The summer games What 'Game On' will be looking forward to in Maine this summer BY SAM PFEIFLE

Whiffle Ball season has begun. I took a split this past weekend, in stiflingly hot conditions, with an old college buddy up from Boston for the weekend. He says my place is "like camp. It’s all green here." Hence my embarrassment at losing the second half of the double header 1-0. To a city-slicker. The bugs ran us off the field at dusk.

As much fun as skiing, snowshoeing, hockey, and indoor soccer are in the winter, they just can’t compare to the outdoor games summer brings: pickup basketball in Payson Park, disc golf, outdoor soccer, three-catches off the float, croquet, beach or real volleyball, badminton, capture the flag (okay, it’s been a while since I played that last one). Also, the slate of things worth watching gets considerably more robust. Ever watched ski-racing? It’s fun for a while, but then your feet get really, really cold. At least watching road-racing, you can get a tan (and maybe see a couple runners puke!).

If we’re to have more of these alternatives to mainstream sports, it’s important that we get out and either participate in, or attend, these events. Like anything else, money drives them, and they need our registration fees and ticket sales.

So, here’s a sampling of what "Game On" is looking forward to this summer:

The Maine Games: Actually, this has already begun. The Baton Twirling Championships were held May 17, with all kinds of winners in any number of categories. Like Ram-Bunk-Tious, which won the Senior Small Long Program. Small and long — go figure. I can’t say I know much about competetive baton twirling. However, if you can compete in it, "Game On" supports it.

So does the Maine Games, apparently, as they’ve stepped up their number of competitions even further this year, after their inaugural year in 2003. They’re offering archery, baseball, basketball, bowling, cycling, fencing, field hockey, horseshoes, ice hockey, lacrosse, wrestling — even sporting clays, for criminey’s sake.

Generally, the registration fees are cheap, and the rest of the events (after the baton twirling) take place June 19 through 27, with opening ceremonies on June 25. Basically, you’ve got to register by June 15 for most events, but registration has been open since April 15, so you might as well do it now. Of course, not everyone can play. I wanted to play baseball, but since I’m neither under 18 nor over 30, there’s no soup for me.

Oh well, I still love the Maine Games motto: "Your best is good enough." Damn straight. Check www.mainegames.org for all the details.

Yankee Trophy Go-Kart Series: Most people know that Oxford Plains Speedway is hosting the Banknorth 250, in which big-time Nextel Cup drivers Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth will be gunning for the $25,000 pay day, on July 18. And that would be fun to go to. But if you like racing, you may want to see it stripped down to its elements in the Yankee Trophy Go-Kart Series, which Oxford Plains began last year, and for which they have built and paved a brand-new track this year.

Starting May 28, at 7 p.m., go-karts will be raced in five divisions — Briggs Jr. Sportsman Champ (ages 8 through 12), Box Stock Rocker Caged (8 through 12), Briggs Jr. Champ (12 through 15), Star Champ (15 & up) and Western Maine Modifieds (15 & up) — for 11 straight Fridays, before finishing up September 3 with the 2nd Annual Yankee Trophy Kart Klash.

Kids in go-karts? That has to be a ton of fun. Check it out for yourself at www.oxfordplains.com.

OPS-6: What’s more fun than child stock-racers? How about shooting people with paintballs in a huge outdoor field as part of a very intricate mission (and getting to wear camouflage for good reason)? That’s the general idea of OPS-6, billed as "Maine’s largest recreational paintball game."

Here’s the mission: "Insurgents have infiltrated the small island of Los DeSmedt, in the Virgin islands off the coast of the US. Communications intercepts lead us to believe that plans are underway to assemble a new WMD variant. This WMD is a post-Soviet collapse modification called an SRBM (Short Range Ballistic Missile) . . . Join covert coalition forces to liberate the island and destroy any SRBM devices before the insurgents can launch them against the US."

It all goes down August 29, at Limington’s Rogue Paintball Park, and it’s open to just about anyone with gear to bring. There’ll be food, supplies, and people from "away," so you know the competition will be good. To sign up, or just check it out, go to www.ontheedgegear.com/ops6info.htm.

Mount Desert Island Marathon: If any event needs your support, it’s a marathon far removed from population centers. Not only do they have to find people crazy enough to run 26 miles, but they have to find people crazy enough to do it in relative obscurity (er, almost total obscurity). Held at the close of Maine’s outdoor sports season, October 17, MDIM bills itself as the "most scenic sporting event in the USA and arguably the best marathon in Maine." Hmmm, most scenic in all of America, but possibly not the best marathon in Maine? They need to work on their bombast.

For spectators, there unfortunately isn’t any looping, so once the runners pass, they’re gone forever, but that makes for a great, interesting race for the participants. And both the start (downtown Bar Harbor) and finish (downtown Southwest Harbor) are pretty great for catching an ice-cream cone and waiting around for crazy people to run by you.

You might have to battle the leaf peepers going up Route 1, but make a day of it and have patience with the Massholes. Go to www.mdimarathon.com for all the MDIM dope.

Sam Pfeifle can be reached at spfeifle@phx.com