The Maine Basketball Rankings Podcast

Back in May, Jay Baines and I recorded the Way-Too-Early Preseason Basketball Poll and then, since it was only May, put it on the shelf. Well now it's overdue! So in two parts: Monday was the Girls Mostly-Too-Early Preseason Poll and today is the boys and then it's full-on football until November. Subscribe to Maine Basketball Rankings: ⁠https://www.mainebasketballrankings.com/#/portal⁠

I got some predictable pushback for posting about the Biddeford ICE tragedy on social media and it got me thinking about the intersection of politics and sports. So this week's episode is a bit of a departure. Mike Shepherd of the Bangor Daily News joins me to talk about Maine's political climate, the choices that determine how the BDN covers it, and how it's impossible to separate sports and politics.

While every NBA podcast raced to give their hottest take on the Jaylen Brown trade, Jon Duke and I preferred to take some time to process things and work through the Stages of Grief before rendering judgement. We get into the Celtics' offseason, the media ecosystem's role in the trade, Maine Public's broadcast of the Lobster Bowl, the upcoming high school season and a bunch more! Subscribe to Maine Basketball Rankings: https://www.mainebasketballrankings.com/#/portalGear (affiliate links)Green Screen: https://amzn.to/3IiodkiLighting: https://amzn.to/4n7cNzcMicrophone: https://amzn.to/47ekYEa Webcam: https://amzn.to/464U4y0Follow me on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/lmcnelly/

OOB's Jason Webber brings a football intensity to everything he does and the podcast is no different. He joins me to talk about the different between coaching football and softball, getting guys to run through a wall, 8-man, his work with WHOU, pier fries, mini golf, and so much more.

If you've been following Maine high school basketball for the last 30 years, you've no doubt seen Toby Nelson. Whether it's promoting Foxcroft Academy, doing radio, or broadcasting as part of Maine Public's state championship coverage, Toby has done it all. He joins the podcast to talk about the 50th anniversary of Foxcroft's title, the legacy of Monson Academy, digging into video archives, and so much more.Also: Rhys reviews *The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act*.*Toby Nelson** has been broadcasting Maine high school sports for 30 years, including 20 years with Maine Public Television calling state championship games. He got his start at the Bangor Auditorium in 2007 — literally walking past the broadcast table, hearing a producer say someone had called out sick, and running home to grab a shirt and tie. The rest is history.Beyond broadcasting, Toby is Foxcroft Academy's unofficial historian, spearheading the **50th anniversary celebration of the 1975 state championship** — the school's only basketball gold ball. He tracked down the coach's original scorebook, game-by-game newspaper clippings, photos, and artifacts, then posted daily historical updates aligned to the exact anniversary dates of each game.His deeper passion project: **Monson Academy**, the small-town school that closed in 1969 and sent its students to Foxcroft. In 1968, just one year before closing, Monson's eight-player squad won the Class S state championship. Toby found a reel-to-reel audio recording of the title game, digitized it at a radio station, and put it online — where it's since drawn hundreds of thousands of views. He also tracked down actual game footage through Northeast Historic Films in Bucksport.Now he's planning a **Monson Academy Slaters merchandise line** — t-shirts, stickers, and more — with proceeds going toward a new roof on the Monson gymnasium, the last remaining piece of the old academy.---### Links & Resources- **Maine Basketball Rankings:** mainebasketballrankings.com- **Gold Ball Odds (tournament simulator):** mainebasketballrankings.com- **Northeast Historic Films:** [oldfilms.org](https://oldfilms.org)- **Monson Academy Slaters Facebook Page:** search "Monson Academy Slater" on Facebook- **Eastern Maine Sports:** follow on Facebook/YouTube for live streams and coverage- *Last One Out of Town, Turn Out the Lights* — Dave Albee's book on Foxcroft/Monson basketball history

There's only 2 weeks left in the Spring Sports season, which means it's time to check in with WHOU's Ethan Snow on which baseball teams are contenders for a Gold Ball in late June. Subscribe to Maine Basketball Rankings: https://www.mainebasketballrankings.com/#/portalGear (affiliate links)Green Screen: https://amzn.to/3IiodkiLighting: https://amzn.to/4n7cNzcMicrophone: https://amzn.to/47ekYEa Webcam: https://amzn.to/464U4y0

Four national championships. 87.2% winning percentage. Retirement on his terms.Lucas sits down with retiring CMCC women's basketball coach Andrew Morong fresh off his fourth national title to talk about what it actually takes to build a dynasty in central Maine.Topics this episode:How Andrew evaluates recruits in the first 5 minutes of warm-upsWhy parents are now a bigger red flag than the players themselvesThe "Junkyard Dog" role and building a blue-collar cultureJosie Friend — the Australian freshman he knew would transcend the programThe case for a high school shot clockWhy the mid-range jumper might be a D1 scholarship hiding in plain sightWhat retirement looks like when basketball has been your life for 15 yearsPlus Lucas's son Rhys reviews Hoppers and the Mario Galaxy movie.Maine Basketball Rankings: mainebasketballrankings.com

Welcome to The Maine Basketball Rankings Podcast where Lucas McNelly and Jay Baines dissect their regional tournament predictions and see who picked the best Cinderellas. We'll also look ahead to this weekend's title games and make prediction on who will take home Gold Balls. Subscribe to Maine Basketball Rankings: https://www.mainebasketballrankings.com/#/portal—————————Vertical Raise contact informationChris Christie - Maine [email protected] 207-975-4072Calendly link: https://calendly.com/chrisc-verticalraise/30minDave Chase - Southern Maine [email protected] 603-545-2960——————————Gear (affiliate links)Green Screen: https://amzn.to/3IiodkiLighting: https://amzn.to/4n7cNzcMicrophone: https://amzn.to/47ekYEa Webcam: https://amzn.to/464U4y0

Every year, Jay Baines and I go region-by-region and pick a Cinderella in each one. The premise is simple: we can't pick the favorite and we can't pick our own team. Did we pick your team? And if not, should we have? This is part 2 where we go through all of the boys regions and includes an introduction from the Augusta Civic Center. —————————Vertical Raise contact informationChris Christie - Maine [email protected] 207-975-4072Calendly link: https://calendly.com/chrisc-verticalraise/30minDave Chase - Southern Maine [email protected] 603-545-2960——————————Gear (affiliate links)Green Screen: https://amzn.to/3IiodkiLighting: https://amzn.to/4n7cNzcMicrophone: https://amzn.to/47ekYEa Webcam: https://amzn.to/464U4y0

We're at roughly the half-way point of the season, which means it's a great time to take stock of how the regions around Maine might shake out. Jay Baines joins me to go around the state and figure out who's in, who's out, and who has a chance to move up in the standings. Subscribe to Maine Basketball Rankings: https://www.mainebasketballrankings.c...—————————Vertical Raise contact informationChris Christie - Maine [email protected] 207-975-4072Calendly link: https://calendly.com/chrisc-verticalr...Dave Chase - Southern Maine [email protected] 603-545-2960——————————Gear (affiliate links)Green Screen: https://amzn.to/3IiodkiLighting: https://amzn.to/4n7cNzcMicrophone: https://amzn.to/47ekYEa Webcam: https://amzn.to/464U4y0

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Last year's Wins Draft was one of the most popular episodes of this podcast, so we had to bring it back. Tyler Krusz, Mike Mandell, and not Adam Robinson return to draft teams they think will win a lot of games. Will your team get drafted or will they get snubbed?Subscribe to Maine Basketball Rankings: https://www.mainebasketballrankings.com/#/portal—————————Vertical Raise contact informationChris Christie - Maine [email protected] 207-975-4072Calendly link: https://calendly.com/chrisc-verticalraise/30minDave Chase - Southern Maine [email protected] 603-545-2960——————————Gear (affiliate links)Green Screen: https://amzn.to/3IiodkiLighting: https://amzn.to/4n7cNzcMicrophone: https://amzn.to/47ekYEa Webcam: https://amzn.to/464U4y0