SPORTS

Staudt: Former Spartan golfer Ryan Brehm's feat significant

Tim Staudt
For the Lansing State Journal

If they can lure him to East Lansing for a home football game this fall, Michigan State ought to consider introducing Ryan Brehm to the Spartan Stadium crowd during one of the endless television timeouts. It’s no small feat that Brehm, 30, became the first Spartan golfer in history to earn a PGA tour card last weekend. Brehm won a Web.com tournament near Portland, Oregon, to finish the season fourth on the money list. The top 25 players earn cards for the following year. Brehm is now married and living in Traverse City and his world ranking improved to No. 231. He has not qualified to play in any major tournaments yet — and East Lansing native and former Spartan Lynn Janson played in 15 during his career — but Janson never earned a tour card. Brehm’s feat is significant. He will be one of the longest off the tee on the PGA tour and if he can keep it in the fairway who knows how much higher his ranking might climb.

PREGAME NOTES: The official Furman pregame press notes for Friday’s game against Michigan State were very complete. Included was the money Furman received for playing the game — $655,000. Mid American Conference teams command $1 million fees for such games these days and they’re overpaid. They rarely win against Big Ten teams and they sell few tickets to their own fans. Furman didn’t bring many fans this weekend to town but the Paladins were a cheaper investment than what a MAC school would have demanded.

NEEDLESS FRUSTRATION: The Lansing School District and Lansing Police Department need a meeting of the minds as soon as possible. What happened to fans at Friday night’s Everett High School home opening football game against Lansing Catholic cannot happen again. I understand the need for security — each fan entering Archie Ross Stadium was checked with a wand — but one person was doing the work and some fans waited more than an hour to gain admittance. Some fans didn’t get inside until nearly halftime! It’s hard enough to get people to attend high school sporting events without adding needless frustration. I can only imagine what some of those finally entering the stadium after missing nearly half the game must have thought.

And cash strapped high school athletic departments would do well to add more portable concessions stands strategically located at their home games. I maintain many more fans would buy concessions if they don’t have to stand in endlessly long lines.

MORRIS RECORD: It was a good second half Friday for Ovid-Elsie sophomore Evan Morris. After returning the kick off 77 yards for a touchdown, he kicked a 50-yard field goal with 1:31 left in the third quarter in a 37-6 win over Pinconning. The field goal length broke a school record that had stood since the 1980s.

GOING FOR THE WIN: If Ithaca High School wins its next game, the Yellowjackets will break the state record for best winning percentage in any 100-game stretch. Ithaca and Hudson are both 96-4. Another Ithaca win will eliminate a 27-16 loss to Shepherd back in 2008. Hudson’s 100-game stretch was between 1966 and 1977 and only two games were in the playoffs when Hudson went 1-1. Ithaca has played 34 playoff games during its run and has a 32-2 mark.

QUARTERBACKS LOOKING GOOD: After just two weeks of the season, there are plenty of early candidates for area high school quarterback of the year — Will Nagel of DeWitt, Lucas Leek of Waverly, Mason Gee Montgomery of Stockbridge, Michael Lynn of Lansing Catholic and Nolan Bird of Grand Ledge to name several who have played well early.

CROSSTOWN SHOWDOWN: Officials will watch to see the spectator interest in the Crosstown Showdown, which will be made up at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Cooley Law School Stadium between the Lansing Lugnuts and Michigan State. The game was wiped out by weather in early April. The Toronto Blue Jays have little interest in playing the game later in the spring, but of course the chance for better weather increases the later it is played. Tuesday’s game will be played in football season — whether that is a crowd factor or not remains to be seen.

BASEBALL BACK AT IT: Michigan State’s baseball team gets 144 days each calendar year to play and practice and the Spartans will use 26 this fall and the first practice was this past Friday. The Spartans will practice at Cooley on Monday night to get used to the conditions before Tuesday’s game and other fall exhibition games are scheduled before the Brigham Young football game (at home) and the Indiana game (away). Coach Jake Boss is inviting spectators to his practices from 3 to 6 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at McLane Stadium.

TOURNEY VENUE SOUGHT: The Big Ten is looking for a venue for its baseball tournament next May. Omaha will host for five years beginning in 2018 but even the format for next spring is up in the air. A final decision will not be announced until approximately Thanksgiving. Suggestion? Have the Big Ten regular season champion host the entire tournament. Without using an on campus site, attendance will be zilch as it has been for past tournaments in Columbus and Minneapolis.

ATTENDANCE IN DECLINE: Roger Curtis stepped down this week after 10 years serving as president of Michigan International Speedway. Details are few as to why he is departing but what caught my attention is the attendance at NASCAR races these days at MIS. When Curtis began, approximately 160,000 fans attended each of the two NASCAR events. This year, approximately 80,000 fans were in attendance each time. That’s quite a decrease. His fault or a problem across NASCAR?

LANSING CATHOLIC: It was a glorious night for Lansing Catholic’s inaugural home football game against Waverly. At least 1,000 more stands will be needed in the future — I’ll guess that nearly 5,000 attended with seating for about half that many. I suggest an addition of portable concession stands around the field. Only one was in use during the opener with long lines throughout the evening. With more convenient concessions available the school would have made a great deal more money. Catholic hosts Williamston this coming Friday in its second home game.

MSU-UM SEATS: The Ticket Machine’s Brian Posey says he has seats between the 35 yard lines for the Oct. 29 Michigan at Michigan State game. Current price is $250 apiece and Posey says the price will increase going forward to the point that the game may become the highest priced in Spartan Stadium history on the secondary ticket market. Posey says most buyers who will pay inflated prices are Michigan fans looking to enjoy a revenge victory against the Spartans in East Lansing.