tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63707883020635287312024-02-18T18:00:46.037-08:00From The Bleacher SeatsA roundup of news on sporting events, people and places in Southeast Michigan by columnist Jim Evans.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.comBlogger212125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-2779611634647842312015-03-09T15:31:00.003-07:002015-03-09T15:31:51.178-07:00Reflecting on fly fishing and family
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I
don’t know much about fly fishing.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Really,
only what I’ve read in Norman Maclean’s short story “A River Runs Through It.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Maclean’s
story begins with the sentence “<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e;">In
our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing.”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Right there, I was hooked. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">When I was younger, I did plenty of fishing. It
was of the cast and reel variety, though. Sometimes we’d use lures. Sometimes
it would be worms. Other times we’d put pieces of hot dogs or bacon on our
hooks.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">We just liked to be out there on the water.
Coffee and doughnuts taste so much better in the morning mist. </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNKvIpf3ltwlnPvlrBhb_PjYn6yBIxyTdR2OclhcPNtZNfgzQPH5mGO7s3AkQMZ96vMjlLN_ribmWPnJcIbEFuNeXNp5hnErJL2ViY_UFDsGscX_NH9x_5m1H2Lh3jEQjwweOSxATTsvg/s1600/RIver+runs+through+it.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNKvIpf3ltwlnPvlrBhb_PjYn6yBIxyTdR2OclhcPNtZNfgzQPH5mGO7s3AkQMZ96vMjlLN_ribmWPnJcIbEFuNeXNp5hnErJL2ViY_UFDsGscX_NH9x_5m1H2Lh3jEQjwweOSxATTsvg/s1600/RIver+runs+through+it.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve got two sons and two daughters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">The girls never seemed to much care for
fishing. Sure they will order fish at a restaurant, but yanking the unfinished
product out of the water never appealed to them.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">The boys, well, they never got much
opportunity. What does that say about dad?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve worked nights for decades.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">That is when sports are generally played.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">My sons are now 38 and 23 years old. I have
probably fished with them twice in their lives. That is a sad, sad statement.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">It gives you some indication of my parenting
abilities.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Oh, the kids were hardly neglected. When they
were younger we’d go to your typical places. We would ride Space Mountain at
Disney and stay away from the Great White from Jaws at Universal. We’d swim on
the beach in Ludington and do likewise in Muskegon or Grand Haven or the Les
Cheneaux Islands where my brother has a cottage.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">But you know what, we would never fish and I really
don’t know why.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I grew up fishing, but I plead guilty for never
passing that affection on.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I recently talked to Terry Drinkwine, who used
to write an outstanding outdoors column for this newspaper. He knows plenty
about plenty including fly fishing.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I’m going to look Terry up at the 2015 Midwest
Fly Fishing Expo that will be held Saturday, March 14, and Sunday, March 15, at
Macomb Community College Sports and Expo Center in Warren.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">The hours are Saturday, 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.;
and Sunday, 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, or $15 for a
two-day pass. Kids 16 and under are free.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">There will be seminars on everything from fly
fishing western tailwaters to nymph fishing rivers and streams; from tying
better dry flies to fly casting made easy.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Basically, there will be instruction on
everything anyone cares to know and believe me, I care to know plenty.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">It is not too late to take my boys fishing. I
just want to learn how to fly fish.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Drinkwine is on the board of directors of the
Michigan Fly Fishing Club. Maybe I had better keep our affiliation quiet. He
could be drummed from the board.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I guess this is at least as much about bonding
as it is about fishing.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Is there anything wrong with that? The kids are
getting older. So is dad.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-72663027589384498062015-02-10T12:21:00.000-08:002015-02-10T12:21:05.168-08:00Read this and weep
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was just a summer job
for me; a minimum wage existence to partially fill both the time and the
savings account during the summer while I was home from college.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was at a shop that made
parts for the auto industry. Truthfully, it was so long ago, I do not even
recollect what kind of parts we made.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But one day I was heading
to the garbage bin when I ran into an older guy who wasn’t part of the summer
crew. He was a full-time employee and he was a welder.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Hey pal, can you tell me
what this says?” he asked, pointing to some writing on a nearby acetylene tank.
The letters spelled `Empty.’<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When I told him what was
written, he nodded in affirmation. “That’s what I thought.”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I did not say anything,
but I left quietly shaking my head. I was probably only 19 or 20 years old and
all these years later, I still remember it vividly.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I felt bad for the guy. He
obviously could not read and possibly not write. Did you know that in this
country 63 million adults – 29 percent of the adult population – over age 16
don’t read well enough to understand a newspaper story written at an eighth
grade level?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I guess this really isn’t
a sports story, not until you figure plenty of folks cannot even pick up a
newspaper or click on a computer and competently read the words presented.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Can you imagine that? We
take Twitter for granted. We take headlines for granted. We figure everyone can
grasp everything on </span><a href="http://www.miprepzone.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">www.miprepzone.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">,
</span><a href="http://www.dailytribune.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">www.dailytribune.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, </span><a href="http://www.theoaklandpress.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">www.theoaklandpress.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, and </span><a href="http://www.macombdaily.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">www.macombdaily.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">. That is obviously
not the case.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Same goes with reading the
ingredients on the back of a box of Wheaties or on a pack of Ball Park Franks. What
about the instructions for putting together a new train set late Christmas Eve
or trying to adequately fill out a job application?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My mom was a teacher and
later, a principal. She was a reading specialist and I remember her tutoring
kids at our dining room table. When I was hardly more than an infant, I
remember sitting on the edge of her bed every morning while she got ready to go
to school and just spitting out strings of letters. Say an A, a B, a D and a Q.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Is that a word?” I would
ask.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">No, she would patiently
reply.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I would keep it up. Pouring
out cup after cup of verbal alphabet soup. I’m sure it drove her crazy. But
every once in a long while, I’d spit out a combination of letters in the proper
order and mom would say “yes.” <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I would be ecstatic.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">While the written word was
unchartered territory then, it was one I would conquer, just like most kids.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But not all kids.
Apparently, not even all adults.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So I get into the
newspaper business. I got into sports writing. I love chronicling the
accomplishments of student-athletes. The kid who knocks down the three-point
bucket at the buzzer. The runner who gets to the line in little more than a
fleeting thought. Believe me; what you read in the newspaper is not Leo Tolstoy
or even J.K. Rowling. It is all who, what, when, where, why and how come there
are more than three syllables in the words that you write sometimes?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We keep it simple, but not
simple enough. That is so, so sad.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What can we do to combat
illiteracy?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Oakland Literacy Council
</span><span style="background: rgb(249, 247, 240); color: #49423d; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">provides basic literacy and English language instruction to
adults in order to facilitate lifelong learning, employment skills and personal
well-being. Literate students are able to achieve both personal and educational
goals. They can do things like vote, increase their workplace productivity, and
pass on the gift of reading to their children. The most important benefit is
the improvement in the overall quality of life. For more information, visit </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.oaklandliteracy.com/"><span style="background: rgb(249, 247, 240); mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue;">www.oaklandliteracy.com</span></span></a></span><span style="background: rgb(249, 247, 240); color: #49423d; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Macomb Literacy Partners
is a <span style="color: #333333;">group of dedicated individuals responding to
the needs of adults reading below a level of functional literacy. Such
individuals have difficulty reading a newspaper, understanding simple
directions on a prescription, taking a written test for their driver’s license,
or are English as Second Language learners. Since 1984, Macomb Literacy
Partners has helped thousands become better readers, writers, and speakers. For
more information, visit </span></span><a href="http://www.macombliteracy.org/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">www.macombliteracy.org</span></a><span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Being
illiterate has to be a horribly empty feeling. Just like it said on the side of
that acetylene tank all those years ago.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-5845962008540916452015-01-05T15:48:00.001-08:002015-01-05T15:48:20.380-08:00For a doggone good cause
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">There’s
nothing more unconditional than a dog’s love.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">The
biggest louse in the world can walk through the door and he is greeted like a
king by his waiting mutt. The tail wags and the fanny follows suit. If the
owner allows, the dog then unleashes more French kisses than are seen on a
weekend of Cinemax.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Dogs
ask for little more in return other than food, water, shelter and hopefully,
some affection.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Mike
Jacopelli of Hawkeye & Friends Dog Rescue & Sanctuary in Imlay City provides
all of the above, thank you very much.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“This
is the biggest dog house in the world,” said Jacopelli, chuckling.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">His
dogs live in a 3,000 square-foot pole barn that comes with heat, electricity,
rugs to rest on, furniture to recline on and everything a dog could want.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">They
also have a fenced-in, five-acre site that is great for a dog’s Three Rs; Romping,
Rollicking and Roughhousing.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Their
constant companion is Jacopelli, a 1980 Troy High grad who went on to attend
both Oakland University and Michigan State University.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdm4ZkV3RnvRESgPGE8bH1zlrV9w12Hn8oM6CtlUTfhQ2fOZ7HlcM1yrbIx6rpCp-LpCgRZtOv3WAy-bGMSWsazhBK52c3pC1a3-IeuOhUJ3NZesP7hHc_QNoTg5NDVenHUJDGF8ACos/s1600/DOG+huge+group+shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdm4ZkV3RnvRESgPGE8bH1zlrV9w12Hn8oM6CtlUTfhQ2fOZ7HlcM1yrbIx6rpCp-LpCgRZtOv3WAy-bGMSWsazhBK52c3pC1a3-IeuOhUJ3NZesP7hHc_QNoTg5NDVenHUJDGF8ACos/s1600/DOG+huge+group+shot.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Don’t
get the wrong idea; Jacopelli’s no-kill facility is not for the upper crust of
dogdom, either. These are not primped and pampered purebreds getting ready for
the pinky up Westminster Kennel Club dog show. Mostly they are older dogs.
Mostly they are bigger dogs. Mostly they are dogs that were going to be
euthanized at other shelters because nobody wanted to adopt them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Homer,
or “Homie,” typifies the more than 100 dogs at the sanctuary.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Homer
the pit bull was dropped off on a road adjacent to Hawkeye & Friends nearly
three years ago, said Jacopelli.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Dropped
off is a genteel way to describe what really happened.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“Homer
was pushed out of a pickup truck. They just threw him out. He was right in the
middle of the street, and the mail lady pulled her jeep sideways so nobody
would hit him. Homer took one look at me and I could tell he was just
heartbroken. He didn’t know what was going on,” said Jacopelli.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Homer
is part of the family now. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“I
call him Homie the Snuggler,” said Jacopelli. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Not
too long ago, a passerby stopped and talked to Jacopelli for quite a while.
Before he left, he called the sanctuary “doggie heaven.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">The
name of the sanctuary has significance.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Hawkeye
was a dog that Jacopelli befriended when he was a student in East Lansing. Hawkeye
lived in the house where Jacopelli and some pals resided. Every one of them ran,
and Hawkeye would accompany each of them on their daily runs.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">One
Sunday morning, Jacopelli went out onto the porch to grab the newspaper and a
man came jogging up to the porch. Next to him was Hawkeye. The man explained
that he’d run by the house about 30 minutes earlier, and Hawkeye just joined
him for some exercise.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“Hawkeye
loved people,” said Jacopelli. “Young, old, big or small. Hawkeye was your
friend.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">That
is a might apt description of most dogs. Especially the ones at the sanctuary
named after Hawkeye.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“I’ve
always loved dogs. When we were kids, we always had dogs,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">After
he got out of college, he lived in Ferndale for a while. He had three dogs, and
while playing with them in a nearby school yard, a fourth just showed up.<br />
“I didn’t know where he came from. I took that dog up and down the street and
nobody knew whose dog it was. I took it to the police station, and then to the
city’s animal shelter.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">The
next thing he knew, Jacopelli was volunteering at the shelter. Before you can
say kibbles and bits, he soon had 13 dogs. The animal control officer, who
lived nearby, would stop on occasion and ask how many dogs he had. Jacopelli’s
typical response was to ask how many he was allowed to have in Ferndale. When
told four, that is the number that Jacopelli claimed to own.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“I’d
better not get any complaints,” said the animal control officer, rolling his
eyes.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">It
was time to move. A stop or two later, Jacopelli finds himself in what could be
the perfect location.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“It’s
a 24-hour a day, seven days a week job,” he said. “There’s no going to the
movies or out to dinner; not with all of these dogs.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">He
needs some help, though. There is not much money in the dog sanctuary business.
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">A
dog does not ask for much. Just the aforementioned food, water, shelter and
affection. All but affection come with a price tag.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">For
more information on how to help out, visit </span><a href="http://www.hawkeyeandfriends.org/"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue;">www.hawkeyeandfriends.org</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-3866254401710393252014-12-15T14:48:00.002-08:002014-12-15T14:48:40.181-08:00No news is good news
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I’m
in the news business, and sometimes I can hardly stand it. Too much death. Too
much destruction. Too much chaos. Beheadings in the Middle East. Chokeholds in
New York City. Murder in Grosse Pointe. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I
have to put down the newspaper. I shut down the computer and turn off the
television. Or at least turn it to Family Guy or the Cartoon Network.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">That
is why I am glad I am in the sports department.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I
was at a high school wrestling match at Rochester High School earlier in the
week. Three other teams joined the Falcons; Anchor Bay, Eisenhower and
Hartland.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Hartland
came into the double dual meet ranked fourth in the state. The Tars from Anchor
Bay were seventh ranked. Those teams met in the second round of the night. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Prior,
Anchor Bay had defeated Eisenhower and Hartland beat Rochester.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">It
was an incredibly dramatic match for this early in the season. It came down to
a pin by Anchor Bay’s Joey Dombrowski at 135 pounds to clinch the victory over
Hartland for the Tars.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“I
went in a back room before I wrestled and visualized what I had to do,” said
Dombrowski, a senior.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">That
is why I like sports. It’s all aimed at visualizing the positive. There is way,
way too much of the negative at our disposal everywhere else.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Check
out these recent headlines:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“Armada
teacher pleads no contest to sexual contact with student.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“Rochester
schools issuing mid-year layoffs after $1.2 million budget shortfall.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“Addison
woman charged with murder in deaths of son, granddaughter.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“Case
delayed for teen accused of trying to kill family.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I
was at Cousino High School last week to see Sterling Heights and the host
Patriots play a girls basketball game. Cousino is coming off a fine season, and
so are the Stallions. The last time these teams met, coach Rick Repicky’s
Sterling Heights squad knocked Cousino out of the state playoffs.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“These
kids have had eight months to think about that loss,” said Mike Lee, the
Cousino coach.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">His
Patriots dismantled Sterling Heights by 20 to at least partially exorcise those
demons from last March.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">So
there you go. Accentuating the positive results, at least for one team.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Writing
about sports, especially high school sports, helps keep your perspective. It
keeps things optimistic in a world too often beset by pessimism. Good kids on
the basketball court or the softball diamond. Hard working kids playing
football or running cross country. Nice kids serving as team managers. Nice
kids in the bleachers watching the games.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">It
is not crime. It is not mayhem. It is not an ongoing war in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan
or the Ukraine.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">It
is your kids. It is their achievements. It is win and losses, but mostly it is
about giving an honest effort.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I
love sports and what they stand for at the high school level. Sometimes that is
all the news I can handle.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-69245645963728697022014-12-12T17:25:00.000-08:002014-12-12T17:25:00.917-08:00An old buddy rides off into the sunset<span lang="EN"><div align="JUSTIFY" dir="LTR">
A buddy of mine is retiring.</div>
Rick Freeman, Walled Lake Western Class of 1972, is leaving Gage Products in Ferndale after 39 years on the job.<br />
That is a long time in the workplace. After a while, calluses are just part of the dress code.<br />
I haven’t talked to Rick for a while, so I don’t know what his plans are. <br />
I know he has a Harley, and loves to ride, so I can hear that Bob Seger song in the background …<br />
<em>"Took a look down a westbound road right away I made my choice</em><br />
<em>
Headed out to my big two wheeler I was tired of my own voice</em><br />
<em>
Took a bead on the northern plains and just rolled that power on."</em><br />
So maybe Rick plans on taking a long motorcycle ride.<br />
He deserves it. I know that 39 years does not account for all of his pay stubs. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2gdaBylx2XEs8xIvQhPPuHGYvOQhvMRnKgQnes2p_wQszfF22_n2rrEHBfmvjbWqPpRolJ3A60oK-AnYTfRHhJT1YJqEZNh4HHs9yXB0ksvBZYrR42mIN7sOOlGlqcT_P5PufRa0poNc/s1600/FREEMAN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2gdaBylx2XEs8xIvQhPPuHGYvOQhvMRnKgQnes2p_wQszfF22_n2rrEHBfmvjbWqPpRolJ3A60oK-AnYTfRHhJT1YJqEZNh4HHs9yXB0ksvBZYrR42mIN7sOOlGlqcT_P5PufRa0poNc/s1600/FREEMAN.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>When he was in high school, he worked with owner Don Bridges at a pizza place on Maple Road near Pontiac Trail in Walled Lake.<br />
Rick and Don doled out real pizzas. There was no corporate crust, or mozzarella and sauce that came delivered via 18-wheelers.<br />
They made the dough. They made the sauce. Their ingredients were fresh as a 15-year-old on his first date. Getting a pizza was a big deal back then. They didn’t sell slices at gas stations, convenience stores and concession stands.<br />
Rick even had his own place for a while on Grand River in Farmington Hills. He was doing well enough but opted to get out when a customer with a gun came by to pick up not just an extra large with pepperoni, bacon and mushrooms, but the contents of the cash register.<br />
There’s no holding up Rick and his retirement.<br />
We’ve known each other since grade school.<br />
Rick played the drums, and I played the trumpet, and if we didn’t make some god-awful racket in the Decker Elementary School band, then Mick Jagger never shimmied across the stage and Led Zeppelin did all Mel Torme songs.<br />
We went to junior high and high school together and played sports all the way through. Rick was a very tough offensive lineman/linebacker with bum knees, and I was more of the delicate sort at running back and defensive back.<br />
I remember one game where I undercut a kid who was going up for a pass and he did a nice somersault before thudding to the ground. Apparently, that kid didn’t take kindly to the hit, and he started coming after me.<br />
Since my back was turned, I didn’t realize I was about to get mugged. All I remember is hearing Rick’s cries of agony and when I turned, he had already crumpled to the turf and was holding his knee. Apparently, Rick was playing the part of my protector, and when the guy shoved him, Rick fell awkwardly on his already bum knee.<br />
Still, the huddle was hardly the only place we saw one another. We dated sisters while we were in high school.<br />
Rick had a Camaro back in the day, and he had it custom painted. It wasn’t quite lime green but it was awfully close. Every time we drove around in it, it was like a Sprite commercial.<br />
I am looking forward to toasting Rick’s retirement even though I’m not great with friendships.<br />
Friendships take work, just like any relationship, and I have not punched in much in that regard over the years.<br />
Rick is retiring. He’ll also be marrying long-time friend Laurie Whisnant in the coming months.<br />
I told Rick I’d buy him lunch at Woody’s diner on Pontiac Trail in Walled Lake. Either that, or we would convene at the nearby Copper Mug.<br />
Maybe I’ll get my chopped ’74 Honda CB 750 on the road again. Maybe we’ll roll away together for a while.<br />
There’s a lot to catch up on. Good friends don’t care if their smiles come complete with bugs in their teeth.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-90458847585840889242014-12-01T13:24:00.003-08:002014-12-01T13:24:37.172-08:00A coach's kid
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A coach's kid.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Grows up learning X's and O's before the ABCs.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Forget Bambi, Snow White and Frozen. Disney and
Pixar take a back seat to game films.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Daycare looks suspiciously like practice.
Babysitters, the rare time they are called for, look just like the high school
quarterback or the point guard on the basketball team or the star pitcher.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tim Conley knows the drill.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He's the head football coach at Southfield High
School. His father, Tom, has been a coach for 45 years and is a member of the
Michigan High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame. He's also on the Blue Jays'
staff.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A teacher's kid. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rOrj6TAmJhvxMK0dNVwN0QT2d5q4YZXUKz4BgInVDBf83yY3a9EAp7hG33qqPXy4JOXXH5AlnsIu5abR-BPpE2GcM_A64wE4tenz8u_Xi6lGPHXufZZKB9zwBAui6iZ9ZIBscDvIxi4/s1600/CONLEY+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rOrj6TAmJhvxMK0dNVwN0QT2d5q4YZXUKz4BgInVDBf83yY3a9EAp7hG33qqPXy4JOXXH5AlnsIu5abR-BPpE2GcM_A64wE4tenz8u_Xi6lGPHXufZZKB9zwBAui6iZ9ZIBscDvIxi4/s1600/CONLEY+3.jpg" height="320" width="221" /></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Homework is never an option.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The dog never eats the aforementioned homework.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bad grades are his or her doing, and not blamed
on someone else.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tim Conley knows the drill.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">His dad taught social studies and was a school
counselor for 35 years. His mom was an English teacher for 20.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"As you know, my mom and dad are the main
influences that have guided me into teaching," said Tim Conley, who is
also the head of the social studies department at Southfield.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A coach's wife.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Years ago, dinners used to be wrapped up in
aluminum foil to be reheated.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">These days, since microwaves and metal don't
mix, they are left in Tupperware to be reheated.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It's the same drill. Family dinners are a
misnomer. Practice and games and watching film often leave eating a solitary
endeavor.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"When we started football practice this
year, day two of practice was my mom and dad's 45th wedding anniversary and my
dad was at practice. I asked him how many anniversaries he missed because of
football practice and he responded `All 45,'" recalled Tom Conley's son,
Tim.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Conley boys, Tim and Joe, both played
football at Troy High. Joe was the MVP of Colts' state championship game in
1994.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Coach Griff (Gary Griffith) was a constant
fixture in my life for many years. My dad and he were watching reel to reel
football game film at my house since the mid 1970's. Being coached by him and
coaching alongside of him at Troy High are real highlights for me.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"TC (Tom Conley) and Griff embody
everything great coaches have; exceptional organizational and technical skills.
They know how and when to bring out the emotions in their players and when
execution is paramount; they also build strong bonds with their players. When I
played and coached with them at Troy I saw how they inspired their teams, and
we had winning teams with great confidence because the players knew that TC and
Griff had their backs," said Tim Conley. “There has always been a quality
of toughness in their personalities and in the way they coach.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A coach's kid now has kids of his own. Tim
Conley is married to Chantal and they have a son, Miguel.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Coach Tom Conley has grandkids.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That is the way it often works.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tim Conley and Tom Conley were at Novi High
School as the Blue Jays fell to De La Salle 31-7 in a Division 2 state
semifinal game Saturday.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">More game film to watch. More bonding between a
father and a son.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-44443768714783430042014-11-17T12:40:00.000-08:002014-11-17T12:40:50.460-08:00The circle of life with turkey and stuffing
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">First
you have kids.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Then
the pages of the calendar start to whirl and eventually your kids have kids.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">You
are grandparents. Those are your grandkids.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">The
circle of life. It’s not just a song from Disney’s “Lion King.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I
was raking a lot of leaves in the fall of 2009.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">There
was a nagging ache in my chest, but I knew it wasn’t a heart problem.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I
ignored it for as long as I could before my wife, Kim, convinced me to go to
the hospital.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">A
whole bunch of tests later, the doctors discovered a tumor.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">It
was kidney cancer but apparently of the restless variety. It had spread to my
bones. Shortly thereafter, they found it in my brain and a lung.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I
figured I was a goner. Goodbye George Thorogood, hello Taps. So long, Kid Rock.
Hello, How Great Thou Art.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Tears
were shed and I thought about stuff that I would be missing.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Five
years and three grandkids later, I haven’t missed a thing.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I
feel great, thanks to a lot of kneeling on Sunday mornings; a saint of a wife;
and some absolute heaven-sent docs from the Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne
State University. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">This
past Monday morning, our third grandchild was added to the family roster.
Emerson Rye Holloway busted onto the Christmas list sometime around 8. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Emerson
is the second child of our oldest daughter, Brittany, and her husband, Chris.
She was beaten to the dinner table by their son, Julian, who is nearly 2 ½
years old. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Kyle,
our oldest son, has a daughter, Josie. She is about a year older than Julian.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">The
circle of life. Hello to Simba, Timon, Pumbaa and the grandkids. I did not
think I would be around to see the birth of one grandchild, much less three. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">We
all will be gathering at my moms’s house once again for Thanksgiving. Mom has eight
grandkids and eight great grandkids. She is coming off a busted hip sustained
in a fall back in April and if you had taken bets early on during her recovery
if she’d be toting 20-pound turkeys around ever again, the odds would have been
Jimmy the Greek woeful.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Mom
might be in her mid 80s, but she is determined. She has more guts than the rest
of the family combined. Me, if I had fractured a hip, I would have been happy
spending Thanksgiving eating a Banquet turkey pot pie in a reclining chair
watching the Lions on television.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Please
pass those tater tots.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Not
mom. She’s doing the turkey. She is doing the mashed potatoes. She is doing her
sweet potatoes.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">We
will say grace before we eat. We will miss the lost some family members. We will
welcome those we have gained, too.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">The
circle of life, you know.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Emerson
is still too young for most of the food. Maybe she can gum the Jello with
mandarin oranges.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Pass
the gravy please. The turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing, too. I’ll put the
pumpkin pie on hold. For a maxiumum of 45 minutes or so.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">My
oncologist said that is fine. The cardiologist would probably have a different
opinion.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-63750190348600824832014-10-21T14:27:00.003-07:002014-10-21T14:27:40.869-07:00It's not just hockey for the MC Monarchs
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Xprx2hy2hBtPZYoPidWgY3Xg_zdW-jGt7DUIie7iKCY5Y0vHiJ_gVRiGP-jIAV9RnH1w6dAnEdpcvb2Z_geSgiOYL6BAwRkPDyQjWrestIOuRpSOJekNVp_I0AOV-Rb6Du11NxEmE0A/s1600/MONARCHS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Xprx2hy2hBtPZYoPidWgY3Xg_zdW-jGt7DUIie7iKCY5Y0vHiJ_gVRiGP-jIAV9RnH1w6dAnEdpcvb2Z_geSgiOYL6BAwRkPDyQjWrestIOuRpSOJekNVp_I0AOV-Rb6Du11NxEmE0A/s1600/MONARCHS.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<strong><em>Team owner Mark Gilman shares a laugh with MC Monarchs coach Jason McCrimmon (Photo courtesy of John Corzine/Hockey Weekly)</em></strong></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“He’s part hockey coach, part Father Flanagan.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That short summation by team owner Mark Gilman described Macomb
County Monarchs head coach Jason McCrimmon.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Following a recent practice at Fraser Hockeyland, McCrimmon
gathered a handful of players in his office and closed the door.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“They have developed big heads,” he explained later,
smiling.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Who can blame the upstart Monarchs for their confidence?
The team opened the season by winning its first six games. Those wins included
sweeping a three-game series against the third-ranked Tier 3 Junior team in the
country, the Soo Firehawks, as well as a victory over the previously undefeated
Detroit Fighting Irish.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Monarchs were in Traverse City last weekend to play the
hometown Hounds.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Jason is a very well-respected as a coach,” said Gilman.
“He can be tough on the players, but he also knows when to laugh. He is not a
yeller.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Monarchs are a first-year Junior A (Tier 3) team that
plays out of Fraser. They are a member of the Midwest Junior Hockey League. The
Macomb County team joined the Alpena Flyers, Berkley Bruins, Decataur Blaze,
Michigan Ice Dogs, Soo Firehawks and Traverse City Hounds.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The MJHL is an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) sanctioned
Tier III league. Its stated primary goal is to develop its players on and off
the ice for higher levels of junior hockey and to be able to play college
hockey.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After the MWJHL’s inaugural season, more than 30 players
had secured college hockey offers at the NCAA Division III level and at all
three levels of ACHA hockey. That number was similar after the 2013-14 season.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Still, the Monarchs seem to be about much more than wins
and losses. A look at the unique resume on the back of McCrimmon’s hockey trading
card might provide a clue.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">McCrimmon was born and raised in Detroit. He’s from the
city and even though Detroit is called Hockey Town by some that is hardly the
reality. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“My mom was a social worker. She made me try hockey when
I was three years old. I hated it. Why did I want to stand around on some ice
and freeze to death? None of my friends were playing,” he said, laughing.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But McCrimmon kept playing, more out of obligation to his
mom than anything else. When he was 10, he moved on and played with some teams
in Grosse Pointe and then later with Belle Tire.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At 16 he quit. Other priorities beckoned, just like they
do for plenty of teens. He did not play again until he was 20 years old.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“I didn’t have any passion for the game,” he explained. “I
had other priorities.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">An opportunity presented itself at Northland College in
Ashland, Wisconsin. After two years there, he moved on to the University of
Massachusetts Boston. He later played for Muskegon and Flint of the IHL, as
well as other teams.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">McCrimmon had just returned from a multi-year stint as
the captain of the Hela-Kiekko professional team in Finland when he met with
Gilman, who was intrigued by the 6-4, 260-pound McCrimmon’s story.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“I knew he had a lot of fights in his career and wanted
to see the toll that was paid on his knuckles. He made me laugh when he said
the worst part about hockey fights was not broken bones in the hand, but that
you never get used to being hit in the face. He wanted out,” said Gilman. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Scar tissue doesn’t negate compassion.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Monarchs have formed partnerships with the Hope
Center in Fraser as well as with McCrimmon’s Ice Dreams hockey program in
Detroit.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Hope Center is a non-profit, Christian-based,
human-services organization whose purpose is to address the hunger crisis and
respond to the needs of county residents. Ice Dreams is designed to introduce
ice skating and hockey to kids in Detroit.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“We want these players to be productive citizens. Not only
do we want them to get better on the ice but off the ice as well. We are not
only building players, but young men, too,” said McCrimmon.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The majority of the players are from Macomb County.
Several are Oakland County residents. There are also two on the roster from the
Cape Cod area and one from the Czech Republic.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The team will play 46 regular-season games. The playoffs
follow the regular season.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“I love hockey. Jason and I are really good friends and
he deserves this chance. I’ve seen so much bad coaching and situations where
the kids aren’t treated right. We wanted to start a team that would do right by
the kids. We’ll follow through on our promises,” said Gilman.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Gilman is the owner of Decus Strategic Consulting and Communications,
a marketing and public relations firm in Waterford. He resides in Clarkston
with his wife, Patti. They have five children in their blended family. Three of
them either played or are playing hockey.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“I’m just a hockey geek,” said Gilman.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Edward J. Flanagan, the founder of Boys Town, was a kids
geek. The Irish priest believed there were no bad boys. McCrimmon seems to
espouse that same belief.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Even those boys who occasionally get big heads.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-33428087068283488592014-10-17T15:03:00.001-07:002014-10-17T15:03:33.752-07:00A Thank You note to Mike Ilitch
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is a Thank You note.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Not to my aunt for a pair of argyle socks or my
nephew for a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles T-shirt.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Nope, it is to Mike Ilitch.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And no, Mr. Ilitch didn't give me a Hickory
Farms basket for Christmas.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I want to thank him for the Red Wings. I want to
thank him for the Tigers.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I was watching the Red Wings beat the Bruins in
their home opener Thursday night and it got me to thinking; the Wings
have made it into the playoffs the last 23 seasons and I’m not sure we all
appreciate that fact.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn77BmSY43YJlxRCG-Hy0sN8Ki62PJNJedLnW5Aaa7-3L2NN2wAP6TaUCFwtnS3EsPkJQIbsDUD7tRR-Wx0k0yv23csHM-jD5ROz1ahmBjIu_ObH3Xx4TwMsNCeepzvMCEfcvcnyDAb1M/s1600/MIKE+ILITCH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn77BmSY43YJlxRCG-Hy0sN8Ki62PJNJedLnW5Aaa7-3L2NN2wAP6TaUCFwtnS3EsPkJQIbsDUD7tRR-Wx0k0yv23csHM-jD5ROz1ahmBjIu_ObH3Xx4TwMsNCeepzvMCEfcvcnyDAb1M/s1600/MIKE+ILITCH.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I remember when Mike Ilitch bought a Red Wings’ team
that was so woeful he had to give a car away pretty much every game just to get
people to stop by the arena.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">They had been called the Dead Wings by Channel 4
broadcaster Al Ackerman. Or was it the Dead Things? Either way, neither was
very complimentary.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It's 11 o'clock, do you know where Ned Harkness
is?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Those Red Wings were a joke and that is
something that should be remembered when people grouse about these Red Wings not
getting to the conference finals or the Stanley Cup Finals or even winning the
Stanley Cup. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I just wanted to send a Thank You note to the
team owner.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Not for argyle socks. Not for a T-shirt. Not for
a Hickory Farms assortment basket. But for turning the Red Wings back into a
winning organization and keeping them there.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While I'm at it I ought to get back to the
Hallmark store and pick up another card.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dear Mr. Ilitch, thanks for the Tigers.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I know they have to be frustrating the heck out
of you lately. You spent all of that money and not all of it has brought a good
return. A team that was supposed to make a serious run at the World Series
championship stumbled in the opening round of the playoffs.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But the team has won the Central Division the
last four seasons. They have played some outstanding baseball and the lineup is
sprinkled with some of the best and brightest in the game. Comerica Park is a
great place to watch baseball and there has been lots of good baseball to see in
recent seasons.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I know you are a baseball guy. I know you grew
up a fan of the Tigers and even had a shot in the minor leagues.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You are one of us. Someone from here who has a
passion for the game. You want the Tigers to win as much as we do if not more
and you're willing to pay the price.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That passion alone is something to say thanks
for.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You have proven that you can field competitive
teams -- and even championship teams -- in a town about as far away from the
bright lights as you can get. We don't have South Beach. We have Metro Beach. We
don't have Broadway. We have Henry the Hatter on Broadway Avenue in downtown
Detroit. We don't have Malibu. We drive Malibus.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But we have Cabrera. We have Zetterberg. We have
Datsuyk. We have Verlander. So I guess that means we have Upton, too (Kate, not
B.J. or Justin)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We have our share of stars. We have more than
our share of wins and even a few titles.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We have a pretty darned good owner.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That Thank You note is in the mail.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-65357770848061574612014-10-07T16:49:00.001-07:002014-10-07T16:49:06.414-07:00Fanning the flames
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Sports
talk radio.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Hi,
I’m Wes from West Bloomfield. Joe Nathan is a jerk.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Hey,
I am Frank from Fraser. Brad Ausmus is abysmal.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Hello,
this is Rick from Royal Oak. What is wrong with Matthew Stafford?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Yeah,
this is Oliver from Oak Park. Oops, all right, I have turned my radio down. How
come the Pistons have been so pathetic recently?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">So
there you have it. The voice of the fans.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Everybody
has an opinion, especially the irate. Everybody can be heard loud and clear,
especially if they yell loudly enough. Not just on the radio, but also on
television, through blogs, on Twitter, Facebook and a variety of other social
media tools.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">And,
at the stadium.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Freedom
of speech. It is guaranteed in our constitution. I’ll bet our forefathers never
envisioned Tweets.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Everybody
is entitled to their opinion. Wes from West Bloomfield. Frank from Fraser. Rick
from Royal Oak. Oliver from Oak Park.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Even
yours truly.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Criticism
is part of the game. Especially when Nathan blows a one-run lead in the ninth.
Or Ausmus makes questionable decisions from the dugout. Or Stafford throws two
interceptions. Or Jimmy Howard lets in four goals. Or the Pistons lose yet
again.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">That
brings up this old truism. The worst jobs in town are the closer for the Tigers,
the starting quarterback for the Lions, and the top goalie for the Red Wings.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Those
folks are frequently the most unpopular people around. The best jobs in town: the
backups for all of the above. Hurray for Joakim Soria; yahoo for Dan Orlovsky
and Kellen Moore; and how come Jonas Gustavsson doesn’t play more?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">We
adore our athletes. We despise them occasionally, too. We love our teams. We just
don’t like them sometimes. Win and we’ll put chocolates on their pillows. Lose
and there is a flaming bag on the front porch.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">It
is the epitome of a love-hate relationship, and when fans hate we speak very,
very loudly. Justified or not, the volume increases when we start thinking
about how much our professional athletes who are screwing up make. They are all
largely millionaires.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Conversely,
most of us are not. We pay to get into the stadium. We pay 20 bucks or so to
park our cars. If we go out to eat, the food is more often than not served via
a drive thru window. We regularly have to make decisions like whether to pay
the mortgage on time, or instead pick up a prescription at the drug store;
should we put a new muffler on the car or deal with Detroit Edison and
Consumers Energy?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I
am not sure our professional athletes agonize over the same things. Do they want
a Porsche or Mercedes; an Escalade or Land Rover? What do they feel like eating
tonight, filet or lobster tails? Where will they vacation; the French Riviera
or Tahiti?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Sure
we get mad at times, but don’t take it personally, guys. We love you. We love
our teams. At least most of the time.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">When
we don’t it’s time for Wes from West Bloomfield, Frank from Fraser, Rick from
Royal Oak and Oliver from Oak Park to speak up.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-53478663591179196132014-09-22T20:03:00.000-07:002014-09-22T20:03:06.085-07:00Every kid should have an inalienable right to play
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Every kid should have
the inalienable right to go down a slide.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Or sit on a swing, climb
on some monkey bars or just go out and enjoy themselves in a playground. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That should be written
into our constitution, shouldn’t it?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For most youngsters, it
is. But there are thousands of kids in this area alone who cannot enjoy a
regular playground.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Carla Fanson’s son,
Mason, is five years old. He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and epilepsy. He
also has an autism spectrum disorder.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I would say that during
Mason’s five years, we have been to a regular park playground only four or five
times. He is just very limited. I have to lift him into a swing. Climbing the
stairs to play structures is dangerous because he cannot lift his legs fully at
times. Even the woodchips they use underneath most regular play structures are
a hazard because if Mason falls, he is at risk for seizures.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhCQ2YeHRKw8lkjZm0BMQkoLYScGnu38jPhaYfeb-c-EuAl5eRSeKy2WwnCjxqjUKsM-xuCGPaI1nF42BWvz3KJF9Ju9yb7eGNwtXc10M2xeO8vXTmYIsSI-pLrsnUkXB21M8kAUoPKkw/s1600/PLAYGROUND.jpg" height="243" width="320" /><br />
<strong>Carla Fanson and her son, Mason, look at plans for a barrier-free park.</strong><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“A barrier-free park
would open so many doors for him. It would allow Mason to do things independently.
He would be able to socialize with other kids,” continued Carla Fanson.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A barrier-free park and
playground is exactly what Vania Apps and the Fraser First Booster Club have
been working hard to create.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“We created a non-profit. We worked with the
parks and recreation department in Fraser. Initially, we just wanted to see
better parks. The more we learned, the more we realized that a large group of
kids were not able to play at a conventional park and playground. Because of
that, many special needs kids don’t even bother going. There’s usually nothing
they can do. If there is, their options are very limited.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Work is underway on the McKinley
Barrier-Free Playground and Park located at Grove and 13 Mile in Fraser. Stakes
were put in the ground this summer and construction is underway on the parking
lot, walking path and comfort station. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While that is a start,
it is hardly the completion of a dream. The park and playground’s design will
allow everyone to easily access the play equipment, structures, approaches and
pathways.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Among its many special
features will be ramped wheelchair access to the highest platform of the play
structure; swings with back support; elevated sand tables and activity panels where
children of all abilities can play together; and sensory-rich activities that
can let imaginations soar – for the hearing and visually impaired as well as
for every child.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A legacy dinner in memory of Sandy Caloia to
benefit the barrier-free park was held recently at Fern Hill Country Club in
Clinton Township. Tickets were $100 and entertainment was provided by The
Island Doctor. It was a Caribbean themed buffet and a silent auction was held.
Caloia was a very important member of the Fraser First Booster Club.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Despite the group’s
fund-raising efforts over the years that has brought in over $400,000, nearly $250,000
is needed to help complete the project.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Apps wrote a blog that
is published on the group’s website. It is titled “The Power of Play.” <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In it, she writes, “I
could speak all day of the power of play; the creativity it evokes, the
opportunity for problem solving that it presents, the connection to the now
that it demands, the focus and ultimate confidence gained. Yes, I could speak
all day on the power of play.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“But barrier-free play
is the most powerful play of all because it is inclusive. Although kindness
will be fostered in barrier-free play, its greatest power is to educate. Let me
share this story about my niece’s daughter, Lila. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Lila, who was four
years old at the time, was shopping with her mother. She saw a person who was
mentally and physically challenged and gripped her mother’s hand in such a way
that my niece looked down at her and said `What’s the matter, Lila?’<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Lila in all the innocence
of a young child answered, `I’m afraid of the handicaps. They scare me.’<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Isn’t it time that Lila
and Mason got together and played? She’ll see there is nothing to be afraid of.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<em><strong>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For more information on
the Fraser First Booster Club, visit www.fraserfirst.com<o:p></o:p></span></strong></em><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-28345306068615662352014-09-19T13:55:00.001-07:002014-09-19T13:55:02.990-07:00A coach knows the importance of high school sports
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Some
cynical folks have it wrong.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">They
dismiss sports and game results, saying they are not life and death.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">High
school football coach Alfredo Calderon would beg to differ.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“The
doctors have told me that I shouldn’t be out here. They told me I should stay
home and let my body heal. Well, if I didn’t have this, I don’t know what I
would do,” said Calderon.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Calderon
was on the sidelines with the Michigan Collegiate football team as the Cougars
rolled over host Plymouth Educational Center Prep, 45-0, one recent Friday evening.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">The
locale isn’t surprising. Calderon has been the head coach of the Cougars for
years.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Only
he was in a sit-down walker. While he could get up and stand, those moments
were brief. Calderon had on the obligatory headsets.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFEdqf3c_L29CzoIW9N-f9aIJik2cHN64HkALTPg1vfu53bgXMbjPQN5xWo1cDTKPfTW2xSuTS7PVz5NA92nnPB2FyMQ-5KRjqQgNTsG5gAgBXl-WJMLhLa9K_j9ImMViFVACe8BQLDKw/s1600/ALFREDO+CALDERON.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFEdqf3c_L29CzoIW9N-f9aIJik2cHN64HkALTPg1vfu53bgXMbjPQN5xWo1cDTKPfTW2xSuTS7PVz5NA92nnPB2FyMQ-5KRjqQgNTsG5gAgBXl-WJMLhLa9K_j9ImMViFVACe8BQLDKw/s1600/ALFREDO+CALDERON.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">He
knows he is not just fortunate to be with the Michigan Collegiate Cougars in
the fall of 2014. Calderon is also fortunate to be alive.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">It
was Thursday, Oct. 31, when he began to feel ill. He told his wife that he
thought they should go to the hospital.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“It
was a boil. I’m diabetic and I’ve had them before, so I wasn’t too concerned.
But one doctor came in and then another and another. That got me a little
worried. I told them I had a game the next day.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Michigan
Collegiate was scheduled to play host Livonia Clarenceville at 7 p.m., Friday,
Nov. 1, in a Division 5 pre-district tournament game.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">At
3 a.m., Friday, the coach was taken into surgery. He did not wake up until
December 17. He’d been in a coma. He had sepsis. His kidneys had shut down. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“Do
you know what it is like to have a month and a half missing from your life? I
had missed Thanksgiving. It was a week before Christmas and I had no idea. But
the first thing I asked was `Did we win?’”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Michigan
Collegiate had fallen to Clarenceville, 51-21.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">While
Calderon regained consciousness, he soon became conscious of the fact that he
couldn’t talk. He could not feel his legs. He would have to re-learn some of
the fundamentals of life like walking, standing and even going to the bathroom.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">A
month or so later, Calderon was rushed back to the hospital for an obstruction
in the intestinal tract. Complications from that surgery ensued.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">All
told, Calderon spent over six months in the hospital. He still goes to the
wound clinic regularly and has rehabilitation three times per week.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Calderon
has come a long way. In football parlance, he knows there are many yards left to
travel. He wears braces on his feet to combat foot drop.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“I’ve
been with the team since the summer,” he said. “I was with them during passing
camps. I was in wheelchair at Wayne State. It was just important for me to be
here.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Here,
on that recent Friday evening, meant Kilgore Field on East Forest in
Detroit. Calderon was on the headphones helping Johnny Guth, who has taken over
as the head coach at Collegiate.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“Johnny
is doing a great job. He was with me the whole time at Collegiate and he is
like family.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Calderon
smiled and gave a thumbs up. You just knew there was nowhere he would have
rather been than along the sidelines.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“This
gets me going. This keeps me going,” he said. “There’s no way I would stay away
if I could possibly be here.”<br />
He missed the Cougars’ playoff game last year. They are 3-0 heading into
a Week Four game against Detroit University Prep at Bishop Foley. Already, they
are halfway to another berth in the playoffs.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">No
way Calderon will miss this one. Not with everything he’s been through. Not
with everything he has done to get back.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-11433857776631064002014-08-11T16:59:00.002-07:002014-08-11T16:59:19.946-07:00The Beach Boys span the generations
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m watching the Beach Boys at Freedom Hill.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is Sunday night and I’m on the lawn with my wife, Kim.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We are looking at a complete mix of people; from infants in
Pampers to their grandparents in Depends. Sitting close by are teens. Also on blankets near us are folks whose high school graduations were so long ago that Abraham Lincoln gave
the commencement address.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
Some are eating soft pretzels. <span style="font-family: Calibri;">Some are drinking
beverages that are definitely not soft drinks. </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhst00jIHabN9nhDiKlNjH4pGStDKZmnSuHdHGdyYeH8sP7Bq_CEU9UeaV4wAB4sxZIkuYOJKdSRfSbyT7YH7nNV1vZmQMIVHsD3DbOT9mwRr5TLZ5hjQWgxO7j4EdiEiqY4nwTELbNp-E/s1600/THE+BEACH+BOYS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhst00jIHabN9nhDiKlNjH4pGStDKZmnSuHdHGdyYeH8sP7Bq_CEU9UeaV4wAB4sxZIkuYOJKdSRfSbyT7YH7nNV1vZmQMIVHsD3DbOT9mwRr5TLZ5hjQWgxO7j4EdiEiqY4nwTELbNp-E/s1600/THE+BEACH+BOYS.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Spanning the generations isn’t an easy thing to do in the
music business.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Filling up a place like Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights
isn’t either.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is a testament to the music of the Beach Boys.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Good Vibrations isn’t just a song. It is also a feeling
and the Beach Boys make people feel good.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Truthfully, growing up, I was never that big on the Beach
Boys. They were a little too straight-laced and I <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was into music that had more of an edge.
Groups like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and the Stooges.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I get older, my appreciation for longevity increases.
I find it remarkable that songs first performed in the 1960s and 1970s can
remain so popular today. Think of everything that’s gone on in society since
Mike Love, Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Alan Jardine got
together in California in 1961. The war in Vietnam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Richard Nixon and Watergate. Mark Zuckerburg
and Facebook. Bill Gates and Microsoft. The riots in Detroit. Detroit and bankruptcy.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Beach Boys sing about surfing and somehow it works even
though most of us have only surfed the web. They sing about a little deuce coupe
when most of us are tooling around in minvans, SUVs or trucks. Somehow that
works, too.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">They unabashedly wear Hawaiian shirts in a Rust Belt state
and somehow that works, too.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Beach Boys sing about a life that most of us want to
live. They sing about a lifestyle that most of us want to embrace.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thanks for stopping by, guys. See you again in 2015.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-47984773225488594282014-08-07T17:31:00.001-07:002014-08-07T17:31:44.509-07:00Drunk teacher didn't follow the dress code
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I’m no
prude.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I have been
known to turn on Jerry Springer when nobody else is in the house.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Sisters
Dating Brothers Who Cheat With Their Mother or something like that.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">But even I
was shocked by this story out of Houston:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">According to
CBS, a <span style="color: #333333;">newly-hired teacher was found intoxicated
and not wearing any pants inside an Oklahoma high school classroom on her first
day of work, said police.</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Police arrested
Lorie Hill after two Wagoner High School teachers found her intoxicated and
without pants in an empty classroom she was claiming to be her own, KOKI-TV
reported.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Hill
was reporting for her first day on the job as all teachers were also returning
for their first day back in school from summer break.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Wagoner police say
she admitted to drinking and authorities found an empty cup in her vehicle that
contained an odor of vodka.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Hey,
I have worked with more than one person who couldn’t face the day without a
drink or two. And I have known a teacher or two who probably felt like drinking
every morning before facing their own class.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">But
I have never known anyone to show up to work not wearing pants. Even President
Clinton wore his into the Oval Office, at least.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Like
I said, I’m no prude. I even watch Naked and Afraid on the Discovery Channel
when nobody is around.</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">But no pants? That has to be against the school dress code.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span></o:p></span> </div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-84767558088353586062014-08-07T17:08:00.002-07:002014-08-07T17:08:50.273-07:00South Haven is Shangri-La
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Spent a week in South Haven.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We’d never been before to the small town in southwestern
Michigan before.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rented a house, drove three hours westbound, and there it
was.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Not just the house, but the town. Not just the town, but
the lake.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">All of the above was very, very pleasant.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is something about Lake Michigan that is inspiring.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Not that I was inspired to go kayaking. Not that it
inspired me enough to charter a fishing boat and wrestle a salmon out of the
water. Not inspirational enough to swim a mile every morning.</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ioBY6gysMmi80jcrZw2zD_69mX6_VVnndZxxaMTmsvPh6yLtmB_aOxOfR-e1xMZVAEViQ2Tv_cfLSZB8FFdb6V1BXYAFdrzC9aZb-NJnyzZqQ9FplKqJMryIP06w8k-wAJItNRsTS6E/s1600/SOUTH+HAVEN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ioBY6gysMmi80jcrZw2zD_69mX6_VVnndZxxaMTmsvPh6yLtmB_aOxOfR-e1xMZVAEViQ2Tv_cfLSZB8FFdb6V1BXYAFdrzC9aZb-NJnyzZqQ9FplKqJMryIP06w8k-wAJItNRsTS6E/s1600/SOUTH+HAVEN.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Truthfully, we mostly watched. We watched the water. We
watched our grown kids watching their own kids as they played on the beach.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After the kids left, it was just my wife, Kim, and I.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We drank coffee on the deck. We ate lunch on the beach. We
read and we read some more. We relaxed and if we felt like it, we took a nap.
If that sounds boring, well here’s a big hug and a big hooray for boring.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We had a great time.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">South Haven is just the right size. There is enough to do
without being overwhelmed. There was <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>some traffic, but nothing like it is here. No
road rage. No carjackings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No gripping
the steering wheel so tight you develop both blisters and high blood pressure.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We ate fish. We ate burgers. We ate ice cream.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Did I mention we ate ice cream? Probably five out of
seven nights.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The vacation is over. It is great to be back. I think.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-58300230082449565722014-07-21T19:00:00.002-07:002014-07-21T19:00:41.152-07:00Checking in at Michigan and Trumbull
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It's a ball diamond now.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Well-kept, thanks to the efforts of the all-volunteer
Navin Field Grounds Crew, but still just a ball diamond.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tiger Stadium used to sit the intersection of
Michigan and Trumbull. It always seemed so massive, didn’t it?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Especially when you were a kid. Stadium walls rising
from the sidewalk higher than a swatted fungo. Light towers perched above the
upper deck. You swear you could see them shining during a night game from
Bellville and Belle Isle.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tiger Stadium was almost intimidating from the
outside.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But once inside, nothing was more enthralling. Walking
through the concourse and making your way to the seats. Almost magically, urban
became rural; the typical city palette of hard scrabble grays turned incredibly
green.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Green is the way the field remains, even though
the stadium is no longer there.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It was Father’s Day when my wife and I and our
youngest daughter, Breanna, made our way to Corktown. We were going to grab
something to eat at the Mercury Burger Bar that’s just a handful of blocks west
of Trumbull on Michigan.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As we drove by the site where Tiger Stadium
formerly resided, a vintage baseball game was being played. People in garb more
befitting the 1860s than 21<sup>st</sup> century were batting the ball and
running the bases.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We immediately stopped, yanked some folding
chairs from the trunk, and made our way to the game. We joined the hundred or
so other people who were watching the game.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hot dogs were offered by the Navin Field Grounds
Crew. So, too, was Faygo soda pop.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A man came by selling peanuts and I couldn’t
resist. Old habits are hard to break, and I used to grab a brown bag full of
salted peanuts from a vendor on Trumbull before every Tiger game I attended.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">None of the vintage players wore gloves. None
had an agent, either. There were a few bleachers. Not a single suite to be
found. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Some kids were playing catch behind the
backstop. A mom was feeding her infant along the first base line. Some very pleasant
people from the Navin Field Grounds Crew were spooning baked beans and potato
salad onto plates to accompany the Ballpark Franks. Donations were appreciated
but not required.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While I am sure that food is not always served,
there seems to be a lot of baseball on the menu at Michigan and Trumbull these
days. Youth games are played on a regular basis. Vintage baseball seems to have
found a home for obvious reasons. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While it is no longer the site of Tiger Stadium,
it remains a baseball diamond and somehow that seems exactly right.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Isn’t it the essence of the game? Strip away all
the garnishments and baseball is all about grass and dirt and if you're lucky,
some actual bases and a fence for a backstop.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That's the way we all got started playing.
Running to the playground. Sprinting to the park. Jumping over the fence into
your neighbor’s yard. Grabbing a baseball and a bat and depending upon your
age, that bat was either fashioned from wood or metal.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m an old guy. Our bats were always wood. They'd
crack and we'd tape them up. The crack would get worse and we'd drive a nail or
two to keep them intact. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tiger Stadium is gone, but the baseball field
remains. Say thanks to the Navin Field Grounds Crew. Not just for the hot dog.
Not just for the Faygo.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But for preserving the baseball field. For
keeping the memories of Tiger Stadium alive. For providing for future memories,
too.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-27782307854760030982014-07-08T14:15:00.001-07:002014-07-08T14:15:18.923-07:00Referees wear the Scarlet R
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Most high school sports game officials know exactly how
Hester Prynne felt.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For those who didn’t take – or pass – American
Literature, Hester Prynne was the protagonist in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Scarlet
Letter.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">An adulteress in Puritanical New England, Prynne was
forced to wear an ‘A’ on her forehead and was hence scorned.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Scorned is something that high school referees know
plenty about. It’s their shared plight in life.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Somebody with 20/100 vision perched on the top row of the
bleachers during a basketball game somehow has a better vantage point than the ref
who is three feet away from the play. The dad screams in outrage at the ref’s
call.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A football coach patrols the sidelines adjacent to his
team’s bench. One of his players is called for an illegal block 35 yards away
on the poorly lit field. The coach’s stomping sets off a choreography of outrage.
The fans and players get in on the act. It is mob mentality in school colors.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A soccer mom spots an alleged infraction from the
passenger seat of her Dodge Caravan. She howls in anguish. A hockey dad
drinking coffee, eating popcorn and texting screams that the puck went over the
goal line.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And so it goes. Refs get abused. It is a nightly
occurrence. Even when they get it completely right, they are absolutely wrong
in the eyes of many.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So why not step to the plate – or behind it -- yourself? How
about wearing the Scarlet R? Without game officials, games could not be played.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) is accepting
registrations by mail and online for game officials for the 2014-15 school year.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Online registration can be
accessed by clicking “Officials” at www.mhsaa.com. Forms also are available
online that can be printed and submitted by traditional mail or hand delivery
to the MHSAA office. More information about officials’ registration may be
obtained by contacting the MHSAA at 1661 Ramblewood Drive, East Lansing, MI,
48823, by phone at 517-332-5046 or by e-mail at </span></span><a href="mailto:register@mhsaa.com"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: blue;">register@mhsaa.com</span></span></a><span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is an test for
first-time officials and officials who were not registered during the past
school year. The test consists of 45 questions derived from the MHSAA Officials
Guidebook, which also is available on the Officials page of the MHSAA website.
Additional 50-question exams must be taken by those registering for football or
basketball for the first time or those who were not registered for those sports
during the previous school year. Manuals for both sports also are available on
the Officials page.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have seen countless high school games over the years. I
have heard a lot of whistles in my time. Sure I have witnessed some calls that
I didn’t think were correct. But do you know what; I have seen a lot more blown
plays than blown calls.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have seen kids toss up jumpers that hit so much metal you’d
swear they were members of the ironworkers union. <span style="color: black;">I
have seen so many kids fumble footballs and miss passes you’d swear </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">part
of the pre-game ritual included smearing Crisco on their mitts. I’ve seen
baseball and softball players swing at pitches that weren’t even in the same time
zone, let along the strike zone.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And sorry coaches, but I have also seen game
strategies that resemble something written up by General George Armstrong
Custer. What was the score of that game at the Little Big Horn anyway?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So maybe a questionable call does decide a game
or two every decade or so. But do you know what; those games were usually
decided a long time beforehand. By a kid who couldn’t hit a free throw even if
the Spalding was attached to a drone. By a kid who ran the anchor leg of the
4-by-200 relay wearing more jewelry than Mr. T in his heyday. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You’ve probably done your share of yelling at
the refs. Why not wear that Scarlet R yourself?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-13831350589054847512014-06-17T15:58:00.002-07:002014-06-17T15:58:50.988-07:00Saying goodbye to Bob Welch
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">The
Bob Welch most folks recollect threw fastballs in the high 90s.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Welch
would rear back and the ball would come out of his hand already spitting
sparks. Halfway to the plate you’d testify in court that it had a comet’s tail.
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Just
ask Reggie Jackson.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">It
was an iconic moment in game two of the 1978 World Series. It was Jackson’s
Yankees taking on the Dodgers. Welch was a 21-year-old rookie out of Eastern
Michigan University called into the game to protect a one-run lead with one out
in the ninth inning. He got Thurman Munson to fly out before facing Jackson,
one of the game’s most feared power hitters.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">The
at-bat lasted more than five minutes. Welch threw nine pitches and all of them were
pure, unapologetic heat. There was no indecision in his approach. On a 3-2
count, Welch scorched the inside corner. Reggie swung and missed and the
Dodgers won.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBxHgKt5XQLzlF0S97_Tm9lbWgE4lNEf2ncq2c0H1r92q2oeLrFxugTO7mpmQeZn0FiY1M9Z-j6lNxu498w7n_9ZZyswi9feZgszFm_GmUiM2UJg1kzaCMCX7TifO4n-Ivw6ig3ftEmyw/s1600/BOB+WELCH+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBxHgKt5XQLzlF0S97_Tm9lbWgE4lNEf2ncq2c0H1r92q2oeLrFxugTO7mpmQeZn0FiY1M9Z-j6lNxu498w7n_9ZZyswi9feZgszFm_GmUiM2UJg1kzaCMCX7TifO4n-Ivw6ig3ftEmyw/s1600/BOB+WELCH+1.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Welch,
who won 211 games in 17 major league seasons from 1978 to 1990, died Monday in
Seal Beach, California, of a heart attack. He was just 57.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Welch,
who grew up in Ferndale and attended Hazel Park High School, was named to
All-Star teams in both the American and National leagues, and won the American
League Cy Young Award in 1990.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">That’s
strictly the national recollection.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">But
folks who knew Bob Welch from back home in Oakland County, have other memories.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Carol
Sheldon was a longtime teacher and coach in Hazel Park. Sheldon, who is playing
in a softball tournament down in Tennessee this week, posted this on Facebook:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #37404e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">What I remember about Bob was that he was always happy to come home to
Tiger Stadium. He was always so good to the fans in Detroit and had time to
sign a few autographs. But what I most remember was the day (near Christmas) he
walked into my<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="textexposedshow">volleyball practice at HP and ask if he could do some throwing
at the other end of the gym. Of course I said yes! After he was finished he
walked up to a couple my Varsity VB players and asked them if they would teach
him how to serve! He told the girls that he had moved to California and he
thought he better learn how to play VB. Needless to say my girls were very
excited to teach him. I know he took the time to talk to students at HP about
his life. You will be missed Bob, especially in HP.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #37404e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">It was in June of
1974 when Bob Welch graduated from Hazel Park High. Greg Esler is a ’73 Hazel
Park High grad.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #37404e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“Bob and I were
friends. We played little league baseball and high school basketball together,”
said Esler. “He was, without question, the most gifted athlete I’ve ever seen.
I have never seen anyone who could throw a baseball like him. As a freshman, he
threw a football 65 yards at Webb Junior High.”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #37404e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Esler has known
plenty of quality athletes. He’s a Hall of Fame high school basketball coach
who has been at De La Salle in Warren since the late 1990s. Prior to that, he
won a state championship in 1994 coaching at St. Clair Shores Lake Shore. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #37404e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Esler has won
numerous league, district and regional championships as well. He has more than
a handful of NCAA Division 1 athletes.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #37404e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“Bob was genuinely
one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. He was so grounded. I mean we came from a
community where our houses were what, 1,000 square feet with one bathroom? Bob
went from that background to making millions and meeting people like Frank
Sinatra and Fleetwood Mac, but when he came he was always just one of the guys
from Hazel Park High.”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #37404e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Bob Welch never
turned his back on his childhood. Not when he came back to play at Tiger
Stadium years ago. Not just four years ago when he returned to play in a golf
outing for Greg and Rhonda Esler’s deceased son, Doug, who died in an ATV
accident when he was just 15.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #37404e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">“Bob just showed up.
It was very, very nice of him,” said Greg Esler. “I lived right across the
street from Green Acres Park. Bob lived nearby. Bobby’s parents were just like
mine. Our dads worked very hard and our moms stayed home to watch the kids. We
didn’t have much, but we didn’t realize it. We played sports all of the time
and when it rained, we read Hardy Boy books. That is how we grew up.”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="background: white; color: #37404e; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Bob Welch had his
best season in 1990 when he went 27-6 for Oakland. That was his Cy Young
season. It was the most wins for a pitcher </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">since
the Phillies’ Steve Carlton won 27 in 1972. The last time anyone won more was
when Denny McLain won 31 in 1968 for the Tigers. Welch ended his career with a
record of 211-146 and an ERA of 3.47. He struck out 1,969 batters and walked
1,034 in 3,092 innings. He had 28 shutouts and 61 career complete games.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Not all of his successes came on the mound. In his
1</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">981
book, “Five O’Clock Comes Early,” written with New York Times sportswriter
George Vecsey, Bob Welch described his struggles with alcohol. It was one of
the first times a pro athlete openly discussed a drinking problem.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Bob Welch had the courage to face his problem, just like he
faced Reggie Jackson and countless other hitters during his career. He won that
battle, just like the one in the second game of the World Series in 1978.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">RIP Bob Welch. Your home town is proud of you.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-75333877074773794912014-05-27T17:05:00.001-07:002014-05-27T17:05:33.781-07:00Saying thanks on Memorial Day<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-image: none !important; border: currentColor; box-shadow: none !important; color: #5a5858; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 19px/32px "PT Serif", Tahoma, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Looking back, I was a chicken.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-image: none !important; border: currentColor; box-shadow: none !important; color: #5a5858; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 19px/32px "PT Serif", Tahoma, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
There was Walter Cronkite presenting the nightly scoreboard on the CBS Evening News. He would give the tally of how many North Vietnamese had died, and how many Americans.</div>
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Right away I knew I never wanted to become part of the tally. By then, the war in Vietnam had become extremely unpopular. It was really our first televised war, and I saw all I wanted on the RCA with the 12-inch screen in our living room.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDMguTc4qjnQRG2L5pKWOymAjYKT3b6buPyDRK7BxnQrCjlJJS89gtpCqURYxDWhcXWC6sqre-NGHxnhyphenhyphenNnmSSCziGX1ugcss1K9S8wHJYESvJP9mbU2soWX6685PiGzQlf7UHK8kvtI/s1600/CRONKITE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDMguTc4qjnQRG2L5pKWOymAjYKT3b6buPyDRK7BxnQrCjlJJS89gtpCqURYxDWhcXWC6sqre-NGHxnhyphenhyphenNnmSSCziGX1ugcss1K9S8wHJYESvJP9mbU2soWX6685PiGzQlf7UHK8kvtI/s1600/CRONKITE.jpg" height="248" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-image: none !important; border: currentColor; box-shadow: none !important; color: #5a5858; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 19px/32px "PT Serif", Tahoma, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
You didn’t need high definition to define fear and that is what I felt.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-image: none !important; border: currentColor; box-shadow: none !important; color: #5a5858; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 19px/32px "PT Serif", Tahoma, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Some of my oldest brother, Tom’s, friends had been drafted. Some had gone from suburbs to Ssoutheast Asia in an awful hurry. At least one had decided to head to Canada. There were FBI agents at his parents’ house on a mighty regular basis.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-image: none !important; border: currentColor; box-shadow: none !important; color: #5a5858; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 19px/32px "PT Serif", Tahoma, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
By the time I turned 18, there was no longer a draft. It was a lottery and I swear on the resume of Bob Barker it was one with potentially deadly results.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-image: none !important; border: currentColor; box-shadow: none !important; color: #5a5858; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 19px/32px "PT Serif", Tahoma, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
That initial lottery drawing – the first since 1942 – was held on December 1, 1969, in Washington D.C. There were 366 blue plastic capsules containing birth dates placed in a large glass container and drawn by hand to assign order-of-call numbers to all men within the 18-26 age range.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-image: none !important; border: currentColor; box-shadow: none !important; color: #5a5858; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 19px/32px "PT Serif", Tahoma, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
The capsules were drawn from a container, opened, and the dates inside posted in order.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-image: none !important; border: currentColor; box-shadow: none !important; color: #5a5858; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 19px/32px "PT Serif", Tahoma, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
My personal lottery came a few years later. I was born in 1954. A group of us gathered together at Albion College to see where the numbers would fall. My birthday was September 17, and the assigned number was 320.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-image: none !important; border: currentColor; box-shadow: none !important; color: #5a5858; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 19px/32px "PT Serif", Tahoma, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
I was ecstatic and now all these years later, I am a little bit ashamed of myself.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-image: none !important; border: currentColor; box-shadow: none !important; color: #5a5858; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 19px/32px "PT Serif", Tahoma, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
I have a great life and how many others never got that chance? War has taken some of this country’s best and brightest.</div>
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They say freedom isn’t free, and that could not be more spot on. As a country, we have paid dearly, and continue to play dearly, for our freedom.</div>
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I remember being 18 and not knowing exactly what the future held. Was I going to Vietnam? Was I going to be one of Walter Cronkite’s tally?</div>
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I had played Taps at a handful of funerals for servicemen who had died in Vietnam when I was in high school, so I certainly was aware of the potential consequences.</div>
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I’d done the same in front of the veteran’s memorial in my hometown following the Memorial Day parade.</div>
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Memorial Day was Monday, and it wasn't t too much to ask to spend an hour or two watching a local parade. I stood up and saluted the flag. I said thanks to a veteran, a guy with long gray hair and a beard to match. I said a prayer for those who are no longer with us.</div>
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They served so I did not have to. They answered the call so I could stay home and play football and basketball and baseball.</div>
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My dad was in the Navy in World War II. My wife’s dad was a Marine in WWII.</div>
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That was the extent of our family’s military involvement. I never served. My brothers never served. None of my kids are currently in the military, either.</div>
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I went to a parade on Monday. I went to the veterans memorial. I stood there while Taps was played. I listened to the speeches and watched the plane fly by and felt a little undeserving.</div>
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I have had a great life. I have a great wife and four great kids. Some others never got the chance.</div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-4408242112657501402014-05-15T16:36:00.000-07:002014-05-15T16:36:25.062-07:00Racing to battle mental illness<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-image: none !important; border: currentColor; box-shadow: none !important; color: #a7a7a7; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 15px/24px Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 10px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">Hector Goodwin was a World War II veteran.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">He was in the Merchant Marines, and those brave men and women took tremendous risks to keep this country’s vital shipping lines open.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">They were subject to attack from submarines, dive bombers and surface boats.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">In fact, Goodwin’s ship was ripped apart in one such attack. He was rescued by the British, but some wounds never seem to heal.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Goodwin suffered from what is now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In November of 1968, Hector Goodwin killed himself.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Peggy Goodwin, who is a city commissioner in Royal Oak, was just six years old when her father died. Her sister, Christina, was nine.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikuIlyqaehBDLFosaUyuIDIg0Rac6wEhEr5NHjgnIDWRjWdU-WY54xoJYc6yBHLlN7nfGRJnm5hwyY9hPrNJsx6e0LrdqKUtW2_G0r_pN7NeoKA_NGXFkl2e_Mtc85zJ-QgoTmtGk2URU/s1600/GOODWIN+PHOTO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikuIlyqaehBDLFosaUyuIDIg0Rac6wEhEr5NHjgnIDWRjWdU-WY54xoJYc6yBHLlN7nfGRJnm5hwyY9hPrNJsx6e0LrdqKUtW2_G0r_pN7NeoKA_NGXFkl2e_Mtc85zJ-QgoTmtGk2URU/s1600/GOODWIN+PHOTO.jpg" height="218" width="320" /></a><span style="color: black;">"People always say that kids are flexible and they bounce back, and that is true in a sense," said Goodwin. "But I believe that some of the feelings don't really manifest themselves until you get older. You hold things in and eventually you have to talk to someone; I know that was the case with me.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Hector Goodwin was a very intelligent man. He was also very protective of his daughters and his wife, Elizabeth. The family lived in Huntington Woods.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">"Ours was like a Brady Bunch street with all the kids having moms and dads," said Goodwin. "We obviously were a little different.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">"Suicide was a very taboo subject. You couldn't talk about it. It was hard to reach out to anyone," said Goodwin. "By the time my dad was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, it had manifested itself into alcoholism and other mental illnesses. I know he did seek help eventually.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Getting help is what the Mind Over Matter (MOM) Race is all about. When it debuted nine years ago as a nonprofit organization dedicated to suicide prevention and mental health, 300 people showed up for the 5K run. This past year, more than 1,100 people participated. To date, more than $120,000 has been raised for research and prevention, and countless lives have been touched.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">On Saturday, May 3, the 2014 MOM Race was held at Starr Jaycee Park in Royal Oak, which is located on the south side of 13 Mile Road just east of Crooks.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The four children of Gail Boledovich are the ones behind the MOM Race. Their mom, who had battled mental illness, was lost to suicide on May 1, 2005, just days before her 49<sup style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">th</sup><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>birthday.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The race title sponsor was once again the Forget-Me-Not Thrift Store in Lincoln Park. Business owner Kim Gross lost her daughter-in-law, Karen Gross, to suicide in January 2009. Kim Gross donates all her store’s proceeds to mental health awareness and suicide prevention programs, including MOM.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Julie (Boledovich) Farhat is the race founder and executive director. Farhat is involved with Royal Oak SAFE, a collaborative task force founded by Goodwin that works to promote mental health and wellness. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><em><strong>For more information on the MOM Race, visit www.MOMrace.org</strong></em></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-24224277682319824752014-05-14T14:02:00.003-07:002014-05-14T14:02:55.648-07:00Nick Ureel was real-life tough
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You want tough?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You’re probably
thinking a guy who can easily bench 550 pounds and has skin the texture of beef
jerky.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You want grit?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All right, so now you’re
probably thinking about a guy whose face stubble could sand graffiti off
buildings and whose voice makes James Earl Jones sound like one of the Vienna
Choir Boys.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Your want real-life
tough?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Undoubtedly that was Nick
Ureel, a senior at Chippewa Valley High School, who passed away a couple of
weeks ago after a courageous battle with cancer.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"If we don't learn
a million life lessons from a young man like Nick Ureel, shame on us,"
said Scott Merchant, the football coach at Chippewa Valley. "Nick was
always positive. He was never bitter or said `Why me?' He always had a smile on
his face. He lived his life to the fullest. Nick had resiliency and he had
spirit. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I had football class and
there were 70 guys in it and we all just sat and talked about Nick and the good
memories we had. At the end of class, I challenged them to go home and actually
tell those that you love that you loved them. As coaches, we always tell our
guys to play like it's your last play, and that should be a lesson in life,
too. Live like it's your last day because you never know."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Nick Ureel's last play
for the Big Reds came as a sophomore. When he did not show up bright and early
on the first day of football camp as a junior, the coaches at Chippewa Valley
knew something wasn’t right.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I mean, Nick came to
absolutely everything related to football," said Merchant. "You never
had to worry about him being at workouts or anything else. When he did not show
up on opening day, we called his home to make sure things were all right. Nick and
his mom came to practice Wednesday of that week. Nick’s back was really hurting
and he didn't know if he'd be able to play."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A week or so later,
the unbearable diagnosis was made. Nick Ureel had testicular cancer.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Despite the ensuing
array of treatment plans that included surgeries and incessant chemotherapy,
Nick was always on the sidelines for his beloved Chippewa Valley Big Reds. Even
though he couldn’t play, he was happy to be with his friends and classmates.
Much more specifically, Nick was very happy to be with his fellow offensive
linemen.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"After we'd
score, or after a series would be over, the offensive linemen would come off
the field and sit on their bench, and Nick was always right there with
them," said Merchant. “He was there to encourage them, or to cheer along
with them.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Nick did not just sit.
Do you want to know tough? Do you want to know grit? Chippewa Valley opened its
2013 season against Dearborn at Wayne State University. Nick was coming off
surgery and had told the coaches he wasn’t sure if he would be at the game. But
a day or two before kickoff, he showed up at practice. Inspiration is much more
than just a word in the Merriam Webster dictionary.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOplDpjDwFJq9rSoANt5bgjghsegS1o3to1MB_hdDJXCSnpYdACVHIb_FcrKAiqysDPCH_nPLOGLJ05gh-Lz1laWa2TqdvQl7pJiqhAMPf1M0e9d9uMk5Xj8qEnKdAG-AAUEYoOdm5lw/s1600/THIS+NICK+UREEL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOplDpjDwFJq9rSoANt5bgjghsegS1o3to1MB_hdDJXCSnpYdACVHIb_FcrKAiqysDPCH_nPLOGLJ05gh-Lz1laWa2TqdvQl7pJiqhAMPf1M0e9d9uMk5Xj8qEnKdAG-AAUEYoOdm5lw/s1600/THIS+NICK+UREEL.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"We wanted Nick
to lead us out onto the field carrying an American flag," said Merchant.
"But I was worried about him. Before we went out, I told Nick aside that it
was all right to just take it easy, that he could walk if he wanted to. I
didn't want him overdoing it."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So what does Nick
Ureel do? He told his coach that “we don’t walk onto a football field.” He took
off running, waving the flag and smiling like he was auditioning for a Crest
tooth paste commercial. All of his fired up teammates followed. Chippewa Valley
beat Dearborn that day, 27-20, in a double overtime thriller. The victory was
clinched when Alex Marko intercepted a pass. Alex told Nick that interception
was for him.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Big Reds raced off
the field and huddled up in exultation and right in the middle of the joyful
melee was Nick Ureel.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Nick was at every
game. He was a huge inspiration to everybody in the program. Despite everything
he went through with the treatments, he always had a smile on his face. He was
always so positive. He was just a special kid and a special young man. I
learned a lot from him. I think a lot of us did. Not just about football but
about life.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Nick Ureel was tough.
He was real-life tough. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-73099988827400518532014-05-13T18:45:00.002-07:002014-05-13T18:45:23.306-07:00Carpe diem ...please!
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Carpe diem.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Seize the day.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">That’s because you never
know how many more pages on the calendar that are waiting for your signature.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">That hit home with much
more force recently.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My mom’s 86 years old. At
least that is what her birth certificate says. Her lifestyle disputes that
claim. She is fiercely independent. She lives alone. She loves to garden. She drives
her own car. Not just to the nearby store or the neighborhood Applebee’s, but across
the state to see my brother’s family in Muskegon. Nearly as far to visit her
grandson’s wife and kids in Grand Rapids. To Ohio to check in with Kelly, her
granddaughter; Kelly’s husband, Ron; and their two boys.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You get the idea. Mom is 86
going on 55.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Only she fell and broke
her hip a couple of weeks ago. She is going through rehab now. All of a sudden,
I have an 86-year-old mom. I never expected that to happen.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m the youngest of three sons.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Young is very relative these days, but
you know what I mean.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My oldest brother, Tom,
has had problems with his balance the last couple of years. His mental cognition
is off, too. Sometimes words don’t come to him as quickly as they used to.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">They used to come very
quickly. He’s an attorney with a hair trigger vocabulary. These days, words
sometimes fall out of his mouth in a jumble. His comprehension isn’t the same,
either.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The doctors have diagnosed
</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic
acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS).<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">That medical mouthful
sounds horribly familiar; it is what my other brother, Bill, eventually died
of.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don’t expect
mournful violins. I don’t want meals to be put on the front porch. I don’t want
to haul in fistfuls of sympathy cards from the mailbox.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I just want you to
seize the day. That’s all.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-82618740219449961182014-05-13T16:49:00.001-07:002014-05-13T16:50:57.394-07:00Saying thanks to athletic directors everywhere<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I
was honored by the Oakland County Athletic Directors Association earlier this
year.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The
plaque thanked me “For your service, dedication and commitment to athletics in
Oakland County.”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On
it, my name was spelled Jim Evan.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Touche’
since I have bungled plenty of names since I started in this business in the late
1970s.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Honestly,
I was very touched by the award.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I
didn’t give much of a speech. It lasted about 32.45 seconds. I opted for a hurried
thanks. Speaking in front of a crowd is my autographed phobia. I’d be more
comfortable kissing Joan Rivers <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or
having an intellectual conversation with any of the Kardashians.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But
my relative silence did not mean I was not appreciative. The award meant more
to me than most people will ever know.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My
dad was a coach and an athletic director in Walled Lake. I know how many long hours
those folks put in. They get to the office early. They turn off the lights in
the gym late.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Missed
meals used to be wrapped in aluminum foil and reheated. Now they are put in the
microwave in a Tupperware container. It’s all the same. Athletic directors and
coaches miss dinner plenty.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Coaches
make sacrifices. Athletic directors make sacrifices. Educators make sacrifices.
They all work long hours. They do it for our kids.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I
was a little kid when I realized that. My formative years were spent at
practice or in the bleachers at what was then Walled Lake High School. I’d
either be helping round up the basketballs, shagging baseballs, or watching a game
from the far corner of the bleachers.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I
loved every minute of it.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I
still do.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Really,
my life has not changed much, and I could not be happier. I’m still going to
games. I’m still going to practices. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, I am mostly still sitting in the far
corners of gyms.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I
have always had a love for high school sports. It must be genetic. Some people
don’t understand the value of sports in terms of education. Granted, they might
not help you get ready for the SAT or the ACT, but they sure the heck help you
get ready for life.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I
had countless pals who would’ve dropped out of school and gone straight to the
Wixom Ford or Riley’s gas station if it had not been for sports. They begrudgingly
went to math or science class. Contrast that with them sprinting to the
wrestling room or the football field.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cross
country runners will tell you it takes hard work in order to succeed. That same
thought is echoed through every high school locker room by countless young men
and women, no matter what the sport.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Put
in the miles. Or heft the weights. Or shoot baskets in the summer. Or swat
baseballs in the cage. This is getting redundant. You get the point. You reap
what you sow. So don’t just shrug your shoulders and say “So what?”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sports
are a good road test for life. Show up ill-prepared for a job interview and
while the scoreboard won’t confirm it, you’ll be a loser. That job goes to
somebody else.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Keith
Dunlap of The Oakland Press was also honored at the banquet.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">To
reiterate, I did not give much of a speech. I am no Dale Carnegie grad. My
relative silence should not be misinterpreted. I could not have been more
appreciative. I grew up with high school sports. I have spent my entire adult
life with high school sports.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thanks
to all of the athletic directors. Thanks especially to Brian Gordon, the
athletic director at Novi High School. He used to hold that position in Royal
Oak, where he also coached the varsity baseball team. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thanks
most of all to the late Tom Evans. He was an AD. He was my dad. I couldn’t
speak at his funeral, either. Sorry, Pop. You didn’t raise a Toastmaster.<o:p></o:p></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-5587669799074499932014-05-13T16:39:00.000-07:002014-05-13T16:39:00.216-07:00Red tag sail on Lake St. Clair
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I’m
not a sailor.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Not
even close. I own a kayak and that’s it. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">But
in my heart I am.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I
am on Lake St. Clair with sails billowing and the wind in my hair.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I
am in the South Pacific on water so blue it makes Nicole Kidman’s eyes look
positively rheumy.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I
am in the Caribbean with the anchor down as I sit on the deck reading something
by Hemingway or maybe it’s Thor Heyerdahl’s Kon Tiki.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I
really don’t drink alcohol, but I would have to add a sweating longneck bottle
of Red Stripe to that idyllic scenario.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I
am captain and I am wearing a hat like the Skipper on Gilligan’s Island. I am walking
jauntily on the deck like Jack Sparrow. I am Master and Commander, much like
Russell Crowe, only a whole lot poorer and way more ugly.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4v6Hl80YPoTLddPyfir3ScQLFZNg1P05aAwxuyw8hLTKA1aGxesRzdBcIyRxxezArgIiF6FfHx3wrpwVXx_pbvXIhra92WHQMnzMmZ5I6JJQM1YIEsCMojhVcEZ76Qarzcjxr8ZZBFSE/s1600/SAILBOAT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4v6Hl80YPoTLddPyfir3ScQLFZNg1P05aAwxuyw8hLTKA1aGxesRzdBcIyRxxezArgIiF6FfHx3wrpwVXx_pbvXIhra92WHQMnzMmZ5I6JJQM1YIEsCMojhVcEZ76Qarzcjxr8ZZBFSE/s1600/SAILBOAT.jpg" height="139" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I
don’t know when the sailing fantasy took hold. I have always loved the water
from the time I was a little kid on Rainbow Beach in Chicago. I still adore it,
be it Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula, the Les Cheneaux Islands in Lake
Huron or Carlin Park on the Atlantic Ocean in Tequesta, Florida. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">But
as far as watercraft goes, once you get beyond canoes, rowboats or kayaks, I
have never owned squat.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">I
just like the idea of sailing. Maybe it started back in college when I began
listening to Jimmy Buffet music. It wasn’t his mythical Margarita that I was
entranced by. It was the whole sailing theme. Even though I was less than half
the age, I was entranced by “A Pirate Looks at 40.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Mother, mother ocean, I've
heard you call<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
Wanted to sail upon your waters<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
Since I was three feet tall<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
You've seen it all, you've seen it all<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
<br />
Watch the men who rode you<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
Switch from sails to steam<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
And in your belly you can hold the treasures<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
Few have ever seen<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
Most of them dream<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
Most of them dream<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
<br />
Yes, I am a pirate two hundred years too late<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
Cannons don't thunder there's nothin' to plunder<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
I'm an over forty victim of fate<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
Arriving too late, arriving too late<span class="apple-converted-space"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe I haven’t arrived too late after all. Even
on the horizon of 60, there’s a chance that my long-held fantasy could become a
reality. The North Star Sail Club in Harrison Township is offering sailing
lessons for youth and adults.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">The club’s upcoming schedule includes Youth
Learn to Sail (Beginner) and Intermediate; Advanced/Competitive Race Program;
and Adult Learn to Sail Program.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">An open house at the North Star Sail Club,
32041 South River Road, will be from 1-3 p.m., Sunday, May 18.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">For more information, either call
586-463-2192 or visit </span></span><a href="http://www.northstarjrsailing.org/"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue;">www.northstarjrsailing.org</span></span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">
<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;">See you there. I’ll be the one wearing the
hat like the Skipper from Gilligan’s Island.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534222841555396791noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6370788302063528731.post-53254737494628817712013-11-06T18:11:00.000-08:002013-11-06T18:11:03.401-08:00Shaking off disappointment at Lutheran North<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Two-year-old Josie in a fairy costume.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Wings in pastel shades. Shimmering when they caught the sun just right. A Dum Dum sucker firmly implanted in her mouth that she refused to turn over even to her dad and who can blame her?</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">That was Halloween for a two-year-old in downtown Royal Oak last Sunday.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Josie’s our granddaughter. Her dad, Kyle is our son. I remember when my wife, Kim, used to make Halloween costumes for Kyle and our three other kids.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">There was no Costume USA or Party City. There was fabric, a sewing machine and voila, a puppy dog or an ugly witch or a Star Wars character.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8jcvi0ofLnvj8m1mXhZrYwk07ugXbjhiU1P9mVmv9layNVeNFtXimfjvH0hfyw0N5v5TqmHwW0NEv_qe9AmyFrtOSWl6XNEVZG5ObZq97h91AHAdvHQJ3nPmFTDDpHc4jVN5BmwIhbf0/s1600/LUTHERAN+NORTH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8jcvi0ofLnvj8m1mXhZrYwk07ugXbjhiU1P9mVmv9layNVeNFtXimfjvH0hfyw0N5v5TqmHwW0NEv_qe9AmyFrtOSWl6XNEVZG5ObZq97h91AHAdvHQJ3nPmFTDDpHc4jVN5BmwIhbf0/s320/LUTHERAN+NORTH.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<strong>The Lutheran North soccer team will go striding into another season soon enough. (The Macomb Daily/RAY J. SKOWRONEK)</strong></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Julian is our one-year-old grandson. His trick or treating – along with many other youngsters -- was sadly rained out.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Some years we passed out full-size candy bars. Other years, it might’ve been a sleeve of Smarties. Forget the stock market; </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">just check out what the Evans family is handing out the front door to see how the local economy is doing.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">I got to thinking about life, passing out candy, and how time passes by the other night while I was at Lutheran North’s state semifinal soccer game against Flint Powers Catholic earlier this week.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">The Lutheran North Mustangs lost 2-1 in a shootout. The players were devastated, an emotion that was etched on their faces as they came off the field. Contrast that with the jubilation of the players from Flint Powers Catholic.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">The pain of such a loss probably seem like it’ll last forever for the young players. Trust me, it does eventually subside. The juniors on the roster will be seniors. The sophomores will be juniors and the sole ninth grader will be in the 10<sup>th</sup> grade next year. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Noah and Kasey Lesnau are on the Lutheran North team. Their dad is Jeff Lesnau, and I knew Jeff when he was just a kid. My wife and I know their grandparents, Rocky and Mary Ann Lesnau.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Jeff wanted to be a sportswriter at one time. He’s found other career paths. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">I talked to Mary Ann before the Flint Powers game. She could not have been more excited to watch the upcoming game. Rocky died a while back, but you know he would have loved seeing his grandsons playing on the field at Brandon High School at few days ago, too.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Lutheran North lost on the night before Halloween. But do you know what, life went on. At least a few hardy kids braved the weather, held out their bags, and were rewarded with Laffy Taffy, Milk Duds and Dum Dum suckers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">As tough as the moment seems to be, the sun always rises the next day. There will be another day’s worth of celebrity gossip on TMZ and the last time I looked, Butterball is still in the Thanksgiving turkey business.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">We’ll be saying grace for Thanksgiving, and paying our credit card bills after Christmas. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">The Mustangs will be back in the fall. They will be back with a vengeance. A year older. A year bigger. And mostly, a year better.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">All the parents loved watching them play. All of the grandparents, too. I know at least one grandpa who would have loved it, too.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Next Halloween, the treats just might be theirs. A Snickers bar. Some Twizzlers. And a state championship.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">“To God be the glory,” said Lutheran North coach Brian Horvath after the game.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Maybe He can pass some along in 2014.</span></span></div>
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