Cooper Flagg vs. Maine

Let's start with a trip to North Carolina, where our man Cooper Flagg made his college basketball debut.

Here we go!

Cooper started slow. At least it looked that way on my phone as I watched at a school function--scheduling! On some level, it must have been a little surreal to play against a team with "Maine" on their chests.

But you knew it was coming.

I don't know if that nickname is a Corrigan original, but I like it.

If you're familiar with the Cooper Flagg Experience, it was pretty much what you expected (minus the usual blocked shot highlight), but in case you missed it or you're new here...

And the reviews were pretty good.

Cooper finished 6/15 from the floor (18 points) and added 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. All in all, a really nice debut.

As for UMaine, I thought they acquitted themselves nicely. There's some real bright spots to be found in that tape for Chris Markwood and company. Keelan Steele had a nice game. If they can play like that consistently, they'll make some noise in America East.

Up next for the Black Bears?

As for the UMaine women, Windham's Sarah Talon had 18 points as the Black Bears handled La Salle in the Pit.

But the big news for Amy Vachon's team was this weekend's announcement that they'd picked up a local recruit.

Earlier this fall, Breen transferred to Montverde, continuing the now-fruitful Maine-to-Montverde pipeline, and now she joins Ace Flagg in going from Montverde to Maine.

Big things are happening in Orono!

College basketball is so back.

It is, of course, Election Day. Maybe you've seen the 8,000 ads?

Make sure you get out and vote because you can't rely on Super Grover to make everything all better if you don't. He'd also likely make it worse.

Obviously, I'm referencing the huge vote in Maine over the future of the flag.

Why are Mainers voting on a new state flag?

In this episode of Maine Explained, we dive into the history of Maine’s state flag and how Question 5 came to be on Maine’s ballot in 2024.

WMEHEsta Pratt-Kielley

I don't know why this requires a vote or why we need to pick between two flags.

We should just keep the Dirigo flag as our Icon flag. The Pine Tree design can be our Statement Edition Flag that we fly on special occasions and nationally broadcast games on Sunday. Think of the merch sales! We could add a City Edition and do a new one every year!

Speaking of UMaine, Pat Ricard got in the end zone on Sunday.

Game of the Day

We kick off the Regional Finals today with the first half of the soccer matchups. The Regional Finals will always be good matchups, but the girls A North final between Bangor and Camden is one you could easily call the Game of the Year. Bangor is a very slight favorite, despite losing the regular season matchup 3-0. This is one where I would probably pick against the Model, despite the Model being 58-11 so far in Girls Soccer.

Camden is actually playing a Regional Final doubleheader, as is Monmouth in D South (and Greely and Medomak Valley tomorrow).

The Model's picks for all of today's Regional Finals are after the jump.