Spring in Full Bloom

First off, thanks to everyone who's been updating scores on the new-fangled scoreboard. It's quite nice to check your phone at work and see 4 or 5 games getting updated inning-by-inning from around the state.

Heal Points are updating, thanks to those scoring updates.

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Let's tour the early action.

Elsewhere

Trot Moody thew 10Ks in 4.2 innings and drove in 4 runs as OOB started their season with a win at the Ballpark...Mya St. Pierre had 7 goals as Maranacook scored 18 again in girls LAX...Spencer Young K'ed 10 in GSA's win over Orono...Chloe LeBlanc had a 16 strikeout 1-hitter as EL blanked Messo...Madi Roy threw a 3-hitter in Biddeford's win over Kennebunk...Kallie Stone's NO HITTER led Dexter to a win over Piscataquis...Sidney Nicholls struck out 10 in a mercy rule 1-hitter as Medomak Valley kicked off their title defense with a shutout of Belfast...Oceanna LaMarre had 6 goals in TA's win over Freeport...Abby Trainor had 7 goals in Windham's win over Oxford Hills.

And now let's get to the news.

Farris went 41-8-2 at Mt. View as a head coach and took them to 2 regional finals in the past 3 seasons. He'll head east on 202 to take over the Broncos.

The move, from Hampden's side of it, is not without...drama. Lost in the excitement of the basketball tournament was this story of Hampden "not renewing" previous coach Gerald Cushing.

Ben Barr had the story and I'll leave it to him to wrap up what has to be a number of loose ends.

Hampden Academy boys soccer players petition for reinstatement of their head coach

Gerald Cushing learned from Hampden Academy administrators in December that his contract as head boys soccer coach was not being renewed

WABIBen Barr

That isn't the easiest situation to walk into as the new coach, but Farris has a strong enough track record that he should be able to succeed.

Farris was kind enough to provide a quote on his new opportunity.

I’m thrilled to begin this new chapter with the Hampden Academy boys soccer program. Their returning group, the outstanding facilities, and the support from the school and community make it a special place to coach. At the same time, saying goodbye to the Mount View players was one of the hardest parts of this transition. Those young men will always be part of my story, and the memories we built together will stay with me forever.

This was part of a busy news day.

Some basketball news, as one of the best players I saw in the tournament this year is taking her talents over the border.

And Joe wasn't done.

Diing Maiwen is heading to Fairleigh Dickinson.

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The big stupid news of the week is the Vrabel news, which is looking more and more like an affair by the hour. I don't care if Vrabel is having an affair. The Dianna Russini angle is more interesting, as there's a question of what integrity in the job. It's a double-standard that transcends gender. Is Russini judged in a different way than Vrabel because she's a woman? Yes. But is she also judged differently because an affair impacts how she does her job in a way it doesn't for Vrabel? Also yes. It's complicated. The Press Box covered really well a couple of days ago. The landscape of the story has changed since then, but their approach is still worth your time.

Dianna Russini Resigns From The Athletic - The Ringer

Bryan is joined by Joel Anderson and Nora Princiotti to give their reactions to Dianna Russini’s resignation from The Athletic and discuss what they think could be next for Russini. Before the news broke, the trio recorded a whole other podcast about their thoughts on the Vrabel-Russini story, and they discussed what it’s like being a woman in sports media.

The Ringer

Like I said, I don't care who's sleeping with who. But I have a working theory that how you handle things like this is informative in how you'll do your actual job. A great example is someone running for political office. How they campaign can tell you a lot how about how effective they'll be in office. At least that's my theory. So the fact that Vrabel and the Pats haven't exactly been putting on a Crisis Management masterclass is...worrisome.

Maine's own Timothy Simons (from Veep and Maranacook) was on Celebrity Jeopardy! lately and broke down his appearance on Pablo Torre Finds Out.

I just have one question: what's with the Dodgers hat? Did we lose Tim in the Mookie Betts trade and no one said anything?

I spotted this piece of art in the background of a BDN article yesterday.

So there's this, the Greenville logo, the Carrabec Cobra, and a ton more that aren't coming to mind at the moment of fantastic retro logo works of art on gym walls around the state and these schools really should start selling them as t-shirts. I know I would wear a bunch of them. I'm guessing I'm not alone.

The Blazer have a new owner and he seems to be allergic to spending money, which isn't a great look for a billionaire.

Trail Blazers reportedly cutting costs on player travel, hotel checkouts in Tom Dundon’s first month as owner

Dundon spearheaded a purchase of the Blazers. Since that sale was approved by the NBA on March 30, he’s been quick to slash expenses.

Yahoo SportsAndy Backstrom

If you want a counter-point, he did the same thing with the Carolina Hurricanes and that's gone well.

I count 96 games on today's schedule and it's not supposed to rain. Maybe spring is finally here?

It's early going, of course, but the Kennebunk girls are 2-0 already, with convincing wins over Freeport and Greely.

They'll host Thornton Academy, who also has a win over Freeport, but only 15-5, so common opponents and all that. (Also not a fun start for Freeport)

The Model has Kennebunk as a slight favorite. This will probably be on Hudl?

[Matchup note: if you haven't played a game yet, it says you score and allow 21 ppg. It's a long story.]

The Model's picks for the rest of today's games are after the jump.