#SocialStudies V 2.1

Video

September 13, 2012

By Andi Osters
Second Half social media guru

Welcome back, video mongers! A new school year has begun, and with it #SocialStudies 2.0.

Ready for your weekly dose of clips to peep? I hope so.

A quick refresher on #SocialStudies – I give you a selection of video clips I spotted in my never-ending quest to find the end of the Internet (which I’m convinced involves a cat video of some sort). These videos will typically highlight the amazing, dazzling, funny or weird side of sports – some high school, some college, some pro… and some which defy categorization.

And sometimes, we’ll simply show you a clip that is interesting and/or unique enough to be worth sharing.

We welcome your submissions and ideas for this weekly feature, so feel free to email us a link or raw footage. Seriously: we love videos. That said, let’s get to the meat & potatoes.

1. Give him a hand (he needs only one)

Here’s a high school football player from South Carolina who apparently was born with mattress springs attached to his legs instead of feet. The slo-mo replay of this interception (courtesy of PlayOn! Sports) is simply jaw-dropping.

2. Oh, Buddy ...

If Blake Griffin was at a gymnasium and I also happened to be in that very same gymnasium, I would absolutely tell my dignity to have a seat and allow that monster NBA dunk-master slam one over my head. I’d probably react to the experience just like this guy did, too.

3. Swing, swing a song

And now, for something completely un-sporty. Well, almost. There’s definitely activity happening in this brief short about an art installation in Montreal. I’m always fascinated by the intersection of musical creation and physical motion. Enjoy this giant human-powered instrument.

4. Summer School

And file this last one under In-Case-You-Missed-It-Over-The-Summer – here’s a recap of our Student Advisory Council’s 2^nd Annual camp retreat to Mystic Lake in June. The 16-member council enjoyed time on the high ropes course, team building activities, bonfires and strategizing an action plan for the 2012-13 school year.

That's enough for this school year's first lesson. See something over the weekend that caught your eye? Snag something at a pep assembly that we should see? Upload it to YouTube and send it on over.

You might just see it on Second Half’s #SocialStudies.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @MHSAA.

Video

#SocialStudies v4.0

February 23, 2012

The best part about #SocialStudies, as I’m sure you’ve all realized by Week 4, is that the sum of its parts make entirely zero sense when combined into one.

There are no easy transitions from flying squirrel wrestling moves to some guy dancing down a professional sporting arena aisle while Bon Jovi blares in the background. Nevertheless – we love compiling the weird and wacky each week.

So, without further ado …

1. You won't see this in Battle Creek, but ...

Last summer, this Chicago-area high schooler stunned an arena with acrobatics not seen on a wrestling mat since… well, never. Yes, we are very aware that this type of "flying squirrel" move is illegal under high school rules – but that doesn’t make it any less cool to watch. Don’t worry: multiple angles shown.

2. Dance Machine, circa 1986

The lip-syncing is fairly horrific. The moves aren’t anything spectacular. And this video is more than three years old. And yet, once you start watching this weird dude at a Celtics game – you cannot stop. His stellar sassy-steppin’ solo starts around 10 seconds in. Ladies and gentlemen: I give you Mr. Jeremy Fry in HD.

3. He is the Hunter; Robichaud, the hunted.

Junior Vincent Hunter of Detroit Consortium knows how to dunk. Here’s a compilation of no less than four of them from their game last week against Dearborn Heights Robichaud. The Cougars won the game, 73-67 – pushing their latest winning streak to four straight.

4. Say it with us: Battle ... of ... the ... Fans!

And finally, it seems amiss to neglect the final day of fan polling for our Battle of The Fans contest. View all five finalist submissions here and click the image below to vote on Facebook for your favorite. Good luck to Frankenmuth, Grand Rapids Christian, Petoskey, Reese and Rockford!

It's MHSAA tournament time, which should reveal a bevy of video highlights and social media madness as we finish up February and fly full bore into March.

See something high school sports-related online that the rest of us must see? Capture some cool video yourself? Upload it to We're always looking for more to add to your weekly #SocialStudies.