First quarter observations
Kingston wins Ubly tournament: Kingston's Brandon Jones was named tournament MVP as he and the Cardinals defeated the host Bearcats 51-32 last Friday night to win the second annual holiday tournament.
Mike Rea's kids looked good in both games they played, but it's a shame that we will not get to see them at their peak.
The NCTL is a weak conference and Kingston is too good at every sport to languish among the smaller schools. A-F and Owen-Gage are no where near as talented as Kingston in anything, and the fact that Kingston gets to feed on these smaller schools can not be good for Kingston come playoff time.
They need to be challenged more like they were last Friday night in Ubly. The Bearcats are by no means a great team. They have a couple of pretty good players in Jeremy Kubacki and Grant Pichla, but the 'Cats are only 3-3 through the first quarter of the season.
Yet, Ubly pulled within eight of the Cards in the second half, cutting the lead at one point to 32-24, and the Cards had the tenacity to pull away late, but in order for the Cards to make a push into the playoffs, they are going to need to be challenged again before the end of the regular season.
And with the remaining teams on the Cards schedule, mostly peppered with NCTL opponents, I just don't see another team that can push Kingston.
I was reading the blog of Mike Bogan, sports editor at the Huron Daily Tribune, about his thoughts that the thumb needs a mega-conference. I like that idea. Imagine a Kingston-USA matchup this season in basketball. That would be a great game. Imagine pairing Mayville up against A-F and O-G...the Wildcats would have a chance to win both of those games. Kingston might not be able to dominate in league play like the way they destroy the NCTL, but I believe a move like that would benefit the student-atheletes in the long run.
Unfortunately, change will not happen until the other AD's in the NCTL demand a change. I believe they should....as the league stands now, A-F and O-G don't stand a chance.
TVE looks tough: At this point in the season, Bridgeport stands alone atop the TVE and the Bearcats have looked real good at this point.
'Muth may not lose another league game the rest of the way, at least until round two with the Bearcats.
Millington and Vassar are fighting to turn their programs back in the right direction, and Caro just picked up win number one last Friday at the Ubly tourney.
The rest of the season might be rough for all three teams.
I will next see Caro next Tuesday in the M-81 Clash game with Cass City.
USA still the tops in GTC: The Patriots looked real good when I saw them destroy BCAS about two weeks ago. I hope the holiday layoff doesn't leave them rusty when they start back up this week. USA does not have it easy...they have to go to BCAS, who I'm sure will be looking for a bit of revenge, and Reese is unbeaten while Cass City has just one loss.
In the east, Mayville continues to frustrate. The Wildcats look good in person, yet a win continues to elude coach Mike Campbell. Marlette is also struggling, with just one win in their first five games. Neither team will finish with a winning record.
Tuscola County area sports in mourning: The Iraq war claimed the lives of two former area athletes this past week.
Vassar's Christopher Esckelson, a 2002 graduate and former Vulcan football player, and Clifford's Nicholas Miller, a 2005 graduate of Marlette, were both killed in the same fight in Fallujah.
Both soldiers were serving in the 1st Battalion of the 24th Marine Corp Infantry Division out of Saginaw. They were both injured and later died in an attack from insurgents on December 27th.
With the passing of these two, the number of deaths of soldiers with ties to the thumb area is now at 10.
This just makes me sick...I understand the American services are entirely voluntary, but it's asinine that we continue to lose soldiers in a war that our president refuses to leave. Our president (I won't do him the credit of calling him by name) has lost the backing of the American people. The majority no longer supports his quest for oil supremecy, because seriously, this is what this shitty war is all about.
When things like this happen, it makes me feel like we need to do something more. Esckelson's mother is my maillady...she is a nice person, and I feel awful for her. I hope she can find comfort in the thought that her son lost his life believing in his cause, and with that he is a hero! And he always will be.
Mike Rea's kids looked good in both games they played, but it's a shame that we will not get to see them at their peak.
The NCTL is a weak conference and Kingston is too good at every sport to languish among the smaller schools. A-F and Owen-Gage are no where near as talented as Kingston in anything, and the fact that Kingston gets to feed on these smaller schools can not be good for Kingston come playoff time.
They need to be challenged more like they were last Friday night in Ubly. The Bearcats are by no means a great team. They have a couple of pretty good players in Jeremy Kubacki and Grant Pichla, but the 'Cats are only 3-3 through the first quarter of the season.
Yet, Ubly pulled within eight of the Cards in the second half, cutting the lead at one point to 32-24, and the Cards had the tenacity to pull away late, but in order for the Cards to make a push into the playoffs, they are going to need to be challenged again before the end of the regular season.
And with the remaining teams on the Cards schedule, mostly peppered with NCTL opponents, I just don't see another team that can push Kingston.
I was reading the blog of Mike Bogan, sports editor at the Huron Daily Tribune, about his thoughts that the thumb needs a mega-conference. I like that idea. Imagine a Kingston-USA matchup this season in basketball. That would be a great game. Imagine pairing Mayville up against A-F and O-G...the Wildcats would have a chance to win both of those games. Kingston might not be able to dominate in league play like the way they destroy the NCTL, but I believe a move like that would benefit the student-atheletes in the long run.
Unfortunately, change will not happen until the other AD's in the NCTL demand a change. I believe they should....as the league stands now, A-F and O-G don't stand a chance.
TVE looks tough: At this point in the season, Bridgeport stands alone atop the TVE and the Bearcats have looked real good at this point.
'Muth may not lose another league game the rest of the way, at least until round two with the Bearcats.
Millington and Vassar are fighting to turn their programs back in the right direction, and Caro just picked up win number one last Friday at the Ubly tourney.
The rest of the season might be rough for all three teams.
I will next see Caro next Tuesday in the M-81 Clash game with Cass City.
USA still the tops in GTC: The Patriots looked real good when I saw them destroy BCAS about two weeks ago. I hope the holiday layoff doesn't leave them rusty when they start back up this week. USA does not have it easy...they have to go to BCAS, who I'm sure will be looking for a bit of revenge, and Reese is unbeaten while Cass City has just one loss.
In the east, Mayville continues to frustrate. The Wildcats look good in person, yet a win continues to elude coach Mike Campbell. Marlette is also struggling, with just one win in their first five games. Neither team will finish with a winning record.
Tuscola County area sports in mourning: The Iraq war claimed the lives of two former area athletes this past week.
Vassar's Christopher Esckelson, a 2002 graduate and former Vulcan football player, and Clifford's Nicholas Miller, a 2005 graduate of Marlette, were both killed in the same fight in Fallujah.
Both soldiers were serving in the 1st Battalion of the 24th Marine Corp Infantry Division out of Saginaw. They were both injured and later died in an attack from insurgents on December 27th.
With the passing of these two, the number of deaths of soldiers with ties to the thumb area is now at 10.
This just makes me sick...I understand the American services are entirely voluntary, but it's asinine that we continue to lose soldiers in a war that our president refuses to leave. Our president (I won't do him the credit of calling him by name) has lost the backing of the American people. The majority no longer supports his quest for oil supremecy, because seriously, this is what this shitty war is all about.
When things like this happen, it makes me feel like we need to do something more. Esckelson's mother is my maillady...she is a nice person, and I feel awful for her. I hope she can find comfort in the thought that her son lost his life believing in his cause, and with that he is a hero! And he always will be.
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