Cross Center is huge improvement

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    I always joke that I’m not a sportswriter, even though I pretended to be one at the Morning Sentinel for two years.
    I guess I’m too much of a fan to be a good sports journalist. I grit my teeth when I see the “home” team losing and silently cheer when an underdog prevails.

    I’ve also covered games under less-than-ideal conditions from soccer in thunderstorms to basketball in dingy, poorly-lighted gyms.
    But with only a two-person staff and nine teams making the basketball tournament, the Observer definitely needed my services during the past week.
    And I have to admit that the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor made covering tournament basketball a pleasure rather than a pain.
    For years, the old Bangor Auditorium was nicknamed the Mecca of high school basketball. But toward the old building’s final years, I surmised that calling it a Mecca was an insult to Muslims.
    The bizarre V-shaped design of the roof allowed snow and rain to collect directly over the auditorium floor. The Bangor Auditorium was the only place I ever saw where timeouts were called to bring in mops and buckets to clean up the floor.
    Although working press stiffs had padded chairs by the sidelines, the fans were cramped into uncomfortable seats.
    The restrooms were shabby and the concession stands had limited and overpriced fare.
    Apparently the taxpayers of Bangor agreed and voted by a 2-to-1 margin to back construction of the $65 million complex in May 2011. The old auditorium was mercifully leveled by the wrecking ball last May and the Cross Insurance Center’s first sports event was an appearance by the Harlem Globetrotters in September.
    The Cross Insurance Center seats are much more comfortable, although I’ve heard some grumblings from heavyset fans that they’re a little too narrow.
    The lighting is brilliant, making action photography without flash a breeze. There are three scoreboards — a main one with all the details and two auxiliary ones high above the grandstands with the bare-bones stats.
    The Wi-Fi works well, although it’s password-protected. All I had to do is ask a fellow scribe for the magic phrase, so it’s not a huge secret.
    Since I was at the late morning sessions only, most of the concession stands weren’t open yet. But the menu choice was light years ahead of the old auditorium. Prices were about average for a sports and entertainment venue.
    Oh, and for those of us who consume too much coffee or soda during breaks, there are plenty of restrooms on both floors.
    Bangor, like every other Maine city, has its share of quirks and jerks, which usually make the police log quite entertaining at times. Nevertheless, with Hollywood Casino, Darling’s Waterfront Concerts and a revived downtown business district, the Queen City seems to be on the upswing.
    And I’d recommend adding the Cross Insurance Center on your list of places to visit.
    Mike Lange is a staff writer with the Piscataquis Observer. His opinions are his own and don’t necessarily reflect those of this newspaper.