tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7060571181479998042024-02-06T22:33:31.580-05:00The Write RefereeThe Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.comBlogger112125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-39158333096347879622009-03-31T09:58:00.006-04:002009-03-31T10:32:52.582-04:00Baseball's Hidden DangersI'm always fearful when I'm on the ball field because of aluminum bats. The kids today are stronger, faster and highly skilled due to sport specialization. I've been hit less than a handful of times and missed by the narrowest of margins hundreds of times more than I can count.<br /><br />Yet that fear has become secondary for me of late. Baseball's bats and ball are upon us and I can't really concentrate wholeheartedly on it. I was diagnosed as having cancerous skin on my face two weeks ago and have been taking some aggressive treatment.<br /><br />It's scary. Right now I feel as if I look like The Elephant Man. I have some grotesque marks below my eyes from where sun damage has accumulated and the treatment makes it look as bad as it feels. Obviously I waited until after basketball season was over and started treatment before the warmer spring and summer months are upon us, but working games now, I'm looking, feeling and probably appearing equally uncomfortable.<br /><br />The lesson I would impart onto every single person reading this is be prepared and be vigilant. Yes, I used sun screen, but I wasn't always using SPF 30 like I should, and I didn't always re-apply every two hours like I should have been. SPF 4 and SPF 8 don't cut it, and it needs to be applied every two hours. That means when watching, working or playing a doubleheader, after Game One is over, sun screen needs to be re-applied in full before Game Two.<br /><br />When I was young, playing in the sun or at the lake was carefree. It was cocoa butter, baby oil and cold beers on the dock. I didn't think about long-term damage to fair-skin. The truth is the sun is dangerous. Salts disposed in sweat, natural skin oils and dust can all accelerate the skin burning process and there is a limited amount of times you can burn your skin before the damage becomes permanent. Thankfully, I'm expected to make a full recovery, but don't make my mistakes. Use sunscreens when you're at the ball field. Use SPF 30 at a minimum, and apply it every two hours.<br /><br />Play ball!The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-22091513123799406362009-03-27T13:01:00.011-04:002009-03-27T14:43:22.165-04:00Clarkston's Breslin Debut Sours In 2nd HalfEAST LANSING, MI -- In what might be the only time the color combination of blue n' gold ever looked good in Michigan State's Breslin Center, the Clarkston Wolves walked onto the floor to start Friday's Class A semifinal in the home whites but walked off the floor feeling blue.<br /><br />Kalamazoo Central's Maroon Giants proved to be too tall and too quick for Clarkston's 'Big Three' to survive another round in a 58-44 victory. When it wasn't near-giant Doug Anderson throwing down a handful of monstrous dunks and controlling the boards, it was anything-but-giant Juwan Hemphill running circles around the limited pressure the Wolves could muster.<br /><br />The game was tied at 27 at the half. The Wolves surged to take a 31-27 lead but Central came right back. Terry Buchanen's triple just in front of the 5:00 minute mark of the 3rd put the Maroons into the lead for good. Buchanen tripled again a minute later and the Wolves never contended again.<br /><br />As bad as the news was for Clarkston, it could have been worse. Brandon Pokley's 23 points, including a perfect four-of-four from behind the triple line, kept the Clarkston five alive but the dream died in a fourth quarter gone arwy. Down just 44-41 to start the final stanza, the Giants ran away for the victory, sucking any and all drama out of the final quarter. Jared Lawrence's bucket while being fouled with just 32.8 seconds remaining was the only Clarkston field goal of the final eight minutes. Lawrence added the free throw to complete Clarkston's only fourth-quarter points.<br /><br />In the second game, despite no Oakland County teams playing, there was a distinct county presence. The game featured Detroit Pershing's Doughboys and the Romulus High Eagles; the three-man officiating crew featured Southfield resident Wallace Whitfield and Hazel Park High School Principal Don Vogt, who was designated as the game's Referee.<br /><br /><em>~T.C. Cameron is the author of <strong>Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</strong>, due in August, 2009 from Arcadia Publishing.</em>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-86905813755015192652009-03-23T21:41:00.004-04:002009-03-23T21:46:39.206-04:00Detroit Country Day's National Prominance Due To State Dominance<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6r6XP1l-quEJw9p3bvpGh1WN2IStW3hx7-dyNtw3onAZSRu2qflhlNd-L0Fga-kcnBSuXU55pV7nVqg6i4guRJbSeW3ufkXSlEq8gaAW2NuppEctadEl4pP3ryFv97k94-Fciam208NWn/s1600-h/CWebbIn1990StateTileGame23MarAtPalaceBryanMitchellO-Pphoto.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 249px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6r6XP1l-quEJw9p3bvpGh1WN2IStW3hx7-dyNtw3onAZSRu2qflhlNd-L0Fga-kcnBSuXU55pV7nVqg6i4guRJbSeW3ufkXSlEq8gaAW2NuppEctadEl4pP3ryFv97k94-Fciam208NWn/s320/CWebbIn1990StateTileGame23MarAtPalaceBryanMitchellO-Pphoto.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316564108117319666" border="0" /></a><br />I was interviewed for a story <a href="http://www.maxpreps.com/news/article.aspx?articleid=cac7af64-2e14-de11-82a6-001cc494dda6&rf=1" target="_blank">about 10 prep teams that would have defeated an NCAA tournament team.</a> The writer, Stephen Spiewak from Jersey City, interviewed me, Tom Markowski and a handful of other national writers a while back for the story that was recently published at MaxPreps.com. I told Spiewak the 1990 Detroit Southwestern team, with Voshon Leonard, Howard Eisley and Jalen Rose, would have been a beast of an 'out'. In fact, I think those Prospectors could have won a play-in game.<p>Then I made the mistake of mentioning that the Prospectors would have been super-human had Chris Webber, long-rumored to follow best friend Jalen Rose to Detroit Southwestern, not been enrolled at Country Day. So, in a great story about Detroit Southwestern, there's a picture of Chris Webber and a cutline of what might have been if Webber had not been a Yellowjacket but rather, part of a quartet of Division-I players at one school, coached by the all-time winningest coach in Horizon League history, Perry Watson.</p><p>My bad.</p><p>Detroit Country Day won the 2009 Class B girls' state championship Saturday. That's the 10th title triumph for head coach Frank Orlando, himself an all-state basketball player nearly 50 years ago at Detroit's now-closed St. Thomas High. Orlando has also won a state title in baseball. But is Orlando mentioned in the same circles of Kathy McGee, Lofton Greene, Diane Laffey or Bernie Holowicki?</p><p>No. Why? Because he's from Country Day. In the minds of many, it doesn't count the same. He isn't guiding the hand he's dealt, they say. He recruits, they complain. He hand picks his talent, they say, sniding. He has an unlimited budget, he should win every year, they mumble under their breath. Yet<i> they</i> never complain about the private school that finishes in fifth-place. It's only the champion <i>they</i> are quick to discredit.</p><p>They never said these things about River Rouge. All River Rouge did was win 12 Class B titles in 19 seasons as a public school with the best prep basketball coach the state has ever seen. </p><p><a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20090322/HSS/903220514/1238/A+repeat+feat" target="_blank">The Detroit Free Press ran a nice story about the 'Jackets today, but the mention of Orlando's feat was minimal.</a> I'm OK with that because the focus was placed upon Country Day's student-athletes. There's a coach who knows about Orlando's snub. In fact, he plays his home games in the same gym that Orlando calls home. Kurt Keener has been the boys' coach at Country Day since the Tigers started 35-5. Nobody had boo to say about the Yellowjackets until a 14-year-old phenom walked through the doors with his mother. Suddenly Chris Webber changed the perception of Country Day from a rich-kid playground into every other school's worst enemy. 10 girls' titles and seven boys' titles later, Country Day is the opposite of the family business in The Godfather. You get ex-communicated if you do side with Country Day.</p><p>There's a great article in today's <a href="http://www.detnews.com/article/20090323/SPORTS05/903230329/1049/sports05/Country+Day+s+Steen+overwhelmed" target="_blank">Detroit News about Country Day senior Faziah Steen.</a> Upon graduation, she's going to play at Dartmouth next year. A girl who tore her right and left ACL in three years, who watched her teammates celebrate last year and was so embittered about missing it that she willed herself to come back her senior year for this opportunity. She's going to Dartmouth -- how outstanding is that?</p><p>Country Day has a number of self-imposed obstacles. It's about $25,000 a year to attend the school. How many families do you know of that have 25K sitting around for high school per year, per kid? You have to be able to pass the entrance exam and you're required to play at least one sport and participate in extracurricular activity if you don't play a second sport. If you can't afford the tuition, you have to apply for need-based aid, a decision that Country Day has no influence in. That shrinks the pool of perspective students drastically. Country Day doesn't get $80-90 million dollars to cover the operating budget, which is approximately the amount Novi's public schools require to keep the doors open, the lights on and the floors swept, among other things.</p><p>Oakland County is lucky to have a wealth of private schools and Country Day has an outstanding legacy of student-athlete achievement. What's wrong with having a very successful school among your state's quiver of arrows? Their string of titles in boys' and girls' basketball isn't any less impressive than River Rouge's incredible 19-year run just because they're a well-to-do private school. Their athletes work just as hard, put in just as much effort and dream of the same dreams any other team from any other school does.</p><p>Why should they be punished when their dream comes true?</p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">T.C. Cameron delivered <span style="font-weight: bold;">Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</span> to Arcadia Publishing a mere 7,000 words over limit...oops. The title, after edit, will be available in August, 2009.</span><br /></p><i>(Photo courtesy The Oakland Press/Bryan Mitchell)</i>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-74280750394638811682009-03-12T23:33:00.009-04:002009-03-13T00:01:51.806-04:00Remember Pontiac Central's Chiefs<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMGaDnbBp4ZpEEbHSIb0fhjIu6pXszPVzlg_wgTDFnspuCNCpFfidSDFk96ciPzhdDSVspXp4N8U2DMAdOAHJG8nKIIK5M-g4FUV0ImyDDeibmC-7d2887nzIUc727wb3tCWNqja29lVz/s1600-h/CampyAndTheChiefsVersusFlintNWestern5Feb1971O-PRolfWinter.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 195px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMGaDnbBp4ZpEEbHSIb0fhjIu6pXszPVzlg_wgTDFnspuCNCpFfidSDFk96ciPzhdDSVspXp4N8U2DMAdOAHJG8nKIIK5M-g4FUV0ImyDDeibmC-7d2887nzIUc727wb3tCWNqja29lVz/s320/CampyAndTheChiefsVersusFlintNWestern5Feb1971O-PRolfWinter.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312514651928154674" border="0" /></a>Pontiac Central played their final boys' basketball game last night. Birmingham Seaholm sent the Chiefs into the history books with a 67-47 defeat in a Division 1 district game.<p>With apologies to Denzel Washington, today, I find it apropos to make a statement about this quiet passing.</p><p>Remember the Chiefs.</p><p>There was no ceremony, no remembrance and none of the passion and pride for the city of Pontiac the Chiefs used to evoke. In that way, Central's last game was very Brooklyn Dodger-esque. The Dodgers played their final game at a decaying Ebbets Field on September 24, 1957 and sadness and bitterness converged for the Ghosts of Flatbush at the intersection of Bedford, Sullivan and McKeever Place. A scant 6,702 showed for the final game versus Pittsburgh. Brooklyn blanked the Bucs, 2-0.</p><p>There's a sense of sadness in Pontiac today because the Chiefs left the prep basketball landscape rather meekly, similar to Royal Oak Dondero's final football season. Central and rival Pontiac Northern will merge after this year. Teachers are being fired en masse. It's going to be a difficult transition, mashed into a five-month timetable. Pontiac's consolidation is considerably different than Royal Oak's Kimball & Dondero from three years ago. Some, including Coach Chuck Jones, thought the 'new' Royal Oak High School should be re-named with the 'old' name of Acorns and given a color combination of the blue n' white of Dondero and the blue n' gold of Kimball, merged into the 'new' blue, gold & white of Royal Oak High.</p><p>That's not an option in Pontiac. The Chiefs are Pontiac like the Tigers' olde English 'D' is Detroit. Only in the last 10-15 years did Central finally omit the 'Pontiac' from their uniforms and go with the word 'Central'. I'm researching <i>Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</i> and the contribution from Pontiac Central High to metro Detroit's basketball heritage is comparable to what Catholic Central or Brother Rice added to the Catholic League.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:130%;" >~The Elusive Championship</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">~</span></span><br /></div><p>Of course, you might be inclined to tell me that Catholic Central and Brother Rice, the last two private schools to win a Class A boys' basketball title in Michigan, have indeed won championships. And Central's city rival, Pontiac Northern, won back-to-back Class A titles in 2001-02. Central never did.</p><p>True, it never happened when it mattered most for Pontiac Central. The Chiefs never won any of the five Class A title games they played in. But the NCAA tells us the 'Fab Five' never happened at Michigan, too. Does anyone really believe those Michigan Wolverines didn't leave a lasting impact on college basketball just because the NCAA says so? From 1959-79, Pontiac Central went to 11 MHSAA semifinals -- in 20 years! Zero wins in those title games might make them the Buffalo Bills or Minnesota Vikings of prep cagers in the eyes of some. It's fair. But Art VanRyzin and Ralph Grubb, Pontiac's coaches during this amazing era, never gave up, never quit trying. Further, the Chiefs didn't just compete but were a perennial power in the Saginaw Valley Conference. There was not a single prep league in the entire state of Michigan better than 'The Valley' during that time period.</p><p>Perhaps it was fitting that Seaholm and Central were paired for Central's last hurrah. Seaholm was formerly the original Birmingham High Maples and Central was originally Pontiac High's Chiefs. Birmingham and Pontiac were longtime prep football, basketball and baseball rivals for many years until the early 1960s. </p><p>The Chiefs shouldn't be forgotten as soon as the horn went silent to end their final game. Remember the battles that Pontiac High and later, Pontiac Central played that made your heart throb. Remember the Friday nights they made so memorable in so many different seasons. Remember the simetaneous hope and heartache they represented in Pontiac for so many years. Remember the Russell brothers. Remember Bill Glover, who was the heart and soul of Central for so many years. </p><p>Remember the Chiefs.</p><p style="font-style: italic;">(Picture courtesy The Oakland Press/Feb. 1971/Rolf Winter)</p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">~ T.C. Cameron is the author of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Metro Detroit's High School Rivalries</span>, due August 2009 from Arcadia Publishing.</span><br /></p>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-80389523873129552832009-03-09T15:22:00.005-04:002009-03-11T09:40:25.655-04:00Part II: Remembering A State Championship Worthy Of 'Hoosiers'<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVS8jXIIUkRLhVJBI07Mu6OJPCfb2MVx1ob1gHMKhSyJkmNGIdHixvL_ZMNPPsZOGpu4TB9YEO-VJT5EmlAgxa6ACYi5GOILkgbI6CVKJuUQNb1AZ8-BcIJIrWt2IpeapZm1oLEXRTE7nW/s1600-h/OAK5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVS8jXIIUkRLhVJBI07Mu6OJPCfb2MVx1ob1gHMKhSyJkmNGIdHixvL_ZMNPPsZOGpu4TB9YEO-VJT5EmlAgxa6ACYi5GOILkgbI6CVKJuUQNb1AZ8-BcIJIrWt2IpeapZm1oLEXRTE7nW/s320/OAK5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311900857316563698" border="0" /></a>The Ferndale Eagles remembered prep seer Hal 'Swami' Schram's prediction about 1963's Class A semifinal that ran in the <i>Detroit Free Press</i> on Thursday, March 21: "There is no school for (Detroit) Northwestern on Friday...There will be no basketball on Saturday for Ferndale." <p>Bob Falardeau and the Eagles would have the final word after Falardeau's jumper with almost 30 seconds remaining downed the Detroit Public School League's regular season champion by a 52-51 count. Schram's prediction -- made without malice -- became the rally point for Ferndale in East Lansing as the Eagles advanced to face Adrian High's Maples in the state title tilt.</p><p>As Ferndale stepped onto the hardwood pines of Michigan State's Jension Field House for Saturday's Class A Final, nobody knew three grueling, gut-check wins -- all played consecutively and all one-point victories -- would allow Ferndale to win the title game handily, 76-58, in front of 12,473 fans and a statewide television audience. Bruce Rodwan, left of teammate Don Brooks (25) in the picture above, netted 25 points and pulled down 20 rebounds to earn himself a spot on the tournament's first team. </p><p>The Eagles stepped off Jenison's floor as state champions and winners of 22-straight games thanks to Kimball's upset of Detroit Pershing and some gritty magic that made 1963's title a lot tougher to earn than first glance might indicate but a lot sweeter to remember for the struggle it took.</p><p>Only Pontiac Northern (2001, 2002) and Birmingham Brother Rice (1974) have earned a Class A crown for Oakland County since Ferndale's two titles in the 1960s. Novi's Detroit Catholic Central, which earned titles in 1961 and 1976 (the last non-public school title in Class A), won those titles while still parked at their famed 6565 Outer Drive address in Detroit.</p><p>In the afterglow, Ferndale High hosted a champions' banquet at the school. The entire community was invited and some of South Oakland County's prep rivals regaled in the first Oakland County championship in the state's marquee division. Charles Jackson, principal at Kimball High, presented the 1963 Eastern Michigan League trophy to Coach Roy Burkhart's Eagles during the banquet's ceremony. Burkhart's first title had been delivered in his 17th season as mentor of the cage fortunes on Ferndale's Pinecrest Avenue.</p><p><i>Friday: Ferndale wears the bulls-eye before recapturing the Magic of '63 during March of '66.</i></p><i>(Photo courtesy 1963 Ferndale High Talon/Ferndale Historical Museum)<br /><br />~ T.C. Cameron is the author of Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries, due August 2009 from Arcadia Publishing.<br /></i>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-30933157033264688002009-03-09T11:23:00.004-04:002009-03-09T15:25:29.010-04:00Part I: Remembering A State Championship Worthy Of 'Hoosiers'<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6-rshyphenhyphenZ0cMVZCJ7fPy6QscwCqUbza5kMgzHc8vjsuCE5VSTXqu21r5ssY1nRQw-xGNUksmlCBEdHB_5epoO6mMSTLcyyuiD1rWL_g2VdSW_U8BQSo3hnXDci2D4cUIUh27Ra4iAuJxTMS/s1600-h/OAK3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6-rshyphenhyphenZ0cMVZCJ7fPy6QscwCqUbza5kMgzHc8vjsuCE5VSTXqu21r5ssY1nRQw-xGNUksmlCBEdHB_5epoO6mMSTLcyyuiD1rWL_g2VdSW_U8BQSo3hnXDci2D4cUIUh27Ra4iAuJxTMS/s320/OAK3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311209783536031362" border="0" /></a>Frank Clouser bought his first insurance policy from Bobby Plump, who's more famously remembered for making the game-winning shot for Milan High in the 1954 Indiana High School Athletic Association title game against mighty Muncie Central.<p>Clouser, who was born and raised in pint-sized Colfax, Indiana, was the longtime baseball coach, assistant boys' basketball coach, head girls' basketball coach and down box linesman during the football seasons at now-closed Royal Oak Kimball High. The longtime gym teacher also had a two-year stint as diamond coach at Troy Athens, winning two OAA titles. I recall Clouser telling me this story because history has a funny way of condensing a lot of important little facts into one single event.</p><p>Bobby Plump and Milan High was the inspiration for the 1986 movie 'Hoosiers' and Plump was characterized in the movie as town sharp-shooter Jimmy Chitwood. This is the story of the 1963 Ferndale High School Eagles, who won the Class A basketball title. At first glance of the MHSAA online records page, you might think Ferndale was a runaway train, marching to the title with a 22-0 record plus the Eastern Michigan League (EML) title to go with district and regional championships.</p><p>The '63 Eagles had more in common with the fictitious Hickory Huskers in 'Hoosiers' more than Milan High did. Further, to grasp how special Ferndale's '63 campaign was -- and how unique even an undefeated championship can be -- you have to first understand 1962, the year the Detroit Public School League ended its' self-imposed 31-year absence from the state tournament. The Detroit Pershing Doughboys made a long run in the Class A bracket, defeating Ferndale in the opener and Royal Oak Dondero in the district final. After crushing Warren Fitzgerald, Pershing beat Royal Oak Kimball in the regional final and Detroit King in the quarters before losing in the state semifinal at Michigan State University's Jension Field House.</p><p>Fast forward to Ferndale's magical 1963 tourney run, made possible when Coach Dave Gunther's Royal Oak Kimball team earned a stunning 39-32 win over Coach Will Robinson's Pershing team in the district opener. Pershing had upset regular season PSL champion Detroit Northwestern in that league's title game and was a defending state semifinalist but lost to a five-year-old school that played in exactly one quarterfinal in the 49 seasons the school was open. Kimball, however marginal the school's overall basketball success was, earned a 9-3 record versus the PSL in tourney games.</p><p>With the Doughboys eliminated, Grosse Pointe High's undefeated Blue Devils were considered metro Detroit's best team when Coach Roy Burkhart and Ferndale met the 'Pointers' in the '63 quarters. Ferndale was already battle-tested, having bested the always-gritty Highland Park Polar Bears in the regional final the previous Friday. Bruce Rodwan (pictured above) scored a basket with 37 seconds remaining to give Ferndale a 43-42 win.</p><p>Coach Chuck Hollosy and Grosse Pointe didn't know it but they had been tabbed as victims of destiny. Guard Jeff Hicks made two late free throws to give Ferndale another thrilling one-point win, 56-55, and pushed the Eagles into a date at Jenison Field House with Detroit's Northwestern High Colts.</p><p><i>Wednesday: The thrilling conclusion to Ferndale's 1963 Class A championship. On Friday the magic returns to Pinecrest Avenue in 1966.</i></p><p><i>(Photo courtesy 1963 Ferndale High Talon/Ferndale Historical Museum)</i></p>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-24305322966579009492009-03-08T16:13:00.005-04:002009-03-08T16:38:05.379-04:00We're Evolved Humans, Not Big BirdsOK, short post here to get back on the straight and narrow. I'm on deadline to deliver the book and I'll be offering vignettes this week of an Oakland County championship featured in my basketball rivalries book, due in August 2009.<br /><br />But first, we humans are not birds and as such, we do not have wings, making the term 'wingspan' a complete oxymoron. I cannot stand the collegiate recruiting writers who insist on using this term. "So-and-so prized recruit has an 84-inch wingspan..."<br /><br />Caw-caw! Cue Bette Midler as well.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CONGRATS:</span> Michigan State University is definitely back on the map after today's 62-51 win over visiting Purdue University to close out the Big Ten's regular season as the conference champions for the first time since 2001. With 12 wins over teams ranked in the RPI Top 50, Coach Tom Izzo is a strong candidate for conference coach of the year, and likely several Spartans might be in line for conference players awards, too.<br /><br />But perhaps most impressive about MSU's sustained success is the great majority of it has been manufactured by players and coaches from Michigan.<br /><br />Izzo's story from Iron Mountain is already well-documented. Each of his assistants have roots in Michigan's already strong reputation as prep and collegiate basketball hotbed. Dwayne Stephens, a former Spartan and Ferndale High All-Class A selection from the 1980s. Mike Garland, who coached Belleville High for a long stretch before embarking on a first collegiate coaching stint with the Spartans, is back for a second term of service. Garland began his coaching career at Detroit's Cody High. Finally, Inkster native Mark Montgomery, himself a former Spartan standout, was an outstanding performer at Southgate Aquinas, where he also coached after his prep career but before the school closed in 2000.<br /><br />Of course, the overwhelming majority of memorable Spartan players have been from Detroit, Flint and Saginaw over the past 30 years, and especially so in Tom Izzo's last 11 years, an outstanding run that dates back to Michigan State's win in the first round of the 1998 NCAA tournament over Earl Boykins, Derrick Dial and Eastern Michigan University in Hartford, Connecticut.<br /><br />The Spartans are still one first-class product manufactured in Michigan.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">~ T.C. Cameron is the author of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</span>, due August 2009 from Arcadia Publishing</span>.The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-78462578878134128752009-03-01T16:00:00.003-05:002009-03-01T16:29:58.626-05:00Detroit Championship In Name OnlyThe marquee matchup in Sunday's Catholic League championship was a cross-county pairing that 50 years ago could have been the stunt double for the city's public school East & West divisions.<br /><br />De LaSalle outlasted Catholic Central by a 51-44 count to earn their first Catholic League crown since the 2001-02 season. Both schools used to be Catholic mainstays in the Detroit proper, but like so many other things, while the city has hollowed out, the suburbs have flourished and today's Catholic League is best represented in the 'burbs.<br /><br />Five decades ago, it would have been unfathomable to image a De LaSalle - Catholic Central having an Oakland - Macomb edge to it, but as unimaginable as that might have been, that the Catholic League finals would be played without a full house is equally shocking.<br /><br />Of course, it has nothing to do with the game being better or worse, or the economy. High school sports simply don't command the same crowds they used to. That's an across the board statement that applies at public and private schools, big and small, in affluent and working class communities alike.<br /><br />De LaSalle's win means the Pilots will play the role of underdog in the upcoming Operation Friendship championship game this upcoming Saturday at Cass Tech High. De LaSalle will play the top-ranked Pershing Doughboys, while runner-up C.C. will face Southeastern's Jungaleers.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SCORE CONTROVERSY? </span>Many members of the working press had recorded the final score as 51-44 when the final buzzer sounded in the A-B Division championship. The final was announced as 52-44 and never changed during the trophy presentations. Catholic Central's book, the Catholic League's official book and De LaSalle scorekeeper Mike Szatkowski concurred on the official tally of 51 points for De LaSalle.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />~ T.C. Cameron is the author of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries</span>, released August 2008 from Arcadia Publishing. Cameron's 2nd title, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</span> features the compelling stories from 60 years of Oakland County games and will be available in August of this year.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-13916362126091122262009-03-01T14:25:00.005-05:002009-03-02T08:57:55.186-05:00Richard Survives LoyolaTheir tenacity was admirable, but Detroit Loyola's passion came up two points and a few seconds short in Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard's 58-56 win in the C-D Division championship game at Calihan Hall.<br /><br />In a thrilling finish that saw Loyola with a chance to tie at the game's buzzer, the game's final shot that rattled away ensured a fourth-consecutive Catholic League championship for Richard and Coach Pete Schoch.<br /><br />In the second game, De LaSalle, who took away any chance Orchard Lake St. Mary's had of winning a fourth-straight title with last week's 51-48 win over OLSM at Birmingham Marian, faces Novi's Catholic Central High. Both Greg Esler's Pilots and Bill Dyer's Shamrocks are longshots to win a state title, but CC's re-emergence as a basketball power and De LaSalle's annual status as a contender make this title game as compelling a championship as the CHSL has hosted in a few years.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">TWO MORE SMILES FOR OAKLAND COUNTY</span>: Longtime basketball official Gus Hughes from Beverly Hills won the 1st price in the Catholic League's 50/50 raffle. Hughes won $590. Royal Oak resident Byron Photiades, who worked the 2007 MHSAA baseball final between Lake Orion and Farmington, won the raffle's 2nd prize. Photiades, a Royal Oak Kimball grad, won $305.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">~T.C. Cameron is the author of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries</span>, released in August 2008 from Arcadia Publishing.</span>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-29634963808890164862009-03-01T12:38:00.005-05:002009-03-02T09:00:33.233-05:00The O-C Shows Strong In Black & WhiteThe Catholic League's annual boys' basketball championships are being played at University of Detroit-Mercy's Calihan Hall today.<br /><br />Oakland County resident Mike Birkett, who grew up in Royal Oak and attended Madison Heights Bishop Foley, was the Referee for Sunday's first championship game. That game, for the C-D bracket title, features Ann Arbor's Gabriel Richard High and Detroit Loyola High, a school that's been open for a little more than 10 years.<br /><br />The second tilt pits Novi's Catholic Central versus Warren's DeLaSalle High in a throwback game to the days of the Catholic League's heady Detroit days.<br /><br />All of the three officials have at least one strong tie to Oakland County. Mike Lombard is a graduate of now-closed Royal Oak Dondero High, Wallace Whitfield is a current Oakland County resident and Don Vogt is the principal of Hazel Park High School.<br /><br />There was a day when Catholic Central and De LaSalle would have represented an eastside-westside matchup as well as any of the Detroit public schools. The Shamrocks were formerly parked out on Outer Drive on the site of Renaissance High. De LaSalle's Pilots earned their name for the school's close proximity to Detroit's City Airport. De LaSalle vacated their old campus off of Conner in the early 1980s.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">~T.C. Cameron is the author of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</span>, due August of 2009 from Arcadia Publishing</span>.The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-17662148183774045212009-02-25T08:57:00.006-05:002009-02-25T09:51:50.449-05:00Regionalize Detroit's Government Now<p>After spending the past three days in New York City, I returned home last night to referee a girls' basketball game -- Alexis Goree's jumper at the buzzer enabled Ferndale to nip Birmingham Seaholm 50-48 -- and I was never so happy to get yelled at for 90 minutes in my life.</p><p>Don't get me wrong, I love NYC, but home is home. However, if there's one thing that I would bring home from New York and institute immediately in the three-county area, it would be a metropolitan government. If there's a city in the 'Lower 48' as our friends in Canada have nicknamed the United States that's a more rudderless ship than Detroit, please point it out to me. I wake up this morning and read about Detroit's corrupt city council killing a Cobo Hall expansion deal contingent on regional management and simply shake my head at the stupidity the vote represents.</p><p>But never mind the race-baiting reasons offered by people like Barbara Rose-Collins for killing the Cobo deal. Her tenure of representation in Washington, D.C. and Detroit is punctuated by missed votes, irresponsible decisions and untimely, ill-advised comments like the ones she made yesterday. In short, she's a loose cannon who represents her own motives over the greater good. </p><p>Detroit needs the suburbs and the suburbs need Detroit. Both desperately need a significantly healthier Detroit than the one that's currently limping along the riverside, and a Cobo Hall deal done sooner than later is a step in the right direction.</p><p>But there's more to it. The 'burbs need a viable Detroit to survive. Please stop fooling yourselves, Detroit apologists, by telling me of a handful of condos and hotels and restaurants recently opened, and for every eatery that opens, there's two that close and another three that remain shuttered. Detroit is sagging badly. Just ask the Book-Cadillac or Fort Shelby staff, who openly wonder how long their hotels will be open without guests. Try to find a cup of coffee at 8am on a Sunday morning in downtown Detroit; I'll take your phone call after the first 1/2 hour. </p><p>Losing the Cobo deal to racially-charged vote-getting is beyond short-sighted. Governor Jennifer Granholm, Oakland County head L. Brooks Patterson and Wayne County leader Bob Ficano have all publicly warned there's little political will to re-fund this project should Detroit reject this deal, one that took a staggering five years -- nearly as long as America was engaged in World War II -- to craft, finalize and agree upon. </p><p>In the big scheme of things, this is a relatively small project. Detroit's response? Play the race card. Polarize the region further. Bamboozle the five-year deal in the same amount of time it takes to order a five-dollar foot-long sandwich from Subway. And a crowd of residents was there to cheer the decision.</p><p>Wow. </p><p>If the citizens of New York City want something, they do it. They decide to do, make the needed sacrifice and get it done. The 2nd Avenue subway line took years to build, but they did it. It came down to a simple mantra: We need it so we're going to build it. All five boroughs are represented and the greater good of the entire city is represented. What's the difference between five boroughs and three counties?</p><p>Detroit needs to learn acceptance of the significant resources of the suburbs. You can't live in a cocoon forever. The same greed and benevolence that has killed the good life for so many skilled union auto workers in metro Detroit is in play again with the edict from Detroit's City Council that Detroit residents get all the jobs and contracts for Cobo's repair and expansion. Two stadiums, three casinos and the Cadillac and Shelby hotel projects were accomplished from level-headed leaders who utilized the entire region's resources for the good of region. Yet who benefits most from those projects? The City of Detroit. Demanding exclusivity from residency workforce restrictions does nothing to build back the city, much less erase the racist reputation of the region.</p><p>The time has come to represent the greater good of the entire region rather than the vote-hunters from America's most-crippled big city. Metropolitan government would benefit Detroit and the suburbs that surround it more than any state takeover or city council do-good'r ever will.</p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">~ T.C. Cameron is the author of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</span>, due August 2009 from Arcadia Publishing.</span><br /></p>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-91740546062834066282009-02-21T19:48:00.001-05:002009-02-21T19:50:34.008-05:00Why No Suburban Tournaments?Yesterday Detroit Pershing took down fellow eastside rival Detroit Southeastern to win their first Public School League (PSL) championship in boys' basketball since the 1996 Doughboys. The Catholic High School League (CHSL) will play their girls' championship this weekend and their boys' title tilts next weekend.<br /><br />Make no mistake, these are great traditions and any suburbanite who's never attended at least one of these tournament championships is missing out on a great day of basketball. It's a great thrill for the players, coaches and fans of the schools participating. It's a healthy exercise in fellowship within your community of schools. Finally, championship tournaments create buzz about school sports, and when is that not a good thing?<br /><br />So why don't the bigger suburban leagues have a championship tournament? The PSL and Catholic League aren't exactly using dollar bills for scrap paper these days. In fact, these two leagues are hit harder than any of the suburban public schools by the recent economic hardship. ThePSL has had nearly 100 tournaments since 1904 and the Catholic League is less than a generation behind their PSL soul mate. <br /><br />The suburbs? Zero and counting. In New York City, many of the public schools don't even bother to participate in the New York state tournament because the NYC title means so much more. Thankfully, nearly all our schools participate in the annual MHSAA tournament. We could have the best of both worlds -- why don't we?<br /><br />Here's the facts. Suburban schools, specifically the Oakland Activities Association (OAA) and Macomb Area Conference (MAC), have a number of schools that could host games as neutral sites. Parking, seating, lockers and security in some of these modern schools is not an issue like it is in the parochial and Detroit public schools.<br /><br />Let me take it a step further: How much fun would it be to include the OAA and MAC champions in an Operation Friendship Final Four? Are you kidding? A potential quarterfinal, semifinal or finals preview? Clarkston v. Pershing? How fast can you spell 'sold out' on the eve of the MHSAA tournament? Would it not be a great opportunity to share the respective communities with one another through school sports? There's great life lessons to be learned here through b-ball.<br /><br />Unfortunately, it looks like the OAA could be a candidate to dissolve before an idea like a conference tournament, much less a super-conference Final Four, even takes hold. Maybe a tournament could help hold theOAA together. The MAC isn't going anywhere soon.<br /><br />I hope someone grabs the ball and get things rolling.The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-8497466737908752092009-02-18T22:23:00.003-05:002009-02-25T09:54:46.748-05:00Officiating Uniforms Weren't Always Just A Click Away<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnQaANLDlm7RCIgTQF-3xo3yCaW7VMs7d2rkLaByQFUi-tdIhWoyAqJ7ptIfLOG8qVz_8GQNzOM6mfarfhu2sZjG4bINedM3P7avi2GBQVgmS1LwIppvH9b2ggXVOD3gGEln9cloyk5YGO/s1600-h/SCAN0009.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 257px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnQaANLDlm7RCIgTQF-3xo3yCaW7VMs7d2rkLaByQFUi-tdIhWoyAqJ7ptIfLOG8qVz_8GQNzOM6mfarfhu2sZjG4bINedM3P7avi2GBQVgmS1LwIppvH9b2ggXVOD3gGEln9cloyk5YGO/s320/SCAN0009.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304345298727039154" border="0" /></a>Yesterday I worked with veteran Detroit-area prep official Mike Hesson for a boys' basketball game between visiting Avondale High and the Rochester Adams' Highlanders.<p>Hesson's a walking, talking memoir of officiating's local history within a 30-year time period that dates back to the heady days of his sports officiating class at East Detroit High in the mid-to-late 1970s. Among the fond memories we reminisced from Hesson's treasure-trove of recollections was the creation of the officiating uniform.</p><p>Yes, there was a day when even the niftiest officiating uniforms were piece-mailed together from stops at uniform stores, restaurants with yellow napkins and sporting good stores that carried BB's, golf balls or fishing tackle.</p><p>"You purchased the striped shirts from local sporting goods stores," Hesson began. "But there was no choice in material so you chose long sleeves or short sleeves and were happy to have that choice. Striped jackets weren't available, so on inclement days, officials wore clear vinyl or plastic jackets. On cold days you added sweatshirts and long johns."</p><p>"Knickers weren't available -- and you couldn't use baseball pants because there were no pockets on those pants -- so officials would buy 'Cook's Whites' from a restaurant supply store and cut the pants down into knickers," Hesson recalled. "And all officials knew the Detroit-area restaurants with yellow napkins. You would have dinner there and forget a yellow napkin in your pocket. The napkin would be filled with BB's, sinkers or possibly a golf ball, and that's how you made your penalty flag."</p><p>Even more inconceivable is the way all the other accessories were created, like the bean bag, timing devices, all-black shoes and the game's Back Judge (BJ). Yes, the BJ was a accessory, a luxury even, if you will.</p><p>"Without a doubt, the schools were shamed into the fifth guy. I think it was '82 or '83 when the MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association) started using the Back Judge for playoff games. Most crews were bring five guys and splitting four checks by that point anyway," Hesson explained. Ironically, the back judge position is where most varsity crew rookies get their start, yet the few flags the BJ throws per game usually all have the potential to be the most-scrutinized calls of the night.</p><p>"I can't remember if a bean bag was required when I got started, but it was a process of taking material from an old shirt, filling it with popcorn and sewing it up," Hesson said. "There were no all-in-one socks, either. First it was a black stirrup sock with a white sock over the top. Then we changed to a baseball stirrup with three stripes until we changed to the socks we have today."</p><p>"And there were no timing devices!" Hesson told me. "Oh my god, you would wear a coaches' stopwatch with a wristband that railroad people used to wear the watch on your wrist." Hesson also explained black shoes were a rarity and choice was limited to Spot-Bilt or Ridell. Most officials would buy a pair of all-black shoes and have a new sole applied, because you couldn't use football cleats -- they weren't available in all-black back then.</p><p>Today, it's all point 'n click on the Internet with drop shipping included. In less than five minutes an official can have his or her entire uniform ordered and fulfilled. The two biggest national officiating apparel giants are located less than seven miles from each other in the same town, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Cliff Keen Athletic and Honig's Whistle Stop.</p><p>Back in the day it was about a Cup o' Joe, a diner's special and a stop at the marina or bait-and-tackle shop, all to make a few calls and few bucks along the way.</p><p><i>(Photo courtesy Stan Lopata family collection)</i></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">~T.C. Cameron is the author of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries </span>(already out) and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</span>, due August 2009 from Arcadia Publishing</span>.<br /></p>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-5125919745015664112009-02-17T09:45:00.007-05:002009-02-17T13:27:02.218-05:00A Final Salute To Our Family's FlyBoy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgkXGYHPsx_DWQGWEl8muHIqUmD-XId_6TsLwtNmw_r_h4EZtJu3aBvKc0zOGKVBUdi7X2_GLtJon8HoEmcsJY0OIpoYs1PTaqxjabOZ3a_VCyn8kdqSOq9jfPBPAxo4PfooN2bw0ZWQnu/s1600-h/Lt.Col.WhitesellReceivesRankPayGradeIncreaseUSAFPhotoWhitesell+001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 246px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgkXGYHPsx_DWQGWEl8muHIqUmD-XId_6TsLwtNmw_r_h4EZtJu3aBvKc0zOGKVBUdi7X2_GLtJon8HoEmcsJY0OIpoYs1PTaqxjabOZ3a_VCyn8kdqSOq9jfPBPAxo4PfooN2bw0ZWQnu/s320/Lt.Col.WhitesellReceivesRankPayGradeIncreaseUSAFPhotoWhitesell+001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303778245696307410" border="0" /></a>The first house I ever bought was the typical, sweat-equity special: Low on charm but high on potential. The first day I owned the house, I tore out old cabinets and found rations booklets dating back to World War II. I never understood those rations booklets until I met my wife and her grandparents.<p>World War II was all about sacrifice. Professional sports slowed while collegiate and prep sports in some instances stopped, as they did in 1943 when the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) shelved the boys' basketball tournament. The Chicago Cubs missed the first era of lights by 45 years when the Wrigley family donated their lighting material purchase to the war effort. Bomb shelters and draft boards were the order of the day and life went on with heavy hearts and responsibilities alike. Detroit shed her Motor City moniker and instead became the Arsenal of Democracy.</p><p>I never really knew my wife's grandfather, Bill R. Whitesell, besides the handful of times we shared a few words. That's Whitesell in the picture to the right, receiving a rank and pay grade increase in an official United States Air Force photo taken at Tachikawa Air Base. Whitesell passed on this morning in Monroe, Michigan at 86 years of age. Naturally Debbie's side of the family knew him best as Grampa. I've witnessed this grief already. My parents, grandparents and siblings have either passed on or moved on from any further contact. </p><p>Bill Whitesell was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1922. By the time Adolph Hitler's German Nazi military machine was beginning to dominate and desecrate Europe in 1940, Whitesell -- like so many other strapping American boys -- was enlisting. There's a reason this era of young Americans is called America's Greatest Generation and this is one of those defining characteristics; Uncle Sam didn't have to ask twice. Whitesell joined the Army Air Corps but earned wings in the Navy Air Corps, too -- a dual designation that is rarely witnessed in modern times.</p><p>Through WW II, the Korean War and Vietnam, too, if it had two wings, an engine and a prop, Whitesell could lift it into the sky and push it in and out of clouds. He motored the famously amphibious PYR-5's in the Pacific Theater; hauled the mail in C-130's; flew both the light B-25's and heavy B-52's from Willow Run and whistled through the wind in P-38's and C-47 Gooneybirds, too. Whitesell was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Force Commendation Medal.</p><p>He ascended to his final rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1965 while flying AC-119's -- better known as 'Flying Boxcars' -- over the darkened skies of Vietnam at nearly 50 years of age. His call sign was "Shadow Zero-Niner", a fact recalled more than a few times as his family remembered his life and times this morning. His wife, Jacqueline, recalled the many men he saved, including 125 he discovered in a cave on a single flight. Whitesell also lived with a heavy heart for the kills he made during his combat duties. Glory is brilliant. Grief is messy. The fighting men and women of America live with this burden long after the bands stop playing and the parades end.</p> <p>Yet the most amazing feat might have been obscured save for an innocuous comment made in passing. Whitesell moved his family an astounding 48 times and managed to keep his marriage in tact for 66 years, right up until his morning passing. </p> <p>Maybe that accomplishment, in light of today's throw-away society mentality, deserves the most credit. Sitting around the table listening to the war stories was a stoic reminder of the sacrifices so many of us have never been asked to partake in. We enjoy the daily fruits of a country Whitesell's generation risked their lives for several times over. It almost makes you vengeful of corporate America's numerous irresponsibilities we will be forced to bear the brunt of in the coming years. That we continue to destroy the good life that was handed to us without a second thought is sickening.</p><p>Bill Whitesell will get a military burial and a 21-gun salute, but it won't be on CNN. He didn't earn his 15 minutes of fame as 'Joe The Plumber'. He was the unassuming war veteran. He was a husband, a father and grandfather many times over. He was an air cadet, a pilot. He was "Shadow-Zero-Niner".</p><p>Bill Whitesell embodied what being an American used to be all about. Sacrifice for the greater good, even if that greater good meant the ultimate sacrifice. It's a lesson we can all sacrifice a few minutes for.</p><p><i>(Official USAF photo courtesy Whitesell family collection)</i></p><p><i>~T.C. Cameron is the author of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</span>, due August 2009 from Arcadia Publishing.<br /></i></p>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-54230199716096766602009-02-15T11:03:00.008-05:002009-02-15T12:33:00.399-05:00This & That...The Detroit News had a write-up in this morning's boys' basketball notebook that recanted Pershing's loss to Detroit Southeastern on January 27th as 78-77. Previously The News reported the score as 77-76 and the Freep reported a 78-75 tally, both coming the day after the game. That makes three losses in the same game for the Doughboys. Ouch.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DOUGHBOYS V. C-TOWN?</span> Would a Clarkston - Detroit Pershing game in the MHSAA tournament be worth the price of admission? Clarkston is having a great season and is clearly the best OAA team this season. Pershing is the region's top-ranked team and still a statewide No. 1 in some polls. Clarkston's Dan Fife can coach his kids to play any game at any tempo; Coach A.W. Canada from Detroit Pershing has proven himself equally adept. I think it would be a marquee game that would be remembered for years, much like Bruce Flowers and Berkley, undefeated after 25 games, taking on Highland Park and Terry Duerod in the 1975 Class A quarterfinal. The Polar Bears defeated Berkley 84-55.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">MARIAN MAGIC:</span> Birmingham Marian advanced to the Catholic League's championship game last night when the Mustangs went the length of the court in the final 5.9 seconds to score a lay-up at the buzzer and nip Warren Regina's Saddelites, 42-41. Marian Coach Mary-Lillie Cicerone stayed to watch the nightcap, a rugged 56-52 victory by Dearborn Divine Child over Livonia Ladywood.<br /><br />These two games, played at Novi's Detroit Catholic Central High, illustrated quite nicely the girls' ability to offer an entertaining brand of basketball, different from the boys, but equally as compelling. It's too bad these games were seen by a few instead of the many that nearly filled the gym the night before for Birmingham Brother Rice and Catholic Central.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">NUMERICALLY SPEAKING:</span> Friday night's Rice-CC game revealed an instance that scoreboard watchers all know to be rare. During the game's second stanza, a foul call stopped the clock and all three rows of the scoreboard had the same number for a few seconds.<br /><br />The top row showed the time remaining. 3:33. The second row detailed the score and quarter: 22-22 in the 2nd period, reading 22 - 2 - 22.<br /><br />The bottom row showed fouls and timeouts remaining, and before the 6th foul was reported, the board revealed five fouls against each team and each team with all five timeouts available, or 5 - 5 - 5 - 5.<br /><br />What are the odds of that happening again this season?<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">~T.C. Cameron is the author of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</span>, due August 2009 from Arcadia Publishing.</span>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-20407479028928360982009-02-15T08:48:00.009-05:002009-02-15T12:15:15.719-05:00Karmanos: CluelessMost people in southeastern Michigan don't see metro Detroit the way coaches, players and officials of the metro's prep games do.<br /><br />In a word, it's rough. Detroit's infrastructure, like street curbs, street lamps and water mains, are in serious distress or outright failure. When I traveled to Allen Park Cabrini this past week, I missed my turn off of Southfield Road into the neighborhood Cabrini is tucked within because the businesses that used to help illuminate smaller street signs are now darkened. In River Rouge, the 'Joe' jobs, like plumbing and electrical work, are gone and greasy spoon diners are shuttered. They don't plow neighborhood streets in Farmington Hills like they used to and Royal Oak's schools ask for parent volunteers to weed and feed the flower beds. You could seemingly insert any city name you want throughout this paragragh and still be factual.<br /><br />This is why Compuware's Chief Executive Officer, Peter Karmanos, is being vilified in so many corners today. He hired Kwame Kilpatrick, Public Enemy No. 1 in the city of Detroit, and gave him a golden parachute from hell, a hell he helped forge.<br /><br />It was Kilpatrick who promised much and delivered little in a term-and-a-half as mayor. The city parks and recreation centers? The parks are still an open sore and the city's recreation centers, especially the ones that were viable, are now shuttered in plywood and have been pillaged of the metals that made up the buildings' electrical and plumbing systems. The city's school board? A dysfunctional disaster that makes George Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina look heartfelt and thoughtful. The city's finances? Imagine a 400-car freight train running downhill with no brakes as it heads for a city with 800,000 people. City services are still pathetic and much of the progress the city was making in entertainment and overnight accommodations has been erased with the economic depression we're in.<br /><br />But here's why Kilpatrick's hiring ought to make you mad as hell. In a time when we really need to make stand against corporate misbehavior, Karmanos instead emboldens it. You don't reward your son with ice cream for stealing candy from the candy store!<br /><br />Worse, 250 people not convicted of perjury, not on the hook for a cool million as a part of a plea deal and not found guilty of ruining the lives of two honest cops got pink-slipped from Compuware this week while Kilpatrick was hired. There's enough good people losing jobs in this state alone to re-populate the cities of Warren, Saginaw or Flint to make them look like they did when they were teeming cities with enough tax base to fund a small country's entire government. But Kilpatrick, who hasn't told the truth in what seems like never, steps out of the joint after serving just 99 days for being as big a jackass as anyone in Detroit's 308-year history and takes a $100,000-a-year job as penance.<br /><br />America is morally bankrupt and you don't have to look far to find the source. It comes from people like Peter Karmanos, who got sweet-talked by Kilpatrick to locate his headquarters in downtown Detroit. It comes from people like Karmanos, who shied from saying anything critical of Hizzoner a year ago when Detroit desperately needed someone to step up publicly and take a stand. Not brave enough when Kilpatrick seemed determined to drag Detroit to the depths of well-fed sewer rats, Karmanos waits to hire the most famous liar, cheater and crook in Detroit's political history with the allure of his bottom line being advanced handsomely less than week after his jail time ends.<br /><br />Alienate the many to line the pockets of the few? I'm willing to bet that's not in the Compuware mission statement. Even Vito Corleone knew how and when to say 'No'.<br /><br />Morally bankrupt? Who cares, right Pete? As long as you make that loot, it's all good. Who's next, Pete? Was Reggie Rogers just misunderstood? Did Bob Probert simply get caught up with the wrong people? Are you holding a tasty position for Monica Conyers, too? I can own a room, too, Pete. Why can't I get a 100K-a-year gig?<br /><br />On second thought, never mind. If Karmanos will hire Kilpatrick, I don't to be hired. I'll continue to work my three jobs to make a little more than half of what I used to make. You can't buy pride, honor or integrity. You lose your credibility, not to mention your mind, when you hire Kilpatrick. It's a move so disingenuous to the good people of metro Detroit that Karmanos should be stripped of all his Detroit privileges. The only question that comes to light is just how deep was Karmanos buried in Kilpatrick's pockets when Hizzoner was mayor? In light of all the truth, especially the truth Kilpatrick used taxpayer money to attempt to bury, it makes you wonder if any of Kilpatrick's previous dirty deeds have Karmanos's fingerprints on them?<br /><br />Live with that, Mr. Karmanos.The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-73896076499649067122009-02-10T11:29:00.006-05:002009-02-10T11:34:21.179-05:00Holla' For HistoryI was listening to WXYT's afternoon drive-time show called The Sports Inferno last week when I became amused with what I heard from New York native /reborn Detroiter Mike Valenti.<br /><br />"Let's get down to brass taxes..." Valenti said as he began one of his legendary rants about whatever. Don't get me wrong --I enjoy Valenti, because he is like me and simply tells you how he sees it without any holdout -- but he's the classic example of a sports fan with a radio show, a point he'll readily admit. There's nothing wrong with it, either.<br /><br />What amused me is the 'brass taxes' thing. It's brass tacks. This is an example of how time changes history in subtle ways. Brass tacks was a way of measuring cloth, linen or anything else by the yard on a counter. A person would come in and ask for so much of this or that, and the actual cost would be determined by placing the material on the counter against the ruler held in place with brass tacks, thus the phrase, "Let's get down to brass tacks."<br />Here's another one: Toe The Line. How many times have you heard it repeated as Tow The Line? Or the oft-heard phrase, "It's a dog-eat-dog world." I've heard that catch-phrase repeated many times as 'Doggy-dog' world.<br /><br />Here's why I bring this up: History is important. It shows us the right and wrong in the world before us, thus the coined phrase, "Those who do not heed history are doomed to repeat it."<br />I'm writing a prep basketball history book and I'm waist-deep in the city of Detroit right now. Among the interesting facts I've learned from basketball research as it relates to metro Detroit? The 30-year absence by Detroit's public school teams from the Michigan High School Athletic Association's annual boys' basketball tournament from 1931-1961. The seed of racial mistrust in Detroit is one planted long before riots and failed urban renewal.<br /><br />Here's another one: School sports might have saved the city before and after the 1967 riots. The divisive busing issue was so strongly contested that many coaches and players from that era were literally scared to travel outside of their neighborhoods, but school sports was a respected rite of passage, almost an institution in Detroit. Rival schools of various religious and ethnic backgrounds might not have gotten along on any day -- save for game day. It was on these days they respected one another, played hard and shook hands after the game. That very well might have kept the city from an all-encompassing implosion that would have made the '67 riots look like a small camp fire easily doused with canteen water.<br /><br />If you think the Detroit PSL doesn't have friends, consider the Catholic League fought long and hard alongside the PSL schools in the 1970s to get millage and bond requests passed. What would Detroit's schools look like today had it not been for a lil' neighborly love 30 years ago?<br /><br />And what of the other history not so easily interwoven into prep sports?<br /><br />The decision to plow through neighborhoods with concrete freeways did little but speed up fears of intermixed, racially-charged neighborhoods. If you look at the pictures of football and basketball, schools and neighborhoods radically changed within a few years. Today our freeways in Detroit do little but expose the worst homes and buildings within eyeshot, because really, who wants to live next to a freeway and have to leave your garage at 55 miles an hour? When's the last time you heard a neighborhood benefited from have an eight-lane ribbon of concrete driven through its heart? And if you think a freeway is bad, what about displacing the many for a hulking auto complex -- remember Poletown?<br /><br />Finally, I've learned that while Kwame Kilpatrick and Coleman Young weren't great leaders, neither were a lot of their white predecessors, like Charles Bowles, Louis C. Miriani and a laundry list of leaders remembered for their poor decisions as much as any positive accomplishments. The decision to allow auto companies to erect massive auto factories in the middle of neighborhoods without a lick of civil engineering 80-90 years ago has continually crippled a lot of potential re-birth. The refusal to replace trolleys with elevated or tunnel trains, eliminating the trolleys altogether and the final legitimate transit piece, the removal of the Inter-Urban lines. This straddled the city with empty buildings and no motivation to turn them into anything but gravel lots to park suburban cars upon.<br /><br />There's a ton of unique story lines and historical references that continue to co-exist with us in our daily lives. In that way, Detroit is just as compelling as Chicago, Boston and New York City. We have a lot of things wrong about the Motor City but an open canvas to remake the city, the region and the landscape we call home for the better.<br /><br />All that and more is possible if we heed history and stay away from brass taxes, whatever those are.<br /><br /><em>~ T.C. Cameron is the author of <strong>Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</strong>, due August 2009 from Arcadia Publishing.</em>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-56516032818639944642009-02-04T21:39:00.006-05:002009-02-15T12:12:11.437-05:00The Hypocrisy Of Mainstream Media At WorkWhat if Michael Phelps was black? What if Phelps was a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Team USA's men's basketball team and was caught taking a hit off a glass lettuce burner?<br /><br />Are we ready to be honest? Before you answer, name the last time a black athlete was pardoned in public for owning a scandalous photo similar to the one that <a href="http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090204/SPORTS09/902040475/1004/SPORTS" target="_blank">Phelps recently cop'd to?</a><br /><br />I'm not taking up 'The Cause' -- whatever that is -- because there are a ton of instances that offer no rhyme or reason for why they occur within our media's obsession with the instantaneous crucifixion and subsequent resurrection of the subjects pushed in front of our collective conscience in the same knee-jerk fashion most of us would like to push our in-laws out in front of rush hour traffic. Bill Clinton was crucified for banging a not-so-very-hot intern; George Bush was ignored for purposed war crimes. Go figure. Why do Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmerio get a virtual pass for their suspected roles in baseball's performance-enhancing scandal when compared to the outright vicious response Barry Bonds has elicited from media and fans? Please don't tell me it's just because he owns baseball's most famous mark, because to do so would be an outright admission you're living with your head in the sand.<br /><br />That said, I find it somewhat amusing that Phelps gets a pass on this photo in the manner I've witnessed. In the Detroit Free Press Monday, the <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20090202/SPORTS18/90202027" target="_blank">the Off Beat column penned by Krista Jahnke</a> was titled <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20090202/SPORTS18/90202027" target="_blank">"So Michael Phelps Is Human After All"</a>. Nationally-syndicated radioman Jim Rome was quoted as saying with a DUI on his slate already, he's not human, he's building a body of work. Today's edition of <a href="http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090204/OPINION03/902040335/1345/OPINION0303" target="_blank">The Detroit News featured columnist Bob Wojnowski</a> pleading for calm and reason in relation to the mistake Phelps made.<br /><br />It makes me remember Detroit Southwestern High grad Jalen Rose being arrested during his first year at Michigan (1992-93) for playing video games in a Detroit house that doubled as a drug den. I was on the desk at The Ann Arbor News on the Saturday night a story came hurdling down the wire almost a year after the actual arrest just minutes before the morning edition's 1:00 am deadline. As you can imagine, we held production and made room for the story on the front page above the fold. We told ourselves we were being responsible journalists. Today I look back and cringe.<br /><br />Rose wasn't smoking, wasn't selling and wasn't buying. He was playing video games, but he played a brash, in-your-face style of basketball. Rose played the 'City Game', and White America wasn't ready for Rose's style of talk-you-down, break-you-down, drive you down on your ass and shout you down the court while wearing shorts with a foot more material than any player in America. After Mick McCabe, the Detroit Free Press prep writer, discovered and published news of the October 4, 1992 arrest on March 9, 1993, six months after it happened, Rose was crucified for weeks and painted as a ghetto gangbanger. Fans and pundits alike called for his suspension. Wire services crackled with updates.<br /><br />Phelps was inhaling from a glass stanchion the size of an exhaust pipe from a certified used Mini Cooper. He admitted to it. America's response? The mainstream media and sponsors alike call him human.<br /><br />For the record, I have no problem with Phelps. I think the public backlash is punishment enough, and any prosecuting attorney willing to prosecute this as a criminal offense needs to just open a Facebook page like the rest of us if he really needs the attention that bad.<br /><br />If nothing else, I hope you enjoy reading the paper in the morning all the more with eyes wide open.<br /><br /><em>~T.C. Cameron is the author of <strong>Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries</strong>. Cameron's 2nd title, <strong>Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</strong>, is due in August this year!</em>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-27152770871786657942009-02-02T08:10:00.006-05:002009-02-02T21:29:52.673-05:00Pershing's Super Bowl Sunday ShoutOut<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ehHmXVvvjksR48L0huRrYlJ3gNxuj6YnHnNAqllbSJZDXGUCI7ebJuB2QoejwOkP66ysnVQRINbZ5sg3hwzI4FMYZxjYqoJK7MF9tG_f7Ufz0V8uaVNZ76FuhQpY0WJYdWwyC0kl5Sqz/s1600-h/PershingGym1993DetroitNewsDeVera+001.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298392665344010690" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 226px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ehHmXVvvjksR48L0huRrYlJ3gNxuj6YnHnNAqllbSJZDXGUCI7ebJuB2QoejwOkP66ysnVQRINbZ5sg3hwzI4FMYZxjYqoJK7MF9tG_f7Ufz0V8uaVNZ76FuhQpY0WJYdWwyC0kl5Sqz/s320/PershingGym1993DetroitNewsDeVera+001.jpg" border="0" /></a>Did you notice it?<br /><br />Larry Foote, the former Michigan Wolverine, gave his prep alma mater some serious holla' when the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense introduced themselves in the first quarter of their 27-23 triumph over Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII. The overwhelming majority of players who introduce themselves -- 44 offensive and defensive starters in all -- make mention of the college or university they played football for.<br /><br />Not Foote. When the heavy hitter's face emerged, his quote was simple: "Larry Foote....Detroit Pershing...Doughboy."<br /><br />Of course, most of us in metropolitan Detroit know the Public School League (PSL) players from Detroit who populate the rosters in the NBA and NFL are fiercely loyal to their Detroit upbringing. Many of these players mention the PSL like it's a badge of honor on their athletic resume. It's one of the reasons I cringe when I hear suburbanites say things like, "They should just bulldoze Detroit and start over."<br /><br />Try saying that to the community at Seven Mile and Ryan in Detroit. To anyone who thinks high schools in the city don't have a spirit or energy comparable with the schools in the 'burbs, I point to schools in the city like Pershing. In New York City, the word Pershing is commonly associated with Park and 42nd Street -- Grand Central Station and that intersection's name -- Pershing Square.<br /><br />In Detroit, Pershing is synonymous with a football and basketball tradition swathed in royal blue and gold.<br /><br /><strong>CHARLIE'S NOT SORRY:</strong> That's two championship rings for former Detroit Lion and standout Eastern Michigan University quarterback Charlie Batch. Of course, Batch is a local legend in the Pittsburgh area, where he grew up, but Batch was also one of the outstanding football players to ever toss the pigskin in Ypsilanti, Michigan.<br /><br /><strong>MAC DADDY:</strong> Did anyone else take notice that three of Pittsburgh's four quarterbacks are Mid-American Conference products?Ben Roethlisberger played at Miami University andByron Leftwich was a member of Marshall's MAC championship teams. Batch makes the Mid-American hat trick possible.<br /><br />There are, in fact, 22 players on the Steeler roster (active, injured/reserve or practice) from colleges in the Great Lakes, including two from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-60508558448953761222009-01-28T09:03:00.004-05:002009-01-29T11:18:31.015-05:00Pershing Falls By Two Different ScoresI'm not usually one to point out mistakes because a) they happen and b) they can happen to me as much as they can happen to anyone. However, with all accommodations to karma already being made, this is a big deal.<br /><br />Detroit Pershing lost yesterday -- twice! The state's No. 1 high school basketball team going down is a big deal in any state and in the rugged PSL, where only the top two teams in each division make the playoffs, Southeastern's win over the Doughboys makes for huge headlines.<br /><br />But what was the score? The <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20090128/HSS/90128014/1238/No.+1+falls+in+Jungle" target="_blank">Detroit Free Press and writer Mike Horan</a> published a score that didn't match <a href="http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090128/SPORTS05/901280405/1049" target="_blank">The Detroit News article written by Rod Beard</a>. The Freep had the score 78-75; The News reported a 77-76 tally. Usually the two papers do a pretty admirable job in getting the mountain's worth of prep scores in all sports correct, but this isn't just a game. This is the No. 1 team in the state losing.<br /><br />Now honestly, the score thing isn't that big of a deal. Yes, accuracy matters, but both papers and their respective staffs are going through a massive downsizing and staffers are being asked to do a lot more with a whole lot less, like every other industry. And neither paper got the outcome of the game wrong: Southeastern won; Pershing lost.<br /><br />Here's what's really sad to me. Of the approximately five million people in metro Detroit that don't live within the city proper, I would bet less than 1% have ever seen a PSL basketball team, much less a PSL game. The concerns over violence and safety can be real in the PSL but the availability of staff and officials is a bigger problem. Regardless, some of the very best prep basketball in all of the state gets missed because the games are played at 4p.m. and too many suburbanites are clueless about the city's high schools, where they're located, what's safe and what's not.<br /><br />To boot, the score is inconsistent, and while that means a copy editor at one or both of the papers is fretting, it also adds fuel to the fire that drives so many Detroiters. I'm oft-reminded of the opinion that only the suburbs get the wheat while the city gets the chaff. Of course it's not true but that idea gains ground when stuff like this happens.<br /><br />I've refereed dozens of PSL football and basketball games without a problem. Further, I refereed the Southeastern - Pershing game last year at Pershing so I know it was a hell of a game yesterday. And I can tell you outside of Cass Tech and Renaissance, Southeastern's gym is as nice as they come to watch a game.<br /><br />It's too bad so few get to see the best the PSL has to offer, and if anyone knows the correct score, can you help a brother out?<br /><br /><em>~T.C. Cameron is writing <strong>Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</strong>, due August of 2009 from Arcadia Publishing.</em>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-3060077274484042462009-01-26T12:53:00.010-05:002009-01-26T13:54:27.030-05:00What's Up With All The Discord?Can't we all get along?<br /><br />It seems the basketball season has been marred in recent weeks by fights, disturbances and a four-person shooting in Flint, a city already besieged with problems. It makes Rodney King's oft-quoted question ring prophetic, doesn't it?<br /><br />The Detroit News reported today Detroit Community High Athletic Director Kevin Dargin accepted the resignation of basketball coach Tony Woods after Woods admitted to an altercation with another coach. Ferndale and Seaholm had to can the majority of the fourth quarter on January 9th after a non-student fight in the stands spilled onto the floor of a game already decided. Seaholm was declared the winner of a game they already led 69-46 with 6:45 to play in the fourth quarter. On January 13th, Detroit Cass Tech banned all fans except parents for their rivalry game with Detroit King due to concerns of possible violence that arose in the junior varsity game played earlier in the day.<br /><br />That's the good news; Now the bad and ugly.Detroit Henry Ford, still suffering through a turf war and already struggling to ease tensions between the displaced students of now-closed Redford and Mackenzie, had a student shot and killed within eyesight of the school this past fall. Henry Ford has a proud football history but suffered the indignity of having to move home football games from Friday afternoons to Saturday mornings this past fall.<br /><br />Outstate, Godwin Heights and Lee High will have to return to play the final 10 seconds after a fight ruined the potential finish of a game Godwin Heights was leading 71-68 on January 15th. Anthony Turley, 26, of Comstock pled guilty on January 16th to starting the fight that resulted in pepper spray being administered in the gym. The breathing problems from the spray resulted in the game's suspension.<br /><br />Finally, four fans were shot on January 20th in the parking lot at Flint Beecher High last week after Beecher defeated Flint Hamady 53-50. Police have determined four different handguns were used in the Beecher High shooting. Beecher's school district garnered national headlines when Kayla Rolland, a six-year-old first-grader, was fatally shot in her classroom by a classmate in the winter of 2000 at Buell Elementary School. Buell has since closed.<br /><br />This is not what school sports are about, that much we all know. Is it the tough economic conditions? Is this the societal structure breaking down in front of our eyes? Or is it simply kids being kids, parents not being parents and leaders being the all-too-silent objectors? Certainly the economic conditions are a factor in some of this but seriously, how much can we blame on the poor job market and endless unemployment lines?<br /><br />I don't have all the answers but I think it's fair to say a fight here and there is not news. The seemingly recurring story of fights, violence and shootings at Michigan's prep sporting events is getting tiresome to read and makes me wonder how much worse can it get in Michigan before it gets better.<br /><br /><em>~T.C. Cameron is the author of <strong>Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries</strong> from Arcadia Publishing. Cameron's 2nd title, <strong>Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</strong>, is due August of 2009</em>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-22183496137534153112009-01-22T08:57:00.002-05:002009-01-22T09:01:08.156-05:00WDFN's Death Sealed With Poor Signal, Sassy DispositionMetro Detroit's appetite for sports might have eyes bigger than its' stomach.<br /><br />WDFN's abrupt, noon-time decapitation of all local programming on Tuesday, save for 90-second updates every 30 minutes and Pistons' play-by-play, reveals a lot about the local economy, the teams we zealously root for and a time-tested adage WDFN largely ignored in the station's 15 years of local programming.<br /><br />Obviously the amount of advertising revenue and ratings' share, both procured and projected, didn't justify 1130AM's parent company, Clear Channel, keeping the majority of local sales and on-air talent on the company's payroll. The nationwide media malaise and local depression was too much to bear.<br /><br />Another key component in the demise of WDFN was signal strength, already weak when 97.1 The Ticket went to a resounding dual AM/FM signal a year ago that combined 1270AM's WXYT with 97.1FM. Before that, it had been WXYT that looked like the fly-by-night competition for much of the time the two stations battled each other for sports supremacy. The station had gone through a handful of platform changes and renamed the station's handle two different times before finally settling on 'The Ticket'.<br /><br />But the FM stereo upgrade at WXYT changed the tenor of the two-station sports fight. The Ticket gained an all-encompassing signal found nearly everywhere in the three-county metro area and beyond -- at all hours of the day -- while 'Da Fan was tough to find in Southfield after dark when the station powered down the signal. Once WXYT went to FM, the Tigers and Red Wings became crystal clear on FM in the car and WDFN lost a key arrow from the quiver when fighting WXYT for advertising dollars.<br /><br />Finally, while it made for great radio at times, Detroit's downtown professional teams repeatedly snubbed WDFN when play-by-play contract rights were available for bid. Already leery of WDFN's truculent approach to on-air criticism of both in-game performance and administrative decision-making, the city's sports-minded Big Three tired of the station's oft-juvenile approach to culling fan reaction in promotion and programming and WDFN subsequently never made the breakthrough needed to secure radio rights. That allowed WXYT to remain a potential competitor for advertising dollars when the station was turning over multiple contracts for on-air talent and drawing abysmal ratings.<br /><br />The Fan was brought to Detroit in 1994 as a mirror image of popular New York City sports radio station WFAN, and Detroit's Fan had the jump on any future competition had it been able to lock up any one of Detroit's three downtown teams. But instead of getting along before going along, WDFN implemented an adversarial approach to sports talk, pitting fans versus the teams without a major play-by-play contract to sustain it. That ultimately cost The Fan's staff of talent when Detroit's economy could no longer sustain two sports talkers.<br /><br /><em>~T.C. Cameron is the author of <strong>Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries</strong> from Arcadia Publishing. Cameron's 2nd title, <strong>Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</strong>, is due August 2009.</em>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-30617282805119569112009-01-19T08:38:00.009-05:002009-01-22T09:01:50.596-05:00The Need To Step It UpIf you've lived, worked and played in Oakland County for the majority of your life as I have, you might think you know a few things about the city and county you call home.<br /><br />I'm brave enough to admit today I knew nothing 14 months ago. Of course, I thought I did, but as I researched my football and subsequent basketball book more and more, I discovered my knowledge base was lacking. Over the past 14 months, I've learned so much about the city of Detroit, Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties and our metro region as a whole. My sports knowledge has blossomed and my working knowledge from a socioeconomic standpoint is greatly expanded, too.<br /><br />Here's what stands out to me today: Oakland County has a long way to go to catch up to other cities and counties in basketball prowess. If you think that's mean-spirited, baseless or otherwise foolish to say, consider what Oakland County's basketball history would look like without Pontiac Northern or Detroit Country Day. When Pontiac Central closes in a few months, a significant chunk of the county's basketball cache will close with it.<br /><br />Ferndale won a pair of championships under Roy Burkhart in the 1960s. Berkley had some good teams under Steve Rhoades, none better than the 25-0 edition with Bruce Flowers in the mid-1970s. Those Bears lost in the Class A quarterfinals to Pontiac Central, the farthest any Berkley team has ever advanced. The Chiefs went to four title games without bringing home winner's hardware. Southfield had some great teams, including the school's 1983 team that lost to Detroit Southwestern and Antoine Joubert's 44-point effort in the Class A semifinals. Their rival, Southfield-Lathrup, has also had a handful of great seasons in girls and boys' games alike, and save for the last two minutes of the Class A final about 15 years ago, the Chargers could have had a title in boys' basketball, too.<br /><br />Obviously Pontiac Northern has earned a couple of titles as have the Eaglets of Orchard Lake St. Mary's. Country Day in girls and boys' basketball is a champion many times over along with Mary Lillie-Cicerone's Birmingham Marian teams. Her Mustangs have earned four titles in five finals appearances while neighboring Brother Rice had some good teams under Bill Norton in the 1970s.<br /><br />There's a small handful of champions I'm omitting but you get the point. At face value that aforementioned list looks pretty good, right? But compared to Detroit, Flint or Saginaw, Oakland County schools, particularly the public schools, are seen within the MHSAA record books as often as the signs that tell you you're still 200+ miles from the Mackinac Bridge. Every so often you see an Oakland County school in the finals or semifinals. And before you get mad, understand that Macomb County's public schools are practically non-existent in this discussion.<br /><br />What surprises me is one would think with the affluence in Oakland County, the ability to pay for and play AAU, quality coaching, gyms and weight rooms, Oakland County would have a better history. But money can't buy love, as I've heard more than once, and Oakland County school populations love football and baseball a lot more than they love roundball.<br /><br />However, it's not all negative. Even as rumors swirl of the OAA's potential demise, one must look at the OAA and admit its' role in improving basketball in the O-C. The OAA gave Oakland County a look at Clarkston, Lake Orion and the two Pontiac schools on an annual basis. It forced the county's public schools as a whole to play a different brand of basketball.<br /><br />Coaches familiar with the 'city game' have been populating Oakland County schools for the past 10-15 years. Not surprisingly, the tenor, tempo and energy of the game changed, too. Finally, when the OAA hired Mike Smith away from the PSL to assign games, the league gained officials who called a tougher, more physical game. It forced soft fouls and soft play out of the OAA. It also opened doors for an entire pool of officials who previously had not intermingled the two leagues to one another.<br /><br />Obviously I'm starting to touch on some issues that get away from basketball and delve into culture and habit, so we'll stop here. It will be a fun last six weeks of the regular season. Can Clarkston continue an amazing season? Will Pontiac Central offer a final memory for her faithful fans? Pontiac Northern's final season as the Huskies is at hand, too. Will private schools like Country Day and Marian be holding hardware to end their season? Can any other Oakland County team step up and steal glory from a perennial contender?<br /><br />Here's to a final six weeks of fastbreak, break-neck basketball!<br /><br /><em>~T.C. Cameron is the author of <strong>Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries</strong> from Arcadia Publishing. Cameron's 2nd title, <strong>Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</strong>, is due August 2009.</em>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-13192467780567428712009-01-11T16:42:00.011-05:002009-01-22T09:02:33.693-05:00Decisions Abound In Pontiac Merger; Fight Not Ferndale's Black EyePontiac Central High is closing in what's become the worst-kept secret since Major League Baseball's strike of 1994. Schools come and go all the time, but Central is more than a come-and-go school.<br /><br />Pontiac Central is Pontiac's heritage, history and heartbeat. The school's nickname of Chiefs honors the city's namesake, Chief Pontiac. The school's colors of black and orange are as time-honored in prep circles, in some respects, as Michigan's maize n' blue. Finally, consider Central's premiere basketball history. Certainly city rival Pontiac Northern would stake a claim in any supremacy argument but the Huskies aside, what Oakland County school not named Country Day can make such a boastful claim?<br /><br />Pontiac's public school leadership has a scant eight months to avoid the mistakes Royal Oak made, mistakes it had three years to overcome. When Royal Oak announced in 2004 that Kimball and Dondero, described by The Detroit News as 'historic rivals', would merge as one high school in 2006, a war of cultures ensued. The Dondero contingent, heartbroken their school would shutter in favor of hated Kimball, embarked to destroy the cultures at both schools, ensuring Kimball's legacy died, too. The 'new' Royal Oak High, with new nickname, school colors and traditions, hasn't overcome the legacy of its' former Kimball name.<br /><br />The Royal Oak rivalry had been dead for years because Kimball dominated the final 15 scholastic seasons, but instead of making the combined school colors blue, gold and white or hanging banners from each former school in the new school, Royal Oak choose to bury their prep sports history of the past 100 years.<br /><br />Central and Northern in basketball was very much like Kimball and Dondero for 35 years in football. Do you think the kids in Pontiac will have more than a few verbal and physical battles over their former school's legacy? Let's hope the 'new' Pontiac High School represents the contributions from each former school instead of shuttering their considerable past, as was done in Royal Oak.<br /><br /><strong>FIGHT NOT RIGHT: </strong>Birmingham Seaholm's 69-46 win at Ferndale last week was marred by an ugly fight that prematurely ended the contest. Game officials declared the contest complete with 6:45 remaining in the fourth quarter after fans not representing the participating schools commenced a fistfight in the bleachers and risers that spilled onto the court, says Ferndale Athletic Director Shaun Butler.<br /><br />"This was the result of non-students from either school -- it was not a problem between students of Ferndale or Seaholm," said Butler, who declined further comment except to say only Ferndale students with current, valid student identification cards will be admitted into Ferndale home games for the remainder of the season. There's a long history of good relations between both schools for over 50 years since Ferndale opened in 1958 to replace outdated Lincoln High. Birmingham High was remaned Seaholm in the early 1960s. The two cities paired their public schools against one another in all sports for over 80 years.<br /><br />Butler and Seaholm athletic director Aaron Frank have plenty of experience hosting marquee events that will draw larger-than-usual crowds for prep sports. Ferndale has annually hosted one of the most prominent MHSAA boys' basketball quarterfinals in the history of the Class A or Division 1 bracket, and Seaholm has hosted one of the biggest quarterfinals in baseball, as well as some of the biggest prep football games in metro Detroit's history.<br /><br />It's safe to say neither of these men are candidates to fall asleep at the wheel in their duties of stewarding their school's athletic department. The perpetrators of this fight have only hurt themselves and prep fans around them who don't have family-related interest in Ferndale's basketball team, and that benefits no one.<br /><br /><strong>RIVALRY REPORT:</strong> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Detroits-School-Football-Rivalries-Images/dp/0738561681/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231710738&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries</a> might not have changed much in the present except improving memories of prep football's past, but I can say I've noticed a slight change my book may have cultured.<br /><br />Most metro newspapers big and small now make a concerted effort to highlight the rivalry games between inter-city schools, league foes and tournament tilts, even in the roundup, agate-like listings. While I would never be so bold to claim anything more, I'm proud that my book, in an innocuous way, brought a bit more cache and attention to prep rivalries in metro Detroit.<br /><br /><em>~T.C. Cameron is the author of <strong>Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries</strong> from Arcadia Publishing. Cameron's 2nd title, <strong>Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</strong>, is due August 2009.</em>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706057118147999804.post-39320848680138197802009-01-11T13:11:00.006-05:002009-01-22T09:03:23.619-05:00Another Country Full Of Opportunity Awaits KyleNew York's outdated LaGuardia Airport is no one's favorite destination in the snow-laced dead of winter but today it's a stepping stone of sorts to the possibility of a better life for my step-son.<br /><br />I'm attending a copy writing class Monday evening in midtown Manhattan. I'm taking my step-son to visit Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut during the day. The writing class is for me; the better life is for Kyle. I'm not saying I've given up on Michigan, nor am I saying I don't believe the best schools in Michigan to be good enough for Kyle. I'm saying there's another world out there for him to discover if he so chooses.<br /><br />I truly believe one of metro Detroit's greatest downfalls is the lack of knowledge or understanding within its' surplusof residents of how the rest of the country operates, how it lives and how it defines itself. Too many companies believe Detroit and the surrounding suburbs simply are too far behind the times in so many key categories to catch up in this lifetime and therefore, don't consider the region a viable candidate for business location or re-location. Sadly, I think we all know job gain/loss statistics back up my beliefs.<br /><br />I haven't given up on Michigan -- in part because like everyone else, I can't sell my property -- but I'm worried, almost panicked, about what Michigan will look like in another ten years. If the next decade is anything like the last decade, we're in real trouble, as if we're not already. I don't have confidence in Governor Jennifer Granholm's presence, moxie or ability to lure whole industries to the state to replace the many mountain's worth of jobs that have crumbled into dust over the years. The southeastern Michigan region is mired in racial gridlock, something that disgraced politician Kwame Kilpatrick did nothing but exasperate while losing his position as Detroit's mayor. And while I found president-elect Barack Obama's election-night triumph to be an energizing moment for the country and a departure from politics per usual, anyone who thinks Obama will be the magic elixir for Detroit's ill, much less the country, is a punch-card's hanging-chad dreamer.<br /><br />As if one needs additional evidence of Detroit's lack of cache within its' signature industry, check out <a title="" href="http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090111/OPINION03/901110307/1008" target="_blank">Nolan Finley's piece</a> in this morning's Detroit News lamenting the lack of energy, spirit and pride for the annual auto show that kicks off tonight.<br /><br />This is less about Yale and more about a better chance, a better place, a better life. Yale's simply one of the Ivy League schools. There's Harvard in Boston, New Jersey's Princeton and New York City's Columbia University, too. We'll look at her buildings, touch her doors and walk her hallways. Hopefully, the visit will inspire a desire within Kyle to be an achiever first and a dreamer second. The days of hoping for a Motor City renaissance have long since floated downstream of the Detroit River.<br /><br />It's time to remake Detroit completely -- that much is fact -- the real question is can this region's car-first mentality be overhauled before it's too late? I'm not waiting to find out on my child's behalf. Today is about the future, so it's on to LaGuardia, to the Metro-North train, to New Haven, Connecticut and back.<br /><br />All Aboard!<br /><br /><em>~T.C. Cameron is the author of <strong>Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries</strong> from Arcadia Publishing. Cameron's 2nd title, <strong>Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries</strong>, is due August 2009.</em>The Write Refereehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09243549062137318718noreply@blogger.com0