(Volley)Balling

So I went to two games this week--a soccer game that everyone thought would be close and turned into a 6-1 rout and a volleyball game that had some moments.

I've been going to volleyball games for a couple of years now because my niece Brooke starts for Medomak and I'm continually impressed by how entertaining it is. If you haven't been to a game, I highly recommend it. The play around the net is consistently impressive. Some of these girls have serious hops. And if you can't get caught up in a good rally, then I don't know what to say. You might be dead inside.

Medomak also has "ball boys" and I'm not sure where they got inflatable volleyball outfits, but they sure do get the crowd going.

Volleyball is now in the Scoreboard and you can enter the sets, which gives you a much better idea of how a match progressed than a simple 3-0, 3-1, or 3-2.

Those Kennebunk/Massabesic and SoPo/Yarmouth matches must have been electric.

If you haven't noticed, the podcast is going twice a week now: Monday(ish) is the weekly Overreactions Podcast. Week 3 was Ethan Snow. That's essentially a tour of all the classes.

On Thursdays, I've been doing an one-on-one interview, usually with a coach. So far we've had Westbrook's Sam Johnson, Cony's BL Lippert, and Stearns' Cody Herring. Hopefully you've enjoyed them. But for episode 120, I'm doing something a little bit different:

MPA Executive Director Mike Bisson.

I don't like the term must-listen, because what does that even mean, really? But if you've ever started a comment with "the MPA should..." (Lord knows I have), then you really should listen to this one.

If you've been following me since way back when I was an anonymous dude with a Tumblr blog, you'll no doubt find some humor in the head of the MPA coming on my podcast (or even me having a podcast, really). It's not lost on me.

What a time to be alive.

Travis Lee has a nice piece on the trend of athletes transferring to prep schools.

This is a big topic of conversation on sidelines and in comment sections. I don't know that we're drawing the right conclusions from it. As Matt MacKenzie says in the piece, it's the absolute right move for some athletes and for some it's a terrible idea. There's a million different factors that go into that calculus and they're unique to each situation. What works for Olivia Breen and Mollie Puffer might not work for your kid.

But the world is a lot smaller place than it was 20 years ago and it's rarer and rarer that a kid will grow up in the bubble of their hometown. When I was in school I had a classmate who I'm pretty sure graduated high school without ever going south of the Maine Mall. You don't have that anymore. It's a big world and it's natural that if you've got a unique talent it probably isn't going to be limited by a state line. After all, it's just an imaginary line on the ground.

If we want to prevent kids from making the jump (and I'm not sure why we would), the first thing we need to do is up our game and make playing in Maine too good to give up. Honestly, that might start with a shot clock.

The app is doing well so far in the App Store. People seem to like it and it's been in the top 200 of Magazines & Newspapers the whole time. It was as high as #120 and at #166 it's currently in-between Travel + Leisure and Vanity Fair, because we fancy like that.

If you haven't downloaded it yet, get on that (Android version is in review) and if you like it, take a minute to rate it 5 stars. You know the drill.

Here's a great story from the Cross-Country world from a reporter who decided to get in on the action--literally--and test himself against the very athletes he was covering.

Entering my senior year of high school, I weighed 305 pounds, and I could not even run a mile in under 12 minutes without stopping at least once. It was rough. I started running as just a way of losing weight and getting in shape. I could not stand being held back from doing things athletically. I wanted a better version of myself.

I hated running, but then I eventually found joy in it all. Running became addictive to the point that I started running every day and have been since April 3, 2023.

I never enter races because I have always just run for the love of it all. Why pay to do something when I can do it for free? I found peace in running every morning. There was a calmness in not having anything to worry about. It was the only quiet time I got every day.

I quite love this story. There really is a peace and calmness in running. I've found it essential in battling depression and find that if I'm having a bad day it instantly gets better if I can get in a couple of miles.

But entering a 4-mile NCAA meet with the goal of not finishing last is a much higher level than knocking out 3 easy miles on a weekday.

It's a lofty goal, for sure.

I came through mile marker three and wished it was a 5K race.

I have the same thought every time I run a 10K.

I Ran An NCAA Cross Country Meet

It was a muggy Friday, Sept. 18, and 132 athletes toed the line to run the 4-mile Main Line Invitational cross country meet. It was a mix of NCAA Division I, II and III runners from a dozen different colleges. And then there was me, standing in all black in the middle of a field…

The VillanovanDylan Johnson

If you live in Southern Maine there's probably very few summer internships as fun as the Associate Game Day Internship for the Sea Dogs. Having Slugger as your co-worker has to be a good time, right?

The Associate Game Day Internship program is for highly motivated college students who have an interest in the business of sport management. The program is designed to give students their first experience within the sports industry with an emphasis on game-day operations, ticket sales, and customer service. This position is open to any college student. This is a part-time seasonal internship, offering 10-30 hours of work per week, and it is paid.

It's paid!

Internship Program

Portland Sea Dogs internship program

MiLB.com

The BDN's own Emily Burnham added her name to the list of Jeopardy! champions last night and will try to extend her reign tonight on the Alex Trebek Stage.

Former BDN reporter wins Jeopardy!

Emily Burnham clinched the win in her first appearance by being the only contestant to correctly answer the Final Jeopardy question.

Bangor Daily NewsEthan Andrews

Good luck!

We've got 2 football games on the schedule and I don't think WHOU is going to use my suggestion for the Game of the Day. But they should!

Old Town has flourished in their move to 8-man. It makes sense. They've got some athletes who excel in space. They're in a bit of a dogfight for the 1 seed in 8-Man Large North with Ellsworth, who has a massive test later this weekend.

But you can't really be in 8-Man until you play OOB. The Seagulls have not lost a regular season game in...a long time, but this should be their biggest test yet. The Model is picking them to lose, which I believe is a first? Certainly for the regular season.

WHOU will have the stream of this one, even if they don't use my suggestion.

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