Lift
November 11, 2011
Not too long ago there was a television commercial that depicted a huge jumbo jet taking off. Then the pilot spoke about what it takes to lift such a large load off the ground.
The pilot said that to get such a huge weight off the ground you don’t go with the wind. You go against it. He said, “What pushes against us, lifts us up.”
There is no question that this is the recent story for the MHSAA which, momentarily in 2008, was knocked off balance by an adverse judgment by a federal court. In many respects, the MHSAA is stronger – financially and in other ways – because of 2008. The bad times made us better.
I’m hoping we will be able to say the same about local school sports generally a few years from now. That these bad times made us better. That today’s headwinds gave us the lift we needed to reach new and improved heights in school-based sports.
Not Acting Like Grownups
December 26, 2015
Take a look at Fox Sports Detroit today, the second of two days replaying the 2015 MHSAA 11-Player Football Finals at Ford Field.
What I’d like you to see – what I’m most proud of – is the behavior of the players.
Score a touchdown? Then hand the ball to the official, without any childish end zone dancing.
Sack the quarterback? Then head back to the huddle, without any ridiculous pointing and prancing.
So different from the professional game.
But sadly, some of that bad behavior is settling to the college level; and sometimes, there’s even a hint of it in our high school games.
But for now, the players behaving most maturely are the youngest, and behaving least maturely are the oldest.