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                     Friday, March 14, 2003

                     COLUMN: Steve Solloway



                       Yes, a sunny day in Orono




                      Copyright  2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.





ORONO - Say, that's a nice tan, Mr. Nero.

   The man from sunny Miami, the one who stood out in a room full of faces made pale by the long Maine winter, didn't hesitate in his denial.

   "No," said Patrick Nero. "It's windburn."

   Are you a Red Sox fan or a Yankees fan, Mr. Nero? You did grow up in Rhode Island.

   "Red Sox fan, of course."

   Like lobster?

   "I love lobster."

   He doesn't drop his r's but that probably will change by the time he moves into his new office next month.

   He's been pegged for a quick learner. Peter Hoff, his new boss, said so himself Thursday when he introduced the University of Maine's next director of athletics.

   Nero's name doesn't go on university stationery until Chancellor Joseph Westphal and the board of trustees say so but as Hoff was quick to point out, he doesn't know of a soul who will say no.

   Nero flew into Bangor in time for his introduction to the university community and media. Less than two hours later he was back on a plane for New York and Madison Square Garden, where the Big East is holding its conference tournament.

   Swapping Miami for Orono and the Big East for America East doesn't seem like a fair deal. But Nero has to like the job title swap. From associate athletic director to head man is still one step higher on the career ladder.

   A small crowd filled a room at the Buchanan Alumni House to see and hear the new guy. But when your name isn't yet on your office door, it would be foolish to make promises or state specifics.

   So Nero didn't.

   Maine is an athletic outpost. It's a relatively poor state with a small population that takes pride in its only Division I teams while accepting the reality it doesn't have the bigness of, say, a University of Miami.

   "The passion I found here was the selling point," said Nero. "There are so many people who care."

   Yet in the next breath, he acknowledged that Maine teams aren't embraced throughout the state. That Maine's reach into Cumberland and York counties isn't what it could be.

   Getting more fans to football and basketball games would bring in more of the money the athletic department so desperately needs.

   Hey, director of athletics is a nice title for a rather faceless job. Nero is the GM of Maine's athletic department, but he's not former Red Sox GM Dan Duquette (heaven forbid) or Theo Epstein, the new one.

   He can't procure a new middle linebacker for Jack Cosgrove's football team, although Cosgrove will drop Nero's name into his recruiting pitches.

   Hey, did you hear? Our new athletic director is from the University of Miami. That's how serious we are about our teams.

   "I'm excited," said Cosgrove, who was among the crowd of several dozen in the Treat Room. "As a coach you're always identifying prospects, looking for the people who can really help you.

   "I'd have to put him in that category. This reminds me of the day when I got Jake Eaton."

   Comparing Nero, a small man who had to peer over the bank of microphones mounted on the lectern to Eaton, Maine's soon-to-graduate quarterback, seems a stretch. But Cosgrove was sure.

   "When he spoke to the coaches on his first visit here, he just energized us. We need a new leader. We've been through some tough times."

   How will he lead?

   "That's for us to find out," said Cosgrove.

   Nero doesn't yet have a to-do list, other than learning more about the people at Maine. Problems? Issues? He'll have to learn them, too.

   His ability to raise money has been touted. "He was called the MCI man at Miami," said Hoff. "The money-coming-in man. But my chief reason for selecting him is his outstanding core values.

   "He is a leader. He has the ability to inspire people."

   Nero has never coached a college team. No one asked if he was an athlete. Cosgrove, for one, didn't seem to care.

   The new guy is a Red Sox fan and soon to be a new Black Bears fan. Hoff even gave him a Maine hockey sweater. He loves lobster.

   "It's the black flies I'm worried about," said Nero. "I hear you can't see 'em."

   Staff Writer Steve Solloway can be contacted at 791-6412 or at:

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