Before we got ourselves in a big hurry to be professional referees, we used to be human beings with real jobs and real personalities. Don't construe that thought to mean referees haven't evolved for the better with a higher degree of professionalism. As a matter of record, quite to the contrary, we have. I'm saying that there was a day when it was accepted, even expected, to show your human side as you officiated a ball game.

If you have children who graduated from one of the high schools in Dearborn, you probably know of Arella Studios and owner Angelo Arella. Located near the intersection of Military and Michigan behind the train tracks, Arella's operation has been a Dearborn institution for over 70 years. But like so many of his peers, Arella remains a proud graduate of his high school, Dearborn's Fordson High, and he spun some yarn Tuesday of an official who was working for the downtown newspaper as he refereed a big ballgame and in the process, helped push a young teenager into a life as a photographer.

Working as a cub photographer for his school's yearbook, the Fleur De Lis, Arella was shooting a game between the Tractors and Grosse Pointe High from the endzone at Fordson. The Pointers held a 6-0 lead in the fourth quarter when Fordson began marching down the field late in the annual Border Cities League (BCL) game between the two rival schools. One of the game's officials was none other than George Maskin, who at that time worked on the sports staff as an editor for the now-defunct Detroit Times.

The drive culminated when the Fordson tailback thundered into the endzone to tie the game. As the extra point was being converted, Maskin shot a quick question toward the young journalist: "Hey kid, did you get that touchdown?" Arella replied, Yeah, I got the touchdown." So Maskin tells Arella to give him the plate and he'll run the picture in the paper tomorrow -- and pay him $15 to boot!

"I can't give you this plate. My father bought it for me and he'll never let me back in the house if I don't come home with it," Arella explained. "OK, kid, then come downtown tonight. You can produce the photo yourself, write the cutline and I'll make sure you get paid." Arella thought that was a fair deal until he arrived at the plant to find the paper's union members weren't so generous with him. "There was no way I was going to let one of them produce it because they would end up telling Maskin the plate was bad and there was no picture -- I knew that much was certain," Arella remembers. Anyway, Maskin asked Arella for all his information and ran the picture. Arella got a nice photo credit and got paid, too.

The next week, Arella was at home when the phone rang with a deep-throated, nameless voice on the other end.

"Hey kid, Inkster High is playing a big game tomorrow afternoon. We don't have anyone to shoot it. We could use two or three photos..." The caller hung up just as quickly. Arella immediately knew who it was and went down to shoot the game. In an amazing coincidence, his work was published in the Times, and he got paid again.

There's a lesson to be learned in all this. I wrote about connections earlier in the week with Paul Kinder, the former Dearborn HS basketball captain, (pictured above wearing the black jersey No. 14) being remembered as a highly-regarded sports official. That's Kinder and his Pioneers hosting city rival Edsel Ford in the 1955-56 season. It's a small world and we all have a contribution to make in our own, individual way. Sometimes, though, that gets stifled in our mission to be the good soldier.

Using today's standards in officiating, Maskin's advance might be seen as unscrupulous or unprofessional. In the 1950s, it was merely a guy just getting his day job done. But what did it do? It brought some good press to some students from Fordson and Grosse Pointe. It gave a young kid a sense of accomplishment. Today you can walk into Arella Studios and find a man who enjoys his work and remembers his time as a photo journalist with an easy smile.

Is that so bad?

Of course, with power comes responsibility. Some abuse it. Some use it to strong-arm others. Maskin? He was an editor who threw a kid a bone. More than 50 years later, it's another great story of how prep sports can positively affect someone.

Photo courtesy of The Lil' Cafe, on Michigan Avenue in downtown Dearborn, Michigan. The Lil' Cafe is home to the Dearborn High School Hall Of Fame.

~T.C. Cameron is the author of Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries, released in August '08 from Arcadia Publishing. A follow-up title, Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries, is due in August 2009.

I had the opportunity to serve Fox Sports yesterday as the Time-Out Coordinator (TOC) for the Chicago Bears' 34-7 victory over the Lions yesterday at Detroit's Ford Field. Even the staunchest Lion backers will admit it was an ugly defeat for the home team, and nothing was uglier than the booing that took place as the Lions left the field for halftime trailing 17-0.

Andy McCollum was one of those Lions that endured the wrath of the fans as he and his teammates walked off the field and began the long walk up the tunnel at Ford Field. McCollum's a center with the Lions and he easily could have walked up to his team's dressing room without making eye contact with anyone -- no one would've blamed him -- but he didn't.

For about 300 elementary kids lining the tunnel in full pads and uniform, this was their moment. The Lions hosted four youth football teams and their cheerleaders who were waiting to play 5-10 minutes of football on the same field that hosted Super Bowl XL. While a tempest of ugly fandemonium was taking place from the stands, McCollum went out of his way to make the moment special for the kids.

Wearing his No. 67 jersey, McCollum high-fived every kid that stuck his hand out, whether it was a cheerleader or player or coach. He cheered them on with "Have fun out there!" and other words of encouragement. The kids responded with a "Let's Go Lions!" chant, unaware of the ugly response 35,000 Lion fans had just serenaded the home team with.

McCollum didn't have to do any of his good-natured gesture with these kids. He's a professional athlete with professional responsibilities. Maybe he simply needed to feed his own soul after the verbal abuse the Lion fans were dishing out as the team walked to the tunnel. Maybe McCollum simply is a kid at heart when it comes to football. Possibly McCollum remembered his own experiences playing youth football and wanted to pay it forward, so to speak.

Whatever it was, it was thrilling to see. It made professional football human for these kids instead of monstrous men hulking upwards inside a massive, larger-than-life stadium. It was one of the classiest gestures I've ever witnessed a professional athlete offer and it was genuine, unplanned and not designed by or for a staff of public relations professionals.
In the worst moment of a bad season so far, Andy McCollum showed his heart yesterday and made some 300 kids Lion fans for life.

Save The Date: I'll be hosting an interactive viewing of the Images of Football from the four high schools in the City of Dearborn on Wednesday, October 8th at the Dearborn Public Library on Michigan Avenue. The program starts at 7pm and will feature pictures and images from Dearborn's Pioneers, Edsel Ford's Thunderbirds, Fordson's Tractors and Divine Child's Falcons.
After the program I'll have a book signing and sale in the atrium of the library, with the benefactor being the Dearborn Public Library. Come Join me!

Bear Down: The orange gloves of the TOC came up missing yesterday in pre-game production, leaving me with no visable eye candy for the game's referee to see me with from 60-80 yards away. Thankfully, the Bears saved the day. The team's equipment manager handed us a long-sleeve orange shirt and a set of orange-faced gloves. The Lions donated a white NFL t-shirt and the problem was solved. Thanks, guys!

You're On: I was the man yesterday for three brief moments yesterday. With the weight of the world on my shoulders, and all of the western world, not to mention mankind, watching with unfettered attention, I cue the game's Referee for three game-altering replays... OK, it wasn't that big of a deal. We had three replays and I had the responsibility to cue the game's Referee for live television's presentation of the announcement. Thankfully, my man Rich York helped make it flow smoothly yesterday and our broadcast was like Krylon: No runs, no drips, no errors.

~ T.C. Cameron is the author of Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries, and is working on a follow-up title, Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries!

During the last two weeks it's become common knowledge to prep sports fans in metro Detroit that the MEGA Conference, a Wayne County-based power conference, will disband, and many an Oakland County HS athletic director is watching -- and taking notes, too.

It's no secret that athletic budgets, compatibility and competitive balance concerns are on the hot seat in the monster-like, 20+ school athletic conferences that make up the bulk of prep sports leagues in the three-county area. What garnered a lot of attention was the news that Dearborn High was a candidate to join the Kensington Lakes Activities Association (KLAA).

Here's some aspects to consider about why Dearborn, and not Garden City, became a serious candidate for the KLAA.

Parker's A No-Go: It doesn't appear the recently-completed but yet-to-be opened Howell Parker High School will open anytime soon. In fact, it appears the Howell School District cannot open the building at all due to serious budget constraints and a possible miscalculation of population growth in the community. The fact that the district is negotiating a movie contract deal to use the school as a movie set tells you all there is to know about the possibility Parker opens anytime soon.

Garden City Enrollment: The monstrous schools in the KLAA and Garden City are a mismatch. Albeit a fine community with much to offer any league, Garden City would struggle to match up with the expanding populations in Hartland, Brighton, Lakeland, Milford and South Lyon. Dearborn is a still-teeming community with equal distribution among the three big schools, making Dearborn a better choice for a long-term membership.

Fordson - Dearborn Relations: In researching Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries, I found a handful of instances when Dearborn High and Fordson didn't play a football game for many years at a time due to conflict between building/district administrators or coaches. In fact, Edsel Ford and Fordson shared the same track & field facility recently when Fordson was having renovations done to their iconic campus. A Dearborn city official told me off the record, "If anyone thinks that Fordson would have been offered to use Dearborn's track, they're delusional. The schools simply don't like one another." Dearborn Superintendent Brian Whiston had to unconditionally guarantee Fordson that the Dearborn game would be available to them before Dearborn could be allowed to seek a different league affiliation.

Royal Oak Made It Work: The two schools, Dearborn & Fordson, might not be a good fit to one another as league members. Now-closed Kimball and Dondero were in the Southeastern Michigan Association (SMA) and Metro Suburban Activities Association (MSAA) for many years and enjoyed almost 35 years of outstanding football rivalry without being in the same league, something that seems to befit Dearborn and Fordson. That was the genesis of the Oakland Activites Association (OAA), combining two leagues with competing schools from the same city in the same league, but it crushed the many local rivalries and enhancing just a chosen few. I mention Dondero because the Oaks used to a fierce Fordson rival when the Tractors and Oaks were in the old Border Cities League (BCL).

Therefore, just because geography makes more sense for Garden City to be in the KLAA, it might make the KLAA even better to have Dearborn in that league. Dearborn would make the KLAA a three-county conference and make for an outstanding cross-county game in many sports.

Former Detroit Tiger broadcaster Paul Carey told me he thought very highly of Ivy Loftin's Dondero football teams because they played Monroe, Dearborn Fordson, Wyandotte, Highland Park, Grosse Pointe HS -- a powerhouse before the North-South days -- and finally, after the rigors of the BCL, the season-ending game with crosstown Kimball. Conversely, place Dearborn in the KLAA today. They would have league games against the three Livonia schools (all playoff teams in '07), Wayne Memorial, the upstart Rockets from John Glenn and crossovers with schools like Howell, Milford, Lakeland or Novi. To top it off, the Pioneers could end the season with Dearborn Fordson.

That's a football schedule.

Edsel Ford Factor: What does concern me is the chance that Dearborn and Edsel Ford would stop playing one another -- that's not good, but in a three-school town, these kind of concerns come up quite a bit. I'm not certain there's a solution, either. On the other hand, because two of the three schools are moving to a manageable conference, this allows Edsel Ford and Fordson to play DC's Falcons a bit more in all sports.

It was great the past two seasons seeing the big crowd for the Fordson-DC football game although I'm sure the Falcons would have liked a different result. It would be my opinion that a matchup of Milford and Dearborn, or Dearborn and Catholic Central, would be of interest to prep fans, because it's the type of matchup that isn't seen much these days, thanks to the monster power conferences that have seemed to have outlived their usefulness.

~T.C. Cameron is the author of Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries, available at www.Amazon.com and other fine retailers.

UPDATE: Copy was updated with new information courtesy of Dearborn Edsel Ford Athletic Director Bob Picano.

Imagine an Oakland Activities Association (OAA) football season without Clarkston playing Lake Orion. That would be nearly unthinkable today, but from 1957 to 1976 that's exactly what happened. Last year, for the first time since 1966, Detroit Pershing didn't face Detroit Denby's gridders, two historic rivals that dominated the Detroit Public School in the 1950's and 60's, then known as the Metropolitan League. Birmingham Brother Rice and Novi Catholic Central haven't missed a meeting since 1962, the year Rice opened.

When the OAA began in 1994, it was the combination of two small but highly-successful suburban leagues, the Metro Suburban Activities Association (MSAA) and the Southeastern Michigan Association (SMA). While the south Oakland trio of Berkley, Ferndale and Hazel Park hailed from the SMA, both Rochester schools were in the MSAA. The sister schools from Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Royal Oak, Southfield and Troy in each league combined as one. Lake Orion, Clarkston and the Pontiac schools joined. Farmington's trio joined in 2002. Others have come and gone in that time, for better or worse.

Why is this important? In the past few weeks it seems everyone -- coaches, directors, officials and fans -- have a valid opinion about the Mega Conference's possible demise. This is big news as it relates to high school football and specifically, rivalry games. A possible Mega break-up potentially endangers one school to losing a handful of big games. Dearborn Fordson's Tractors could potentially lose their rivalry with Allen Park, Monroe and Edsel Ford if rumors prove true about the three Mega League schools parting ways for different affiliations.

More than a few Oakland County athletic directors have grumbled about increased costs of travel in the OAA. The prep community in metropolitan Detroit is watching with rapt attention while a potential monster-league break-up plays out in real time downriver.

Allen Park Athletic Director Ken Stephens says this isn't about rivalries and hurt feelings but rather, dollars and sense. Allen Park is one of eight schools trying to put together the Downriver League, along with Woodhaven, Wyandotte, Trenton, Southgate, Gibralter Carlson and Taylor's Kennedy and Truman high schools.

"Our budgets are getting hit at every turn with increases on an annual basis. It makes no sense not to play schools we border with," Stephens explained this afternoon. "While nothing official has been submitted, on May 6th, we'll either be moving or not. That's the day the Mega Conference asked these eight schools to submit their plans, in writing, about leaving or returning for the 2009-10 calender year.

"It's amazing all the things that are being said about the possibility of schools leaving the Mega. It's not about Fordson, it's not about leaving other schools behind," Stephens said. "There will still be a Mega Conference, but currently we're playing schools we have no rivalry with and don't take in enough to pay the workers at our games on a Friday night. Plus, our students miss so much class, and that's all we hear, that this is all for the students. Well, it's time to put the money where the mouth is," Stephens said. "This is what makes the most sense for the downriver schools."

Dearborn Edsel Ford Athletic Director Bob Picano wouldn't add to the heavy amount of conjecture when I spoke to him this morning of who's leaving and staying, instead offering, "I can tell you I've been granted permission by our district to attend some purely informational meetings about other possible affiliations -- I can say that much -- but I'm bound by the fact we (Dearborn Public Schools) have three high schools and a school board that ultimately represents us all."

It's no secret there's no money to burn in Michigan, and even Dearborn, the biggest district in the Mega Conference, had moved to school of choice enrollment within the district to try to survive but recently closed district borders after pushing Fordson to 2,300 students while dropping Edsel to just over 1,400. Picano says he encounters kids having to work when a parent has lost a job and admits his frustration about travel times and cost. "I'd feel better if my kids were back at school 15 minutes after a game rather than 45 minutes after a game. With snow storms, 45 minutes can turn into an hour and a half. The cost of travel and what you take in at the gate is very important these days."

Picano isn't yet sold on the idea of the Downriver League's ultimate formation but admits all schools are looking to cut cost while not being orphaned without a league to compete in.

"The word is this is about proximity and average travel time, and I think the schools rumored to be moving could do what they want to do, based on geographics, from within the Mega League. No one wants to do something that costs money, and I think the threat of lawsuit could kill the Downriver League from forming," Picano said. "We're not the only ones looking. If you look at the south Oakland County schools, they're a good fit, geographically speaking, for some of the Mega schools. There's a possibility of schools expanding to the Mega as much as there's the possibility of schools leaving the Mega."

Ensuring long-standing rivalries don't die in the wake of the Mega's rumored demise is what's most important to most coaches and fans. Picano hinted that an annual Fordson game would be easier if Edsel was in a smaller league. "Having a chance at six wins makes it tough to schedule Fordson when we already have a tough, nine-game schedule."

Stephens agreed rivalries are important while hinting at a rivalry week in all sports if Allen Park were domiciled in a smaller league.

"Imagine if we had a 'Gibralter Carlson Week', where Gibralter Carlson and Allen Park could face each other in cross country, soccer, football and volleyball in the same week -- that would really capture the essence of a rivalry, and it's something you can do when the league is manageable, " Stephens said. "You know this as an official, T.C., that working a rivalry game is always better than working a game no one cares about."

Currently Edsel Ford doesn't have a single Dearborn rival on the football schedule in '08, while Fordson plays Divine Child, Allen Park, Monroe and Dearborn in the upcoming fall.

~ T.C. Cameron is the author of Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries, due August 25th , 2008 from Arcadia Publishing.