Aftershocks
Written by James Howard Kunstler
If the FBI can track down two homicidal Chechen nobodies inside of forty-eight hours of their Boston bombing caper, you kind of wonder how come the Bureau can't detect the odor of racketeering, insider trading, and wire fraud in this month's orchestrated smackdown of the gold futures markets, including the parts played by the Federal Reserve, one or more too-big-to-fail banks, self-interested big money players such as George Soros, slumbering regulators at the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, and tractable editors at The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
Of course, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who oversees the FBI, has done a fair imitation of a Brooks Brothers store window mannequin for four years, but surely somewhere in the trackless labyrinth of American law enforcement there exists some dogged rogue investigator with a filament of nagging curiosity who might piece together the clunky train of events that may amount to the financial crime of the century.
For instance, it can't be so difficult to determine who was behind the several hundred ton mass dump of paper gold contracts a week or so ago. There must be a pretty simple record of the transaction, retrievable with a warrant or a subpoena. Whatever entity did it — still ostensibly unknown — knowingly generated losses in the neighborhood of a billion dollars for itself. Was this just the cost of doing business? Or a favor owed, say, from a bank to its godfathers at the Fed, carried out to make the dollar look relatively a lot less unsound than it really is? Or a ruse to allow the custodians of bullion in US depositories re-acquire at bargain prices gold that has been stealthily hypothicated into oblivion? Or just to divert attention from their inability to make good on contracted deliveries of actual physical gold.
No official has yet answered why the Federal Reserve Bank of New York told the German government a couple of months ago that it would take seven years to return that country's gold held in safekeeping (across the ocean from the Russians) since the Cold War. The NY Fed must have a vessel under contract that makes the proverbial slow boat to China look like an ICBM.
Doesn't anybody want some answers to these questions, including how come the two aforementioned major newspapers published front-page stories calculated to justify, if not provoke, the most extreme negative sentiment in the precious metals markets, seemingly coordinated with Goldman Sachs advisories to short those markets? And what about a glance at the trading records to see who executed massive naked shorts? Wouldn't it be interesting if they were the same parties as the dumpers? And why? — other than a strenuous intervention in the markets to make those markets look unreliable? Does anyone even remember that the purpose of financial exchanges is to verify and authenticate the clearing of trades to provide confidence that markets are honest so that real business can be conducted?
What the interveners have accomplished is only to prove that the gold and silver derivatives markets are unreliable. They may have smashed the trade in that kind of paper, but only achieved a firmer divergence between the derivatives markets and the bullion markets where, for example, the premiums on delivery of silver ounces makes the price exactly equal to the pre-smackdown price. Anyway, nobody believes that the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) or that the New York Commodity Exchange (COMEX) can deliver. Meanwhile, runs on bullion contracts were starting to uncover a contagion of swindling in precious metals obligations that pervaded the western banking system. It was not a coincidence that the smackdown happened three weeks after the Dutch bank ABN Amro notified clients that it would only satisfy demands for redemptions of gold held in its custody with equivalent cash payments. "No gold for you today!" A fair inference based on subsequent events would be that all the custodians of physical gold bullion have misreported their holdings. And now that actions by the European Union and its agents have ventured into the dangerous territory of plain confiscation, there is not a whole lot of faith throughout the western world by people who are paying attention that an account of any kind in any financial institution is safe. There is good reason to fear runs on everything.
Because the smackdown organizers pulled off their operation in a panic, they probably ignored the potential further negative consequences of their stratagem, namely a worsening loss of confidence in banks generally and in the trade of abstract financial instruments in particular, including currencies. Nervous public officials may be brooding on imminent "bail-ins" and currency controls, but the public may be ready to bail out of the prevailing banking model into things that have been considered more money than "money" for a few thousand years, namely real gold and silver. The basic fact remains: there isn't enough to go around.
(James Howard Kunstler is the author of several books, including "The Long Emergency," "The Geography of Nowhere" and "The Witch of Hebron." Contact him by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .)
Of course, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who oversees the FBI, has done a fair imitation of a Brooks Brothers store window mannequin for four years, but surely somewhere in the trackless labyrinth of American law enforcement there exists some dogged rogue investigator with a filament of nagging curiosity who might piece together the clunky train of events that may amount to the financial crime of the century.
For instance, it can't be so difficult to determine who was behind the several hundred ton mass dump of paper gold contracts a week or so ago. There must be a pretty simple record of the transaction, retrievable with a warrant or a subpoena. Whatever entity did it — still ostensibly unknown — knowingly generated losses in the neighborhood of a billion dollars for itself. Was this just the cost of doing business? Or a favor owed, say, from a bank to its godfathers at the Fed, carried out to make the dollar look relatively a lot less unsound than it really is? Or a ruse to allow the custodians of bullion in US depositories re-acquire at bargain prices gold that has been stealthily hypothicated into oblivion? Or just to divert attention from their inability to make good on contracted deliveries of actual physical gold.
No official has yet answered why the Federal Reserve Bank of New York told the German government a couple of months ago that it would take seven years to return that country's gold held in safekeeping (across the ocean from the Russians) since the Cold War. The NY Fed must have a vessel under contract that makes the proverbial slow boat to China look like an ICBM.
Doesn't anybody want some answers to these questions, including how come the two aforementioned major newspapers published front-page stories calculated to justify, if not provoke, the most extreme negative sentiment in the precious metals markets, seemingly coordinated with Goldman Sachs advisories to short those markets? And what about a glance at the trading records to see who executed massive naked shorts? Wouldn't it be interesting if they were the same parties as the dumpers? And why? — other than a strenuous intervention in the markets to make those markets look unreliable? Does anyone even remember that the purpose of financial exchanges is to verify and authenticate the clearing of trades to provide confidence that markets are honest so that real business can be conducted?
What the interveners have accomplished is only to prove that the gold and silver derivatives markets are unreliable. They may have smashed the trade in that kind of paper, but only achieved a firmer divergence between the derivatives markets and the bullion markets where, for example, the premiums on delivery of silver ounces makes the price exactly equal to the pre-smackdown price. Anyway, nobody believes that the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) or that the New York Commodity Exchange (COMEX) can deliver. Meanwhile, runs on bullion contracts were starting to uncover a contagion of swindling in precious metals obligations that pervaded the western banking system. It was not a coincidence that the smackdown happened three weeks after the Dutch bank ABN Amro notified clients that it would only satisfy demands for redemptions of gold held in its custody with equivalent cash payments. "No gold for you today!" A fair inference based on subsequent events would be that all the custodians of physical gold bullion have misreported their holdings. And now that actions by the European Union and its agents have ventured into the dangerous territory of plain confiscation, there is not a whole lot of faith throughout the western world by people who are paying attention that an account of any kind in any financial institution is safe. There is good reason to fear runs on everything.
Because the smackdown organizers pulled off their operation in a panic, they probably ignored the potential further negative consequences of their stratagem, namely a worsening loss of confidence in banks generally and in the trade of abstract financial instruments in particular, including currencies. Nervous public officials may be brooding on imminent "bail-ins" and currency controls, but the public may be ready to bail out of the prevailing banking model into things that have been considered more money than "money" for a few thousand years, namely real gold and silver. The basic fact remains: there isn't enough to go around.
(James Howard Kunstler is the author of several books, including "The Long Emergency," "The Geography of Nowhere" and "The Witch of Hebron." Contact him by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .)
Last Updated on Monday, 22 April 2013 23:19
Hits: 64
The play-at-home game
Written by Bob Higgins
Since the bombing that took place at the Boston Marathon Monday, I’ve been hitting the net pretty hard. There is the “what we know/don’t know” debate, followed up by the “breaking news” that should have brakes installed before what a justice department official told an AP reporter winds up on the front page of Drudge.
Remember, these are the same types of “official sources” that said 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta’s passport was found a few blocks away from ground zero a few days after. Turns out, it was the passport of some other dude.
There are the talk radio and nattering gasbag duos on TV, who speculate and pump air into varied conspiracy sites. There are groups of folks who in desperation cling to the notion that this must be a homegrown terrorist, since that would advance their agenda. There are those that cling to the last possible shred of hope that the terrorist was of the import variety.
Then, there are folks like me, who just want whoever did this caught, fed slowly into an industrial wood chipper at the lowest possible setting, and the resultant soup slopped into an open unmarked grave at the local park where dogs defecate with regularity.
A posting on social networking sites summed it up. Man, you messed with the WRONG city. Boston is HOT, frothing with rage, but with that quiet calm that should make the world realize energy is being stored up. When it breaks, it will not be quiet, or pretty.
Paging Judge Lynch, who never sleeps. The folks over at REDDIT, the “frontpage of the Internet” are getting some heat for engaging in what an editor over at Wired Magazine calls a “Witch Hunt.”
If the concept originated in Massachusetts, it’s only because they were particularly effective at it.
Folks that snapped images or video of the events of that day, particularly pre-bombing, have been asked to forward those photos to the FBI, for help in catching the suspects. They’ve also been uploading them to sundry and various reddit pages for group analysis.
The FBI puts out an afternoon presser saying that they are looking for a guy in the dreaded black hoodie, wearing a white baseball cap backwards? Poof, a couple of clicks and there he is. Oh look, he’s wearing a backpack. A few pictures later, he isn’t.
Images are cropped, enhanced, edge detected and subjected to all other sort of Photoshop madness. The national hunt for the terrorist responsible now has a play-at-home game component.
There was even a sub-reddit about a person that had hit the pages a few weeks back, seemingly looking for the exact model of pressure cooker used to make the “device.” A few clicks later, and here’s his name.
A few clicks after that, and a twitter message telling him “I hope your papers are in order” leads to a guy who at least claims to be a former Federal Prosecutor, and had taken a particular interest in what he perceived as a threat. About a half an hour later, he calmed down a bit and saw what I was getting at.
Wow, that file that doesn’t exist must be getting pretty thick about now. It was about 5 inches thick when I left the Army years back.
There are many subcategories, mostly involving the searching photographs for whoever did this, one stunningly named “Where’s Waldo.” All over the globe, the latest game has folks trying to figure out who is who and where in the photos, with an undertone ... we’re coming.
Truth be told, when a suspect is caught, I don’t think Suffolk County Superior Courthouse will be the safest place for an arraignment. Perhaps somewhere in Fiji. When people get “All CSI on it,” they are invested in the outcome.
Maybe this is the latest fad in a post 9/11 America. To the editors of Reddit’s credit, there is a whole section devoted to people who may have been accused and have been “cleared,” i.e. they’ve been to talk to the FBI and were NOT arrested. That part of the criticism of that effort is always conveniently left out.
Caution must be taken, for the innocent get caught up in the same photos as a possible perpetrator. Once a life is ruined, it’s hard to get that back.
Just ask accused Olympic Park Bomber Richard Jewell. He was eventually cleared ... but it took years.
(Bob Higgins is a regular contributor to The Portland Daily Sun.)
Remember, these are the same types of “official sources” that said 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta’s passport was found a few blocks away from ground zero a few days after. Turns out, it was the passport of some other dude.
There are the talk radio and nattering gasbag duos on TV, who speculate and pump air into varied conspiracy sites. There are groups of folks who in desperation cling to the notion that this must be a homegrown terrorist, since that would advance their agenda. There are those that cling to the last possible shred of hope that the terrorist was of the import variety.
Then, there are folks like me, who just want whoever did this caught, fed slowly into an industrial wood chipper at the lowest possible setting, and the resultant soup slopped into an open unmarked grave at the local park where dogs defecate with regularity.
A posting on social networking sites summed it up. Man, you messed with the WRONG city. Boston is HOT, frothing with rage, but with that quiet calm that should make the world realize energy is being stored up. When it breaks, it will not be quiet, or pretty.
Paging Judge Lynch, who never sleeps. The folks over at REDDIT, the “frontpage of the Internet” are getting some heat for engaging in what an editor over at Wired Magazine calls a “Witch Hunt.”
If the concept originated in Massachusetts, it’s only because they were particularly effective at it.
Folks that snapped images or video of the events of that day, particularly pre-bombing, have been asked to forward those photos to the FBI, for help in catching the suspects. They’ve also been uploading them to sundry and various reddit pages for group analysis.
The FBI puts out an afternoon presser saying that they are looking for a guy in the dreaded black hoodie, wearing a white baseball cap backwards? Poof, a couple of clicks and there he is. Oh look, he’s wearing a backpack. A few pictures later, he isn’t.
Images are cropped, enhanced, edge detected and subjected to all other sort of Photoshop madness. The national hunt for the terrorist responsible now has a play-at-home game component.
There was even a sub-reddit about a person that had hit the pages a few weeks back, seemingly looking for the exact model of pressure cooker used to make the “device.” A few clicks later, and here’s his name.
A few clicks after that, and a twitter message telling him “I hope your papers are in order” leads to a guy who at least claims to be a former Federal Prosecutor, and had taken a particular interest in what he perceived as a threat. About a half an hour later, he calmed down a bit and saw what I was getting at.
Wow, that file that doesn’t exist must be getting pretty thick about now. It was about 5 inches thick when I left the Army years back.
There are many subcategories, mostly involving the searching photographs for whoever did this, one stunningly named “Where’s Waldo.” All over the globe, the latest game has folks trying to figure out who is who and where in the photos, with an undertone ... we’re coming.
Truth be told, when a suspect is caught, I don’t think Suffolk County Superior Courthouse will be the safest place for an arraignment. Perhaps somewhere in Fiji. When people get “All CSI on it,” they are invested in the outcome.
Maybe this is the latest fad in a post 9/11 America. To the editors of Reddit’s credit, there is a whole section devoted to people who may have been accused and have been “cleared,” i.e. they’ve been to talk to the FBI and were NOT arrested. That part of the criticism of that effort is always conveniently left out.
Caution must be taken, for the innocent get caught up in the same photos as a possible perpetrator. Once a life is ruined, it’s hard to get that back.
Just ask accused Olympic Park Bomber Richard Jewell. He was eventually cleared ... but it took years.
(Bob Higgins is a regular contributor to The Portland Daily Sun.)
Last Updated on Thursday, 18 April 2013 23:15
Hits: 101
As gun control fails in Washington, stronger laws must come from Maine
Written by Wells Lyons
The U.S. Senate has again failed the American people. Held hostage by the gun lobby and a Republican filibuster, common-sense gun laws will not be coming from our federal government. If Mainers want safer neighborhoods and safer schools, we're going to have to take action at the state level. Following the lead of states like New York and Connecticut, Maine should pass laws to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill, and ban outright high capacity ammunition clips like the ones used in Newtown, Tucson and Aurora.
Fortunately, our State Legislature, led by Portland's delegation, is making progress where Washington could not. LD 1240, sponsored by Representative Mark Dion, closes the gun show loophole and requires private sellers of firearms to conduct background checks on buyers, with a legitimate exception for sales between family members. It's common sense that we should keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons, domestic abusers and individuals who are dangerously mentally ill, and the passage of LD 1240 will go a long way to making that goal a reality. Moreover, universal background checks are supported by 90% of Americans — a remarkable statistic, when you consider our nation's divergent political opinions. Even the NRA supported background checks at one point.
In addition to background checks, a ban on large capacity magazines is critical if we are to make our state safer. LD 997, sponsored by Senate President Justin Alfond, will ban ammunition magazines that hold more than ten bullets. These types of magazines have no purpose but to shoot a lot of people quickly. The shooter in the Newtown, Connecticut massacre used at least three 30-round magazines. The shooter in the Tucson, Arizona massacre fired more than 30 shots from one magazine, hitting 19 people, including Representative Giffords, and killing six. The shooter in the Aurora, Colorado movie theater had a 100-round magazine. There is no hunting or sporting purpose for these magazines, and they have no place in our state. Our families and communities will be safer without them.
Opponents of gun control will claim these laws infringe upon the Second Amendment, but that's simply not the case. You don't need to be a constitutional scholar to understand Justice Scalia when he wrote that longstanding gun control measures are indeed constitutional under D.C. v. Heller. It is time to pass stronger gun laws, and lawmakers need to hear your support. Contact your local legislators and let them know you support LD 1240 and LD 997 and look forward to the passage of these bills. When it comes to stronger gun laws and safer streets, Maine now has the opportunity to lead.
(Wells Lyons is the chair of the Maine League of Young Voters. He ran for Portland City Council last year.)
Fortunately, our State Legislature, led by Portland's delegation, is making progress where Washington could not. LD 1240, sponsored by Representative Mark Dion, closes the gun show loophole and requires private sellers of firearms to conduct background checks on buyers, with a legitimate exception for sales between family members. It's common sense that we should keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons, domestic abusers and individuals who are dangerously mentally ill, and the passage of LD 1240 will go a long way to making that goal a reality. Moreover, universal background checks are supported by 90% of Americans — a remarkable statistic, when you consider our nation's divergent political opinions. Even the NRA supported background checks at one point.
In addition to background checks, a ban on large capacity magazines is critical if we are to make our state safer. LD 997, sponsored by Senate President Justin Alfond, will ban ammunition magazines that hold more than ten bullets. These types of magazines have no purpose but to shoot a lot of people quickly. The shooter in the Newtown, Connecticut massacre used at least three 30-round magazines. The shooter in the Tucson, Arizona massacre fired more than 30 shots from one magazine, hitting 19 people, including Representative Giffords, and killing six. The shooter in the Aurora, Colorado movie theater had a 100-round magazine. There is no hunting or sporting purpose for these magazines, and they have no place in our state. Our families and communities will be safer without them.
Opponents of gun control will claim these laws infringe upon the Second Amendment, but that's simply not the case. You don't need to be a constitutional scholar to understand Justice Scalia when he wrote that longstanding gun control measures are indeed constitutional under D.C. v. Heller. It is time to pass stronger gun laws, and lawmakers need to hear your support. Contact your local legislators and let them know you support LD 1240 and LD 997 and look forward to the passage of these bills. When it comes to stronger gun laws and safer streets, Maine now has the opportunity to lead.
(Wells Lyons is the chair of the Maine League of Young Voters. He ran for Portland City Council last year.)
Last Updated on Thursday, 18 April 2013 23:21
Hits: 208
A bit of Yankee self-reliance
Written by Telly Halkias
With all the talk today of lazy and spoiled youth, I'm reminded of a chat with two teenagers a few years ago, who came to my front door made me remember how life waits for you to do something, or passes you by if you don't.
The boys wanted know if I needed to have my SUV detailed. They missed their chance; I had done the job myself over the weekend. I also noticed their buffed up SUV in my driveway, and made sure to praise it.
After thanking me, the leader revealed their purpose. Yes, they wanted to make money. But they really were looking to build references. One boy explained that if they could do enough jobs for locals at a discounted rate, they would like some of those clients to vouch for their work on request.
The young man concluded by saying that gaining endorsements could lead to starting his own detailing business. I lauded their ambition and wished them good luck. They were polite, well-spoken, and polished in their rehearsal.
But all the while I had drifted into the parallel reality from my own past, wondering just how uniquely American this display of initiative and self-reliance had been.
While I worked several small jobs in high school, I never wanted for much. Nevertheless, I was happy to be rid of an allowance and make my own money. While my parents were generous, I hated tapping into them.
My parents were prepared to go into hock to see my future through, but never took that bittersweet pill. When Uncle Sam offered me that same education in return for just five years in uniform, I jumped like there was no tomorrow.
Sure, there were risks involved. But with my schooling fully funded and receiving a monthly stipend to boot, Mom and Dad breathed a sigh of relief, and that meant the world to me.
After college the irony of near-poverty while serving the public didn't escape me. As a junior Army officer my duties were considerable; my compensation, meager. I usually had to eat cereal the last week of every month because I couldn't afford much else until payday.
It was then that I learned that I could use my education past any profession: to moonlight as a writer, editor, and teacher. Later, after grad school, I added business to the equation.
While my days in uniform ended, I kept that pattern of always having my hand in several jobs, even if my passion made me lean toward one. Inherent in these endeavors was an aversion for borrowing money and a desire to pay my own way.
With no sale in sight, the boys headed back to the SUV. I heard them talking about their next stops; they had already scouted them. Declined but not defeated, their sanguine approach had red, white and blue painted all over it.
Prosperity isn't an accident of nature. Rather, it's the result of diligence, planning, persistence, and creativity. And while not all playing fields are equal, the backdrop that makes all of this work is freedom. Americans own it, but often take it for granted because we've known little else.
Having made plenty of mistakes I wish I could take back, enjoying that freedom isn't one of them. Watching the SUV pull out of my driveway seemed like a late thank-you from another teenager, one who pondered his future and realized that no one was going to hand it to him.
(Telly Halkias is an award-winning freelance journalist from Portland's West End. You may contact him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or follow him on Twitter at @TellyHalkias.)
The boys wanted know if I needed to have my SUV detailed. They missed their chance; I had done the job myself over the weekend. I also noticed their buffed up SUV in my driveway, and made sure to praise it.
After thanking me, the leader revealed their purpose. Yes, they wanted to make money. But they really were looking to build references. One boy explained that if they could do enough jobs for locals at a discounted rate, they would like some of those clients to vouch for their work on request.
The young man concluded by saying that gaining endorsements could lead to starting his own detailing business. I lauded their ambition and wished them good luck. They were polite, well-spoken, and polished in their rehearsal.
But all the while I had drifted into the parallel reality from my own past, wondering just how uniquely American this display of initiative and self-reliance had been.
While I worked several small jobs in high school, I never wanted for much. Nevertheless, I was happy to be rid of an allowance and make my own money. While my parents were generous, I hated tapping into them.
My parents were prepared to go into hock to see my future through, but never took that bittersweet pill. When Uncle Sam offered me that same education in return for just five years in uniform, I jumped like there was no tomorrow.
Sure, there were risks involved. But with my schooling fully funded and receiving a monthly stipend to boot, Mom and Dad breathed a sigh of relief, and that meant the world to me.
After college the irony of near-poverty while serving the public didn't escape me. As a junior Army officer my duties were considerable; my compensation, meager. I usually had to eat cereal the last week of every month because I couldn't afford much else until payday.
It was then that I learned that I could use my education past any profession: to moonlight as a writer, editor, and teacher. Later, after grad school, I added business to the equation.
While my days in uniform ended, I kept that pattern of always having my hand in several jobs, even if my passion made me lean toward one. Inherent in these endeavors was an aversion for borrowing money and a desire to pay my own way.
With no sale in sight, the boys headed back to the SUV. I heard them talking about their next stops; they had already scouted them. Declined but not defeated, their sanguine approach had red, white and blue painted all over it.
Prosperity isn't an accident of nature. Rather, it's the result of diligence, planning, persistence, and creativity. And while not all playing fields are equal, the backdrop that makes all of this work is freedom. Americans own it, but often take it for granted because we've known little else.
Having made plenty of mistakes I wish I could take back, enjoying that freedom isn't one of them. Watching the SUV pull out of my driveway seemed like a late thank-you from another teenager, one who pondered his future and realized that no one was going to hand it to him.
(Telly Halkias is an award-winning freelance journalist from Portland's West End. You may contact him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or follow him on Twitter at @TellyHalkias.)
Last Updated on Thursday, 18 April 2013 23:17
Hits: 88
Sports at USM
Written by Cliff Gallant
After watching for a lull in their conversation, I went up to some students sitting at a table in the USM cafeteria last week and asked them if they knew when the first baseball game of the season was.
"You mean the Red Sox?" one of them responded.
"No, USM," I said, "when is the first home game?"
I was doing some journalistic sleuthing, actually. When I was a student at the school, no one cared much about the sports teams one way or the other, but I didn't want to assume that things hadn't changed.
"We don't know," another one of them said, without even looking around at the others for confirmation, "you can probably get a schedule at the athletics office."
My expectations partially confirmed, I followed up by asking them where the USM home games were played.
"Don't they play at the Ballpark when the Sea Dogs aren't playing?" one of them asked the others. No one knew for sure.
Here's the skinny on it. By and large there is a vast indifference at USM concerning school sports. That was the case years ago when I went there, and it is still the case today. Virtually no one gives a hoot one way or the other. Oh, I guess that's not entirely true. There's a group of frat brothers on the Gorham campus that gets into the basketball games big time. For a clue as to why, think downtown Gorham in the winter. The Phi Gamma Whatevers pack the stands, or at least a section of the stands, paint their faces with the school colors, generally have a high time for themselves, then head back to the dorm for pizza and beer. Damn, I envy them, I really do, and I admire their school spirit, but the fact remains that their numbers are few.
The obvious reason for all of this indifference is, of course, USM's non-traditional student population. The overwhelming majority of students do not live on campus, it being essentially an urban commuter school, the average student age is far beyond that of the typical college student, and most work either part-time or full time jobs. No time for much else. Their lives are crowded with going to classes and driving taxi for 12 hours a shift, hoping to get some free time on the stand between fares to study for the next day's Psych exam. Give them free tickets to a USM game of any sort and they'll probably try to sell them on the Internet.
Alright, then, to get to the point: My solution to the budgetary crisis at USM would be to dramatically slash the budget of the athletics department. Times are tough and if something's got to go, it ought to be sports. Leave the academic departments alone. Better to have sports teams operating on a bare bones budget than having music students holding a two-hour candlelight vigil because a beloved professor was given his walking papers.
A little bit over the top, huh? Make some sort of wobbly case for there not being a lot of fan support and willy-nilly there goes the budget of the sports department.
What about the character-building aspects of playing a team sport? Yes, there's something to that, a lot, as a matter of fact, but the truth is that that particular pyramid is supposed to get built in high school. When one leaves home and goes off to college one should already be fully socialized. The primary purpose of the college is not to grow you up, it's to educate you. And, c'mon, if you can play sports on the college level it probably means that you were a high school star. You either got what you were supposed to get from sports then or you're not going to get it. As far as nostalgia for the glory days, get over it, intramurals will do just fine.
But what about the part that sports play in terms of building school spirit? Because the Portland and Gorham campuses are so far apart, because so many students don't live on campus, and because the student population in so diverse, both in terms of age and general interests, those charged with running the university have long felt the need for greater institutional cohesion, and a dynamic varsity sports program has been seen as the answer. Go team, go. All that.
Sounds compelling, yes, but, you know, it hasn't worked very well so far. USM's sports teams have been quite successful over the years, but, by and large, the student body hasn't taken much notice. Their interests lie elsewhere.
There, how simple. The budgetary crisis at USM solved in one fell-swoop. Yeah, right. They're going ax the sports budget at USM like Oakhurst Dairy is going to stop selling chocolate milk.
If such a thing were ever to happen anywhere, though, it could be at USM. There's the older, non-traditional, student body, and there's also the pride the students have traditionally taken in the school's reputation for providing a quality college education. The Princeton College Review, for instance, consistently rates USM at or near the top of colleges in the Northeast for academic excellence. Quite extraordinary for a campus of a state university. Obviously priorities are ordered a bit differently at USM than elsewhere.
What a splash it would make. A student-led movement on a campus of the University of Maine to seriously deemphasize sports in favor of maintaining the school's academic excellence. That would go viral real fast.
Any takers?
(Cliff Gallant of Portland is a regular columnist for The Portland Daily Sun. Email him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .)
"You mean the Red Sox?" one of them responded.
"No, USM," I said, "when is the first home game?"
I was doing some journalistic sleuthing, actually. When I was a student at the school, no one cared much about the sports teams one way or the other, but I didn't want to assume that things hadn't changed.
"We don't know," another one of them said, without even looking around at the others for confirmation, "you can probably get a schedule at the athletics office."
My expectations partially confirmed, I followed up by asking them where the USM home games were played.
"Don't they play at the Ballpark when the Sea Dogs aren't playing?" one of them asked the others. No one knew for sure.
Here's the skinny on it. By and large there is a vast indifference at USM concerning school sports. That was the case years ago when I went there, and it is still the case today. Virtually no one gives a hoot one way or the other. Oh, I guess that's not entirely true. There's a group of frat brothers on the Gorham campus that gets into the basketball games big time. For a clue as to why, think downtown Gorham in the winter. The Phi Gamma Whatevers pack the stands, or at least a section of the stands, paint their faces with the school colors, generally have a high time for themselves, then head back to the dorm for pizza and beer. Damn, I envy them, I really do, and I admire their school spirit, but the fact remains that their numbers are few.
The obvious reason for all of this indifference is, of course, USM's non-traditional student population. The overwhelming majority of students do not live on campus, it being essentially an urban commuter school, the average student age is far beyond that of the typical college student, and most work either part-time or full time jobs. No time for much else. Their lives are crowded with going to classes and driving taxi for 12 hours a shift, hoping to get some free time on the stand between fares to study for the next day's Psych exam. Give them free tickets to a USM game of any sort and they'll probably try to sell them on the Internet.
Alright, then, to get to the point: My solution to the budgetary crisis at USM would be to dramatically slash the budget of the athletics department. Times are tough and if something's got to go, it ought to be sports. Leave the academic departments alone. Better to have sports teams operating on a bare bones budget than having music students holding a two-hour candlelight vigil because a beloved professor was given his walking papers.
A little bit over the top, huh? Make some sort of wobbly case for there not being a lot of fan support and willy-nilly there goes the budget of the sports department.
What about the character-building aspects of playing a team sport? Yes, there's something to that, a lot, as a matter of fact, but the truth is that that particular pyramid is supposed to get built in high school. When one leaves home and goes off to college one should already be fully socialized. The primary purpose of the college is not to grow you up, it's to educate you. And, c'mon, if you can play sports on the college level it probably means that you were a high school star. You either got what you were supposed to get from sports then or you're not going to get it. As far as nostalgia for the glory days, get over it, intramurals will do just fine.
But what about the part that sports play in terms of building school spirit? Because the Portland and Gorham campuses are so far apart, because so many students don't live on campus, and because the student population in so diverse, both in terms of age and general interests, those charged with running the university have long felt the need for greater institutional cohesion, and a dynamic varsity sports program has been seen as the answer. Go team, go. All that.
Sounds compelling, yes, but, you know, it hasn't worked very well so far. USM's sports teams have been quite successful over the years, but, by and large, the student body hasn't taken much notice. Their interests lie elsewhere.
There, how simple. The budgetary crisis at USM solved in one fell-swoop. Yeah, right. They're going ax the sports budget at USM like Oakhurst Dairy is going to stop selling chocolate milk.
If such a thing were ever to happen anywhere, though, it could be at USM. There's the older, non-traditional, student body, and there's also the pride the students have traditionally taken in the school's reputation for providing a quality college education. The Princeton College Review, for instance, consistently rates USM at or near the top of colleges in the Northeast for academic excellence. Quite extraordinary for a campus of a state university. Obviously priorities are ordered a bit differently at USM than elsewhere.
What a splash it would make. A student-led movement on a campus of the University of Maine to seriously deemphasize sports in favor of maintaining the school's academic excellence. That would go viral real fast.
Any takers?
(Cliff Gallant of Portland is a regular columnist for The Portland Daily Sun. Email him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .)
Last Updated on Thursday, 18 April 2013 23:25
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