We have had some nice days, like last week’s Junior Maine Golf Amateur Championships in Cumberland, where area golfers battled a tough Val Halla Golf and Recreation Center golf course under near perfect, low-humidity conditions.
We have seen hot and humid days, like the three-day Maine Amateur Golf Championship in York two weeks ago, and most likely we will see plenty more heat and humidity as the calendar turns to August on Monday.
As we head into August, we are just two weeks away from the opening of fall high school sports practices, where athletes from Brunswick, Mt. Ararat, Morse, Freeport, Lisbon, Wiscasset and Richmond will shake off the summer slumbers.
This column delves into some of the things going on in the sports world right now, and what we have to look forward to in the coming weeks. Though it may be slow right now, it is about to pick up sports fans.
Rio Olympics
We have all heard the outcries about the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Zika Virus, bad, pollution-filled water, professional golfers and tennis players electing to stay away, stadiums not being ready to host the games, etc., etc., etc.
From August 5-21, all the naysayers will likely be made to look foolish. The Rio Olympics are going to be spectacular, with a color-filled opening ceremony on August 5 kicking things off. Then, us fans of the games can watch from afar as the United States collects medal after medal, gold, silver and bronze, hopefully.
Here is the best thing for our loyal Times Record readers. Beginning August 5, the second page of our sports section will be the daily place to find all of your up-to-date Rio Olympic coverage. We will have medal counts along with the top stories of the day. Our design team is hard at work putting together a cool top-of-the-page banner, and the page is sponsored by the good folks at Lee Toyota in Topsham.
So whether you love basketball, golf, tennis, track and field, or swimming and diving, you will want to check out The Times Record from August 5-22.
Red Sox
There is little more exciting in New England in the summer then when the Boston Red Sox are playing good baseball.
The jury is still out on this team. But, no one can deny how well the Red Sox have hit the ball this year. In “Big Papi” David Ortiz’s final season, the Red Sox have found that magic touch at the plate.
Ortiz himself seems to have found the fountain of youth, hitting the cover off the ball and doing what he has done throughout his, in my opinion, Hall of Fame career.
Maybe it is the youth movement of the Red Sox. Former Portland Sea Dogs Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, Travis Shaw and Jackie Bradley Jr., have come through big time this season, along with Dustin Pedroia and Hanley Ramirez, who has played a solid first base all season.
As of this writing, the Red Sox hold the No. 1 wildcard spot and trail the AL East leading Baltimore Orioles by a mere 2 1/2 games.
The challenge for the Red Sox will be the schedule, along with pitching. Boston, after hosting Detroit through Wednesday, plays 41 of its final 61 games away from the friendly confines of Fenway Park. With Toronto, Houston, Detroit and the New York Yankees looking to make a run, the Red Sox will have to be road warriors to keep this solid 2016 season going.
The pitching staff for Boston has been up and down. David Price signed the big contract, but has struggled with consistency, while Clay Buchholz has been relegated to the bullpen. Boston has had trouble finding a reliable fifth starter, and the bullpen is beset with injuries, including Craig Kimbrel and Koji Uehara.
General manger Dave Dombroski has made some solid moves so far — Aaron Hill, Brad Ziegler — and there may be several more in the coming days prior to the trade deadline. Boston needs to find more starting pitching other than Rick Porcello and knuckleballer Steven Wright to have a legitimate chance at a postseason run.
To me, the ultimate goal should be to see David Ortiz riding out with his fourth World Series title and another duck boat ride around Boston.
Brady and ‘Deflategate’
I have said it before and I will continue to say it. Tom Brady got rail-roaded by the National Football League.
It is air people, first and foremost. Did he or didn’t he know that those under the Patriots’ umbrella were deflating footballs? We will likely never know.
But, there were so many ways out of this mess. This, in my humble opinion, should be a simple $25,000 fine, both for the team and possibly for Tom Brady himself. Nothing more!
There are several things wrong with this whole situation, but I can understand why Brady decided to give up the fight in court. He wants to move on.
However, what I don’t like about this “Deflategate” business is what it does to the legacy of Tom Brady. You don’t have to be a New England Patriots’ fan to realize how much the quarterback has done for the NFL.
Before Tom and head coach Bill Belichick, the Patriots struggled. They were a laughing stock, a team other NFL squads circled on their schedule as a win.
If you believe that Brady’s reputation and legacy will not be changed forever here, then I believe you’re living in a bubble. When Brady retires, whether it is three years from now or 10, I guarantee that when he becomes Hall of Fame eligible that the talk will center around the time Tom Brady cheated.
He is a first round Hall of Famer. Anything less is wrong.
NFL season
The NFL season has officially kicked off this week as camps opened and teams are gearing up for the regular season, which begins with a Super Bowl 50 rematch between the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos on Sept. 8.
The Patriots open on Sept. 11 at Arizona and host the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 18.
The NFL returns to Los Angeles this year as the Rams host the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 18 after opening the campaign at San Francisco on Monday Night Football, Sept. 12. This is the second game that opening NFL Monday night as the Pittsburgh Steelers visit the Washington Redskins in the early game.
Golf
Area golf has certainly been hopping with excitement.
As mentioned above, the Junior Amateur was held last week, with Topsham’s Caleb Manuel finishing second in the 15-17 division. It was a great showing by Manuel, the 2015 Junior Amateur champ in the 13-14 division.
I can say this with certainty. This season’s Mt. Ararat High School golf team appears to be solid. Between Manuel, senior Cam Cox and the rest of the Eagles, this team is deep and has the capability of bringing home a state title this year.
The Maine Charlie’s Open began on Monday at Augusta Country Club in Manchester, with the tournament scheduled to conclude today.
And, the Maine Women’s Amateur Championship plays this week in Orono, with round two of three slated for today.
Hey golf fans, mark your calendars. The 2017 Maine Amateur will take place at Brunswick Golf Club. This will be a special tournament, as it will be the 100th playing of the Maine Amateur.
Brunswick Golf Club will be the place for this year’s Match Play Championship August 16-18. This is typically a close, down-to-the-last hole tournament on the tough BGC course.
This week on the PGA Tour marks the PGA Championship.
It seems like we just had a major. Oh, that is because we just saw one as two weeks ago was the Open Championship at Royal Troon in Scotland.
This year’s wacky, condensed schedule is needed because of the Olympics, though most of the top golfers (Jordan Speith, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy) will not be in Rio.
Coaching changes
There have been a few coaching changes in the area high school ranks coming into this season.
Old friend Todd Flaherty, who coached basketball at Morse, has landed at Greely High School. He will lead the Lady Rangers in the winter.
O’Neill LaPlante has taken over the Mt. Ararat football squad. This week is the annual Eagles Football Camp, with LaPlante getting a good look at many of his 2016 varsity players.
Brian Dube is in charge of the Lisbon girls soccer team this fall, replacing Jake Gentle. Ryan Gardner joins father Peter Gardner as co-coach of the Richmond boys soccer team and Phil Houdlette is back at Richmond and will lead the Bobcats into the boys basketball season.
And, girls volleyball will make its varsity debut at Brunswick this season. Dragons AD Jeff Ramich is in the process of hiring a coach, and the team will play a ton of matches in the fall.
In closing
As a sports reporter, I have always enjoyed the regiment. The summer is good, as it affords some time off to recharge those batteries after a pretty intense nine months of high school and Bowdoin College sports coverage.
But, it is about now, coming up on August, where I start to get that itch, looking forward to those Friday football nights, watching soccer, field hockey, golf and cross country get going, and smell that clean fall air, where the heat of the summer begins to leave the area and the cool fall nights arrive, standing on the sideline at Brunswick, Mt. Ararat and Morse as the fog slowly rolls in.
August 15 can’t get here fast enough. Let the fun begin!
BOB CONN is The Times Record sports editor. He can be reached at bconn@timesrecord.com.
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