Hey, Ralph......

[bama_stripes]

Many congrats to your Maine Black Bears on their drubbing of Jax State yesterday, & good luck in the rest of the playoffs!  Black Bears Rule!

(Backstory:  Ralph & I had a friendly wager on this game.  Since I lost, I will have to end my next five posts with “Black Bears Rule!”  Unbeknownst to Ralph, my high school mascot was the Black Bears, so this will not be so onerous for me.)

[Ralph Damren]

Yo, 'Bama - thanks for the kind words. At least you guys have the Crimson Tide to still cheer for !! Temps were in the low 30's with cloud cover. As the red hat - the guy that communicates with the BJ for TV timeouts - I felt the cold and I live here. The Jax State band all wore red Santa hats and I asked one if their was their normal attire. His response was : "Only when we're playing north of the Mason-Dixon Line ." It was a fun day made more enjoyable by the outcome. I fully respected the friendly responses from the Jax State band, players and school personnel.

GO CRIMSON TIDE!
GO BLACK BEARS!

[markrischard]

Yes, congratulations to the Black Bears. But I would be remiss if I didn't toss out a ...

Boomer!

[kevinlc]

As a frequent lurker, but very infrequent poster, I have to throw in on this one.

As a Weber State Wildcats alum, GO WILDCATS!

I will be at the game, which btw way will be on ESPN2 and the only football on that night, so hope you all tune in to see the Big Sky Champs take on the Colonial Champs, this should be a good one. Temperatures will be in the mid 20s, but no more snow expected. Hope those Mainers like a little bit of altitude to go along with the cold, which I know they like too. 

[Ralph Damren]

Yo, Kevin, we Mainers are looking forward to it. Maine was pre-season pick to finish 8th in the CAA and to have ended at 7th in the nation was a huge surprise. May I offer you the same friendly wager as I did my Alabama friend...

 IF Weber State wins, my next five posts will end : WILDCATS RULE!

 IF Maine wins, your next five posts will end : BLACK BEARS RULE!

[/GO BLACK BEARS!!!

 b]

[kevinlc]

Ralph, You're on!

After decades of painful Wildcat football struggles, we're excited to be in the hunt the last couple of years. This looks like a great matchup to me.

Everyone, if you want to see some great football, tune in to ESPN2 tomorrow night at 6:00 PM MST (That's 8:00 for you folks back east).

Go Wildcats!

[kevinlc]

Well Ralph, rough night for Weber.

I have to say that Maine defense was the best I’ve seen all year against Weber, save Utah. I guess they’ll be coming out west to face another Big Sky team next week.  Weber beat Eastern W but didn’t play UCD.

So, for tonight Black Bears Rule!

Good luck next week.

[Ralph Damren]

Thanks, Kevinlc and 'Bama Stripes, for being good sports. With the egg laid by the Patriots yesterday, there are many more Maine Football hats worn on the streets of Maine then those of the Pats ! Being a red hat (the guy that flags down the BJ for TV timeouts) I'm like to share with you guys some of the program's moments.....

3 years ago our new coach was hired - he was then the youngest D-1 coach in the country.

His first two seasons were losing ones. Being on the sidelines, there was little excitement, it appeared that some players would have preferred to be studying. Crowds were small, mostly students, the frat boys would be searching for "dates" and by halftime were off with their "date"  back to the frat house to "study" .

The pre-season coaches poll of the league picked Maine to finish 8th in the conference  !
The NCAA post-season selection committee seated Maine 7th in the NATION.
'Nuff,said .

In an early pre-season practice, a freshman D-back collapsed and died. The program went under a microscope. An autopsy later determined that he had an undiscovered heart defect. The season opener with arch-rival Univ New Hampshire was filled with sadness as his assigned jersey was presented to his parents and siblings. His number would be retired for 4 years - his years of eligibility. The team had dedicated the season to his memory.

UNH was usually a league powerhouse and had beaten Maine for the last 7 years . Final score : Maine 35, UNH 7....WOW!..."UNH must be really bad " many said; we were soon to find out that Maine was really good !

To me, the season was personified by Maine's place kicker. Standing next to him on the sidelines, I noticed that as soon as he sailed the opening kickoff out of the end zone, he would run to the sidelines where he would practice tirelessly kicking into a kicker's net." Doesn't this tire you out?" I inquired. His response was : "When you practice hard enough , you feel 'automatic' and when the real time comes, you will be 'automatic'!" He had two "walk-off" field goals to win games - one from 52 yards -as time expired . I wasn't surprised when he was sent in to kick a 46 yarder to ice the game Friday night.

The excitement in the state has only been matched by that of the Maine hockey team winning two NCAA championships back in the '90's! Our state's largest newspaper has posted two memorable headlines......
   After beating Jacksonville State 54-27 : "WOW, WE BELIEVE!!"
   After beating Weber :  "OK, WHO's NEXT???"
I'm told that the team's red-eye charter arrived at Bangor International Airport as the sun was rising Saturday morning. The airport was full of fans and students- not looking for "dates" but to welcome back a victorious team that has made our state proud.

Win or lose this weekend, they have earned a special place in our hearts. Thanks, guys, for taking the time to read this...sometimes it's even more fun to be a fan than an official !!!


     

[kevinlc]

Very cool Ralph,

I did notice the Maine players carrying a jersey when they came to the bench just before the game and wondered if it might be for a deceased teammate. I was seated not too far behind Maine's bench. It was a tough loss to take at home, but Maine was certainly the better team that night and totally shut Weber down.

As I and some folks in the press noted, these two teams were almost mirror images of each other. The only other defense that came close to Maine's was when Weber played Utah in their season opener, and that's saying something if you know anything about them.

Weber State has had similar struggles over the years being the Big Sky cellar dwellers. They hired Jay Hill from Utah's staff a few years ago and he turned the program around, all while his wife was going through serious cancer treatments. The community, and even other teams when Weber went on the road, rallied around them with donations and such. I'm happy to report she's now doing well.

Now Maine will be making another flight out west to play Eastern Washington on that horrible red turf. I guess I should be rooting for the Big Sky team, but I can't talk myself into supporting Eastern. Weber did beat them in Ogden mid-season in a low-scoring game. I would expect the same when they meet Maine. They say that defense wins championships, and your guys certainly have that. I'll be pulling for them and hopefully someone to knock-off NDSU.

[kevinlc]

oh yeah,

Black Bears Rule!

[Ralph Damren]

Thanks for the remarks, Kevin. I noted that Weber beat Eastern Washington 14-6. Comparative scores don't always mean a lot, but it does give many of us Mainers a sense of possibility of playing for the national championship. We will all be rooting for South Dakota to upset North Dakota in what must be a huge rival. Often big upsets are by rivals .

I felt the game was well officiated with the exception of not asking the Weber coach for his choice on the bridge foul that occurred after Maine's last TD. I was watching the game with a group of my zebra buddies and we were saying : "Why doesn't he want that on the PAT??" ...the answer, of course ,was he did want it on the PAT - he just wasn't asked.

I've never had a Big Sky Conference favorite....I have now...

[/GO WILDCATS!!

UNLESS THEY ARE PLAYING THE BLACK BEARS! b]