Thursday, August 9, 2007 | 2:00 AM

Athletes’ new best friend...water

It’s no secret that it’s been hot lately.

Considering there was a span in mid-July where the temperatures barely crept into the 80s, we can’t really complain. But last week and this week were way too hot. I can say I hardly envy fall sports participants.

This week marked the start of football and girls’ golf practices for high school athletes. Next week boys’ soccer, cross country and boys’ tennis join in the fray.

Words of advice:

Talk quietly and carry a big bottle of water—several actually.

My grandma used to say: “Water, water all around, but never a drop to drink.”

Sorry grandma but…baloney! Sure the adage has a deeper meaning when you dig beyond the surface. At face value it means very little. She used to also say: “Holy mackerel” when astonished by something and “Heavens to Mergatroid” when disappointed, which was usually in me—a lot. Neither of those aphorisms really make much sense either.

Maybe in Mergatroid, wherever or whatever that might be, water was hard to come by but the mackerel had to come from somewhere. Right?

Anyway, water couldn’t be easier to come by today and is the athlete’s greatest friend this time of the year. Take your pick. Bottled water comes in a rainbow of colors and variety of flavors and packed with vitamins, oxygen, energy enhancers, electrolytes, minerals and who knows what else. The most important thing is to drink it—preferably the clean and clear kind.

Back in the day—the day when mackerel were still called mackerel and the cartoon lion Snagglepuss was scratching his head muttering something about Mergatroid in the late 50s and early 60s—it was originally preached, for reasons unknown, to athletes not to take in water during workouts and games. There is no scientific foundation to this claim as stated in the document “Heat Stress & Athletic Participation” provided by the National Federation of State High School Association and found at the Michigan High School Athletic Association website www.mhsaa.com.

It has been proven that without water in high-heat situations the body can and will most likely suffer heat cramps, heat syncope, heat exhaustion or heat stroke or all of the above.

Due to the equipment needed in football most of the heat related health issues are associated with that sport. From 1995-2005 there were 19 high school heat stroke deaths, according to “Heat Stress & Athletic Participation.”

Water tops the list of what should be slurped up on the sidelines. But other approved fluid “replacers” include Gatorade, 10k, Quickick and Max.

Since 1965 Gatorade, with its mix of water, flavor and beneficial carbohydrates and electrolytes, is the leading sports drink available. Again take your pick from original, Rain, Frost, X-Factor, Fierce, Xtremo and A.M.

I’ll even drink this stuff up in the cheap seats at football games. That is until the temps cool down and I trade it in for coffee—not recommend for athletes.

So, there you have it: Water, water (and sometimes sports drinks) all around…and plenty enough to go around. So, holy mackerel, drink it up. Heavens to Mergatroid!

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Thursday, July 12, 2007 | 2:00 AM

Big day for prep showdown

For those of us who live and die for the game of football, the season feels like an eternity away.

Before we all know it, players from four Journal-area high schools will take part in the single biggest football event—next to the state championships at Ford Field in Detroit—of their lives.

The Big Day Prep Showdown, staged at Rynearson Stadium at Eastern Michigan University, offers John Glenn, Belleville, Plymouth and Canton the opportunity to show the rest of the state what they are made of.

I don’t think enough gets said about the event that kicks off the season on Friday, Aug. 24. The Detroit Metro Sports Commission (DMSC) deserves a standing “o” for putting an event like this together.

Formed in 2001 to bring regional, national and international amateur sporting events to metro Detroit, the DMSC continues to bring exciting match-ups to the Big Day Prep Showdown. In its third year, the event has already doubled in size. The now two-day event will consist of four games on Friday and four games on Saturday.

Why is it so important?

First, the players will get a taste of playing on a university field. Unfortunately for most, it will be the only time. Second, regardless of it being the first game of the season when teams are likely to be a bit rusty and out of sync. But these are athletes—the higher the stakes the better the effort. Be prepared for all four Journal teams to bring their “A” game.

There’s nothing like a big game to get the season rolling. The first game of the year is always a big game for high school teams. Add a giant stage like a college stadium and the event becomes monumental. Win or lose, it will set the pace for the rest of the season. Win a big game like that and there’s nothing to hold a team back. Teams in that situation can ride the momentum all the way to the state championship. Losing, although not the end of the world, isn’t really an option.

Losing the first game of the season is like putting your underwear on backwards with both legs in the same leg hole. Once on, it’s hard to move forward let alone turn things around. And when you do the fit is never really right.

So what can the rest of us do to help make sure their teams aren’t found in such a precarious situation? The easiest way is to show up and offer support—no pun intended.

Friends, family members, classmates, teachers, school officials should all be there to cheer their team on.

The players and coaches need to remember that it is the first game of the season and everybody starts out 0-0. Keep in mind that every team puts its pants on one leg at a time, too—no team is better than the other until the final whistle blows.

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Thursday, June 21, 2007 | 2:00 AM

It’s like deja-vu all over again

If history repeats itself we’re in for quite a treat.

I think 1984 was a good year. I turned 11 that year so very little really stands out. Well actually, with the popular neon colors of the time, everything stood out.

The year was a surreal time for entertainment, politics and sports. Maybe it was Reaganomics or the crack epidemic that was sweeping across the nation during that time.

Television was hitting its stride. “The Cosby Show” debuted in 1984, “Magnum PI” was a hit, David Hasselhoff was still talking to his car, KIT, in “Knight Rider” and people were getting “jiggy” with the “Solid Gold” dancers.

Gremlins were looking for midnight snacks on the big screen and Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom and Beverly Hills Cop were box office hits along with The Karate Kid.

Cassette tapes were cool. Madonna released her “Like a Virgin” LP in 1984 that spawned several hits for the Michigan native. Other hit songs like Bananarama’s “Cruel Summer” and Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” drifted out of teenagers’ bedrooms while Van Halen’s “Panama” and “Jump” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” blared from boxy Mustangs and curvy Corvettes.

For those too young to care about such artists, you might like to know that singers Ashlee Simpson and Avril Lavigne and singer/actress Mandy Moore were all born in 1984.

The world was far from being the totalitarian society that George Orwell wrote about in 1948’s “1984”. However, Ronald Reagan was voted president with George H. Bush as his VP. The technology wasn’t quite ready to support the all-seeing “big brother” televisions but revolutionizing the computer generation was the release of Apple’s Macintosh-its user-friendly personal computer. The Space Shuttle Discovery made its maiden voyage to help further space exploration that year, too.

There are plenty of 1984 moments that are nostalgic but the most memorable thing about that year, for me, was Detroit Tiger baseball. During that unforgettable season they won the World Series by beating San Diego (4-1) in a best-of-seven series. Along the way pitcher Jack Morris pitched a rare no-hitter April 7 against the Chicago White Sox-a sure sign of things to come.

Fast-forward 23 years and not much has really changed. OK, everything has except Hasselhoff is still on TV; the popular cartoon of the day, “Transformers,” is getting a live-action makeover on its way to the big screen next month; there’s a Bush in the White House; and leg-warmers are even coming back into style. Yes, really.

What we should be thankful for here in the Detroit area is that Tiger baseball is back on track for the second straight year. Thank you baseball gods!

In case you haven’t heard, Detroit pitcher Justin Verlander made history last week when he pitched his first-ever no-hitter on June 12 against the Milwaukee Brewers. It was also the first no-hitter thrown in Comerica Park and the first one in the 23-year span since Morris in 1984-the one that led off the thrilling 1984 season.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that history will repeat itself, sending the Tigers to the final showdown let alone winning the entire thing. But what a sweet treat it would be-as long as the rest of the 1984 time capsule doesn’t resurface, too.

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Thursday, March 15, 2007 | 1:39 PM

An undeserved finish

What happened to the Canton Chiefs?

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s is what happened.

After wrapping up conference tournament and district championships, the Canton Chiefs varsity basketball team found itself grasping for answers. Nothing worked right against the powerful Orchard Lake St. Mary’s crew during a regional semifinal at Troy High School on Wednesday night. The Eaglets won the bout, 65-31.

Canton opened up the scoring with a promising bucket by junior Neil Sharma. He led the team with 14. The Chiefs must have missed payday because they couldn’t buy a basket the rest of the way. St. Mary’s was up, 24-6, after one period of play and, 48-10, at the half.

Most of the second half was a running clock once the Eaglets amassed a 40-point lead at 5:15 of the third quarter. Both sides sent in bench players to finish the fourth.

It was a much undeserved ending for a team that deserved so much more.

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Wednesday, March 14, 2007 | 12:46 PM

Heart of an Eagle

The Romulus Eagle basketball squad hasn’t been easy to outplay over the last month but somehow Detroit Redford found a way.

The Eagles struggled offensively and never found their rhythm in the 58-52 regional loss at Ypsilanti Lincoln on Tuesday night.

One player, Redford’s Corperryale Harris, made all of the difference. He was a force. If the University of Michigan recruit wasn’t laying in baskets or hitting jumpers and faders he was draining NBA-distance triples like they were going out of style. He finished with 41 points and 12 rebounds for the Huskies. The sad part is he did so with defenders hanging all over him. Maybe next year, with Harris’ help, the Wolverines will actually make it to the NCAA tournament.

Romulus actually played excellent defense—a testament of how good Harris really is—but the Eagles struggled on offense. Ten players scored but nobody hit double figures. Devin Searcy, Dominique Buckley and Valdez Green each had nine, though.

Just because the Eagles struggled doesn’t mean they didn’t play with heart. The young team will be even better next year.

Of the 14 players on the roster only four—Searcy, Rod Walker, Antoine James and Dwayne Edwards—are graduating this spring (good luck seniors). That leaves 10 young but very experienced players returning.

Romulus provided the community with exciting and memorable games this season. But just wait until next year.

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