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.