture, itself, is a word that has been […]
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The Hot Corner: The best show in Maine that nobody’s watching
The state’s flagship university currently has the best football team in what has long been regarded the toughest “championship subdivision” conference in the country. Do you fully appreciate the logistics and the odds that the University of Maine has overcome in achieving that status? Do you even care? Never mind the second question. The answer […]
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The Hot Corner: Third time’s just as charmed
From the ignominy of the numbers 1918, 1967, 1975 and 1986, to this. From 86 years of heartburn and heartbreak, to three championships in fewer than 4,000 days. From the cellar to the rooftop. The Boston Red Sox have done it. Again. It’s no dynasty. This is infinitely more satisfying than that. The Sox have […]
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The Hot Corner: The night the human element blew up
Mama, the Good Book and every marriage counselor on the planet have offered the advice since the beginning of time: Don’t go to bed angry. Sorry, but if you have committed any piece of your heart and soul to the Boston Red Sox, that was impossible Saturday night. Most of us haven’t felt this way […]
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The Hot Corner: Crabtrees, crossovers create crazy, mixed-up mess
Questions fly through the air like footballs in a summer 7-on-7 league. Texts, emails and social media inquiries overtake me like the wafting aroma of French fries from a snack shack. “You figured out the Crabtrees yet? How do they look?” I recognize this question is completely random and out-of-context to anybody who doesn’t follow […]
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The Hot Corner: If you don’t mind, Sox still matter
I probably said a lot of things in the spilled beer-scented aftermath of my personal 2004 World Series championship celebration. Some of them were mildly coherent, some dreadfully embarrassing. Others I don’t pretend to remember. One thing I’m sure that I offered in that raspy, quivering voice — if only because I repeated it in […]
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The Hot Corner: Dempsey’s devotion no surprise in these parts
While watching from the relative comfort of my recliner as another Dempsey Challenge was entered into the Lewiston-Auburn history books, I couldn’t help but think how lucky we are. Not because we receive annual, in-the-flesh visits from the affable actor. I mean, hey, Patrick seems like a true gentleman, and I guess he’s a good-looking […]
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The Hot Corner: Return of rivalries leaves him in fightin’ mood, too
Despite the boundless professional respect I have for the guy who shares this space with me throughout the season, splitting the high school football beat with anybody is a delicate balance. This was apparent a few Fridays ago while I staked out territory on the visiting sideline in Livermore Falls and awaited the Mountain Valley-Spruce […]
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The Hot Corner: Dreaming of the day he would be king
Last night I had a beautiful dream. I became King, High Priest and Commissioner of Sports. Lucky me. Lucky you. Don’t worry. I used this power selectively. No spectators were harmed in this semi-lucid activity, tempting as that would have been. No results were manipulated, either, because: a) I don’t work for NASCAR; and b) […]