Some thoughts while I enjoy covering Friday night football playoff games when it’s 60 degrees…

• Sometime over the last few decades the high school basketball tournament broadcasts on Maine Public Broadcasting Network evolved from tradition to institution. MPBN has aired the high school tournament games for more than 35 years, but that staple of winter life in Maine may be over.

Recently, MPBN informed the Maine Principals’ Association that it can no longer broadcast regional semifinals and finals, or state championship games. With the addition of a fifth class to Maine high school basketball for the upcoming season, MPBN says it just doesn’t have the resources to cover more tournament games.

MPBN began broadcasting tournament games at the Bangor Auditorium in 1979. It would still like to broadcast the state title games. With the 10 championship games (five girls and five boys) spread out over two days, MPBN says it can handle the load and made a bid with the MPA to do so. The MPA prefers that one entity broadcast the entire tournament and with that in mind put the broadcast rights of the tournament out to bid.

The MPA will accept bids to broadcast the tournament through this coming Friday, Nov. 13.

It’s reasonable for the MPA to want to keep the tournament with one broadcast partner, but it may also be wishful thinking. Simply put, there aren’t a lot of outlets in the state with the resources to broadcast live tournament games. The ones with the resources — like the network affiliates based in Portland and Bangor — may be loathe to interrupt days of regular programming. I imagine there would be a lot of angry calls from viewers who tuned in hoping to see The Big Bang Theory or Jeopardy, only to find a high school basketball game featuring two schools they care nothing about. As much as those of us who follow Maine sports love the tournament, it’s still not a big deal to a majority of Maine residents.

If the MPA does not find a suitable bid to broadcast the complete package of regional semifinals, finals and state championship games, it would be wise to accept MPBN’s bid to air the state championship games and work with other outlets on live streaming the rest of the tournament on web sites. That’s currently the way the high school football tournament is aired. Bangor’s WABI broadcasts the four state championship games, and outlets such as Munzing Media and WCSH air playoff games on the web.

That would be a better solution than no live coverage at all, which is a very real possibility.

• On Saturday, state championships in Classes C and D boys and girls soccer were decided in Presque Isle. It was the first time in a long time a state title game in any sport was decided in Aroostook County. I’ve been covering sports in Maine for 15 years and the only sport I can recall holding a championship in the County is skiing.

Teams from the County have been traveling south down Routes 1 or 11 and Interstate 95 for years to play in state championship games. With a nice FieldTurf soccer facility available in Presque Isle, it made sense for the city to host championships. Coincidentally, only two County teams — the Fort Fairfield boys and Ashland girls — benefit from the shorter trip this season.

Sorry about your 573 mile round trip journey from Portland to Presque Isle, Waynflete, but after years of those teams going south, somebody had to finally make the trip north.

• Greg Hardy is a despicable person, and shame on the Dallas Cowboys and NFL for allowing him to continue to play. And shame on any fan of the Cowboys who cheers for this monster.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

<URL destination=””>tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

</URL>Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM

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