Newsletter #13...Putting the previews in the rearview
The time for speculation has come to an end.
It's time to play ball.
Football and volleyball and of course, field hockey and soccer too.
The 2025 season began for many teams yesterday and virtually everyone will be underway by the end of the weekend.
Hopefully, you're well prepared for the upcoming season after the release of our previews earlier this week.
In case you missed anything...
The five previews wound up weighing in at 70 teams, 70 coaches quoted, 639 athletes mentioned and 21,903 words.
Now, it's time to focus on the games themselves and I already have two under my belt:
Those were the first two of what I expect will be something in the range of 225-250 games over the course of the school year.
Multi-media blitz
Wednesday evening, for the 12th time, I was fortunate to join Travis Lee for the Blitz8 High School Football Preview Show. We covered a lot of ground in a fast-paced 30 minutes. If you missed it, here are the links:
Part One, eight-man and Class D: https://www.wmtw.com/article/blitz-8-hs-preview-show-segment-one/65975364
Part Two, Classes B and C: https://www.wmtw.com/article/blitz-8-hs-preview-show-segment-two-1756944764/65975389
Part Three, Class A: https://www.wmtw.com/article/blitz-8-hs-preview-show-segment-three-1756944875/65975413
I had a couple of recent radio interviews as well:
With Matt Gagnon of WGAN (this will be a regular spot at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesdays):
https://wgan.com/morning-news/michael-hoffer-2/
My weekly WJAB spot from last Friday (I'm on with Middays with Mannix and Mannix every week at 11:30):
https://thebigjab.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/MMM-8-29-25-Michael-Hoffer.mp3
The podcast is off to a great start and this week's interview was with South Portland football coach Aaron Filieo:
Michael Hoffer
If you missed the first one, with Dave Eid from Channel 13, you can listen here:
Michael Hoffer
Thoughts on the Pats
A new NFL season is underway and there's a lot of optimism around the New England Patriots after a couple of dreadful and completely forgettable campaigns.
I think they're going to be much better, will resemble a professional outfit and will be in contention most of the way, but I fear that ultimately their lack of depth and lack of great players will prevent a winning season and playoff berth.
I think anything from 6-11 to 10-7 is in the play, but I'm going to settle on 7-10 and hope to be pleasantly surprised.
My Super Bowl pick is Baltimore over Philadelphia.
For years I've posted my popular, prescient Patriots pick on Twitter and I'll start doing that here now as well. I think I was 12-5 a year ago.
Patriots 23 Raiders 20
Hoping for the best.
More predictions
Turning to high school football, here are my picks for this week's games. A lot of these are just shots in the dark, but here goes:
Gray-New Gloucester over Cape Elizabeth
Gorham over Cheverus
Bangor over Deering
Falmouth over Kennebunk
Freeport over Mountain Valley
Greely over York
Portland over Oxford Hills
Thornton Academy over Scarborough
Bonny Eagle over South Portland
Mt. Ararat over Yarmouth
A lot to look forward to
Looking ahead, next week will see the start of some new features on the site, as there will be fresh content every weekday, in addition to all the game stories.
On Monday, HHSS, in conjunction with partner cPort Credit Union, will name a "Player of the Week."
On Tuesday, you can look for our weekly polls.
Wednesdays will bring a story on the upcoming "Game of the Week."
Each Thursday will feature a new podcast.
Every Friday during the school brings a new newsletter.
Enjoy the weekend, everyone. See you right here, next Friday.
Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffersports@yahoo.com
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