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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

I hope someone grabs the ball and get things rolling.

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.

DOUGHBOYS V. C-TOWN? 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.

MARIAN MAGIC: 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.

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.

NUMERICALLY SPEAKING: 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.

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.

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.

What are the odds of that happening again this season?

~T.C. Cameron is the author of Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries, due August 2009 from Arcadia Publishing.

Did you notice it?

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.

Not Foote. When the heavy hitter's face emerged, his quote was simple: "Larry Foote....Detroit Pershing...Doughboy."

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."

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.

In Detroit, Pershing is synonymous with a football and basketball tradition swathed in royal blue and gold.

CHARLIE'S NOT SORRY: 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.

MAC DADDY: 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.

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).

I'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.

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.

But what was the score? The Detroit Free Press and writer Mike Horan published a score that didn't match The Detroit News article written by Rod Beard. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

~T.C. Cameron is writing Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries, due August of 2009 from Arcadia Publishing.

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.