There is nothing to fear in the Boston Red Sox camp heading into this World Series. Don’t take that as a prediction or a presumption to fire up the duck boats. The Los Angeles Dodgers are a legitimate opponent with loads of late October experience. They hit the accelerator at precisely the right time this […]
Kalle Oakes
Posted inBoston Red Sox, sj-web, Varsity Maine
The Hot Corner: Narrative surrounding Pats, Sox is nauseating
“Pink hat” is an overused term in Boston sports parlance. It’s essentially used to disparage any fan who goes through the full range of emotions about the region’s win-more-often-than-not teams more quickly than we do. That being said, my goodness, September and October are painful months if you follow these people on social media. The […]
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Posted inBoston Red Sox, Local Sports, sj-web
Hot Corner: Red Sox will have to reset for postseason
Joe Garagiola, the late catcher and broadcaster, submitted that “Baseball is a Funny Game” in his book of the same name in 1960. He also described why it is arguably the scariest. “Baseball gives you every chance to be great,” Garagiola wrote. “Then it puts pressure on you to prove that you haven’t got what […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
The Hot Corner: Black Bears football team making Maine proud
Saturday was a fun night to be a Maine-born football fan in Kentucky. Western Kentucky University played the game that’s familiar to Football Bowl Subdivision programs of all shapes and sizes. The Hilltoppers paid the University of Maine Black Bears $300,000 to show up at (deep breath) Jimmy Feix Field at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
The Hot Corner: Picking the field against Gerry's historic run at Oxford Plains Speedway
By now you’re probably familiar with my borderline courageous but ill-advised and futile tradition of trying to forecast the Oxford 250 winner each summer. As I prepare to attack this year’s assignment, however, there’s less sense of urgency to concoct a scenario in which Driver A or Driver B can win than to visualize some […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
The Hot Corner: 'Looking Back,' for good reason
The “Looking Back” series is easily my favorite Sun Journal project that I didn’t have to be involved in. Those of you who have a passing familiarity with my personal philosophy get the joke. I love long-term projects, long as they don’t interfere with covering the current local athletes whose families read the paper in […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
The Hot Corner: A tip of the cap to coaches on Father's Day
Spent all week trying not to be That Guy and acquiesce to the suddenly rampant-on-social-media conviction that there is some sort of “war” on Father’s Day. I’ve found rumors of such attacks against other holidays to be overstated and borderline paranoid. Then I awoke Sunday morning to no less an authority than the Chicago Tribune […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
The Hot Corner: Harriman was the hero Bates football needed
Winning percentage doesn’t always tell the whole story. I know that’s contrary to the sporting world’s economy. Players are evaluated through results-oriented goggles, and coaches are hired to be fired if they don’t perform up to the expectations of the most vocal and influential in the fan base. Try living in the belly of the […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
The Hot Corner: Stevens' coaching the difference for Celtics
We can argue all day long about whether or not the NBA is “what it used to be.” Athletes evolve. Styles of play and behavior change. And most of us profess a preference for the sports, music, television, politics, etc., with which we grew up. To wit, I watched more professional hoop when I was […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web, Varsity Maine
The Hot Corner: Don't judge lopsided games by their final scores
What’s the right lesson to teach our kids? We re-evaluate the answer to that question more frequently than ever. It’s the reason we’ve wound up with new math, a new grading system, new frequency and urgency of social protest, and new ways for old-fashioned and newfangled folks to ridicule one another. That clash of values […]