Tuscola County Sports

Leveille moving on. Initial news reports surfaced last week that Vassar football coach Vince Leveille has accepted a new job to be an assistant at SVSU and will thus be leaving the Vulcans sidelines after ten years. Hopefully, I will have more on this story in this weekends Advertiser. Over the last two years, I have had many dealings with Leveille while covering Vassar football, and I don't believe there's a nicer man in this area. He was always polite and well spoken in interviews, even after a tough loss, which is something that every sports writer appreciates. Leveille came into a tough situation at Vassar and has done a pretty decent job with a traditionally unstable program. Leveille took over a team ten years ago that was coming off of back-to-back winless seasons, and took them into the 2003 playoffs with an 8-1 record and one TVE title in the same year (co-champs with Caro). He will stay on as assistant vice principal at the high school while he ventures into new ter...

WHY? I was going to post about something earlier this week, but the tragedy at Virginia Tech on Monday had kind of put things in perspective for me over the last couple of days. At times like this, sports just don't seem all that important. First off, I want to offer my condolances for all the victim's families. As this thing plays out, and numerous media sources try to make sense out of a senseless act, the one thing that always seems to be forgotten are the victims. 32 innocent people were killed on Monday in what has become the deadliest school shooting in American history...and the media outlets are doing nothing over the last two days but broadcasting pictures and film of the coward responsible for this act. So he sent a so-called 'manifesto' to NBC the day of the massacre, so what? Do we really need to see this? NBC felt the need to broadcast what he sent, and then share the pics with every other media outlet in the country. Is there really a need for the gener...

Was it right? I was going to write about the Don Imus controversy and then I came across this gem written by Jason Whitlock. After realizing that I was only trying to hit a home run, Whitlock's grand slam made me put aside my article and I wanted to share what he wrote right here. COMMENTARY Imus isn’t the real bad guy Instead of wasting time on irrelevant shock jock, black leaders need to be fighting a growing gangster culture. By JASON WHITLOCK - Columnist Thank you, Don Imus. You’ve given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problem. You’ve given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for true economic and social equality. You’ve given Vivian Stringer and Rutgers the chance to hold a nationally televised recruiting celebration expertly disguised as a news conference to respond to your poor attempt at humor. Thank you, Don Imus. You extended...

Vassar leaving TVE. After almost two years of rumors, the Vassar school board of education voted on Monday night to accept an initial offer from the Greater Thumb West conference to join the league beginning in the 2008-09 season. Now, Vassar just has to wait for the governing board of the GTC to approve the move, which is pretty much a given. This is a good move for the Vulcans. Early projections have Vassar's enrollment falling to somewhere around 450 students within the next two years, which will drop the Vulcans to Class C. Cass City recently fell to Class C as well, meaning that every team in the GTC, with the exception of Bay City All Saints (D), will be a C school. Just for the the sake of competition, this is a good move. It has become clear that with the growing enrollment at some of the other TVE schools (i.e. North Branch, Bridgeport), the ability for Vassar to compete has become extremely difficult. It's a numbers issue....every school has a few good players, but ...

How long did I sleep? I awoke this morning to a ground covered in snow and flakes the size of a childs hand falling from the sky, which caused me to ask my wife this morning, "Exactly how long did I sleep?" Feeling a little like Rip Van Winkle, I tried to shake off the doldrums of slumber, made my way to the kitchen and glanced at the calender to remind myself that it is almost Easter. Ofcourse, this is Michigan, so the 180 degree change in the recent weather should not surprise me; I believe the old saying states that if you don't like the weather here, just wait five minutes and it will change. I hear on Tuesday that it will be 60...not exactly five minutes from now but the sudden change sounds about right. GO TIGERS!! If the first two games of the 2007 season for the Tigers tell us anything, it's that we are in for a great ride. Trailing by three on Monday, the Tigers fought back and tied the game at 3-3 before losing to Toronto in 10 innings, 5-3. Yesterday, t...

From the Saginaw News Sports seasons: Time to move on Wednesday, April 04, 2007 SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS, coaches and some sports writers were lamenting the end to a decade-old lawsuit this week that will upend Michigan's high school sports seasons and eliminate discrimination against girl athletes. With the U.S. Supreme Court refusing to hear an appeal this week, it is time for the Michigan High School Athletic Association and the other captains of high school sports to quit fighting and work out the logistics of moving girls basketball to the winter from fall and volleyball to fall from winter. Golf, soccer and tennis schedules for boys and girls also will change. The state athletic association has played a full-court press since 2001, when U.S. District Court Judge Richard Enslen ruled that Michigan's sports scheduling discriminated against girls. In every other state, girls play volleyball in the fall. Michigan is one of only two states -- Hawaii is the other -- that plays gir...

It's about time. This is from the AP.... MHSAA Denied Certiorari By U.S. Supreme Court In Sports Seasons Litigation The United States Supreme Court today denied a certiorari request by the Michigan High School Athletic Association in its Sports Seasons Litigation. As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision, the previous changes in seasons ordered by lower courts will occur beginning with the 2007-08 school year: girls basketball will move from Fall to Winter; girls volleyball will move from Winter to Fall; boys golf and girls tennis in the Lower Peninsula will move from Fall to Spring; girls golf and boys tennis in the Lower Peninsula will move from Spring to Fall; and the MHSAA will offer Upper Peninsula post-season tournaments in soccer for girls in the Fall and boys in the Spring. The MHSAA issued the following statement after the announcement: “The MHSAA is disappointed that the Supreme Court has decided against reviewing this case. Now is the time for our schools to step up ...

Kingston trips on way to finals. The Cardinals season was ended last night, when they lost to Parkway Christian in the State Quarterfinals, 60-55. After 24 straight wins, the only loss of the season for the Cards is the one game thay they will all remember for the rest of their lives. I wasn't there (I was in the office putting the paper together) but I listened to the game on the radio and I spoke to Jon, who called the game on 92.1. The general consensus about the game appears to be this...Parkway was too quick for the Cards and Kingston committed around 22-24 turnovers in the game, which is uncharacteristic for the Cardinals. But, with that being said, Kingston's stats were built against the slower players they faced in the NCTL, so we really had no idea what their ballhandlers were capable of doing until last night. Truth be told, the Cardinals went up against their first quality opponent of the year last night, a team that was probably similar in talent to the Cards, and...

Kingston wins Regional title. Yes, it's true...I don't know everything. After I boldly predicted that Kingston would not make it out of the Regionals, the Cardinals went and proved me wrong last Thursday with a 57-53 win over Fowler. The Cardinals and coach Mike Rea made a point and came away with the school's first Regional title since 1998, so congratulations to every kid on the team and to all the Kingston fans who kept their cool and resisted the temptation to punch me in the face. Now for the problems.... On my way out and in the following few days, I spoke to numerous people who were either there or listened to the game on the radio and one common concern was present in everyone's comments: that Kingston is now 24-0 and they have still not played their best game. Is it good that they have ran through this many games without peaking? It could be, since they do have to win at three more games to win the State title, and the fact that they have not peaked could wo...

Time to man up . Tonight is the night when we see what the Kingston boys basketball team is made of. The Cardinals play Fowler tonight at 7 pm at Saginaw Heritage for the Class D Regional title. Apparently Fowler has been known as the "Cardinal Killer" for the last few years, but by the looks of their record, it would appear that the Fowler team is not as strong as they have been over the last few years. That doesn't mean that the Cards will not have their work cut out for them--any team still alive at this point is obviously a quality team. Kingston is going to have to play their best game of the season to get this one done. They need to play a lot better than they did the other night when they barely broke a sweat in eliminating Owen-Gage from the playoffs. From the sounds of his post game comments, coach Mike Rea was not pleased with his teams shooting performance in the game against the Bulldogs. They shot poorly from the free throw line, but they ran out to a 20-...

Yes it's been a while since I wrote anything on here, but we've been busy at work with all the winter sports in the playoffs and other things. Here's some thoughts on what's happening. It must be the water. We had the All-Thumb meeting yesterday and the basketball team voting was interesting. It has nice balance and it goes to press on March 28. There are some surprises, at least I think so. I think our player of the year choice is a little confusing, but with no clear cut choice for POTY, I guess it was anyone's award to get. The problem was, that once the vote got to me, the POTY who was chosen already had secured four of the six votes that were present, so nominating a player at that point seemed like a waste of time. Speaking of awards. We released the TCA all-area dream teams this week, and we have gotten nothing but flack from area coaches. We put them together a little early because I have organized a dream team picture at Caro high school for both ...

Here we are...another week down and we inch closer to the end of the winter sports season. I for one am looking forward to it. It's the most wonderful time of the year . Pitchers and catchers reported for the Tigers last Thursday and I believe that the rest of the supporting cast join them tomorrow. It doesn't seem like that long ago that the Tigers were generating buzz by making the World Series last fall, but since it has been extremely cold since then, all the days kind of blend in together, so a week really only feels like a day or two when its cold (if that makes any sense). But with the Tigers reporting to Lakeland, it just means that spring is right around the corner and with it, warmer temperatures and bright blue skies and the return of the sun. It also means that softball is almost here. Kingston--paper champions . I don't care what anyone says...Kingston's basketball team will not make it out of the regionals. They waste their whole season playing what b...

Why would they do that? Another story to file under the heading "What the hell were they thinking..." Apparently last Friday night, three Akron-Fairgrove varsity basketball players and one junior varsity player were caught drinking an unspecified alcoholic substance in the back of the school bus while the team was traveling to Kingston for a game. That's right...they were drinking on the bus...while going to a basketball game. Reports that surfaced today stated that the players snuck the alcohol onto the bus in Gatorade bottles, and then began to pass the substance around while the team was on the road. The team bus driver is the town sherriff, and I don't know yet if he smelled the booze or if someone else turned the young men in, but they were busted, given a breathalyzer when the bus stopped in Kingston, and then all hell broke loose. Nine playes from the varsity squad were held out of the game. Two players from the JV were brought up so the team would not have to...

Who's #1. The race for supremacy in the GTW continues to be the best story in the area. After Friday night, there area three teams with two league losses (USA 5-2, Reese 4-2, Lakers 3-2), one team with three losses (Cass City 4-3) and one with four (Bad Axe 2-4). BCAS is the only team in the league that I would say is, as of right now, officially out of the race for the title. Things should get start to clear up next week. On Tuesday, Cass City plays at USA and Reese is at Lakers; Friday night Reese is at Cass City and BCAS is at Bad Axe. This is the only suspenseful conference race in the area involving more than two teams. Brown City is slowly pulling away in the GTE; the Green Devils are 13-1, 7-0 in conference play. The closest team is Harbor Beach, two games back at 5-2 in the league. The NCTL North is close, with North Huron just one game back of Owen-Gage. (I won't even mention the South). And in the TVE, Bridgeport all but has that wrapped up. So the GTW, and the three...

I know, I know, I need to try to write more. My goal was everyday, but I was sick for the last week. Between working way too many hours at work, I'm also foolishly taking nine credits this semester at UM-Flint, all in a vain effort to try and finish my Master's Degree by May, so my time has been a little tight. Redford blows up . I went to the North Branch-Frankenmuth game tonight, and it was a great game. Bred Redford had the hot hand, as the junior guard dropped in 48 points, yet saw the Broncos pull out a 91-82 victory. Redford scored 20 in the first half, 28 in the second; he was 17-of-18 from the free throw line and nailed seven three-pointers for the Eagles, but when the game was on the line, Redford was on the bench. With 47 seconds left, and with North Branch's Zac Heuter made the first half of a one-and-one, making the score 84-80 in favor of the Broncos. On the miss, Redford was going for the rebound and he ended up rolling his ankle on Heuter's foot. Re...

What was that? My esteemed colleague at the Advertiser apparently spent the entire week I was in Florida bed-ridden, as sick as a dog with flu-like symptoms. Because he's such a nice guy, who believes whole-heartedly in sharing all experiences with his co-workers, he appears to have left whatever sickness he had on his desk, assuring that I would not miss out on the experience once I returned from the sunshine state. I spent all weekend in a drugged-out, Nyquil enduced state, feeling too drowsy to even raise my head in disgust, too exhausted to curse the name 'Jon Sicotte' to the heavens. That's ok...come Super Bowl Sunday, I will have my revenge. Brinkman resigns. ..According to Saturday's TCA, USA girls basketball coach Josh Brinkman has resigned his post and his teaching position at the middle school amid allegations that he videotaped female students undressing without their knoweldge at his house. This is for the best. USA will undoubetly be very thorough in...

Back from Florida... I spent the last week at my brothers in Florida, and the weather was great!! Everyday was near 80 with a slight breeze. My plane landed in Flint last night around six and the landing was a total nightmare. I spent last night trying to catch up on the goings on around the area from the last week and I feel like I'm almost there. Something stinks in Sebewaing... I was surprised to hear the news about USA varsity girls basketball coach Josh Brinkman, who, according to the TCA, is under investigation facing allegations that he videotaped female students, including members of the USA girls varsity basketball team, as they changed clothes in his home on Sunday, January 14. According to reports, the girls discovered the video camera, took the video and gave it to police. I don't want to jump to conclusions, because as of right now, Brinkman has not been charged with anything, but there must be something to this story, because the story would not have been leake...

Now that the smoke has cleared, the dust has settled, and the noxious odor of gas has dissipated...it's time to talk some sports. THE CLASH... We should have updated the TCA website but we forgot...oh well. Caro made it a game for a while last night, but Cass City methodically put the Tigers away, winning the M-81 Clash last night by a score of 66-58. Caro was ahead 17-10 in the first, but the Tigers just couldn't keep Andrew Martin down. The lanky senior scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half and picked up the MVP award along the way. The Red Hawks have some talent, but I can't help but wonder if their record up to this point(6-1) has been built on beating bad teams... The good news for coach Fernald is that, Martin missed the first month of the year, and he looks like he is healthy, so the start gave others on the Cass City roster a chance to play ball. We'll see this Friday when the Hawks play host to USA...should be a good one. The Kings of the Palace... We w...

Seems I've struck a chord with some comments I made regarding the Akron-Fairgrove basketball team. Let me clarify... I was not trying to be negative about the Vikings. I was merely relaying some info about the team that I had heard. I guess I should have used a different term than 'rumor'...that was my mistake. It is not a rumor that Westover is having a difficult time keeping his kids interested...it's a fact. Westover told Jon Sicotte that he feels like his kids don't care anymore, and how could they when get annihilated by Kingston 71-9. That's embarrasing! Injuries and team sickness aside, none of that would have mattered against Kingston. The Vikes still would have lost by a ton. I'm surprised that anyone who would read the entry viewed it as negative...that was not my intention. It was a call to arms...a quest to find out what exactly the Vikings are fighting for. I mean, if they're not playing for pride, then what are they playing for? I fin...

Today marks the beginning of my 33rd year living on this planet. It's been an interesting ride so far; there were a few speed bumps along the way that I drove over way too fast while arriving at this point, but overall, it's been a pretty smooth trip getting to where I am. Here's hoping this year is just as good as the last. The second quarter begins . Tonight, the new year of high school basketball gets back on track with a slew of interesting area games. Jon will be calling North Branch at Caro on 92.1 FM. (I'm taking the night off.) Other TVE matchups are Millington at Birch Run, Vassar at Frankenmuth and Garber-Bridgeport. I can't wait to see the final score on the Kingston-Ak-Fairgrove game. This one will not be pretty. I get the feeling that the Vikings have quit on their coach. Rumor has it that coach Westover can't even get these kids to attend practice on a regular basis. How much losing can someone handle before you just throw in the towel? It has to b...