What was I thinking?
I bleed red and white. Because I am a glutton for punishment, this Friday night I am going to play in the Millington-Vassar alumni football game.
I committed to this thing awhile ago, and I was going to change my mind, until I spoke with Jason Germain the other day, and he just convinced to go through with it.
I haven't strapped on the pads since my senior year at Millington all the way back in the fall of 1991.
I guess there are a few reasons why I want to play:
1. The game is in Vassar. I never had the chance back in my playing days to play at Vassar. I played against the Vulcans for three straight years (they didn't have a freshman team back then), but every year it was in Millington. Because of scheduling, wherever you play as a JV is where the game is played when you are a junior. And my senior year, the Tri-Valley East was formed, so the game was put in Millington again. The chance to play in Vassar sounds like fun.
2. The players. I heard some Millington greats from the past are getting back on the field and I like the idea that I get the chance to play with some of the guys I used to watch when I was a kid.
3. My kids. All three of my kids are going to be there, so that will be real cool. My oldest goes to Millington schools, and I am really excited that they are going to get the chance to see dad do this.
4. It's against Vassar. Back when Millington used to play LakeVille in this game, I was never interested. I never played the Falcons in football so the opportunity to play them now wasn't intruiging to me. Now Vassar...that's a different story! It's no secret to people in these parts that these two schools do not like each other. The rivalry is one of the oldest in the state of Michigan, with the Cardinals and Vulcans meeting for the first time on the football field more than 100 years ago. The chance to rub it in Vassar's face once more was too good to pass up.
So, here's hoping I don't hurt myself.
North Branch coaching carousel. With the legal issues still hovering over the head of TCA coach of the year Eric Hyde, North Branch has decided to let the JV coaches be the leaders of the team until Hyde's legal problems come to a close. The Lapeer County Press' Mike Larson had a good article on the whole issue a couple of weeks ago.
Because of the accusations that face Hyde, he is not allowed to have any contact with minors other than his immediate family, which is the reason that he cannot coach the team for the present time.
This cannot be a good thing for the Broncos this year...they are coming off of the best year in North Branch history, winning the TVE and qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in school history.
This year might not be so great...it was rather obvious to all who saw them a year ago that the team was driven by two players (Friske and Bone) and the other talented players were all seniors.
With the task of keeping the program where it now is haven fallen into the hands of two coaches who have never before led a varsity squad...well, this year doesn't look good for the Branchers.
August 22. That is the date when the Advertiser will release the 46th Annual Area High School football preview. Jon Sicotte and I have been busy over the last two months getting ready for this, and we are all set to debut a new look to the front page of the sports on the same date as well. Our goal is to be the most comprehensive and most indepth sports paper in the Thumb, especially on the Saturday mornings after football. The big town papers never pay much attention to the teams around here, so we hope that people will buy the Advertiser to get the news that they can't get from the Bay City Times, the Flint Journal or the Saginaw News. Keep an eye out for the new look pages!
I committed to this thing awhile ago, and I was going to change my mind, until I spoke with Jason Germain the other day, and he just convinced to go through with it.
I haven't strapped on the pads since my senior year at Millington all the way back in the fall of 1991.
I guess there are a few reasons why I want to play:
1. The game is in Vassar. I never had the chance back in my playing days to play at Vassar. I played against the Vulcans for three straight years (they didn't have a freshman team back then), but every year it was in Millington. Because of scheduling, wherever you play as a JV is where the game is played when you are a junior. And my senior year, the Tri-Valley East was formed, so the game was put in Millington again. The chance to play in Vassar sounds like fun.
2. The players. I heard some Millington greats from the past are getting back on the field and I like the idea that I get the chance to play with some of the guys I used to watch when I was a kid.
3. My kids. All three of my kids are going to be there, so that will be real cool. My oldest goes to Millington schools, and I am really excited that they are going to get the chance to see dad do this.
4. It's against Vassar. Back when Millington used to play LakeVille in this game, I was never interested. I never played the Falcons in football so the opportunity to play them now wasn't intruiging to me. Now Vassar...that's a different story! It's no secret to people in these parts that these two schools do not like each other. The rivalry is one of the oldest in the state of Michigan, with the Cardinals and Vulcans meeting for the first time on the football field more than 100 years ago. The chance to rub it in Vassar's face once more was too good to pass up.
So, here's hoping I don't hurt myself.
North Branch coaching carousel. With the legal issues still hovering over the head of TCA coach of the year Eric Hyde, North Branch has decided to let the JV coaches be the leaders of the team until Hyde's legal problems come to a close. The Lapeer County Press' Mike Larson had a good article on the whole issue a couple of weeks ago.
Because of the accusations that face Hyde, he is not allowed to have any contact with minors other than his immediate family, which is the reason that he cannot coach the team for the present time.
This cannot be a good thing for the Broncos this year...they are coming off of the best year in North Branch history, winning the TVE and qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in school history.
This year might not be so great...it was rather obvious to all who saw them a year ago that the team was driven by two players (Friske and Bone) and the other talented players were all seniors.
With the task of keeping the program where it now is haven fallen into the hands of two coaches who have never before led a varsity squad...well, this year doesn't look good for the Branchers.
August 22. That is the date when the Advertiser will release the 46th Annual Area High School football preview. Jon Sicotte and I have been busy over the last two months getting ready for this, and we are all set to debut a new look to the front page of the sports on the same date as well. Our goal is to be the most comprehensive and most indepth sports paper in the Thumb, especially on the Saturday mornings after football. The big town papers never pay much attention to the teams around here, so we hope that people will buy the Advertiser to get the news that they can't get from the Bay City Times, the Flint Journal or the Saginaw News. Keep an eye out for the new look pages!
Comments
as
The other sports in the fall will have their day to be the sole focus, but fact is, in the Thumb, football is king.
as
Plain and simple.
We can squeeze people for a football issue, cause football is big in the Thumb.
Then, we go after advertisers again for fall sports...
Again, money...the answer to most questions.
It's fun to think...try it.
It works well, it makes us money. People like it. What's wrong with that?
In fact, if we threw all the fall sports together in one edition, it would actually take away from the whole product. We focus on football first, get that out of the way and then we can concentrate on all the other fall sports for the fall sports preview.
The one that will be a bear will be the basketball preview...can't WAIT for that to roll around! LOL
Best of luck putting the preview together, to you guys and the other papers. They're such a bear, but they're perhaps the most fun to put together, too.