UMaine '26-'27: The Bridge On the River Stillwater

[Fishman'81]

So bridge is getting torn down, new steel beams on the way.

Team goes as far as D and Boija take it.

Breakout year for Lipinski .

25 years ago Shawn passed. RIP

25 years, can you imagine.

I last saw Shawn at the Tsongas, from the stands, and he looked pretty ill then. Very frail and tired.

Happened to run into Grant between periods that night as well, though neither of those guys knew me. Grant was such a kind and patient man, and he chatted with me as though we had known each other since grade school.

I was there with my sister and my nephews from just up the 495 (Merrimac MA) and Maine won that one. The Tsongas was a new and shiny arena then, and we had a blast...
My sister died of a freak gioblastoma about a year later.

Don't take anything for granted, my friends. Enjoy what you can, while you can.

 

[walrus]

(Photos credit USCHO and Monty Rand)

RIP Coach

I bid on one sweater, it got over 300 bucks and I backed off. Later they called and told me the bidders didn't want to pay up on their bids. It was still too high for me I said no. To this day I wish I had ponied up the cash. Would have been cool to wear in Vegas Frozen four. The ND smurf goalie sweaters went for over a thousand.

 

[ticapnews]

Gameday information

Parking will be available in the Collins Center and Belgrade parking lots with a free shuttle that will begin operating 2 hours prior to gametime.

 

[BernieTheReffigy]

Women’s team played a helluva game tonight against #6 Quinnipiac. Unlucky not to come away with the win cause they worked their butts off. Might be a little too early to say this, but it looks like Gettens was the right hire.

 

[BlackBearHockeyFan]

Football money pit losing 43-17 to Elon.

 

[umhockey91]

Football money pit losing 43-17 to Elon.

I've been trying to defend this program.....but it might be time to trow in the towel. Losing is one thing.....but the program is such a drain of resources. The timing might be right to consider dropping the program. Maine could easily add back men's soccer at a fraction of the cost. More money could be put toward hockey & hoops. Alfond Stadium could be demolished and open up plenty of space for more parking. The stadium footprint could also be used for a new hockey facility in another 50 or 60 years when we are all dead and gone.

 

[walrus]

Kirk Ferentz just beat Michigan at the big house so Maine football is good for something

 

[blackbears9]

I've been trying to defend this program.....but it might be time to trow in the towel. Losing is one thing.....but the program is such a drain of resources. The timing might be right to consider dropping the program. Maine could easily add back men's soccer at a fraction of the cost. More money could be put toward hockey & hoops. Alfond Stadium could be demolished and open up plenty of space for more parking. The stadium footprint could also be used for a new hockey facility in another 50 or 60 years when we are all dead and gone.

Add back men's soccer and add men's and women's lacrosse. CAA isn't even a competitive 1-AA league anymore with JMU and Delaware going up to true D1 and all the other teams that bailed to the Patriot League.

 

[grooverider]

I've been trying to defend this program.....but it might be time to trow in the towel. Losing is one thing.....but the program is such a drain of resources. The timing might be right to consider dropping the program. Maine could easily add back men's soccer at a fraction of the cost. More money could be put toward hockey & hoops. Alfond Stadium could be demolished and open up plenty of space for more parking. The stadium footprint could also be used for a new hockey facility in another 50 or 60 years when we are all dead and gone.

The QB is terrible. Jordan Stevens is now on the hot seat. This team may win 2 games tops. But as long as the donors line up and sit on their boxes for the thrill of gameday it won't be going anywhere.

 

[AMC]

Everyone can have a nice day on campus and the players can get fresh air and exercise in a smaller conference. There's no reason to be schlepping to North Carolina and Virginia to play in a one-bid CAA that can't compete at a national level, especially if Maine can't even win in that conference!

Figure out a cost-containment one bid New England bus league, Maine can go 7-5 or 8-4, and it will cost a lot less.

 

[Felger]

CAA isn't even a competitive 1-AA league anymore with JMU and Delaware going up to true D1 and all the other teams that bailed to the Patriot League.

CAA football has become the equivalent of America East basketball.

The battle for the musket is going to be quite something this season.

 

[Fishman'81]

If Maine had shit-canned every irrelevant program back during the Red disaster, it wouldn't have needed to fund ANY sport going forward, because exactly zero of them had a snowball's chance at an NC.

You can't have it both ways. Football was a single win away from an NCAA berth last year, and hockey made the field only to be sent home muy pronto, as though it didn't belong there. Pretty much every Maine program is an also-ran, and has been for decades.

So, what are you guys suggesting? Dismantle the athletic department entirely? Because picking and choosing the money pit of your choice is ignoring the obvious futility of Maine sports in general.

 

[grooverider]

If Maine had shit-canned every irrelevant program back during the Red disaster, it wouldn't have needed to fund ANY sport going forward, because exactly zero of them had a snowball's chance at an NC.

You can't have it both ways. Football was a single win away from an NCAA berth last year, and hockey made the field only to be sent home muy pronto, as though it didn't belong there. Pretty much every Maine program is an also-ran, and has been for decades.

So, what are you guys suggesting? Dismantle the athletic department entirely? Because picking and choosing the money pit of your choice is ignoring the obvious futility of Maine sports in general.

I think looking at the everything currently..football will be going nowhere with the NIL landscape. Keyword- current. Times have changed. I get your reference with Red, but which program costs more to run during that era? Football is not a cheap program to run. The fact is football is going nowhere without massive NIL money. Hockey has a fighting chance. NIL changes everything. Football has 0-5% chance of ever winning a title while hockey has a chance 50 percent chance or larger.

But we can be paid in football a large amount to get our asses waxed at just about any major Div1 program. Maybe Alabama will call us to lose 100 to 3 for 600k.

Football going forward is going to be a speedbump in the college football landscape.

 

[blackbears9]

If Maine had shit-canned every irrelevant program back during the Red disaster, it wouldn't have needed to fund ANY sport going forward, because exactly zero of them had a snowball's chance at an NC.

You can't have it both ways. Football was a single win away from an NCAA berth last year, and hockey made the field only to be sent home muy pronto, as though it didn't belong there. Pretty much every Maine program is an also-ran, and has been for decades.

So, what are you guys suggesting? Dismantle the athletic department entirely? Because picking and choosing the money pit of your choice is ignoring the obvious futility of Maine sports in general.

Red wasn't an amazing coach by any means, but he had a team in the tournament with the hottest goalie in the country (also the Richter winner) before Covid hit. Football has made the playoffs 6 times since 1990, 16%. 5 playoff wins in 49 years of 1-AA football. Averaging 1 playoff win a decade isn't competitive to me.

Hockey has never lost 7 figures and doesn't have to be a sacrificial lamb twice a year just to minimize their 7 figure loss. Hockey also competes in a top two conference in the top division of their sport while football is in a one bid league in the minors.

Being realistic in the face of sustained mediocrity at best isn't dismantling the entire athletic department. Men's basketball might be historically the worst team in D1, but they don't lose over a million dollars a year so no one is calling for the team to be shuttered. If football wasn't a massive drain on the department I doubt many people would care, but people caring about Maine Athletics is a good thing in my books.

 

[grooverider]

Red wasn't an amazing coach by any means, but he had a team in the tournament with the hottest goalie in the country (also the Richter winner) before Covid hit. Football has made the playoffs 6 times since 1990, 16%. 5 playoff wins in 49 years of 1-AA football. Averaging 1 playoff win a decade isn't competitive to me.

Hockey has never lost 7 figures and doesn't have to be a sacrificial lamb twice a year just to minimize their 7 figure loss. Hockey also competes in a top two conference in the top division of their sport while football is in a one bid league in the minors.

Being realistic in the face of sustained mediocrity at best isn't dismantling the entire athletic department. Men's basketball might be historically the worst team in D1, but they don't lose over a million dollars a year so no one is calling for the team to be shuttered. If football wasn't a massive drain on the department I doubt many people would care, but people caring about Maine Athletics is a good thing in my books.

Edited my post a couple of times above you but I agree. Football is going nowhere in this landscape.

 

[Fishman'81]

Edited my post a couple of times above you but I agree. Football is going nowhere in this landscape.

I doubt very seriously that any Maine program will be nationally relevant during this NIL era. The money just isn't there.

Having said that, I'd still watch Maine play checkers. I bleed Blue, no matter what.

 

[Fishman'81]

Red wasn't an amazing coach by any means, but he had a team in the tournament with the hottest goalie in the country (also the Richter winner) before Covid hit. Football has made the playoffs 6 times since 1990, 16%. 5 playoff wins in 49 years of 1-AA football. Averaging 1 playoff win a decade isn't competitive to me.

Hockey has never lost 7 figures and doesn't have to be a sacrificial lamb twice a year just to minimize their 7 figure loss. Hockey also competes in a top two conference in the top division of their sport while football is in a one bid league in the minors.

Being realistic in the face of sustained mediocrity at best isn't dismantling the entire athletic department. Men's basketball might be historically the worst team in D1, but they don't lose over a million dollars a year so no one is calling for the team to be shuttered. If football wasn't a massive drain on the department I doubt many people would care, but people caring about Maine Athletics is a good thing in my books.

Using the words "Red" and "amazing" in the same sentence is kinda nuts. If it wasn't for Sway, Maine would have never been within a country mile of the NCAA's for ten long years.

Maine sports have been loss-leaders for a very long time, but I dutifully write a check every year, just because.

(Yeah, good money after bad, I get it.)

 

[blackbears9]

Using the words "Red" and "amazing" in the same sentence is kinda nuts. If it wasn't for Sway, Maine would have never been within a country mile of the NCAA's for ten long years.

Maine sports have been loss-leaders for a very long time, but I dutifully write a check every year, just because.

(Yeah, good money after bad, I get it.)

If you think "Red wasn't an amazing coach" is a nuts sentence you must be way higher on him than I was

 

[umhockey91]

Add back men's soccer and add men's and women's lacrosse. CAA isn't even a competitive 1-AA league anymore with JMU and Delaware going up to true D1 and all the other teams that bailed to the Patriot League.

The CAA is crap. The league sucks. The teams are very bad and very boring. Take a look at the scores today.....Maine, UNH, URI, Albany all with embarrassing losses.

 

[umhockey91]

Everyone can have a nice day on campus and the players can get fresh air and exercise in a smaller conference. There's no reason to be schlepping to North Carolina and Virginia to play in a one-bid CAA that can't compete at a national level, especially if Maine can't even win in that conference!

Figure out a cost-containment one bid New England bus league, Maine can go 7-5 or 8-4, and it will cost a lot less.

Amen!