Sports

Maine gets win in spite of Isabel

William and Mary controversy ends in a Black Bear victory

By Erinne Magee

Posted on Sept. 29, 2003, at 12:00 a.m.

The University of Maine Black Bears didn’t play a game this past Saturday like they usually do, but the team got a win anyway.

Atlantic-10 Conference officials decided that Maine would receive a forfeit victory over William and Mary College, and William and Mary obtained a no-contest.

“Regrettably, the effects of Hurricane Isabel have been devastating to the Tidewater region of Virginia,” said Atlantic-10 commissioner Linda Bruno. “Safety is a major concern. Power and water supplies are still not fully operational and may not be so for a number of days, if not weeks. Our presidents and directors of athletics appreciate what the staff and student-athletes at William and Mary are going through and respect the decision of President Timothy Sullivan to cancel the game.”

The deciding factor in this decision was that Maine offered several alternatives to playing at William and Mary and put forth tremendous effort in getting the game played elsewhere. Among other offers, Maine invited William and Mary to play in Orono, with travel costs paid for by the University of Maine.

In a statement made on Friday, coach Jack Cosgrove said, “We feel the conference’s resolution is a fair one. It clearly recognizes the difficulty of the situation faced by both schools.”

Maine’s overall record improves to 3-2, and 2-1 in the conference. William and Mary remains 1-2 and 0-1.

Although the team is happy with the decision, the Black Bears would have much rather gotten a win for their performance on the field.

“We wanted to gain confidence and continue to get better by going down to Virginia and getting a win, and getting the bad taste of UMass out of our mouth,” said quarterback Ron Whitcomb.

Regardless of how Maine received the victory, the team is happy because of ramifications that could have occurred later on in the season if the Bears hadn’t received the forfeit.

“We wanted to play them, but they refused for various reasons, so you almost have to award us with the win because it could have serious importance come playoff time within our conference,” tailback Marcus Williams said.

Maine began preparing for the next match-up as soon as word was received the team wouldn’t be playing William and Mary.

Richmond is up next for the Black Bear football team. The two teams will meet at Alfond Stadium for homecoming weekend at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4.

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