What’s in a milestone? That’s the question with which those of us paid to objectively consider such matters must spoil the party in observation of David Ortiz joining the 500-home run club. Full disclosure: I grew up in the 1970s and ’80s, the last decades when that magic number meant it was all over but […]
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Head to Head: Breaking down lessons that last a lifetime
Oakes: So, I don’t know if you noticed while editing a dozen stories on deadline at 11:19 p.m. this past Friday night, but Gray-New Gloucester beat Mountain Valley, 44-37, at Chet Bulger Field. This was significant, as you know, because the Patriots hadn’t won a game since 2012 and had never beaten the Falcons. And […]
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Oakes’ Week 2 high school football picks
Oxford Hills/Buckfield 28, Lewiston 7 Portland 28, Edward Little 20 Mt. Blue 35, Brewer 28 Leavitt 39, Morse 7 Yarmouth 42, Mtn. Valley 14 Fryeburg 27, Gray-NG 21 Spruce Mtn. 28, Lake Region 8 Cape Elizabeth 34, Poland 26 Winthrop/Monmouth 21, Traip 6 Lisbon 39, OOB 14 Oak Hill 26, Dirigo 20
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The Hot Corner: NFL commissioner must go
The National Football League season kicks off Thursday night, and thank God and Vince Lombardi, because I was beginning to think gridiron news never would overwhelm our airwaves again. Yes, that was sarcasm, just as it would have been if I said I’m floored that the game’s fearless leader, Roger Goodell, won’t appear at the […]
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Head to Head: Taking their time with running clock debate
Speaking of time and things that take a physical and mental toll, I’m intrigued by this discussion of the new running clock rule that will govern routs in high school football. (Apparently it was in last year’s Maine Principals’ Association bulletin, yet nobody seemed to notice.) Anyway, the short version is that in the second […]
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The Hot Corner: Travis Benjamin’s AIM for third consecutive 250 win will hit its target
So let’s not bury the kiss of destruction, ahem, I mean, the lead: I’m picking Travis Benjamin to make national short track history by winning his third consecutive AIM Recycling USA Oxford 250 on Sunday evening. This is far from an obvious or safe pick. If you’re inclined to believe otherwise, please review the past […]
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The Hot Corner: Sweetser’s fame was the same without playing the game
Contributors aren’t given much love at hall of fame induction ceremonies. They’re the reason we have “lifetime achievement” awards. Or sometimes they are given their own, dusty wing in whatever building houses the hallowed history of that game. It is a blessing, I suppose, because it keeps their lack of star power from becoming too […]
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The Hot Corner: Feasting on Lobster leftovers
Didn’t have much time to breathe while typing two fingers at a time after Saturday night’s Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl, much less contemplate what I had just watched. One friendly member of the clean-up crew confirmed that the senior football all-star game will revert to the traditional 4 p.m. start time next summer. I hope […]
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The Hot Corner: Senior moments trigger full range of emotion
For all the days, nights, concession-stand meals and deadline drama that we devote to the basketball tournament and football championship Saturday, there’s no time of year so rewarding as the months of May and June. You chuckle, because maybe I’m just guilty of being glad the season is almost over, and that I can work […]
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The Hot Corner: Special section for the ages not without phantom panic
So, true confession: I dreaded our Muhammad Ali-Sonny Liston project, with the same fear and anxiety that accompany a root canal or aversion therapy that involves reptiles or rodents. Overreact much? Probably. The golden anniversary of this infamous shindig coming to Lewiston was worthy of hip-hooray and ballyhoo, of course. But there’s a diminishing returns […]