BANGOR – She was the new student at Sanford High, the junior transfer from Lewiston who was eager to fit in, ready to make new friends and take on a new identity. That’s why she raised her hand when word went around in the fall of 1986 that the school needed someone new to be […]

While watching the Celtics knock the Cavaliers out of the NBA playoffs No one needs to shed tears for the good folks of Cleveland, but understand their agony. Their Indians were one win away from the World Series in 2007 but couldn’t pull it off, losing to the Josh Beckett-Manny Ramirez-David Ortiz Red Sox, thank […]

 His cell phone rings and 73-year-old Joe Gamache jumps to answer it. He heard the worst news last week. Maybe the next call will bring good news. Or maybe Gamache’s fabled optimism will be tested. He was promoting a professional fight card for June 19 at the Lewiston Multi-Purpose Center. Make that a family and […]

ORONO – The receiver in the white University of Maine jersey caught the football and headed upfield. Something about his number 21 made you wonder. “Pass complete to Jared Turcotte,” boomed the voice over the loudspeakers. Heads turned, eyes searched the playing field. Seeing is believing and sure enough, another pass was thrown to No. […]

While waiting to see what exactly is left in the Celtics’ gas tank when they take on the Cavaliers tonight . . . True to his character, Mike Brown makes no excuses for his stunning knockout loss to Manny Gamburyan in the first round of their World Extreme Cagefighting bout last Saturday. “Two forces collided, […]

They were Cheverus High classmates 36 years ago and unlikely friends. Dwayne Thomas Welch was the three-sport athlete from Westbrook with a streak of shyness. Matthew Devoe was the Portland kid, outspoken and boisterous and permanently exiled to the sidelines with a hip injury. Devoe toasted Welch and his bride at their wedding. He lent […]

WINDHAM – The first time it felt like naked coercion rather than volunteerism. Dennis Whall could cross the line that separates fans from participants and either coach his daughter’s Little League softball team that day or be the game’s umpire. Since he was one of only two adults at the field before the game, Whall […]

Were the effigies of Bill Belichick in a dunce cap removed from Portland’s Longfellow Square and town commons around Maine before dawn? Or were they not hung in the first place? Take that second deep breath, Patriots fans. Your world is not sinking into the Atlantic Ocean. You may be the best general manager in […]

PORTLAND — Rick Belisle knows why he bought a $15 ticket to Saturday night’s Portland Pirates game. He doesn’t know why so many others didn’t. He looked at the sections of empty seats that had bodies in them in December or any of the previous three months. “I’m a Pirates fan but I’m not a […]