A considerable piece of Detroit's prep sports history is dying today -- Tiger Stadium is falling at the hands of de-construction crews and an army's worth of earth movers and bulldozers.

I thought I was over it. I told myself I was ready to move on after nine years of seeing the ole' ballpark shuttered. Then I heard the word yesterday on countless news bulletins and it took my breath away. I'm proud to consider Ernie Harwell a friend. He was extremely helpful in pointing me in the right direction to getting published, and he put me in touch with Paul Carey to write my book's foreword. Therefore, I pray I'm wrong when I say I don't think Ernie's best efforts will save the portion of the stadium he dearly wants to spare. Today is probably the beginning of the end of Tiger Stadium's days at 2121 Trumbull Avenue.

Tiger fans are buzzing nationwide via e-mail threads and Internet chat rooms about the stadium's demise. Both Detroit dailies began publishing online photos yesterday of the first, substantial walls to crumble from the weight of the wrecking ball. Even longtime Red Wing fans feel the sting. Those of us, myself included, who remember watching the old Olympia Stadium on Grand River Avenue at Graw fall from grace in 1986 are watching with the same, pained expression we displayed 22 summers ago.

But something more than the hallowed halls that once housed Hank Greenberg, Ty Cobb, Bobby Layne and Joe Louis is being lost. Detroit's considerable prep sports history is waving goodbye to an address that has hosted some of the most memorable prep football games, championship baseball games and a statewide All-Star baseball game.

The Goodfellows Game was a classic that was played at Tiger Stadium after the Lions and Packers battled on Thanksgiving day. The champions of the Catholic League and the Detroit Public School League, then better known as the Metropolitan League, battled for bragging rights, Top 10 rankings and potential state championships on Tiger Stadium's floor. In the spring, both the Catholic League and PSL hosted their respective league championship games in baseball. In the early summer after the state championship games, the state's best baseball players were seeded in the annual East-West All-Star Game.

The Denby Tars, Pershing Doughboys or University of Detroit High Cubs often locked horns with De LaSalle's Pilots, Catholic Central's Shamrocks, the Rustics of Redford St. Mary's or St. Ambrose in the Goodfellows Game. Many times the winner of that game was voted to a high ranking in the season-ending Associated Press poll, and sometimes the winner was declared the state champion by one of the three Detroit dailies from the 1940s and 50s.

In baseball, Birmingham Brother Rice, the Fighting Irish of Harper Woods Notre Dame or Dearborn Divine Child have been regulars in the CHSL title tilts. Detroit Western's Cowboys or the Mustangs of Detroit Mumford have been multiple-time participants from the PSL side. Frank Tanana, Frank Clouser and Frank Sumbera have been among the many ball park franks to have seen games in the first person at Tiger Stadium.

Tiger Stadium belongs to the Tigers and their faithful fans. The Lions and their long-suffering legions have a considerable stake in the stadium's last days, too. But playing a game at Tiger Stadium for your high school was the goal of many a prep football or baseball player. Wearing a school letter jacket to a Lions game or a Tiger opener was oft-seen as well.

Here's to hoping the stories, memories and traditions will outlive our historic park's fall from grace. Sadly, the dreams we all shared, long shuttered for all of us, officially died forever yesterday.

(1952 Goodfellows Game program courtesy of Detroit Catholic High School League)

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

As the high school baseball season winds down in Oakland County, the question is which teams will emerge to challenge for the state crown in June.

Obviously, Lake Orion has more than defended their state championship of 2007. The Division-I champion is leading the OAA's toughest division. The Dragons have handled challenges from a highly-regarded group of Ravens from Royal Oak High, the young Colts of Troy and their arch rivals, the Wolves of Clarkston. The Dragons are probably best suited for the playoff format, with depth, talented players that benefited from last season's championship experience and therefore, probably face the least chance of upset in the district.

Northville and Novi's Detroit Catholic Central staged a hard-fought district battle last season. In 2007 Novi was down, but the Wildcats are up this season and with Northville still offering a strong squad, the two rivals seem primed for another playoff battle. Add the always tough Shamrocks from CC, who compete in the rugged Central Division of the Catholic High School League, the Novi-Northville entries from the public and private sectors could stage some playoff drama.

In south Oakland County, Coach Bob Riker and Birmingham Brother Rice are firing on all cylinders. Rice was defeated by West Bloomfield in last season's suspended district final, where the Lakers and Warriors resumed play after a rain delay and West Bloomfield upset the Warriors three days later. That West Bloomfield team went on an impressive march towards Battle Creek before bowing in the quarterfinals. While a repeat of West Bloomfield's '07 success might be asking a lot, few figured the Lakers to be within a game of the championship rounds in '07, so who's to say it couldn't be done again?

To the south of Rice, Coach Brian Gordon's Royal Oak Ravens are again a fundamentally-strong team, a crossover from the Kimball teams Gordon coached after assuming the reins from former coach Frank Clouser. If there's a close game that comes down to execution and fundamental strategy, Royal Oak will be a tough out. Below Royal oak is Madison Heights Lamphere, who earned a a Top 10 ranking in the state's coaches poll to end April.

Rounding out the entries to consider are White Lake Lakeland, lurking quietly in the shadows of a final Kensington Valley Conference season but loaded with talent prime for a tournament run. The Walled Lake schools are not to be taken lightly and of course, there's the private schools like Royal Oak Shrine and Orchard lake St. Mary's, quiet of late but always dangerous after the tougher Catholic League battles.

Of course, baseball and basketball tournaments lend themselves to natural, annual rivalries, because unlike football, every school makes the state tournament and anything can happen when two schools familiar after many years re-engage a battle that plays itself out in many different sports.

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