Some Spring Observations

The spring season is finally getting in a groove as the weather has been pretty nice the last few days, except for an occasional rain. Here are some early observations...

Some more championships are on the horizon: Last year this area was blessed to have two State Champions in the Ubly girls' track team and the USA softball team. I got the chance to see both of them in action over the last seven days and let's just say I was extremely impressed. I'm not ready to proclaim any one a shoo-in for a State Title like a jinx I used to work with once did, but I will say the post-season should be good for both of these teams.


For Ubly, my first question is whether it is possible for this team to actually be better than they were last season. It seems early on that some of the younger runners have made vasts improvements, while coach Pat Bolda has reorganized some of her races in order to maximize the opportunities for points.


That strategy seems to be paying off big time if you look at the results from the Brown City Invite. You can check those out at www.huroncountypress.com in the sports roundup.


The only question this team will face is how effective they can be with Shannon Weber reduced to more of part time role. She has decided this season to play softball, too, which I hear is somethings she has apparently always wanted to do. The question will be whether or not it will effect her ability to place in events like the high jump in big meets. We'll see.


As for a possible repeat, one of my friends thought it will be rough because as he says "all the stars aligned" last year in their championship effort, including Shelby LaBuhn having the performance of her career. He wondered whether they could do it again.


My thought was they potentially could for this reason: the people that had their best meets effort they don't necessarily have to do that again. They just have to have strong efforts, because someone else can step up their game and get those crucial points.


As for the USA softball team, they are the best softball team I've seen this year early on. Well, even without seeing them, I knew that.


The only question is, whether or not they are as good as or better then last year's team. Time will tell, but I'm not going to get into that one. Even if this team has some hold overs from last year, they are a different team and should be allowed to have their own success devoid of comparison.


That being said, I think this team has the talent to make their own extended playoff run. Marissa Lemere is by far the best pitcher I've seen, hands down. I'd put on the same level as such greats that I've seen as Sarah Allegria and Ubly's Kim Lackowski.


Which brings us to one last item. There have been posts in another blog by people that have brought up the issue of recruiting and at least posed the question about whether she was a recruit as she is "School of Choice" from Garber.


So I'll pull this little nugget of info out there. During boys' basketball season I was over at USA to pick up one of the TSA trophies and sat and chewed the fat with USA AD Mark Gainforth for a little over an hour.


During that conversation, this issue came up. He explained that students considering the move to USA aren't allowed to talk with coaches, before they are students. He made it clear that people coming to USA schools for School of Choice are coming strictly for academics; athletics are an after thought if they choose to make the move.

Your input: So what are your thoughts on these issues:

*Chances of a repeat for Ubly and USA

* Any other thoughts on this early sports season

* What are your thoughts on recruitment? Do you think it happens around here? What should be done about it?

Some pics from spring sports action

Here are a few of those pics I promised. I haven't figured out yet how to lay them out in any sort of a cool manner yet. I guess that will just come with time.

Spring sports in full bloom

Finally, the weather is starting to cooperate... sort of.

After last week was filled with what seemed like more cancellations than games played, events are getting being held this week.

Ironically, in the time from when I started writing that sentence and then got distracted (checked on something in the oven, dealt with a "crisis" from my six year old daughter, I just got a phone call informing me that the Ubly Invite was cancelled.

That stinks. After the USA Invite was cancelled last week, this is the second major track event to go down in flames.

I'm pretty bummed. I was looking forward to seeing the Ubly girls' in action and getting an early indication of what their chances at another top finish in the State Finals.

Now that will postponed for at least another two days until Friday's Brown City Invite... if that meet happens.

But even the games that have been played, have not been held in ideal conditions. In some of my first work of the new season, I attended baseball/softball action at EPBP on Monday against Harbor Beach, along with soccer between Lakers and Cass City. Let's say the condtions were less then ideal, for the players, fans, and the media.

I know a collective boo-hoo for the media, but irregardless, there was a strong win blowing in towards homeplate that made things tricky for the players and everyone in attaendance. I know I got sand in my eyes, had some stuck in my lense, and try to find a couple of safe nooks behind the dugouts where the wind resistance was better. I never really found a great one.

IF Friday's track meet goes on, I may post some of the pics from the event in a post over the weekend.

With that in mind, I'm going to post a few more pictures in another post of action from the last couple of days.

The winds of change for the 2007-2008 sports season

Just wanted to give you all a nugget of a pair of stories that will be appearing in our three publications tomorrow on the MHSAA season changes.

A time for change
The impact of the MHSAA’s failed appeal will be felt in the Thumb
By Chris Ogryski
sports editor
On Monday, April 2, the nine year court battle between the Michigan High School Athletic Association and the Community For Equality ended when the U.S. Supreme Court denied a certiorari request from the MHSAA.
“The MHSAA is disappointed that the Supreme Court has decided against reviewing this case,” the organization said in a statement after the decision.
“Now is the time for our schools to step up and work with the decision of the Court to continue to maximize the quantity and quality of interscholastic athletic participation opportunities for young people in our state.”
In that vein, members of the Greater Thumb Conference met last Wednesday to come to several key decisions about the 2007-2008 sports seasons. Tops on that list was deciding which nights of the week the boys’ and girls’ basketball games would be held during the winter season.
The GTC Athletic Directors in attendance decided on scheduling the girls to play on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while the boys would compete on Wednesdays and Fridays. “We decided on a schedule, but at this time I think it is something that may be looked at again,” Bad Axe AD and former President of the GTC Ron Johnston explained.
He added, “We put together four different schedules and (decided on) the one that gave us the most flexibility to move things around between schools.”
“One of the mindsets was that if schools wanted to play their Varsity games on Fridays or Saturdays or move their games around they would be able to do that (with the schedule we chose),” he said.
As the league moves forward and looks ahead to the 2007-2008 school year, there are still several issues that remain unresolved. One major concern is finding enough officials for the basketball season.
“As you compete with the college season, the boys’ season, and then the girls’ season; factor in junior high at some point and you are going to be playing basketball five nights a week,” Johnston explained.

Q & A with David Bossick
Former Thumb sports editor offers his thoughts on changing sports seasons in Michigan
By Chris Ogryski
sports editor
Dave Bossick is the Sports Editor for the Chippewa Herald in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and despite leaving the Thumb area last year is still one of the most respected journalists to have ever worked in the area.
Bossick graduated from Pinconning High School in 1996, before attending CMU where he earned his Bachelor’s in Journalism in December of 2000. He was hired at the Tuscola County Advertiser in May of 2000, started covering sports in 2001, and later that year was named Sports Editor.
Having seen two different formats of sports seasons through his work in two states, Bossick is in the unique position in terms of the insight he can offer to fans wondering what the change in seasons will bring here. He shared those thoughts with me last week.
CHRIS OGRYSKI: Dave it’s been over a year now since you moved from the Thumb to Wisconsin. In that time you’ve seen a completely different set-up in terms of how and when high school sports are played compared to Michigan. Try to describe the difference in terms of how a Wisconsin season sets up.
David Bossick: Really the way that everything is going to change for Michigan is pretty much exactly how it is over here. Of course the main two that everyone focuses on, we’ve got volleyball here in the fall and girls’ basketball in the winter.
CO: When you first arrived in Wisconsin, what was the hardest thing to adjust to in terms of the difference in sports seasons?
DB: I didn’t take in as much volleyball this past fall as I have in the winter. From some of the comments I have been reading from various sources in Michigan, a lot of the coaches are saying they are going to have a lot less tournaments and they are absolutely right. There were less tournaments, there were more of the individual games, and a lot less Saturdays (a volleyball staple).
CO: Speaking of coverage, you recently analyzed the level of coverage that boys’ and girls’ teams receive from your paper on your blog. What did you find?
DB: I found that we covered it pretty much dead even. What I did was count up the number of times that we gave the dominant photo and the big story and that broke down 13-12 in favor of the guys. (It just depends on what games were played, because) if we’ve got a Saturday girls’ game and no boys and that is the dominant for Sunday. The same thing for the guys; if there are all guys’ games on a Tuesday and no girls’ games, the coverage will reflect that. In regards to story counts on the front page, it was also very even with a two story advantage to the boys. Then if you add in all the features we did… that was also even. The key is, coming from Michigan and a standpoint that I wanted to make sure when I was working in the Thumb that the boys’ coverage and girls’ coverage was as even as possibly I could get it, I wanted to make sure I continued doing that where I am now. I think we’ve done that… and I was really pleased with the results for going through it for one season.
CO: So in your opinion, with what you’ve seen in Wisconsin and what you saw previously in Michigan, will the new system give the girls’ the additional coverage that groups like the CFE (Community For Equality) have sought and put them more on par with the boys’ sports in that regard?
DB: It is hard to say. It is one thing for me to say that I came from Michigan and I wanted to make sure things were equal here. But that might be different with someone who is in Holland or someone in Petoskey. It might depend on burnout, too. It is one thing to go from covering part of a volleyball game and a boys’ basketball game or vice-a-versa to covering an entire game both boys’ and girls’. You’re out four nights a week, maybe even five if they start playing Wednesdays or Saturdays. There is the potential for numerous nights a week in Michigan, so you might see some instances where complete days of the week are going to be skipped depending on the publication. It is going to be intriguing to see how everyone there adapts to this change. Do I think coverage is going to be more or less? That is hard to say, because it depends on the respective sports staff’s willingness to adapt to the changes.

So there you have it. To get the whole stories, pick up a copy of one our papers on Wednesday or head over to www.huroncountypress.com and check it out.

Seasons change

Since the blog has been "lighting up" in recent days with many new posters, I thought it would be time to seek out some opinions on what everyone thought on the impending changes to the sports changes for next season.

Field of Dreams wins

For those not following the last post, the fans of the HCP Sports blog have declared Field of Dreams the "Best Sports Movie" by a 9-2 margin over Bull Durham.