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Go With It

April 30, 2012

One of my counterparts in another state asked me last week, “How do you do it?”  He meant, how do I find time to prepare two blog postings every week; and he also meant, how do I find topics for 104 postings each year; and he also meant, how do I go about the actual writing?

As for finding time, it’s no problem; because writing helps me think.  It helps me clarify and prioritize.  And going public with these thoughts helps me be more certain that I’m committed to the ideas.  For me, writing daily is as important as breathing deeply.

As for finding topics, it’s rarely a problem.  I find subject matter in what I read, what I hear and what I observe in everyday life and worldwide travel.  And I’ve discovered that the richest sources for writing about school sports are often found the furthest from school sports.

And as for the actual technique, I go about it this way:  I try to provide a plain circle, and then invite readers to color it however they wish, to use any shade they prefer, to color outside the lines if they think that’s most beneficial to their situation.

When we were children we were praised for coloring within the lines and utilizing the appropriate shades for sun, sky, grass and flowers.  These days I just want to provide a blank circle and ask, “What can you do with that?”  Not dictating what readers should do, but inviting readers to take an idea and do with it what they will where they live, work and play.

At least that’s what I want to do.

Large Topics for the Lower Level

December 22, 2017

Editor's Note: This blog originally was posted May 21, 2013, and the topic continues to be of prime concern today.

Sometimes our meeting agendas give the impression that junior high/middle school programs are unimportant or an afterthought; but that was not the case during the MHSAA Representative Council meeting May 5 and 6, and it will not be the case at many meetings throughout the next 12 months at least.

Here are just two of the tough multi-faceted topics that the Representative Council has asked to be addressed at constituent meetings from now through next February and will be studied by the MHSAA Junior High/Middle School Committee, Classification Committee and many of the MHSAA’s separate sport committees:

  • Are current season limitations for contests and limitations on the lengths of contests appropriate for the junior high/middle school level? Do the current limits reflect the correct philosophy for sports at this level? Do they accommodate the four-season approach many schools encourage? Do the limits drive some students to non-school programs? Do they cause some schools to not join the MHSAA?

  • Should the MHSAA provide rules, programs and services for 6th-graders who, in nearly 80 percent of situations, are located in the same buildings with 7th and 8th-graders? Does the MHSAA’s lack of involvement encourage the same by schools, and allow non-school programs to fill the resulting void; and does this drive those students away from school-based sports permanently? Or would the MHSAA’s involvement at this level pressure school districts to add sixth grade programs and services at a time of dwindling resources for the 7-12 grade program?

    • to benefit both kids and their schools at the junior high/middle school level as at the high school. Our agendas for the

We have always maintained that there is at least as much potential for school-based sports next year will have that belief as its foundation as these tough topics get the time they deserve.