Maine Black Bears
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| Maine Black Bears | |
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| University | University of Maine |
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| Conference | America East Conference |
| NCAA | Division I |
| Athletics director | Blake James |
| Location | Orono, ME |
| Varsity teams | 17 teams (8 men, 9 women) |
| Football stadium | Morse Field |
| Basketball arena | Harold Alfond Arena |
| Mascot | Bananas T. Bear |
| Nickname | Black Bears |
| Fight song | Stein Song |
| Colors | Dark blue and Light blue
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| Homepage | Go Black Bears |
The Maine Black Bears are the athletic teams which represent the University of Maine. They compete in NCAA Division 1 athletics, with the majority of the teams playing in the America East Conference. The only exceptions are the ice hockey program, Maine's most successful program, which competes in Hockey East, and the football program, which competes in the Colonial Athletic Association.
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[edit] Ice Hockey
- See also: Maine Black Bears men's hockey
The University of Maine's men's ice hockey program was inducted in 1977. The team has seen plenty of success, having won the Hockey East title 5 times, appearing in 11 Frozen Fours, and winning 2 National Championships. The Black Bears compete in the Hockey East conference, a very competitive conference including teams such as Boston College, Boston University and UNH. The program has produced many professional ice hockey players, such as Paul Kariya, Eric Weinrich, Keith Carney, Garth Snow, Mike Dunham, Dustin Penner, Jimmy Howard and more. The team is best known for its 1992-1993 season, which it went nearly perfect, finishing with a record of 42-1-2. The team is also noted for its head coach Shawn Walsh, who coached the team for 17 seasons. Walsh is credited with turning the team into such a successful program, as well as turning the Alfond Arena into one of the most intimidating arenas in college hockey. Walsh died of renal cell carcinoma on September 26, 2001.
[edit] Football
Maine's football team competes in the Colonial Athletic Association. Previous to the 2007 season, the team competed in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The football program has produced a few professional football players, such as Pro Bowl linebacker Lofa Tatupu, who transferred to USC after his freshmen year, center Mike Flynn, and defensive back Brandon McGowan. Current Iowa coach, and 2002 AP National Coach of the Year Kirk Ferentz began his head coaching career at Maine. The team also received brief publicity when the Oakland Raiders selected wide receiver Kevin McMahan as the last player in the 2006 NFL Draft, affectionately known as Mr. Irrelevant.
[edit] Basketball
The university's basketball team, as well as all other sports teams, participate in the America East Conference. The men's team has experienced some recent success, The current Clemson University head coach Jack Leggett also attended the university, as well as current NBA head coach Rick Carlisle (although Carlisle transferred to Virginia and finished his college career there).
The women's basketball team is particularly noted for producing one-time WNBA player Cindy Blodgett, who also served as an assistant coach at Boston College and Brown.
On May 23, 2007, Blodgett was named the Head Coach of Maine's women's team.
[edit] Baseball
Maine's baseball team has not been as successful as its football or hockey team, but it has produced some notable players, such as outfielder Mark Sweeney, shortstop Mike Bordick, pitcher Bill Swift, and manager Carl Merrill.
[edit] Radio and television
The current radio broadcast rights to all U Maine sports are held by Bangor, Maine ESPN Radio affiliate WZON. TV coverage includes Bangor's WABI-TV (Most home football and basketball games and some hockey games). NESN also carries select hockey and basketball games (from American East TV and ESPN Plus). During the school year Black Bear Weekly is carried Sunday mornings on WABI.
In 2006 the University sold the advertising rights to athletic events to Missouri based Learfield Sports. Starting with the fall 2007 sports season, WVOM and WGUY will split radio coverage, WGUY carrying men's and women's basketball and select baseball and softball games and WVOM carrying football and hockey broadcasts. However on June 14 it was announced WWBX could replace WGUY if WGUY is sold off seperatley as part of Clear Channel Communications sale to GoodRadio.TV LLC. [1]
[edit] Championships
National Championships
Men's Ice Hockey - 1993, 1999
Conference Titles
Men's Ice Hockey
Hockey East - 1989, 1992, 1993, 2000, 2004
Baseball
America East - 1990, 1991, 1993, 2002, 2005, 2006
Men's Cross Country
America East - 2004
Softball
America East - 1994, 2004
Football
Yankee Conference - 1949, 1951, 1952, 1961, 1965, 1974, 1982, 1987, 1989
Atlantic 10 - 2001, 2002
Women's Basketball
America East - 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2004
Men's Outdoor Track
America East - 1995
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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