March Madness

You turn on the TV these days and see endless amounts of college basketball games on a variety of channels. You turn to the sports page in the newspaper and see basketball covered from front to back. March is the month for basketball tournaments and crowning champions. And if a team you follow is in the midst of the hunt for a championship, you know you're going to follow with great interest. Such is the case for me when it comes to my old high school's current basketball team. They just won their regional tournament championship in the Michigan High School Athletic Association Class D tournament. They now move onto the quarterfinals where they'll play again this Tuesday. And although I won't be able to attend that game, I hope to at least catch the game on the radio (if I'm able to get reception of the radio station the game will be broadcast on) and root on the Cougars.

This tournament run that the current team finds itself in reminds me of the great memories I experienced while I was in the sixth grade and when our school last made a run like this in the basketball tournament. It was 1994 and that team had a similar record that the 2010 team has and was ranked in the region-wide polls all season long. Yes, there were a few bumps in the road in the form of losses along the way. But you know what they say, losses often make a team stronger. And no doubt, those losses during the regular season in 1994 helped the team wind up in the state championship game in the Class D tournament, which was held in East Lansing at the Breslin Center on the Michigan State University campus. There were some epic games along the tournament run. The Regional Final game saw the Cougars down by a significant margin in the third quarter. But the team dug deep and clawed their way back. It lead to an exciting 3-point victory before reaching the Quaterfinals. And when your school's basketball team is firing on all cylinders and keeps winning, it's no surprise to see the entire school and community get behind this team. Everybody was so excited for the games in 1994 and my family attended every game. Unfortunately we came up one game short of the state championship. We lost 77-70 to a Catholic school out of Grand Rapids. It was a disappointing outcome, but we lost to the defending state champions. They were a formidable team and we made an incredible run. It's not often you see teams from the Upper Peninsula compete at the state level.

Obviously upset with the outcome of the game, the 1994 team had a gathering that evening involving beer. Seeing that they were minors at the time, that was a big no-no. The team was initially given an award for good sportsmanship during the final four of its run at the Breslin Center, but that was taken away after those events came to light to tournament officials. When we returned back home after the trip downstate, that story made major news on local TV. It ended up leaving a black eye on a great tournament run. Yes, we all hate to lose, especially after getting so close to winning a championship. But to "drown your sorrows," so to speak, it just wasn't the right thing to do. And a lot of young people at that time looked up to the athletes on that team and it really left a lot of people with a sour taste in their mouths about the whole incident. I think a lot of people in the community have forgotten about that particular incident and rightly so. We mainly focus on the sporting accomplishments rather than the embellishments that those athletes took that night. It was a great tournament run and that's something to be proud of. But the extra-curriculars, if you will, were not.

The 2010 team has a chance to re-write the record books. They are on a roll and have the opportunity to showcase the school as a premiere learning and athletic school. It's a small school located in the Upper Peninsula. Total enrollment is under 400 students for a K-12 school with all grades in one building. Even reaching the state semi-finals in the Michigan basketball tournament really gives the school great recognition state-wide. And just think if they manage to win the whole thing?! We were that close in 1994 and we're on our way this year. Obviously we still have a long way to go - the Quaterfinal match-up is against a team that competed downstate in the semi-finals and finals the past few years. So I don't want to jump to conclusions just yet. But this is a strong group of kids that are highly athletic and know how to play the game. If they're at the top of their game, they very well could bring home a title to the local area and the Upper Peninsula. They'll be a team that everyone could be talking about for a long time to come.