Students from all walks of life can be dug up on a given day on the Gorham campus. The average of which you will most likely find chugging a beer or blowing rings of pot smoke in the sunlight and listening to Pink Floyd while staring at the visualizations on their computer screen from Winamp or iTunes. I can’t say I wasn’t totally psyched to fill my new mini-fridge with Bud Light the second I plugged it into the sketchy outlet in Robie Andrews Hall-this being the first of many mistakes in my days on the Gorham campus.
In that year as a freshman, I probably attended about three USM sporting events. In the fall I watched the men’s soccer team fall to Bates-or was it Bowdoin? In the winter I watched the hockey team play somebody. I don’t remember who it was. I seem to do a lot of this not remembering thing when I think about my freshman and sophomore years.
In the spring of that year (2001), I actually took the initiative and began working out and kicking around with Coach Miller and some other members of the soccer team, including Andy Budelman, this year’s breakout performer, and Little East Conference (LEC) first teamer. As far as I remember, my level of play matched theirs, and I realized I had a shot at a starting position. I went out that summer and bought myself some new equipment (including a $165 pair of cleats), and tried to keep myself in relatively decent shape. Come August, I got the most regrettable case of cold feet I have ever experienced. Why? I don’t even think god could tell you.
In high school, I played for Sanford and was a two-year varsity starter. We took the western Maine championship game against Deering, then lost in the State final to Brunswick (I’m still quite bitter). I knew I had the experience, and I knew I had the capability. I know now, in hindsight, that I most likely got a large case of college fever. I basically just wanted to party. On the inside, I knew that I wanted to play soccer. But I had done that since I was five. I had only been partying for a year. So, that’s what I did.
USM athletics have collect-ively won over 20 LEC titles in the years since I came here. In the past year as sports editor, I have seen many teams exceed their expectations.
The men’s ice hockey team ended their season with a 15-10-2 record. Coach Beaney won ECAC Coach of the Year, and senior Jon Lounsbury was named to the All-American second team; only one other USM men’s hockey player has gained that status. National Coach of the Year Gary Fifield led his girl’s basketball team to a 30-2 overall season record, when they were defeated in the NCAA D-III final four by Milliken University.
The women’s track teams have obliterated the competition, winning an amazing 12 LEC championships collectively between the two teams (indoor and outdoor) in the last six years. The indoor team has also won the New England Alliance championship the last four years. The men’s team has won five out of the last six LEC championships along with three of five New England Alliance championships.
The baseball team has won two national championships in the 90’s, and have been to the College World Series four other times. Last fall, Coach Flaherty was inducted to the American Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame. A number of players on that club have seen All-America selections in recent history. They, along with the softball team are threatening to be tough contenders come tournament time this spring.
Even the tennis teams have been victorious; both the men’s and women’s teams have won LEC championships in the past five years. I have also seen the men’s soccer team go places they have never been.
Budelman broke records last season, and Coach Miller won the LEC’s Coach of the Year award. They beat nationally ranked Bowdoin in the regular season, and made their first postseason tournament in 20 years.
My leg twitched on the sideline every minute of every game I attended, just trying to help them strike that ball at the perfect moment. I hooted and hollered unprofessionally, while holding my reporter’s notebook. I even rooted for Troy Waltz (Deering) and Jesse Bettinger (Brunswick), both players on opposing teams in those championship games I played in back in high school.
Whatever way you look at it, I was jealous. I was envious that they were out on the field, working together as a team, and achieving their goals, one at a time, without me. But at least I was there.
I spent countless hours attending games, watching every team grow and gel throughout their respective seasons. What I didn’t see at all was a sense of school pride. I attended many soccer and hockey games this year, both men’s and women’s, with each team averaging about 20 student spectators per game.
I watched the women’s basketball team host an Elite eight game in the NCAA tournament, and it wasn’t even sold out. One small section of bleachers was occupied by actual student body fans. These ladies were stellar all season, and all we can give them is one small section of cheering?
I know Aramark will weigh you down, but the fieldhouse and gym are just a short walk from all corners of the Gorham campus-it may even help your intestines process all that crap you’ve been eating.
What I really am trying to say by all of this is don’t be like me; participate. If you’re an athlete and you’re physically capable of performing at the college level then do it.
Who knows, you may end up helping the ladies’ basketball team to that elusive national championship, or put the ice hockey team one game further than they have ever been. College life is busy, going to class sucks, and writing that paper is always gonna be hell trust me I know it all-I’m a super-senior.
I may not know or remember a whole lot from those freshman and sophomore years-I was probably more interested in establishing a relationship with that girl across the dining hall, or finding someone old enough to buy me beer rather than building a repertoire with a future coach-I do know I wish I had.
But hindsight is 20/20, and knowing that, I would’ve played and made a difference for that soccer team the past four years. I would’ve attended a few more of those hockey games when I was living in Gorham and cheered on those teams lurking in the anteroom of division three greatness.
Not only that, I’d probably have a few less calories under my belt from those cheap beers I drank on the weekends, and I might still have the cut abs I did when I came here. The greatest thing I could have captured was an athletic career that led me to fulfillment and a few more nights to remember rather than forget.
Instead, I’ll be another average USM graduate who cannot answer the ever-entrancing question of ‘what if?’ Be proud of your school, and be proud of the winning tradition that it has come to endear. You will come to regret it if you don’t. If you can’t be a player, do the next best thing and become an athletic supporter and I promise you that our collective Huskies will benefit.