Blog: First Pitch

We love this time of year. And not just because school is nearly out for summer. There’s little argument that the week ahead is the most exciting of each MHSAA school year. Read on for what's in store on MHSAA.com and Second Half, plus some further explanation o...

We all believe that, right? Rain – and snow for some – has been the buzzword of this spring sports season. Read on for some of the options teams have while trying to reschedule games, plus another way to look at our class setup for 2013-14 and an update on ...

This week in the year 2000, Jon Cooper had just finished his first season coaching at any level, having guided the Lansing Catholic hockey team to its first Regional championship in 25 seasons. Thirteen years later, he's running the Tampa Bay Lightning. Cooper's incred...

A few weeks ago, I finally got my first chance this season to watch a friend coach his basketball team. After guiding some others at the lower levels, this is his first time running the varsity – something he wasn't sure he wanted to do with a 1-year-old...

It’s impossible to include all the perspective we gain from every “Battle of the Fans” visit.  But a story of two rivals doing a great thing together, plus two more rivals doing the same, are worthy anecdotes worth passing on. 

Next week will mark the one-year birthday of Second Half, our place to tell your high school sports stories. And I thank you for helping us to such a great start.

Those who have watched a football game at St. Johns High School in the past easily could get lost trying to find the Redwings' home this fall. That's tongue-in-cheek, of course. But it is not an exaggeration on how much the school has improved its stadium, which will ...

Who would I pick to coach a Lansing area boys basketball Dream Team? Sportswriters get a lot of questions like that, from radio hosts or fans, or roommates who grew up nearby. To not offend the other coaching friends I’d made in my decade-plus in Lansing, I kept ...

Longtime Menominee football coach Ken Hofer retired today. He finished with a career record of 342-136-3 and led his team to three MHSAA championships. But he is best known as the state's guru of the single win offense, which doesn't include a traditional quarterback a...

Last week was the busiest on the MHSAA school schedule. And it was a great one for Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.

Junior Garcia was minding his own round last week when, seemingly out of the sky, he was nailed in the hand by an opponent's golf ball.  It clearly hurt -- so much so, he had to quit his round before finishing. He could've responded in a number of ways. Many of us...

A major challenge not just at the high school level, but in athletics as a whole, is the increasing number of competitors for people's time and money. At Portland High School, local fans get a chance to check out nearly all the Raiders have to offer during a season tha...

We run into plenty of great ideas during our travels around the state. And what better way to make our vast home feel a little bit smaller than to share them. This was one of our favorites from this winter. Petoskey's Throwback night combined two things we often promot...

Let's start with the obvious: High school sports have evolved a bit since 1927. But the MHSAA Bulletin from March of that year reminds us how some of our challenges remain the same.

A few conversations I had at last week's Women In Sports Leadership conference further affirmed a point I've been making for years -- high school athletes, if they'd like, shouldn't hesitate to play multiple sports. Doing so does not hurt, but might just help their ch...

Rockford is next up on our "Battle of the Fans" tour, and we'll be making our stop for tonight's boys basketball game against Hudsonville. So far, all good. We're having a blast.

Alpena High School -- and more specifically its Kids and Parents United Together (KAPUT) program -- recently received a $50,000 prize from Verizon after the school received 450,000 text votes as part of the company's TXT2WIN contest.