Life Ending

Renovations could be in the future of this Portland landmark. This is one of two entrances on the Spring Street side to the Cumberland County Civic Center(CCCC). The pending work hopes to breathe new life into this building, with revenues and added features to make this 34 year old building more competitive in attracting bigger acts. Less of Shrine Circuses and more acts like the Boss? The elimination of these steep 'suicide stairs', as they call them, is in the plans. I must agree negotiating these stairs at night in rain or snow can certainly be taking your life in your hands. Please use the handrails!

Day Dawns

The day dawns. It's going to be a beautiful day, with highs in the 50's, partly sunny. It's going to be a long day too. Lots to do! Lots to see! My cameras will be busy. How are you doing on my quiz? Need a little more help? Today's clue-- one word-- Football!

What's your guess now? Where am I?

Just Win...

Just Win Baby!

Growing up I was a big football fan. High school, collegiate, pros, I watched them all. For a long time, the only game in town on Sundays was the NY Giants. I hated (ya, I know a strong word) them with a passion! I was so excited went a fledgling league AFL (American Football League) started up and based a team in Boston. The Boston Patriots became my team. Along with the Patriots, the original 8 teams were the Buffalo Bills, Dallas Texans, Houston Oilers, Denver Broncos, New York Titans, Los Angeles Chargers and the Oakland Raiders. I remember one game especially. Some friends of my Dad were leaving on a cruise from Boston. He agreed to drive them down on a Friday night, and I tagged along. Down and back we listened to the Oilers vs. the Patriots game played at the old Nickerson Field. Why for the life of me, do I remember THIS game? I have no idea. Now, why do I have football on my mind today? Al Davis, who died Saturday, was a commissioner, owner (Raiders), coach, general manager and probably the main reason the AFL made it back in 1960. If there's ever a Mt. Rushmore for the NFL, he should be on it for sure. His slogan for his 'Raidahs'... Just Win Baby!

Pigeon Hunt

Here's the Portland Boxing Club building tucked away among the bushes and trees at Morrills Corner. Growing up, this was just one of the many warehouses of NT Fox Lumber Company. You had to search to find it and we did. There were quite a few buildings, mostly wooden structures, that held seemingly endless stacks of lumber. The rafters were loaded with pigeons. One day, Teddy got the idea that we might be able to get a big payoff, if we were able to capture about 20 or so and train them to be passenger pigeons. We all suffered 'brain cramps' at the same moment, I guess, and thought he had a marvelous idea. We had dreams of one HUGE money-making scheme for the gang. We were going to have bucks falling out of our bluejeans. We worked most of the morning, as I remember, constructing cages, climbing the rafters, going from building to building, using various techniques. We really thought our fishing nets were going to secure us many birds. Want to know how many we caught? You guessed it. None! Our dream, of making the big time, ended around noon, when we were thrown off the property by a security guard and told never to return. Well, we had worked pretty hard to no avail but at least our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Pepsis tasted good. To this day, every time I see a flight of pigeons, I can't help thinking back to that morning gone wrong! By the way, you won't believe what our next project was.

Day One

Our first summer road trip had us venturing across the country with a destination of Hood River, Oregon. My sister J- and her husband B- were perfect hosts for the week. Eight of us piled into their Columbia River Gorge home and had great fun through the week. Their lives are filled with biking, hiking, skiing: Nordic and downhill, mountain biking, paddle boarding and, of course, wind surfing. Here in their garage the many different size sails are lined up in their bags. Ready to go when the wind comes up just right. Neatness is a virtue for them.

39 Years

Congratulations to the Bruins! Lord Stanley's Cup is back in New England. 39 years? It's about time!

We skated on the swamp pond next to the dump at the end of Mayfield Street, the cemetery ponds down back and even a few times on the large Allen's Avenue pond. We played pickup, just our gang. Skates, sticks and heavy winter sweaters. We never, ever skated indoors. It was unheard of in our part of Maine. Basketball was King! It was years before the Maine Mariners hit the ice at CCCC and brought basketball, in the state during the winter, a little competition putting fannies in the seats. There was an NHL game of the week on Saturday afternoon and that was about it. Oh, and my brother and I had the 'hit' of the neighborhood one Christmas... a hockey game, featuring the six originals from the NHL: the Bruins, Blackhawks(my favorite sweater), Canadians, Maple Leafs, Red Wings and Rangers. Our kitchen table was the hub of activity on many a winter afternoon and evening. SCORE!

Nine

Got a favorite number? Do you see it a lot? Are you superstitious about it? Every time I frequent this restaurant in the city and have to visit the restroom, this 9 pops out at me. Now if you grew up in New England (except for southern Connecticut... what's wrong with them?) in the 40s and 50s and loved the grand ol' game, the number 9 meant only one thing... Teddy Ballgame! Mr. Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002). He had a couple of other nicknames like "The Kid", "The Splendid Splinter", "The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived", but "Teddy Ballgame" was the one I loved. He played his entire, 21 year professional baseball career with the Boston Red Sox. Late nights in my bedroom with a West coast game on, I'd practice over and over, trying hard to perfect that most graceful left-handed swing. Early spring mornings before school, at night or in summer rain showers, you'd find me in the batters box of our homemade back diamond, just swinging away from the left side. During games, it didn't help me much. I always batted right... but I could dream! Oh, my favorite number? I've got this thing about 22 now. I just like the look of the repeating 2s. Go figure.

Blue Scoreboard

This sports venue has been around for quite some time. This is the Fitzpatrick Stadium scoreboard seen from the bottom, looking up into a bold blue sky. I've viewed many games and a few concerts here, when it was just the Portland Stadium. Growing up the Thanksgiving games between Portland and Deering weren't always classics, but one in the late 50s in deep snow was a memorable event. It snowed throughout the game, with a crew constantly shoveling the yard markers. For parents, it was probably miserable, but for us guys what fun! For concerts, I caught the Bobby Fuller Four ("I Fought the Law") here in the early 60's. I could have cared about the music. I attended for other reasons. Can you guess?

LL3

Little League Three, as it was known back then, played its games on the Riverside Street field. These days it falls under the name of Deering North Little League. When I stepped on it for the first time, I remember it being almost pristine with a new concession stand and a public address system and announcers sitting above. The dugouts were brand new and really were 'dugouts' and not ones at ground level. The wooden outfield fence was painted dark green all around with, as I remember, a few advertisements. KP (Knights of Pythias), Christy's Market, Pratt Abbott Cleaners and Christy's Hardware were the teams, with my brother and me donning the red and white of KP. Spring and early summer nights were exciting back then on this beautiful field. I stopped by yesterday--Some major investments are needed to this field to bring it back to what it once was... a Beauty!

Slugger

The Portland Sea Dogs are in town this week. Pictured here is the mascot Slugger 'hawking' tickets in front of Hadlock Field on Park Avenue. This summer I plan to take in a few games and watch Ryan Kalish, Lars Anderson, Jose Iglesias, Casey Kelly and Felix Doubront, future stars of Fenway. They are a far cry from the so called stars that passed for the Maine Guides, the AAA team that played their home games in the mosquito-infested Old Orchard field, the BallPark. Dad had season tickets to the Guides from 1984-87 and claimed to be the first fan to pass through the turnstiles that April '84 afternoon. He had great seats right behind the home team's dugout. I met him there often on Sunday afternoons and enjoyed the game with him. Those were fun times for me. Play Ball!

Basketball Ice

Although the snow is gone, I had to post this image of the Payson Park basketball court as soon as I saw it come up on my viewfinder. Why? It's is a vivid reminder of the driveway at 820 Stevens on winter nights and basketball. Just as soon as Dad put the basket up over the garage door and measured it at 10 feet, for me and the gang, it was Game On! Most days and nights the neighborhood boys would assemble for pickup games, in rain, snow or bright sunshine. The 'court' wasn't perfect either, as I remember it-- there was a small hill, a large overhanging tree, a bulkhead, back steps and even an in the ground garbage can that all provided obstacles and made the games even more interesting. And when we weren't out there playing games, or playing HORSE or PIG, I was out there shooting baskets til Mom flicked the lights at 11 PM. Ya, when I see a basketball court covered with snow or ice I think back to games in that driveway. Wonderful memories!

Hope Springs Eternal

Yes, hope does SPRING eternal today! It's Opening Day for the Major League Baseball season. Always in April I think back... Sparky Lyle, Jerry Adair, Ken Harrelson, Dave Morehead, Mike Andrews, Dennis Bennett, Reggie Smith, Jose Santiago, George Scott, Gary Bell, Jose Tartabull, Galen Cisco, Dalton Jones, John Wyatt, Norm Siebern, Tony Conigliaro, and of course Carl Yastrzemski were just a few of the cast of characters in the summer of '67. It was the the summer of the 'Impossible Dream' team of the Boston Red Sox. Memorable to me, because it was the first time that I ever got to witness them in a World Series. I do remember that from August on I perused the box score daily for any true signs that this would be the year that they might just go all the way. Although eventually they lost 4 games to 3 to the Cardinals, it was a benchmark time in my life. A summer I will never forget! Tonight, the SOX and their arch rivals FOREVER the yankees begin it all over again... the quest of the 'holy grail' of summer. Just one thing left to say--- Play Ball!

Red Claws

The Maine Red Claws are a D-League basketball team, with developmental players from the Boston Celtics and the Charlotte Bobcats. Tonight, I'm going to be taking in my first game, compliments of my brother. I'm looking forward to it. I've heard a lot about the cheerleaders, the BIG screen, the in-between action entertainment, the fans really getting into it and oh ya, the skilled players too. From all reports, it's top notch, quality basketball on the floor at the Expo. The Pirates on the ice, Seadogs on the diamond and now the Red Claws on the Portland parquet all have found their nitch in this great 'little city' by the bay.
http://www.nba.com/dleague/maine/

Riverside: One

Riverside Golf Course, Hole One- From an elevated tee, it's basically a straight shot of some 453 yards, uphill at the end to a flat landing area, with some free standing trees and a large bunker to the left. A good chunk, of my high school summers, was spent here on this beautiful course caddying for the 'boys' and the rush of Canadian golfers in the dead of summer. Always in my back pocket, or lodged in my hands, while in the caddy shack or somewhere among the 18 fairways, was one of my 'books of summer'... of my high school summer reading list. The Yearling, Shane, The Silent Spring, Huckleberry Finn, Kidnapped, Father Damian the Leper were but a few on the list at one time or another. Four summers, four different lists of book to complete, with multiple choice tests looming in September when we returned to classes. As I recall, we had to pick 8 books out of a list of 15. Leo, working at the Fish Factory, and Eddie, making his money at Hillman Electric, never were faced with such dilemmas during their school vacations! My brother and I were usually at the course between 6-7 AM, and sometimes were lucky to 'have a bag' by noon. So that afforded me lots of time to get lost in a book and knock off some chapters. Now, there were three big pastimes for caddies waiting to 'get the call' to the first tee, and they were curling up and sleeping, smoking endless cigarettes and playing poker for cash. Really, I've disliked all three most of my life, except for maybe that 'Old Gold' summer in the tree house behind the Esso station. Once on the first tee, there was little time for reading, maybe a page here, a page there, but it sure did make the down time whiz by. If you promise not to spread it around, I'll tell you a secret. I really enjoyed all those books and the places they took me, while I wasn't chasing those Titleists!

Slugger

32 days and counting? Will the cry of "Play ball" be heard this spring around here? I'm sure it will be, even though the diamond is still covered with snow and ice. Hadlock Field is the home of the Boston Red Sox Double A affiliate, the Portland Seadogs, and it will be hoppin' on April 9. Back aways... I remember my nightly ritual of falling asleep late, with just the glow of my old, gray Motorola lighting the corner of my bedroom, listening to those West Coast games and the hitting prowess of some kid named Willie Mays. The snow WILL disappear, April WILL come... Hope 'springs' eternal!
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t546