A few random Monday morning thoughts while we gaze out our respective windows, 1,100 miles apart, and wonder what nearly the entire continental United States did to infuriate Mother Nature this time around: • No matter how the other elements of the game change — players getting artificially blown up like the Michelin Man, baseballs being juiced, […]
the hot corner
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
The Hot Corner: Maybe UMaine will one day reach NCAA tournament
Few people have provided the University of Maine athletic program with more bulletin board material than yours truly. I’ve called frequent attention to the Black Bears’ slow, steady, across-the-board decline over the past two decades, some it for circumstances beyond their control. And no program has been an easier target than men’s basketball. It’s a […]
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The Hot Corner: Patriots ignore the noise, keep playing their own tune
Now what? What’s the next trick designed to keep the New England Patriots from winning a sixth Super Bowl championship in 17 seasons? Conventional means have been powerless to stop what is now undeniably the greatest quarterback/coach/owner triumvirate in history. So “The Media,” as we’re all derisively known to anyone whose self-interest contradicts the day’s […]
Posted inLocal Sports, National Sports, sj-web
The Hot Corner: Hard to get all worked up over Yanks' big move
I’ve tried to wring my hands, grit my teeth and summon all the righteous indignation most Boston Red Sox fans have exhibited over the New York Yankees’ trade for Giancarlo Stanton, and I just can’t pull it off. It’s kind of alarming, actually. Being the type of person who panics over every random physical symptom […]
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The Hot Corner: Sports administered differently — no better or worse — in Maine, Kentucky
Eighteen months since leaving the place where my love for high school sports was born and blossomed, then jumping into that scene in a different part of the country, I continue to be amazed at how differently student-athletics are managed outside my native Maine. I’m not saying that one way is always right or that […]
Posted inLocal Sports, National Sports, sj-web
The Hot Corner: Trading Garoppolo a great deal for Patriots
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (10) warms up before an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) Jimmy Garoppolo is the official barometer of New England pink-hat sports spectator delusion. The looniest in our fan base have overvalued players in the past. […]
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The Hot Corner: The Red Sox need to make a change at the top
John Farrell must go. No, that isn’t breaking any new ground in the world of New England hot takes. And too many people point out the problem these days without offering a solution. Guilty as charged and admittedly adding to the noise here. We’re closing in on Memorial Day, and as of Sunday morning the […]
Posted inLocal Sports, sj-web
The Hot Corner: I miss the tournament; I don't miss the tournament
Another Maine high school basketball tournament week has come and gone. Credit (or blame) technology, if you will, but I don’t feel as if I missed much. Yes, that statement is open to multiple interpretations. Maybe it’s an accurate depiction of my emotions on multiple levels. I get the impression from some of the dedicated […]
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The Hot Corner: Patriots so good that Texans win looked bad
The New England Patriots are prisoners to their own ridiculousness. Only the Patriots could cover a silly spread of more than two touchdowns, against the team purported to have the No. 1 defense in the National Football League, in a game two steps away from the Super Bowl, and have it perceived as a sign […]
Posted inLocal Sports
The Hot Corner: Red Sox fans should sit back and enjoy World Series
Lordy, doesn’t this week’s World Series test that theory? You could play Six Degrees of Lou Merloni with the Chicago Cubs’ and Cleveland Indians’ rosters and unearth nary a player, manager or front-office guru who isn’t somehow linked to 2004, 2007 or 2013. Let’s just focus on the obvious ones. Cleveland’s journey to the doorstep […]