Staudt: Harbaugh storms summer camp scene
Never can I remember a month of June where the sports news around here has been dominated by a college football coach and his world wide summer camps. And there is no end in sight for Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, who is on the go with his staff at various satellite locations. Like Harbaugh or not, it seems ridiculous to me that the NCAA has its compliance people observing the proceedings and telling him he cannot sign autographs nor take pictures with various campers. Why is that wrong? As Harbaugh intimates himself, how can such rules be made up along the way?
I do think he’ll have issues moving forward by having Michigan Stadium hosting high school games from out of state. After participating at a camp at Paramus, New Jersey Catholic High School this past week and speaking at commencement, it was announced the football team will play a Maryland private school at the Big House on Friday, September 2nd. Michigan is hosting seven other all-Michigan high school games from August 25-27. I am anticipating objections to the Paramus game with the NCAA becoming involved at some point down the road. As Rutgers coach Chris Ash says, schools will have to start recruiting “outside the box” to compete with Michigan in the future, but what restrictions Harbaugh will face moving forward remains to be seen.
BANQUET A HIT: The inaugural Lansing State Journal high school awards banquet Tuesday received rave reviews with about 1,000 in attendance. It is a great means of announcing various athletes of the year in the area in the different sports. Like anything else, the experience of year one will provide a tweak in the format for next year and the top challenge may be to find a speaker to rival Kirk Cousins, who was featured at the Lansing Center the other night.
DIAMOND GEMS: One problem developing better high school baseball teams around the area is because the sport is so difficult to play well in the first place. Holt and Grand Ledge are the best in the area, but they both made numerous mistakes Wednesday night in the Diamond Classic championship game. Holt coach Nathan Potts said earlier this season the key to winning is to eliminate mental mistakes and in prep baseball it is hard to do. Losing 10 key seniors, Grand Ledge faces a rebuilding year next spring and could play second fiddle to Holt because the Rams have a number of key underclassmen returning.
DOWN AND OUT: Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany extolled the virtues of the quality of the league’s baseball and the recent conference tournament. The facilities are better than 15 years ago, yes, but no teams were ranked in the polls at the end of the regular season and no Big Ten teams advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament. And in softball Michigan’s 52-7 season record is impressive, but the Wolverines played in the Big Ten and the reality is the league just doesn’t match up in quality with the sunbelt states. Many of the Michigan hitters who racked up impressive statistics earlier in the season struggled once they faced pitchers in the World Series this last week in Oklahoma City. I’ve long felt college statistics and records are accurately reflected only by the caliber of competition in virtually every sport.
EYEING A CHAMPIONSHIP: Eagle Eye Golf Club is dead serious about producing an impressive Michigan men’s amateur golf championship June 21-25. The club sold advertising to print 3,500 beautiful full color programs. There is no admission charge for any of the rounds. The tournament features 162 entrants, including 13 from this area. Some 70 volunteers will be used. The format has not changed - 36 holes of stroke play will reduce the field to the low 64 for bracketed match play - two rounds per day with the semifinals and finals contested on Saturday the 25th. There will be problems finishing play the first two days if weather is a factor because getting 162 players around such a difficult course in a timely manner will not be easy even with the extended daylight we currently have.
SUPER FAN: Lansing businessman Gregory Eaton is known for having attended all 50 Super Bowls in person. He also attended every U. S. located fight involving Muhammad Ali. Eaton met Ali and sat with him in a Breslin Center suite in 2000 when Ali attended an MSU men’s basketball game. Eaton obtained a ticket for Ali’s funeral on Friday and flew from Detroit to Louisville to attend, where he also spent time with is daughter who lives there. Eaton says the initial 1971 Ali/Joe Frazier fight was the greatest sports event he has ever seen. He sat two rows away from Frank Sinatra.
BEST OF THE BULLOUGHS? The Traverse City Bulloughs - Chuck, Shane, Max and Riley - all became prominent MSU football players. But Holly may end up being the most decorated. She is headed to MSU on a track scholarship after winning three events at last weekend’s state championship meet in division three - the 800, 1600 and 3,200 relay. She competed while fighting a nagging stress fracture in her foot. Holly ended up scoring 100 points herself in state meets during her high school career.
JUST ENOUGH: It doesn’t take many athletes to win a state championship in high school track. The Fowler girls won last week with 12 in competition and Waverly’s girls won their division with just six, none of whom are seniors. It was Waverly’s first state title since the girls basketball team won it all in 2005.
SCHEDULE SCHEMES: Mike Pearson was a Michigan State graduate in 1975 and worked in the athletic department from 1980-89. He went on to become sports information director at both Illinois and Miami of Ohio and has been retired the past three years, still living in Oxford, Ohio. Pearson is a noted Big Ten historian and figures the conference “must be figuring a way to add two more schools because 16 works so much better in scheduling than 14.” He figures the next two schools will come from the East and he has his eyes on Virginia and Georgia Tech.
MARCH FOR KIDS: Its success through the years has caused people to inquire earlier in the summer about the upcoming MSU Marching Band Concert For Kids, which benefits the band itself and Sparrow’s Children’s Miracle Network. The 14th annual event is set for September 25, 3-6pm, as usual. Information from Stacie Peltomaa at the Sparrow Foundation, 242-7623.