Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Cougar Power!

My old high school's run in the Michigan Class D state basketball tournament continues for another game! Last night they took on a four-time state semi-finalist team and won. It was a close game as both teams took over the lead several different times up until the third quarter. But then the Cougars went on an 18-4 run and basically took the game over. The opponents just couldn't overcome that deficit and the final score ended up being 74-61. The Cougars now head downstate to East Lansing, Michigan, where they'll play on the campus of Michigan State University in a semi-final match-up Thursday evening.

I can't tell you how exciting a state tournament run like this can be for a community, especially if the team goes far. Going into this season, the expectation for this Cougar boys team was rather unknown. Last year they were bounced in the first game of the districts and their regular season record wasn't that spectacular. But this season they took off and have become the best Class D team in the Upper Peninsula. I am reminded of the memories of the 1994 team and the excitement that particular tournament run gave our school and surrounding communities. Our community is basically comprised of three small towns in the middle or forests and country-land. So an event like this really is something special. It basically ends up being a giant road trip for many of the members of these communities. And we live approximately 300 miles north of East Lansing, so it's definitely a long drive downstate. But it's one that many individuals won't mind driving.

The prospect of a state basketball championship is rather mind blowing for me - and I don't want to get too far ahead of myself because there is one game before the Cougars reach the championship game. If you're familiar with the movie "Hoosiers," one of my favorite movies of all time, the situations in that movie remind me of this real-life experience involving my high school. The time period during the movie is most certainly different, yet it still has a very similar feel. We're a small school located in three small communities. For many people, high school sports in a small community, especially basketball in the winter time, is all there is to look forward to. Now in Class D, all school are pretty much small. Yet, for a team from the Upper Peninsula to reach the state semis and to play in an arena like the Breslin Center, where the Michigan State Spartans play, it's a pretty incredible thing. Now our gym back home is modern, not like the gymnasium in the "Hoosiers" movie, but it's no Breslin Center for sure. And another nice little tid-bit about this team's playoff run, the Cougars are the ONLY Upper Peninsula boys basketball team to be competing in East Lansing this year. So we're pretty much representing the entire U.P. this time around.

You know, I've been out of school for ten years now and I don't have any real connection to the boys on this basketball team. The coach for this team was the same coach I had when I played basketball in junior high and my freshman year. His son, the team captain of the 2010 team, was just a little guy at the time (roughly in 1997), probably three or four years old, running all over the basketball court. To see him now, all grown up and a star athlete really shows how old I'm getting to be! But no matter how long ago you graduated from high school, you still feel a connection to your high school no matter what. For this team to represent the U.P. and to play on the same court as the current men's and women's MSU basketball teams, it gives me great pride. And even if they do wind up a little bit short on Thursday (or Saturday), they still made the community and the Upper Peninsula proud. Even though I won't be there in person, I'll still be rooting for them loudly via the computer and radio. Go Cougars! U.P. Power!

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