FeedsThe good, the bad and the not so pretty of 2008
The year-end review is always fun.
It’s a time when yours truly from the cheap seats has the opportunity to honor those that prospered in 2008, poke at those that didn’t and search the underbelly for the downright nonsensical crud—the things that just didn’t add up in the world of high school sports.
There was plenty to cheer about in 2008, ample amounts to jeer and, surprisingly, not too much that was just downright ugly. Here is as much as my failing mind could recover from the vault.
The Good
If I had a glass of fine champagne I would raise it up to these individuals and teams. I don’t, so the waxy Wendy’s cup filled with syrupy Coke will have to do. That’s how we roll at the Journal.
First off, congratulations have to go out to Teryn Chrzanowski for landing the 2008 Sports Newsmaker of the Year honors (see related article). This marks the first time in the short four-year history of the “award” that a female was nominated and selected. The decision was easy. She was obviously one of the best coaches of the year that completely turned the Northville softball program around and led the team to its first district championship in school history. And she’s a pretty good person on top of it all.
Another candidate for Sports Newsmaker was former Canton swimmer Allison Schmitt. If you lived under a rock during the summer, you might not have known that this gifted and talented—and also a very nice—person won a bronze medal at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. It was an amazing accomplishment for an amazing young lady.
Special consideration also went out to 2006 Sports Newsmaker of the Year recipient Greg Carter, Inkster’s varsity football coach and athletics director, and his Inkster Vikings. After a tumultuous ending to the 2007 season the Vikes stormed back in 2008 all the way to the Division 3 state championship finale in November. You can’t get any closer than that.
Another do-gooder in 2008 was Romulus varsity basketball coach Nate Oats, who led the Eagles to the final four in March. Romulus went an unheard of 12-0 in the Mega Red conference. They were the team to beat in the district and region. They weren’t beat, wrapping up the crowns. His team is again one of the best in the area this season.
Credit should go to Canton football coach Tim Baechler, the first Sports Newsmaker of the Year in 2005, for leading a very young and inexperienced team to the regional championship—a game his Chiefs nearly won—last year. No one expected that kind of season in 2008, but everyone should expect it and more in 2009.
No pressure, coach.
The following individuals and groups warrant a warm applause. Heck, give them a standing O just because they deserve it.
First year Coach Matt Ladach did a fantastic job with the Northville Mustang football team in 2008. The ‘Stangs looked like a football team and nearly made the playoffs with a 5-4 record—a far cry from a 1-8, 2007 campaign.
Canton baseball, under the guidance of Mark Blomshield, made an honest attempt at the regional crown in June. Plymouth Wildcat softball was close to a regional title. Canton gymnastics, behind famed coach John Cunningham, made it to the state championship meet after scoring a season high to make it out of the regional tournament. And John Glenn volleyball led by senior captains Brittany Holbrook and Stacey Truskowski beat Garden City for the first time in years to advance in the district tournament. Belleville volleyball won the district and the Lady Tigers played their hearts out but fell short in the regional tournament. We can’t forget the up-and-coming John Glenn boys soccer team that made a splash in the final season of WLAA play.
The Rockets beat Plymouth for the first time ever and finished third in the division—the highest ever for the team.
The Bad
Some teams just didn’t have it at all in 2008.
Just when things couldn’t get any worse than a winless 2007 season the Belleville football team went and repeated in 2008. The team struggled over the last four years but back-to-back 0-9 seasons is too much to not go on the naughty list.
The injury plagued Wayne football team was poised to not win a game until they met South Lyon East in a KLAA crossover bout. They won hands down and saved a perfect season. We should only hope that the Detroit Lions are as lucky. Opps they weren’t.
Salem was another team close to the brink of 0-9 stardom. The Rocks also beat up on the young South Lyon East club. They were so close in so many games in 2008 but couldn’t find the finishing touch. Next year could be the Rocks’ break out year.
The Whalers went from OHL champions in 2007 to being one of the worst teams in the league in 2008 with new coach Greg Stefan—who turned out to be a better scout than head coach. He stepped down late in 2008, handing the reigns back to Mike Vellucci—last year’s Sports Newsmaker of the Year for winning the OHL championship.
The Ugly
I tried to be PC throughout this entire piece but the truth is there were some things that were just downright ugly in 2008.
Although the Inkster Vikings made it to the Division 3 state championship game at Ford Field in 2008, the second half of the contest had to be one of the worst halves of football ever witnessed from the cheap seats. Don’t get me wrong, Inkster deserves all of the credit in the world to make it that far but—call it pressure, youth or choking—it wasn’t pretty.
Grand Rapids only led, 22-16, at the half but three unanswered touchdowns in the second gave the Pioneers a commanding 43-16 advantage. That was too much for the young Vikes to overcome.
The other horribly ugly incident of 2008 also included Inkster and 27 other teams of the Mega Conference. It’s no secret that the Mega had mega problems headed into the 2007-08 season. The league collapsed after several teams uprooted and took off in 2008 to form new conferences—most of them in secrecy and behind closed doors.
Belleville, Romulus and Inkster were left shaking their fists and knocking on those doors slammed in their faces trying to find new homes.
The newly formed Western Wayne Athletic Conference took in Belleville and Romulus but left Inkster standing in the cold. As of the end of 2008 Inkster was still homeless, forcing them to look at the tough and unpredictable independent life. Rumor had it that nobody in the new league wanted to face the powerful Inkster football team.
Can’t blame them, there, but unsportsmanlike conduct doesn’t get any uglier.
There you have it—the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of 2008. See you in 2009.
