Welcome Back to 'The Woods'

January 17, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Buchanan, here we come. 

The MHSAA and its Student Advisory Council will kick off "Battle of the Fans III" tonight with a return trip to Buchanan, last season's BOTF champion. 

Buchanan, tucked into the southwest corner of the Lower Peninsula, is a Class B school of 465 students hailing from a community of roughly 4,400. The Bucks earned voters' hearts in 2013 as most of that student body and community filled the home gym – fittingly referred to as "The Woods" – for the MHSAA's BOTF visit. 

The MHSAA will visit finalists Beaverton, Bridgman, Frankfort and Traverse City West later this month and during the first two weeks of February before crowning a champion on Feb. 21 and inviting representatives from the winning section to a banner presentation during the Boys Basketball Semifinals on March 21 at Michigan State's Breslin Center. 

Remember, follow the Battle of the Fans on the MHSAA's FacebookTwitter and Instagram social media sites by clicking hashtag #BOTF. The MHSAA-produced story and video from tonight's trip will be published Tuesday on Second Half. 

Here's Buchanan's application video for this winter's contest. 

PHOTO is courtesy of Buchanan High School. Battle of the Fans III is sponsored in part by the United Dairy Industry of Michigan.

SAC Sound-off: You get one question

March 6, 2012

We asked the members of the Student Advisory Council to pick someone they wish they could meet, and tell us why. Here are their answers:

Ancestors

Carly Joseph, Pontiac Notre Dame junior
I would ask all of my grandparents about what it was like when they were growing up.

Elle Lehman, Portland St. Patrick senior
I would ask anyone in my family who lived hundreds of years ago what it was like where my family came from, and why they moved to America.

Visionaries

Tyler Wilson, Rudyard senior
I would ask Martin Luther King Jr. how he was so brave.

Maria Buczkowski, Detroit Country Day senior
I would ask Albert Einstein to convince my teachers to have a daydreaming class in school, since he developed the theory of relativity by daydreaming.

Entrepreneurs

Alissa Jones, Muskegon Catholic Central senior
I would like to ask Steve Jobs how he came up with the idea of the Ipod gadgets.

Bailey Truesdell, Grand Blanc senior
I would like to ask Warren Buffett how he made his billions.

Sports Legends

Kevin Beazley, Detroit Catholic Central senior
Michael Jordan: What are the little things that nobody knows about or sees that brought you to the top?

Matt Freeman, Owosso junior
Bear Bryant: What does it take to become the leader he was?

Evan Lamb, Rogers City junior
Joe Paterno: I'd ask how it felt to have touched the hearts of so many people throughout the years.

Kings (of rock-n-roll)

Lena Madison, New Buffalo senior
I would like to ask Elvis Presley if is he is dead or alive still.