Popular gaming show host lauds Maine-made ‘NHL 94,’ tries to pronounce ‘Bangor’

ColinAndGreg

“Colin & Greg Live,” a popular livestream show covering video games and related technology, recently discussed what host Colin Moriarty refers to “the most beloved hockey game of all time.”

Colin and co-host Greg Miller, who work for San Francisco-based Kinda Funny, offer a roundup of game-related news during their daily livestream.

“NHL ’94” and its programmer, Maine native Mark Lesser, were the subject of a GameSpot.com article titled “The unlikely story behind one of gaming’s greatest sports titles,” an article which heavily cites a recently published BDN story about the very same man and game and story. (The “NHL ’94” segment begins around 48 minutes into the “Colin & Greg” episode.)

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Mark Lesser of Surry shows off some of the early games he wrote software for, including “NHL ’94.” BDN photo by Gabor Degre

Colin and Greg go on to discuss why the game became a breakaway hit, citing its revolutionary gameplay mechanics. Greg recalls his instant obsession with the game after one play at a childhood friend’s house.

But then the men land themselves in a bit of hot water with Mainers, or at least Colin does: The host insists that Bangor (because they do mention the BDN) is pronounced “Bang-er.” Excuse me? Colin insists that, as someone who lived in York for a short while and visited Bangor once for a friend’s wedding, he DEFINITELY knows how to pronounce the Queen City’s name.

Sure, Colin.

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Colin wins a few points back by talking about how lovely and special Maine is.

But apparently me yelling at my laptop was not the only instance the men faced of being called out for mispronouncing Bangor.

In the next day’s episode, Colin apologizes (about 1:50 into the video): “A real man or a real woman must know when they’re wrong.”

Colin quickly realized that he accidentally stepped in the middle of a terribly contentious issue.

In his quest to find The Truth About Bangor, Colin learned that there was once a Massachusetts-based radio show called “Men From Maine,” that made fun of, among other things, Mainer’s accents. Colin posits that from that, “Bangor,” became “Bangah,” became “Banger.”

“But no one says that,” he explains.

Colin also briefly mentions the smash hit “We Are Bangor.

Good on you, Colin. Thanks for the shout out, and thanks for educating your viewers about Maine.