Editor’s note: University of Maine athletic director Karlton Creech met with the BDN’s Larry Mahoney on Saturday to answer questions, some light and some heavy, in a question and answer format.
Q: What is the best part about living in Maine and the worst part?
A: The best part is definitely the people. There are great people here. It’s a great state. There is so much pride pride in the state of Maine. It’s a wonderful community, all throughout the state, to be part of. I feel lucky to be here. Then you throw in the incredible natural beauty of the state from the coast to the mountains, it’s visually stunning. Some of the scenery creates a stimulating environment. I love living in this kind of environment. I don’t know if there is a worst part. The hardest thing in moving here, or really moving anywhere, is leaving behind friends and family where you were before. That has probably been the most difficult part. We certainly feel very welcomed here and are happy to be here.
Q: If you could invite three people to a dinner party, living or dead, who would you invite?
A: I’m going to have to cheat here and invite four people because [wife] Staci comes with me everywhere she can. We’re a team so she’s going to be with me. I would have to say Benjamin Franklin. Just the courage it took for our founding fathers to start a new country. I would love to ask him how did you get the courage to do all that. You were up against the most powerful nation in the world at that time. Next would be Arnold Palmer. He was a true gentleman who played a game that I love. He came up in the television era and revolutionized the game of golf in our country. He made it inclusive and accessible to a lot of people. I would love to talk to him. He is just a true gentleman and a great guy. And since I’ve been here, to give it a local flavor, the one guy I regret having never met was Harold Alfond. I’ve heard so many great things about him. I’d love to talk to the one guy who beat Warren Buffett in a business deal and find out how he did it. To spend an evening with Mister Alfond would be incredible.
Q: If you could live in another time period, when would it be and why?
A: I wouldn’t do it and I’ll tell you why. We live in a period where we have never had more access to greatness, access to technology and access to the rest of the world. The opportunity to succeed has never been greater for a large number of people in the world, especially in our own nation. I think it’s a great time. I love it.
Q: You are an avid golfer. Your wife, Staci, played for four years on the golf team at the University of North Carolina. When you play, who wins? How competitive is it? Name a couple of your favorite courses in Maine.
A: She wins 99 percent of the time. I learned about 20 years ago to be very humble around my wife when it comes to golf. Occasionally, when she’s having a really bad day, I’ll sneak up on her and beat her. But it’s not competitive. It’s a way we find to spend time together. It’s really important to our relationship and we love it.
On their favorite golf courses in Maine: Both Stacy and I are big fans of Donald Ross [courses]. His obvious influence in Pinehurst [N.C.] is very dear to us. Penobscot Valley Country Club is right down the road. It’s a Donald Ross course and it’s a tremendous golf course. We’ve played a couple of rounds at the Kebo Valley Golf Club [in Bar Harbor] and that’s another great old golf course. We’ve heard so many good things about some of the other great courses in Maine like Belgrade Lakes and the courses up in the mountains. We haven’t had a lot of time to get around but we’re going to try to do more of that this summer.
Q: What other profession would you like to try?
A: I love what I do. But I’ll tell you what would be fun would being a caddy on the PGA Tour. You get to travel around the country, you have beautiful scenery every day and it’s good exercise. I’d like to try that for a little bit.
Q: What is your vision for the University of Maine’s athletic program and what can be attained with the difficult financial climate at the school?
A: I like to be realistically optimistic. Like any university in any state, we have challenges. Some are unique to us and some are not. Some involve college athletic programs across the country. My vision for the athletic program at the University of Maine is a program that makes the University of Maine and the state of Maine better and proud of the program. I believe we have tremendous capacity to do that and a tremendous opportunity to do that. There are several factors that go into that. One is we need the student-athletes here to perform well academically and leave the university prepared to succeed in a career. That’s our No. 1 responsibility. Beyond that, we need competitive programs that engage the community, involve the community and draw the community into our university. That’s the ultimate vision. We want to be the state’s athletic department and represent the state in a way that makes people proud and want to be a part of it.
Q: What has been the highlight of your life so far? The lowlight?
A: There were several highlights in my time at North Carolina. Certainly being able to be there for the men’s basketball national championships [2005, 2009] and being at the arenas at those was incredible. As we see in March Madness, there is incredible energy and passion around college basketball in our country. And to be able to be a part of it, to be working there when they won the national championships, was great. I was also really proud of the work we did on the football stadium renovations at North Carolina. I was fortunate enough to be involved in that. I’ll tell you the one thing that stands out for me since I’ve been at the University of Maine was the first event I attended. I came up even before I started. Staci and I flew up to Boston for Frozen Fenway last year. To see that environment, we got a great win, we dominated the game — and to see thunder and lightning in the winter in Boston was a new experience. It was fun. Then the first hockey game we saw in Alfond Arena, to get a first hand look at the passion and atmosphere at Alfond Arena was great. Certainly the run our women’s basketball team made just recently to be the America East co-champions and to have Richard Barron named coach of the year. It was a great example of what is possible here for our programs.
As for the lowlights, certainly any time where we have student-athletes that make mistakes and we have to deal with, those things are not what anyone wants to do. There aren’t many lowlights. I’m fortunate to work in a job where there are a lot more highlights than lowlights. I always want to believe in the best of people and want to see people succeed and when that doesn’t happen, it’s difficult.
Q: What would be a perfect 24 hours for you? Money is no object.
A: It would involve several things. Staci would be there. It would involve really good food. I love good food. It would have to involve a great round of golf on a great course. A lot of people will come up to me at sporting events and tell me they see me at all of these events and say to me don’t you get tired of coming to all of these events? My answer is no. If I wasn’t getting paid to be here, I would probably pay to come. So it would also involve a live sporting event. Those three things are what I enjoy doing.
Q: What really irritates you?
A: When I can’t get my point across. It irritates me especially when I see something great in another person or see potential they can’t see for themselves or see solutions they can’t see for themselves. And when I can’t communicate that to them, it frustrates me.
Q: What’s on your bucket list?
A: Golf at a few certain places, specifically some of the west coast courses like Pebble Beach and Cypress Point, some of those beautifully scenic courses. I’m checking one of them off [the bucket list] this May. I’ve never been to Europe. We’re going to Europe with the women’s basketball program. That’s going to be a lot of fun and I get to check something off [the bucket list]. We’re going to be in Italy but I’d love to go to Scotland and Ireland — in that area of the world. Bucket lists… it’s interesting. I feel so fortunate to have been able to do so many incredible things in my career. It has taken me to great places. My ultimate bucket list is to keep doing this as long as I can do it. Athletics and college athletics can take you to great places.