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A Year Later, Here's What I Miss Most About Michigan

A year ago a moving van pulled our possessions off our driveway and moved them 550 miles southeast into Maryland. It's been a long, strange journey filled with some heartache, struggles and some incredible experiences, too.

So as I type this, it occurred to me I'm pining a bit nostalgic for my Michigan roots. Football season is ramping up here, but the fervor, anticipation and general excitement isn't the same. For those reasons and a few others, here's the Top 10 things I miss from Michigan.

10. Cool nights. Jesus, as if 80 inches of snow packaged in three storms of 20+ inches wasn't enough, we're already at 45 days above 90 degrees. I've worked two plate games where it was warmer that 105 when I took the lineups, over 95 when the game ended and still above 90 when I got home in the late evening. I had heard the Mid-Atlantic was hot; I didn't realize that was merely code for living in the doorway of a blast furnace.

9. Sports Town Tradition. Look, Baltimore and D.C. are great cities with their own distinct energy and passion, but like Chicago, New York and L.A., they pale in comparison to the passion that oozes from The D. That's just fact.

8. Nicknames. OK, the Baltimore Dunbar High Poets is cool, but the winningest Maryland basketball school this side of De Matha High is the overwhelming exception. We're overloaded by Cougars, Falcons, Lions, Tigers, Eagles and Patriots in Maryland. By comparison, Detroit's got Doughboys, Tars, Tractors, Thunderbirds, Maples and River Rats. We lost the Oaks and Chiefs but you can still find Shamrocks, Saddelites and Pilots, too.

7. Opinion. The local Baltimore sports media probably wouldn't look very dignified in cheerleader outfits, but if it sounds like a cheerleader and squeals like a cheerleader, why not just finish the look? I think this town is still scared to say anything that will make the owner pack up this toys and go elsewhere. The Tigers had 12 losings seasons in a row and there were songs and shirts chiding the team, and I think the Matt Millen era of Detroit Lions football -- if that's what you call that regular season scrimmage schedule-- speaks for itself. Try saying something negative about the Ravens here, and it's the media, not the fans, who shoot your argument down.

6. Driving Seven Over The Speed Limit. Note to everyone from Maryland: Driving 45 mph in the far left lane is pathetic. So is entering the freeway at 25 mph, scared to death of pushing your way into a moving lane of traffic. Slowing down to a crawl on the freeway for no absolute reason is also a swell Blue Crab state tradition. Jesus, people, we drive 45 mph in our Michigan neighborhoods, just not the nice ones, right? Get moving!

5. Football Fever. Before I chide the Navy gameday experience, I need to omit the games the Mids play Notre Dame, Air Force and Army. Those are exceptional spectacles, but your garden-variety Navy football game looks great from afar, but when you actually go to a game, you realize it's a lot of retired brass sitting on their hands awash in the three scotch n' sodas they put down in the parking lot. The 3,800 Midshipmen in the stands are into it for sure, but it's no Spartan Stadium or Big House, where each school's band thunders into the stadium and the rest of the day just gets crazier from there.

The University of Maryland? Yeah, fear the turtle...if you're trying to stay awake.

4. The Big Ten. If I had a dollar for every transposed Big 10 fan I've met from Michigan, Ohio or Penn State who is secretly rooting for Maryland to be the surprise addition to the Big 10 so they can see their favorite school once a year, I wouldn't have to look for work. If you ask the Maryland fans, they oppose joining the Big 10, but a lot of Big Ten'rs think this is fear. They know the Terrapins would struggle mightily in football and they know it; can you say Indiana East? 

Marylanders also point to the ACC and their rivalry with Duke or North Carolina on the hardwood. Well, it's only a big deal when they play Duke or UNC to Maryland, because the rest of the country doesn't care. Being a Big 10 school hasn't hurt Tom Izzo's Spartans from getting to six Final Fours in 12 years either.

3. Fight Songs. Anchors Aweigh is a stirring march to be sure, but fight songs like the Buckeye Battle Cry, On Wisconsin and The Victors, not to mention Falcone Fight (Michigan State), and Hail! Purdue are just amazing. A handful of the Big 10 fight songs are derived from Civil War hymns. How cool is that?

2. High School Football Scores. I so miss ripping open the paper or going online and pouring over the scores. Of course, before they closed, my first glance pointed to Royal Oak. Did Kimball win? How did Dondero do? The upsets. Walled Lake Western got beat by who? Farmington Hills Harrison. Dearborn Fordson. The PSL. King, Southeastern, Pershing and Denby. The trio of schools in Livonia and Plymouth. The Catholic League. Who did CC play? Did the Cubs win? Where is Brother Rice today?

By comparison, here in Anne Arundel County, which is about the size and population of Oakland County, we have 12 public schools and six private schools, and the JV plays at 4:00 on Friday before the varsity game at 6:30. Hardly the stuff of Friday Night Lights, let alone Ampipe High in All The Right Moves. Tell Bosco I'll be seeing him around!

1. Coney Dogs, Apple Cider, Sweet Corn & Driving Down The Lodge Listening To "It's The Same Old Song". Don't get wrong, Maryland Blue Crabs and cold beer is a beautiful thing, but every time I'm back in The D, I hit a coney and grab two with everything. Greek salads, too. It's just part of Detroit that I've never seen replicated. Washington D.C. has Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street (a must-see when you're in The District, btw), but it's not a true Detroit coney. And good luck finding a cider mill or a sweet corn stand on the side of the road. That truly is Pure Michigan.

~ T.C. Cameron is the author of Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries, Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries and writes sports for The Capital-Gazette newspaper in Annapolis.

SportsCenter Is Stupid; My Bad...

The centerpiece of ESPN's entire programming package, SportsCenter, has become a bona fide juvenile distraction instead of real sports journalism. More and more, the show resembles a high school sophomore's version of Facebook for sports fans.

Today the show reported -- with video -- Mark McGwire walking into the St. Louis Cardinals' training complex in Jupiter, Florida. Imagine that? He was hired to be the hitting coach and he showed up for work. Compelling stuff, huh?

That irrelevant report was followed by breaking news from Tampa, Florida. The Yankees have reported for spring training! They'll be replacing Johnny Damon and adding Curtis Granderson! Maybe this news was for those cohabiting under really big rocks.

Seriously? It reminds me of reading a game story that regales the contest's 10 lead changes. Yeah it's factual, but does the number mean anything in the context of the outcome? Many times it excludes more relevant content.

It would be news worthy to report Mark McGwire didn't show up for work, or for the first time in more than 100 years, the Yankees didn't open spring training. Of course, that isn't happening, so let's drag McGwire through some more steroid talk and we'll get baseball's biggest fan base engaged, too.

Shameless.

What followed the wink n' nod portion of the show was a college basketball game between Kentucky and Mississippi State that featured merciless heckling by State fans, a cell phone incident, a mildly-controversial no-call and a dangerous response by a throng of ill-mannered fans.

A few minutes later Sage Steele referenced journalism's 'trenches'. Leave that one alone, Sage. That's mine. Am I right, Jennifer? We both know I am. Later Steele and co-anchor John Buccigross engaged in making elephant noises as the program slipped away into commercial. 

Welcome to 7th grade homeroom.

Why make real fans wait in today's instant gratification world? Enough with the mindless fodder and let's get back to real sports programming. There's a reason I don't read People magazine -- it's rarely relevant. Why make SportsCenter look and feel the same way?

OOPS: My first season in the Mid-Atlantic has ended with a nice assignment, a quarterfinal in a private school tournament. 

I had a fairly easily game, didn't hear much from either coach and by the time the final quarter arrived, the outcome was in hand thanks to a 34-point spread. During that minute-long intermission, I approached my partner and said, "Six more points and we have a running clock." My partner nodded, not in agreement or denial but simply acknowledgment of my statement.

Sure enough, the margin quickly exceeded 40 and I tell the clock operator we're going to have a running clock. I received a quizzical look from the operator, but that is somewhat commonplace even when the National Federation of High Schools guideline is commonplace. Regardless, it should have tripped my radar.

When I got to the baseline, the coach trailing by the seven-touchdown amount asked me, "Are you going to run the clock the rest of the way?" Naturally, I responded in the affirmative, and he replied with a polite "Thank you."

How many coaches politely thank you for a running clock? Again, my radar should have tripped. 

About a minute later, the mistake was caught. Because public schools and private schools hold separate tournaments, they also subscribe to different aspects of the NFHS rulebook. The mercy game provisions have been willfully excluded from the private schools in this Mid-Atlantic state.

A huge deal? No. It was rather light moment, to be truthful. I was simply relieved my mistake was one made in a 40+ margin game not a mistake worthy of a 40-minute discussion from an athletic director, coach or assignor.

Regards...

~T.C. Cameron is a three-time author, three sport official and freelance writer for The Capital in Annapolis who's thankful for not having to list all of his mistakes within this bio line.

James Gang Mentality Ruined Texas Tech - MSU Broadcast

"I think that if it was a different player that didn't have such a high-profile father, I don't think the repercussions for his actions would have even been close to what happened," said Stephanie Blanchard of Lubbock.

Isn't it the saddest commentary of all when celebrity or status trumps truth? This quote, courtesy of Shannon Shelton's article published today in the Detroit Free Press titled Seeing Red All Over San Antonio, is exactly why college football is in trouble thanks to the pressure to win and the never-ending scramble to maximize the all-mighty dollar.

If I'm to buy into what I think Stephanie Blanchard is trying to impart, I would have to conclude that truth is merely an inconvenient by-product of any situation. To hell with the facts about Adam James, son of former state legend and current ESPN commentator Craig James, I want my coach back!

That's what sickens me about all of this.  Last night I felt like throwing up as ESPN's Mike Patrick and Bob Davie droned on and on and on about Texas Tech's firing of coach Mike Leach and all the drama unfolding because of it. I would have rather heard the truth there, too. ESPN badly wanted a compelling show from Texas Tech, and Michigan State -- no matter what happened -- was going to be the dancing bear of the show. In the end the network got what it wanted, a come-from-behind thriller in favor of the Red Raiders and plenty of controversial story lines, all neatly packaged in the longest four-hour football game of my life that didn't include overtime.

It's not like ESPN just recently learned to sell out, either. The network all but buried the NHL's Winter Classic game from Boston's Fenway Park on New Year's Day. Why? Because ESPN (including network partner ABC) is a major player in the college football television game and discontinued broadcasting the NHL a couple of seasons ago. As a result, unless you watched Boston's 2-1 overtime victory over Philadelphia live on NBC or get the NHL Network, the game was an afterthought on SportsCenter when compared to the meaningless four-game college football set played on Friday. I'm not suggesting ESPN would be better served with the NHL on its network instead of major college football, I'm simply saying a good story shouldn't be buried because it doesn't serve all your interests. By the same token, it should come as no surprise that that Leach story got all the grease a day later; it best serves the ESPN's interests. That's an ugly truth to today's modern media, but a story for another day, too.

As Texas Tech's fans booed Adam James (and he's the victim, here, if the truth is what it appears), Patrick alluded to death threats and vicious attempts to smear James and his family over this courtesy of the Texas Tech faithful, a term I use loosely. Is that the saddest commentary, that the truth matters so little here? What Patrick and Davie didn't mention is none of those fans would boo their own kid if he or she had been put in an electrical closet or -- my term favorite of the night -- an athletic training shed, whatever the hell that is, by some overbearing, pirate-happy college football coach. 

Further, Davie pontificated about the conflicting emotion certainly coursing through Leach's veins as he sat home and watched the game, realizing his tenure at Tech is done, the finality of the situation surely washing over him. 

If I'm to feel sorry for Mike Leach, I ought to feel bad for Tonya Harding for the pain and suffering she went through as her skating career imploded under the weight of the criminal actions her posse induced on her behalf, too.

Exactly who are we trying to kid here? This is all about power and subsequent abuse of that power by a coach handed the keys to a kingdom dominated by the allure of winning and the greedy pursuit of the windfall winning football games produces. It's about a man so sure of his own impunity he'll do anything and later say anything to justify his actions. Forget the assistants coaches in this, too. They were hired by Leach. In the first few days of this scandal, they remained loyal to Leach, but how long does it take a rat to figure out how to abandon a sinking ship?

The mob mentality was in full force last night, which made for a miserable night of football if you had any conscience at all.

Regards...

~When he's not writing books, T.C. Cameron is bitter and estranged about his lack of control over television programming and wants to put his own 'slant' on the programming you watch.

The Hypocrisy Of Mainstream Media At Work

What if Michael Phelps was black? What if Phelps was a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Team USA's men's basketball team and was caught taking a hit off a glass lettuce burner?

Are we ready to be honest? Before you answer, name the last time a black athlete was pardoned in public for owning a scandalous photo similar to the one Phelps recently cop'd to?

I'm not taking up 'The Cause' -- whatever that is -- because there are a ton of instances that offer no rhyme or reason for why they occur within our media's obsession with the instantaneous crucifixion and subsequent resurrection of the subjects pushed in front of our collective conscience in the same knee-jerk fashion most of us would like to push our in-laws out in front of rush hour traffic. Bill Clinton was crucified for banging a not-so-very-hot intern; George Bush was ignored for purposed war crimes. Go figure. Why do Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmerio get a virtual pass for their suspected  roles in baseball's performance-enhancing scandal when compared to the outright vicious response Barry Bonds has elicited from media and fans? Please don't tell me it's just because he owns baseball's most famous mark, because to do so would be an outright admission you're living with your head in the sand.

That said, I find it somewhat amusing that Phelps gets a pass on this photo in the manner I've witnessed. In the Detroit Free Press Monday, the the Off Beat column penned by Krista Jahnke was titled "So Michael Phelps Is Human After All". Today's edition of The Detroit News featured columnist Bob Wojnowski pleading for calm and reason in relation to the mistake Phelps made.

It makes me remember Detroit Southwestern High grad Jalen Rose being arrested during his second year at Michigan (1992-93) for playing video games in a Detroit house that doubled as a drug den. I was on the desk at The Ann Arbor News on the Saturday night a story came hurdling down the wire almost a full school year after the actual arrest just minutes in front of the morning edition's 1:00 am deadline. As you can imagine, we held production and made room for the story on the front page above the fold. We told ourselves we were being responsible journalists. Today I look back and cringe.

Rose wasn't smoking, wasn't selling and wasn't buying. He was playing video games, but he played a brash, in-your-face style of basketball. Rose played the 'City Game', and White America wasn't ready for Rose's style of talk-you-down, break-you-down, drive you down on your ass and shout you down the court while wearing shorts with a foot more material than any player in America. After Mick McCabe, the Detroit Free Press prep writer, discovered and published news of the 4 October 1992 arrest on 9 March 1993, six months after it happened, Rose was crucified for weeks and painted as a ghetto gangbanger. Fans and pundits alike called for his suspension. Wire services crackled with updates.

Both Rose and Phelps are Michigan letterwinners. Rose was arrested in a drug den; Phelps was inhaling from a glass stanchion the size of an exhaust pipe from a certified used Mini Cooper. Both came clean in their own time.  America's response? The mainstream media and sponsors alike vilified Rose; Phelps was largely pardoned.

For the record, I have no problem with Phelps. I think the public backlash is punishment enough, and any prosecuting attorney willing to prosecute this as a criminal offense needs to just open a Facebook page like the rest of us if he really needs the attention that bad.

If nothing else, I hope you enjoy reading the paper in the morning all the more with your eyes wide open.

WDFN's Death Sealed With Poor Signal, Sassy Disposition

Metro Detroit's appetite for sports might have eyes bigger than its' stomach.

WDFN's abrupt, noon-time decapitation of all local programming on Tuesday, save for 90-second updates every 30 minutes and Pistons' play-by-play, reveals a lot about the local economy, the teams we zealously root for and a time-tested adage WDFN largely ignored in the station's 15 years of local programming.

Obviously the amount of advertising revenue and ratings' share, both procured and projected, didn't justify 1130AM's parent company, Clear Channel, keeping the majority of local sales and on-air talent on the company's payroll. The nationwide media malaise and local depression was too much to bear.

Another key component in the demise of WDFN was signal strength, already weak when 97.1 The Ticket went to a resounding dual AM/FM signal a year ago that combined 1270AM's WXYT with 97.1FM. Before that, it had been WXYT that looked like the fly-by-night competition for much of the time the two stations battled each other for sports supremacy. The station had gone through a handful of platform changes and renamed the station's handle two different times before finally settling on 'The Ticket'.

But the FM stereo upgrade at WXYT changed the tenor of the two-station sports fight. The Ticket gained an all-encompassing signal found nearly everywhere in the three-county metro area and beyond -- at all hours of the day -- while 'Da Fan was tough to find in Southfield after dark when the station powered down the signal. Once WXYT went to FM, the Tigers and Red Wings became crystal clear on FM in the car and WDFN lost a key arrow from the quiver when fighting WXYT for advertising dollars.

Finally, while it made for great radio at times, Detroit's downtown professional teams repeatedly snubbed WDFN when play-by-play contract rights were available for bid. Already leery of WDFN's truculent approach to on-air criticism of both in-game performance and administrative decision-making, the city's sports-minded Big Three tired of the station's oft-juvenile approach to culling fan reaction in promotion and programming and WDFN subsequently never made the breakthrough needed to secure radio rights. That allowed WXYT to remain a potential competitor for advertising dollars when the station was turning over multiple contracts for on-air talent and drawing abysmal ratings.

The Fan was brought to Detroit in 1994 as a mirror image of popular New York City sports radio station WFAN, and Detroit's Fan had the jump on any future competition had it been able to lock up any one of Detroit's three downtown teams. But instead of getting along before going along, WDFN implemented an adversarial approach to sports talk, pitting fans versus the teams without a major play-by-play contract to sustain it. That ultimately cost The Fan's staff of talent when Detroit's economy could no longer sustain two sports talkers.

Merry Christmas!

Today I'd like to take a few moments to thank all the people who make the 'other' 364 days of the year worth remembering when we get to this time of the year.

Kudos to all the prep athletes who work, toil, dream and achieve within a handful of yards of us year after year. Seasons greetings to the coaches and athletic directors who pour so much sweat equity into their team, their schools and their sports. The passion, pandemonium and interest in sports, all the way to the professional level, starts with you.

Holiday wishes to the officials who are willing to step on the field and try every day and every game. We as a sporting community focus so much on all the ancillary faults of officials in the modern information era, but the credit goes to the men and women who step on the field  and bare themselves to everything imaginable -- like endless criticism -- while leaving everything but their confidence and good will behind.

Merry Christmas to the business family of Cliff Keen. It was an amazing 2008 and we're poised to smash through more barriers in '09. Thanks for your generosity and trust.

Thanks to the many media professionals who helped me achieve a personal dream of becoming an author. Specifically, Communications Director John Johnson and the other staff members at the Michigan High School Athletic Association. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the sales, marketing and editorial staff at Arcadia Publishing -- thanks for the belief and fortitude to stick by me. And blessings to my agent, Terry Whalin, who is a good sounding board for my map to success.

To the many former athletes, collectors, historians and coaches who volunteered their pictures, articles, knowledge and enthusiasm for my two books, thank you and Merry Christmas. Thanks to the loyal readers who read either my original WriteReferee blog or the syndicated version found at MIPrepsZone.com. To the newspaper staffs at the Livonia and Birmingham editions of the Observer & Eccentric, specifically Dan O'Meara and Marty Budner, thank you. To Jim Evans of The Daily Tribune and Glenn Gilbert, Jeff Kuehn and my man Kozmo at The Oakland Press, thanks for a great 2008!

To everyone who bought my book -- thank you for your support! You have my undying gratitude and well wishes for a great holiday season.

Closer to the heart, to my loyal friends and family (especially my wife and kids), thank you for the faith, support and encouragement as I live the dream. None of this would be possible without you. I look back at 8 August, 2006 and wonder in amazement, how did I ever get here?

Finally, to my nephew Trevor, no matter where you are, there's not a day that goes by I don't think of you. I can't help but hope that a clean split from bad memories gave you the space you needed to find your good heart again. There's a door here for you to knock on if you ever so desire. Uncle Scar loves you, Simba. I'm sure your grandma misses you, too.

Merry Christmas!

HS Football Remains Strong Among Major Media Stalwarts

The defense of Lord Stanley's Chalice begins tonight on the banks of the Detroit River for America's signature hockey franchise, the Detroit Red Wings. With little more than 100 days behind them after an exalting run to the Cup championship, the Wings will host their longtime rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, to Joe Louis Arena.

What does this have to do with high school football? Give me another paragraph or two.

The season's energy began in earnest two days ago when the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association (DSBA) hosted a media luncheon Tuesday in the Hockeytown Cafe featuring Red Wing brass Ken Holland, Steve Yzerman and Jim Nill. During the organizational housekeeping duties and preliminary introductions, DSBA President Rick Kincaide made mention of my book, Metro Detroit's High School Football Rivalries, and went on to tell the thrilling details of Farmington's 20-19 triumph over Farmington Hills Harrison last week.

In front of a major media market, in a hockey-crazed city, before introducing household names like Holland and Yzerman, Kincaide was talking high school football, and with good reason. He broadcast the Harrison-Farmington game featured six lead changes, a healthy amount of PAT drama from both coaches and a thrilling conclusion that saw Farmington recover the football for a climatic kneel-down to capture their first win over Harrison in 31 years. Quite a story, in any market, for any sport.

Kincaide, who has a neat book of his own called The Gods of Olympia Stadium: Legends of the Detroit Red Wings, showed me through his plug for my book and his re-telling of last Friday's Falcon win that Detroiters have secure spot in their heart for prep sports.

After the program, Bill Evo of Evo Enterprises stopped me to tell me of his relative, Chuck Skinner. Readers of this blog will quickly recall I ran a story a few weeks back of a fun phone discussion I had with Skinner. The story was rich with memories of Skinner's days with the Hazel Park Vikings and later Birmingham's Seaholm Maples.

Before I finished talking with Evo, the voice of the Red Wings, Ken Kal, stopped me and retold a great story of his broadcasting a game between Adrian's Maples and the River Rats from Ann Arbor Huron that was played at Hollway Field on the Ann Arbor Pioneer campus. "I remember the excitement and fun of the game kind of overtaking me," Kal said with a chuckle. "I was calling a kickoff, and the runner took the ball on the 10. I said 'He's at the 20, now the 30, the 40..45...50! 55, 60, 65...He's down to the 30 and downed at the 25-yard line!"

A graduate of Dearborn St. Alphonsus, Kal grew up a native Detroiter with a keen awareness of the major HS rivalries in the metro area. Kal's brother is longtime Brother Rice baseball coach Ron Kalczynski, who still serves as an assistant to current Rice coach Bob Riker. Before Kal was the radio voice of the Wings, he was the voice of the Michigan Wolverines and a favorite of the sports writers of The Ann Arbor News in the downtown Ann Arbor eateries and brew houses after we had put the paper to bed on a Saturday night. Today's he's best remembered for calling four Red Wing championships in the past 11 years.

Kal has a media resume most of  us would kill for, and no one would blame him for burying a memory of a call that is not the truest representation of his best work in radio. Yet what did Kal remember Tuesday, on the eve of another thrilling season of Red Wing hockey?

45, 50! 55-60! 65.....

Long live high school football!