So many games. So little time. If you’re a student and you don’t think February vacation is long enough, try being one of the Maine Principals’ Association committee members responsible for a basketball tournament schedule. As we learned from the past two blizzard-battered years, that docket at the three tournament sites in Augusta, Bangor and […]
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The Hot Corner: Manning mighty, by any measure
Two seconds. No, literally, I attempted to watch Super Bowl 50 pregame coverage for two seconds Sunday morning before I saw NFL Network’s talking point. Staring straight at me from the bottom of the screen, in hi-definition, daring me to heave a blunt object and ruin our party before the chili started to simmer. “Does […]
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The Hot Corner: ‘Butt in the gym,’ shots in the air, needed to save game
In the viral video era, once you’ve had your fill of cute cats, or dads getting hit with a Wiffle ball line drive in the private parts, there’s nothing more wonderful than a good, old-fashioned coaching rant. Most of the hall of fame tantrums live on either in our mind or in beer commercials. Football […]
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The Hot Corner: Good, bad or indifferent, NFL won’t die
If you think crooked politicians and misbehaving celebrities are bulletproof, able to save face and able to prosper professionally through the worst of circumstances, be assured that they have nothing on the National Football League. Seriously, what could kill the NFL? It’s the zombie that represents every form of evil in society yet is unstoppable […]
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The Hot Corner: Bengals’ blow-up merely reflection of our own values
Sports reflect society, and the folly of everything America celebrates was on graphic display in Saturday night’s AFC wild card playoff. We all get a pulpit these days, and within minutes of the Cincinnati Bengals’ implosion against the Pittsburgh Steelers, most of us piled on as if we were diving for a loose football in […]
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The Hot Corner: Sometimes it’s Patriots’ time, and other times, time’s up
Timing is everything in sports, and it has become alarmingly apparent that this year’s edition of the New England Patriots is cosmically impaired. Matthew Slater and/or Bill Belichick and/or referee Clete Blakeman’s inexplicable decision to say Stephen Gostkowski would kick after the Patriots won the overtime coin toss on Sunday, leading directly to a 26-20 […]
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The Hot Corner: Gifts of gratitude from an honored observer
Yes, it is better to give than receive. Let’s be honest, however: If you are paid to wear a badge around your neck and write about young adults playing children’s games, you’re receiving in abundance, almost daily. We are taught to be thankful at this time of year, and when you are immersed in Maine […]
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The Hot Corner: Making a few quick drives to the hoop
For every action in sports, there is a swift, exaggerated overreaction. You can thank the glut of cable networks, talk radio outlets and social media platforms for that. As a wise man (Winston Churchill? John Lennon? Bugs Bunny?) once said, if you can’t beat them, join them. My highly caffeinated Twitter feed attests to my […]
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The Hot Corner: Gruesome loss, but no time to panic
Let the overreaction begin. It is how fandom operates in the National Football League, that once-a-week train wreck we all criticize ruthlessly but from which we can’t look away. Eight days ago, both real and bandwagon followers of the New England Patriots were obsessed with the meaningless goal of running the regular-season table. Ridiculously meaningless, […]
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The Hot Corner: Cosgrove taught Maine value of loyalty. Were we listening?
Jack Cosgrove was University of Maine football coach for such a long time that it is easy to forget what he inherited. After a brief period of national prosperity during the Mike Buck era, the Black Bears’ coaching office was equipped with a revolving door. Perhaps you watched with detachment on Friday as Iowa held […]