Is there such thing as prep sports overload?

I ask because in the summertime, when the days are carefree, the breezes are warm and the passion on the fields and floors are at a sleepy lull, we prep sports junkies pine for the scholastic season...mostly because there's so little to write about.

But to quote the irrepressible one, ESPN's Lee Corso, not so fast my friend. On Saturday we kissed the prep football season to bed for another year with the MHSAA finals at Ford Field, and Monday night we said hello to another basketball season with the opening games for the girls' campaign.

Wow. A whole 48 hours of down time. I could barely book an overnight with a round-trip flight to New York City for a quickie trip to 72nd and Amsterdam for a Grey's Papaya special in that time. In case you're wondering, that's two New York-style hot dogs and a large fruit drink for $3.50. Where's Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte when I need them? At least we got to skip the Lions on Sunday. Ah, small favors.

It used to be football season ended and there was at least a little down time, even if that was one short week. This year, like it was last year, the knickers are barely out of the dryer and into the storage bin from football season as the basketball shirts, pants and whistles are being yanked out for another season.

And who do we have to thank for this? That handful of mothers from Grand Rapids, who over 10 years ago declared that they were going to change the world for the better by forcing the Michigan High School Athletic Association to move girls basketball to the winter with the boys. By doing this, volleyball would be playing the fall and Michigan would join the other 49 states in that time-honored game, Follow The Leader.

In the meantime, I'm tired...of being tired.

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

The nervous days and tough decisions facing Michigan's caretakers of prep sports intensified yesterday as the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) finally responded to last week's stunning $7.4 million judgment against MHSAA for legal bills stemming from a gender-equity case the associated high schools fought and appealed with little success for approximately 10 years.

MHSAA released prepared statements revealing that its decision to continue appeals, as it related to potential legal costs and awards, was guided by prior case decision stemming from an affirmative action lawsuit involving the University of Michigan, where fees and costs were reduced 40-percent across the board by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. MHSAA also admitted that the award made by Judge Richard Alan Enslen 'exceeded even our worst-case scenario preparations'. MHSAA admitted they are considering an appeal of the award but are also preparing to file for protection from creditors. In short, MHSAA is preparing for bankruptcy.

As a three-sport official, I can tell you I still do not believe the MHSAA was hampering female student-athletes by playing girls' basketball in the fall and offering girls' volleyball in the winter. I admit my scope on this issue is narrow; I'm just a referee. Speaking as a contractor of the MHSAA as well as a taxpayer and property owner in Michigan, the prepared statements make me wonder if this is MHSAA's best course of action when it mentions the possibility of appeal.

Appeal is what got the MHSAA in this predicament in the first place, isn't it?

I wonder how the MHSAA will survive this, as many of us who care about high school sports are wondering. There is a lot of uncertainty and conjecture being offered about the survival of the MHSAA and what it, not to mention prep sports offerings, will look like if it manages to survive this.

I'm not familiar with all the case law that went into this 10-year battle, but I do know if this bill, which is adding interest at approximately $1,000 per day it remains unpaid, isn't settled soon, a judgment of lien will be placed upon the MHSAA, meaning any dollar going in and out of the MHSAA coffers would have to be first offered towards the outstanding bill. Attorney Kristen Galles, lead attorney for Communities For Equity (CFE) that brought forward the suit against MHSAA, remains unpaid after 10 years of litigation and could effectively control the MHSAA.

High school sports was never intended to be about litigation costs, judgments and awards or insurance policies for legal costs. How did this get so sideways so fast? Sadly, the ones who will answer those questions will be the student-athletes because they will mark the passing of this lengthy case as successful or not.