100 Stations Carry MHSAA's 'This Week'
September 17, 2019
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
More than 100 over-the-air radio stations and internet audio website are carrying the MHSAA Network’s flagship program, This Week In High School Sports, as part of their weekly high school sports programming for the third straight year.
The five-minute program, powered by Michigan Student Aid, is in its fifth year. It leads off each week with feature stories from around the state from the MHSAA’s Second Half, or from network affiliated stories and interviews. This Week Game Balls are then presented for team or individual achievements in the past week. Be The Referee, a 60-second look at the fine art of officiating, comes in the middle of the show, and is followed by a closing MHSAA Perspective.
This week’s show will feature the inspirational story of Larry Prout Jr. at Pinckney High School, present game balls in 8-player football to Powers North Central and in boys soccer to Gaylord; address a swimming rules change during Be The Referee and conclude with an MHSAA Perspective on how most decisions in high school sports take place at the local level.
Here is a list of radio stations and web audio outlets carrying This Week In High School Sports:
Alma - WQBX-FM (104.9) - Halftime of game broadcasts, Between 1-2 p.m. Saturdays if no game that week
Alma – WFYC-AM (1280) – Halftime of game broadcasts, Between 1-2 p.m. Saturdays if no game that week
Alpena – WHSB-FM (107.7) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Alpena - WKJZ-FM (94.9) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Alpena - WZTK-FM (105.7) - Football Fridays, 6:30 p.m.; Halftime of basketball game broadcasts
Ashley - WJSZ-FM (92.5) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Battle Creek – WBCK-FM (95.3) – Following game broadcasts
Beaverton – WMRX-FM (97.7) - Halftime of game broadcasts; Sundays, 8 a.m.
Bridgman – WYTZ-FM (97.5) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Cadillac - WKAD-FM (93.7) – Immediately following Friday game broadcasts
Canton - WSDP-FM (88.1) - Halftime of football game broadcasts
Caro – WIDL-FM (92.1) – Prior to pregame show
Cheboygan - WCBY-FM (100.7) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Clawson – Detroit Sports & Entertainment – Halftime of game broadcasts
Coldwater - WTVB-AM (1590) - Halftime of Friday game broadcasts
Coldwater - WTVB-FM (95.5) – Halftime of Friday game broadcasts
Deckerville - ThumbTailgater.com - Halftime of game broadcasts
Detroit - WDTK-FM (101.5) - Pregame of game broadcasts
Detroit - WDTK-AM (1400) - Pregame of game broadcasts
East Lansing - WVFN-AM (730) – Fridays at 6 p.m. during football season
Escanaba - WCHT (600) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Escanaba – WUPF-FM (107.3) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Escanaba - WDBC (680) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Escanaba – WYKX-FM (104.7) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Ferrysburg - WMPA-FM (93.1) - Fridays at 6:35 p.m. during pregame broadcast
Frankenmuth - Frankenmuth Sports Network – Pregame and halftime of game broadcasts
Frankfort – WBNZ-FM (92.3) – Pregame of game broadcasts
Grand Haven - WAWL-FM (103.5) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Grand Haven - WGHN-AM (1370) – Fridays at 6:35 p.m. during pregame broadcast
Grand Haven – WGHN-FM (92.1) – Fridays at 6:35 p.m. during pregame broadcast
Grand Haven – WGHN-FM (94.9) – Fridays at 6:35 p.m. during pregame broadcast
Grand Haven – MichiganGameNight.com – Halftime of game broadcasts
Grand Rapids - WMAX-FM (96.1) – Following post-game scoreboard show
Grand Rapids – MichiganSportsRadio.com – Pregame or halftime of game broadcasts
Grayling – WGRY-FM (101.1) - Pregame of game broadcasts
Grayling - WQON-FM (100.3) - Pregame of game broadcasts
Greenville – WGLM-FM (106.3) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Hancock – WMPL-AM (920) – Pregame of game broadcasts
Hancock – WMPL-FM (107.3) – Pregame of game broadcasts
Hancock – WKMJ-FM (93.5) – Pregame of game broadcasts
Holland - WHTC-AM (1450) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Holland - WHTC-FM (99.7) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Howell – LivingstonPost.com – Halftime of game broadcasts
Houghton - WHKB-FM (102.3) - Postgame of game broadcasts
Houghton Lake – WTWS-FM (92.1) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Iron Mountain – WZNL-FM (94.3) – Halftime of game broadcasts, Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
Ironwood – WJMS-AM (590) – Pregame of game broadcasts
Jackson – WKHM-AM (970) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Jackson – WKHM-FM (101.5) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Jackson - WKHM-FM (105.3) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Kalamazoo – WQLR (1600) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Kalamazoo – WKZO-AM (590) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Lansing – LansingHerald.com – Halftime of game broadcasts
Lowell – WRWW-FM (92.3) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Ludington – WKLA-AM (1450) – TBA
Ludington – WKLA-FM (92.7) - TBA
Ludington – WKLA-FM (96.3) – TBA
Ludington - WLDN-FM (97.7) – TBA
Ludington - WLDN-FM (98.7) – TBA
Manistique - WTIQ-AM (1490) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Marquette – WRUP-FM (98.3) – Postgame of game broadcasts
Marquette - WKQS-FM (101.9) – Postgame of game broadcasts
Marquette - WFXD-FM (103.3) – Postgame of game broadcasts.
Marquette – WFXD-HD2 (105.1 – 99.9) - Postgame of game broadcasts
Marquette – WUPZ-FM (94.9) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Marquette - WZAM-AM (970) - Tuesdays between 4-5 p.m.
Marquette - WZAM-FM (93.3) - Tuesdays between 4-5 p.m.
Midland – WMPX-AM (1490) – Halftime of game broadcasts; Sundays, 8 a.m.
Midland – WMPX-FM (107.7) - Halftime of game broadcasts; Sundays, 8 a.m.
Monroe - MonroeCountyRadio.com - Halftime of game broadcasts
Mt. Pleasant – WCZY-FM (104.3) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Mt. Pleasant - WMMI-FM (92.3) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Muskegon - WLCS-FM (98.3) - Pregame of game broadcasts
Muskegon – WVIB-FM (100.1) - Pregame of game broadcasts
Muskegon – WMUS-FM (107.9) – Following post-game scoreboard show
Newberry – WNBY-AM (1450) – Halftime of game broadcasts, Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
Newberry – WNBY-FM (93.9) – Halftime of game broadcasts, Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
Niles – RCSportscasting.com – Halftime of game broadcasts
Novi – WOVI-FM (89.5) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Ontonagon – WUPY-FM (101.1) – Pregame of game broadcasts
Oscoda – WWTH-FM (100.7) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Petoskey - WMBN-AM (1340) – Immediately following Friday game broadcasts
Petoskey – WMBN-FM (104.7) – Immediately following Friday game broadcasts
Rogers City – WHAK-FM (99.9) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Saugatuck - WVYN-FM (92.7) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Sault Ste. Marie - WSOO-AM (1230) – Halftime of game broadcasts, Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
Sault Ste. Marie – WUPN-FM (95.1) – Halftime of game broadcasts, Monday at 8:50 a.m.
Scottville – WKZC-FM (94.9) – TBA
South Haven – WCSY-FM (103.7) – Halftime of game broadcasts
St. Ignace/Cheboygan – WWMK-FM (106.3) – Halftime of Friday game broadcasts
St. Joseph – WSJM-AM (1400) – Halftime of game broadcasts, Daily at 1:40 p.m.
St. Joseph – WSJM-FM (106.1) – Halftime of game broadcasts, Daily at 1:40 p.m.
St. Joseph – WSJM-FM (94.9) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Sturgis – WBET-AM (1230) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Sturgis – WBET-FM (99.3) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Sturgis – JoeInsider.com – Halftime of game broadcasts
Tawas City - WKJC-FM (104.7)
1975 Class D Football Film Finds Way Back to MHSAA for All to Enjoy Again
By
John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director emeritus
April 11, 2023
Chasing history was one of the most enjoyable parts of serving at the MHSAA for nearly 34 years. Researching information, but especially what I considered for a long time to be talking to the “old guys” (now I’m one of them) and soaking up their verbal histories of our games.
It also involved chasing down old photos, broadcasts and game films – especially those which preceded our more modern video era beginning in the 1990s.
When I arrived at the MHSAA in 1987, there was a shelf of old 16mm film canisters of an assortment of Boys Basketball Finals from the 1950s to the 70s – certainly not a complete set. The Association would shoot some game action from each quarter and the trophy presentations. They’d be sent out to the participating schools to show to the students (I remember watching a Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart game in 1967 when I was in fifth grade). Some would find their way back to the office – most would not.
Will Robinson, the legendary Detroit Public School League coach who led Pershing High School to the league’s first MHSAA titles (in 1967 and 1970) after a district-imposed hiatus from 1931-61 from statewide tournaments, would pull my chain every time we saw each other about those games featuring Spencer Haywood and Ralph Simpson, among others. We never found them.
So it became a project to try and track down as many old game films of state championships as we could.
Any conversation with someone with a history tone always included a question about the whereabouts of a game film or video. One of those recently bore fruit.
When Crystal Falls Forest Park played in the 8-Player Football Finals at the Superior Dome in Marquette back in 2017, I spent a lot of time talking with living legend Bill Santilli, who led the Trojans to the Class D crown in the very first year of the tournament in 1975, and who would later coach the school to a second state title (2007) and serve as athletic director. He said he had a box on his desk collecting dust that he didn’t know what to do with – that box contained an old video tape from that game.
I uttered four little words – “Send It To Me.”
After a while the tape arrived in East Lansing, and I got our video production friends at When We Were Young Productions/Rush Media in Wisconsin on it. This winter, they found someone who could convert it and sent me a file that was recently posted to the MHSAASPORTS Channel on YouTube. You can watch the Trojans play Flint Holy Rosary by Clicking Here or watching above.
There are all kinds of old game films/videos and artifacts in attics, closets, garages, etc., in every town. Two of our Muskegon historians – Ron Pesch, the MHSAA’s history guy; and the old broadcaster, Jim Moyes, who called games on the radio for years in the Port City – can tell stories of their own about discoveries they have made. Moyes found all kinds of mementos while working on his book on the history of high school track & field in Michigan, and sitting with Ron at this year’s Girls Basketball Finals, he told a story of finding the mother lode of photographs from one of his other historical passions – silent film star Buster Keaton – who spent ten summers in the Actor’s Colony in Muskegon.
Pesch found a listing for Eleanor Keaton, Buster’s widow, using a telephone book (remember those?), made a phone call and shortly thereafter, on a vacation to California, was in her living room where he was loaned a photo album and family scrapbook containing all kinds of images from their time in Muskegon. Many of those images appear in a soon-to-be-released documentary, while the album and scrapbook now reside in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences library in Beverly Hills, Calif. You can preview the film by Clicking Here.
So if you think you have something of a state championship that could be utilized on a bigger platform and enjoyed by everyone, drop a note to [email protected]. If something needs to be converted to a more modern format, you’ll get a copy back, and the footage will be eventually viewable on the MHSAA’s YouTube channel.
To help guide your search, think in the following terms:
► Just about anything before 1990. But there are gaps during the 90s that need to be filled as well.
► Only Championship games and Semifinal games, unless something momentous occurred (like Richie Jordan’s 60-point game for Fennville against Bridgman in a Regional Semifinal in 1965, which is still an all-time tournament single-game record for boys basketball).
► For a list of what’s in the MHSAA archives prior to 2000 – Click Here. A long-term project is to get all of the games on the list and up to about 2010 uploaded to the YouTube channel. Most games from 2013-14 on can be viewed on the NFHS Network, and some games between 2010 and 2013 are available for purchase as DVDs from PrepFilms.com.
PHOTO Posing with the championship trophy after the 1975 Class D Football Final are (left to right): Forest Park tight end Bryan LaChapelle, quarterback Richard Mettlach, head coach Dick Mettlach and running back Bill Santilli.