Lessons From Banner Run Still Ring True
February 20, 2019
By Tim Miller
Mio teacher, former coach and graduate
If you were to travel to northern Michigan to canoe or fish the famous AuSable River, you might find yourself in a small town named Mio.
With one stoplight and a host of small businesses that line Main Street, Mio is well known for its access to the AuSable River and its high school sports team. And like so many small towns across America, the school is the main focal point of the community. Mio is the home of the Mio Thunderbolts, which is the mascot of the only school in town.
On Saturday, December 29, head boys basketball coach Ty McGregor and fans from around the state gathered in the Mio gymnasium to welcome back two former boys basketball teams. The two teams being honored that night were the 1989 state championship team who went undefeated and the 1978 boys basketball team who made it to the Semifinals.
As we stood there watching the former players of those teams, and coach of the 1978 team Paul Fox, make their way across the gym floor, we were reminded of the deceased players Cliff Frazho, Rob Gusler, Dave Narloch and John Byelich – the coach of the 1989 state championship team – that were no longer with us. All of them leaving us way too soon and a reminder of how fragile life can be.
The ’89 team would be a story in itself. That team was the most dominating team in Mio’s history.
After recognizing these two teams and visiting with many of them in the hallway, I stepped into the gym and began looking at the banners hanging from our walls. I found the state championship banner that the ’89 team won and the ’78 banner, and I began remembering those teams and how they brought so much excitement, happiness and pride to our small community.
Like so many schools throughout the state, the banners are a reminder of a team’s success and the year that it was accomplished. It’s a topic of conversation as former players share their memories with others about the year they earned their spot in history.
However, hanging on the south wall of the gym, all by itself, is a banner that only hangs from the walls of the Mio AuSable gym. No other school in Michigan has one like it. It has a weathered look, and the color has slightly faded over time. It’s been the conversation piece at deer camp, restaurants, and any other social gathering concerning Mio sports history. Basketball players throughout the state have dreamed of taking it away, but none have succeeded. It’s been hanging there for close to 40 years.
It reads:
Jay Smith
Mio AuSable School
MHSAA Career Scoring Champion
1976 – 1979
2,841 points
That banner represents something far greater than one person’s accomplishments. The story of how it got there and why it hasn’t left is a lesson that every sports team should learn – such a rare story in teamwork, coaching, parental support, the will to win, and the coach who masterfully engineered the plan.
The night Jay Smith broke the state scoring record, the Mio gym was packed with spectators from all parts of Michigan. The game was stopped and people rose to their feet to acknowledge the birthplace of the new record holder. After clapping and cheering for what seemed like an eternity, the ceremony was over and the game went on.
Although I wasn’t on the team, like so many people from Mio, I followed that group of basketball players from gym to gym throughout northern Michigan.
I had a front row seat in the student section where every kid who wasn’t on the team spent their time cheering for the Thunderbolts.
We were led by our conductor, “Wild Bill,” who had a knack for writing the lyrics to many of the cheers the student body used to disrupt our opponents or protest a referee’s call.
The student section was also home to the best pep band around. During home games they played a variety of tunes that kept the gym rocking. They were an integral part of the excitement that took place in that gym, game after game.
I also ate lunch and hung out at school with some of those guys. I got to hear the details of the game, the strategy, the battles between players, and the game plan for the next rival’s team.
I remember the school spirit, the pep assemblies, and the countless hours our faithful cheerleaders put into making and decorating our halls and gym with posters.
It was like a fourth of July parade that happened every Tuesday and Friday night. The bleachers were filled with people anxiously awaiting tip off.
Showing up late meant you were stuck trying to get a glimpse of the game from the hallway.
So here’s what I saw. Jay Smith was a tall, skinny kid who could shoot the ball with such accuracy that it must have been miserable for opposing coaches and players. Once it was in his hands, they had two options: watch him score or foul him and hope that he missed the free throws.
If you fouled him, you gambled wrong. He stood there and calmly shot the ball through the hoop with the sound of the net swishing as opposing players and coaches watched helplessly.
If you chose to let him shoot, you lost that bet too.
He shot often and rarely did he miss. It was no secret to our opponents or Jay’s teammates who would be doing the bulk of the shooting in Mio.
The game plan was simple: get the ball to Jay and watch him score. The Thunderbolts were coached by Paul Fox, a teacher at the school. He was demanding and intense as a coach, and his players played hard and respected him both in school and on the court. It wasn’t until I had the opportunity to coach a couple of high school teams that I realized and recognized what an incredible job he did.
I also realized what an outstanding group of players he was blessed to coach.
He was a step ahead of everybody.
Like Bill Belichick the famous coach of the New England Patriots, Paul Fox understood how to build a team around one person. He convinced everyone on the team that the way to the promised land was through the scoring of Jay. However, the type of players who buy into such a plan have to be special. And they were. Jay was blessed his first two years on varsity. He was surrounded by a very talented group of ball players who allowed him to be successful.
His last two teams weren’t as talented, but just as special.
Most of those guys were classmates of mine, so here’s what I can tell you.
Not one time during that stretch did I ever hear one of them complain about playing time. There was no pouting on the bench or kicking it because you were taken out.
No one complained the next day about their stats. They were happy to win, and if that meant Jay shooting most of the time, that was okay with them. After the game, no one ran to the scorer’s table to check their stats. Or went off in the corner of the locker room to act like a preschooler in timeout. Their parents didn’t march over to the coach and demand answers on why their son wasn’t playing or shooting more. Players didn’t quit the team because their individual needs weren’t being met. There were expectations from the coach, the parents, and everyone else involved. After each home game, the whole community gathered at the local bar/ bowling alley. Players, parents, and fans were happy their team had won and celebrated together in the victory. It was a simple blueprint that every sports team should follow.
Forget about your own personal gratification and do what’s best for the team.
It’s a lost concept these days. And the question many of us in Mio talk about from time to time is will the record ever be broken?
There’s more than one factor to consider when discussing the topic.
Jay set that record long before the 3-point shot was implemented.
Can a coach like Paul Fox assemble a group of players who would put their ego aside and desire winning more than their own personal satisfaction?
Can you find a humble kid like Jay who would crush the dreams of opposing teams with his shooting ability?
Can you find a group of parents out there willing to watch a kid like him put on a show, game after game, and not be offended?
Can you find a student body like the one we had to fill the student section with loud, rowdy fans?
The scoring banner represents the scoring accomplishments of Jay. And to his credit, I never once heard him brag about his success on the court.
He simply said, “We won.”
But that banner represents more than points. It’s an amazing story of what happens when a group of people come together with a common cause – the will to win.
What we saw during that time was special!
The state scoring record was set by Jay and a large list of supporting teammates who helped him.
He was fortunate to have a coach who understood how to manage and convince a group of players to buy into his system.
A group of parents who understood what was going on and supported it.
A student body section that rattled the best players from the other teams game after game.
A dedicated group of cheerleaders who spent countless hours making posters to decorate our school with pride.
A pep band that brought their best sound, game after game.
A teaching staff who understood how a bunch of kids wanted to get ready for the next big game, and gave us their blessing.
It was the culture of our school and community. Get ready for the game.
The anticipation, those long lines waiting outside in the cold, those packed gyms, that noise.
It was all part of it.
Perhaps somewhere in Michigan a group of coaches, players, parents, teachers, and fans could copy the formula from the ’70s that brought our team, school, and town so much success.
If a coach can find a group of players that only care about one thing, and that’s winning, it can be done. Doing that will require a group of people who think they understand the concept to execute it. As a society we see it at every level of sports: the “I” syndrome, the selfishness, the lack of respect for coaches and teammates. It’s the fiber that destroys any chance for success.
My guess is the banner will hang in our gym until someone in the school decides to replace the old one. Perhaps Jay’s children or grandchildren will want the old one to add to their family memorabilia. And after the new one is hung up and another forty years have passed, someone else will write a story about the banner that continues to hang in Mio’s gym.
NOTE: Jay Smith went on to play at Bowling Green and Saginaw Valley State University, and coach at Kent State, University of Michigan, Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, Detroit Mercy, and currently as head coach at Kalamazoo College. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer last summer and faces another round of radiation treatments after undergoing surgery in September. Click for a recent report by WOOD TV.
PHOTOS: (Top) The banner celebrating Jay Smith’s state high school career scoring record continues to greet fans at Mio High School’s gym. (Middle) Smith was a standout for the Thunderbolts through his graduation in 1979. (Below) Smith scored 2,841 points over four seasons, averaging 29 points per game.
Launching Pad and Destination
November 30, 2012
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
Lamont Simpson’s “home” is a place he visits twice a week during his peak season, when NCAA Division I officiating duties have him navigating the Midwest like a person in a race for frequent flyer miles.
His travels pale in comparison to Stacey Thomas, who has lived in Latvia, Turkey and Sweden thanks to the game of basketball.
Then there’s Jim Garofalo, who authored his own cheat sheets to assist with the eight different rules books which intertwined during a period of time in his hockey officiating career, which included a trip to the Olympic Games.
So, naturally, there’s Simpson officiating an MHSAA Pre-District Football Playoff game in Detroit last fall, taking a postgame earful from a father who believed his son was the subject of a cheap shot during the game.
There’s Thomas, blowing a whistle with teenagers at the Healthy Kids Club in Detroit this summer
There’s Garofalo, ditching seven of the rules books over the last few years, and using only one now: the high school rules book.
It’s true that Simpson is at the pinnacle of his career, working Big Ten, Mid-American Conference and Horizon League men’s basketball, in addition to the WNBA in the summer, where he recently worked his eighth straight WNBA Finals.
And, yes, Thomas has her sights set on the NCAA Division I level and beyond, as her officiating career is still in its infancy.
Sure, Garofalo has achieved much on the ice both as an amateur and professional referee.
But, like so many in the officiating family, they deeply appreciate their roots and the people who helped them along the way. It’s a people business, first and foremost.
This week, continuing its "Making – and Answering – the Call" series, Second Half introduces Simpson, an officiating veteran of more than three decades. Profiles of Thomas and Garofalo will follow later this month.
It's about patience and honesty
The late June heat at the Kensington Valley Golf Course doesn’t seem to bother Lamont Simpson. The secret to his cool aura lies in his hand, a golf ball which he has identified as “Ref” in permanent marker.
Simpson is indeed a ref – permanently – thanks to a suggestion from Robert Menafee during the late 1970s, and the 1977 Detroit Redford grad has been most comfortable in the heat of competition’s spotlight ever since.
“I was at a football game at Henry Ford a year or two after high school, and Mr. Menafee, my former coach, saw me and asked what I was doing,” Simpson recalled. “He said I should try officiating. That’s the first I’d ever thought about it.”
It would be the impetus to a craft that has consumed nearly 30 years of Simpson’s life, as he now jets around the country as a top-flight NCAA Men’s Basketball official, and one of the senior officials in the WNBA, where he recently called his eighth consecutive Finals.
For all of his accomplishments, Simpson can still recall with great detail various moments that led to his current standing; mental snapshots which help to explain why he still registers as an MHSAA football official each year, and why he gives so freely of himself to anyone interested in getting a start in officiating.
“I still remember my first game, thinking, ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this,’” Simpson recalled. “In my second year I did a PSL (Detroit Public School League) playoff game, and to this day, walking into that gym is still one of my most gratifying times. There were about two or three thousand people in the stands, and I remember the butterflies.”
Fast forward to the Pontiac Silverdome in November 1992. In the waning seconds of the MHSAA Class A Football Final, a pigskin floats in the air doing its best butterfly imitation. Following a double-reverse pass, the tipped ball is finally corralled by Muskegon Reeths-Puffer’s Stacey Starr at the 10-yard line and carried into the end zone to give his school a 21-18 win over Walled Lake Western in one of the most frenzied finishes in MHSAA Finals history.
Simpson had a good view of the moment.
“I was the back judge, working my first MHSAA Final. My first thought is to get in position and then, ‘Oh man, the ball is tipped,’” Simpson replays in his mind. “You’re part of a game-ending situation and you don’t want to screw it up. You almost become a fan in a game like that—a moment like that—but you’ve got your job to do. Afterward, when it was all over, I just remember thinking, ‘What a football game I got to be a part of.’”
Simpson would also get a shot as a Football Final referee in 2003, and worked the 1995 Boys Basketball Final which featured Flint Northern’s team led by future MSU Spartans Mateen Cleaves and Antonio Smith. But, Simpson remembers that game for a different reason.
“It was the last time that the Final was worked with a two-person crew.” Simpson said. “I remember the great athletes in the game, and being part of history as the last two-man crew in the Finals is something to be proud of.”
Simpson is quick to point out, however, that simply having what it takes to officiate an athletic event at any level is something of which to be most proud. While it’s natural for new officials to covet championship assignments and careers beyond the high school level, Simpson stresses patience, hard work, and – in many cases – honesty with one’s own performance as the most valuable traits an official can possess.
“I work and speak at a lot of camps, and I stress that people need to work at the craft – mechanics, rules, physical appearance – and above all have patience.” Simpson said. “The thing I see in younger officials now that is so different than when I was coming in, is they don’t have the patience; they don’t want to pay their dues.”
Sometimes, even the greatest amount of patience, perseverance and hard work isn’t enough. And, that’s where honesty in self-evaluation comes in. Yes, there are egos in officiating. To some extent, it’s a prerequisite. However, humility can also lead to finding a niche in the game.
Simpson himself is an example.
“My goal was to work in the NBA, but after seven years in the CBA, I realized that it probably wasn’t going to happen,” he said. “But, you know, there was still a lot of good basketball out there to work. When I left the CBA, I did so on my own terms, and went to work on my college career. So, sometimes you weigh your options and focus on the next goal.
“The point is, work at being the best at whatever level you work. I’ve seen guys spend a lot of money at the same camps year after year, and never get that college assignment,” Simpson said. “Maybe it’s time for them to focus on a different level.”
In that respect, the very thing that drives officials and gets them in the game in the first place can by the very thing that drives them out. Passion and drive, the need to reach the next level, can keep people focused in their chosen quest; the frustration of not advancing can also lead to their exit.
True, Simpson is one of 32 officials in the WNBA, and just worked his eighth WNBA Final. He has a full NCAA Division I men’s basketball schedule. But, the father of three grown children and grandfather of five cannot express enough the fringe benefits that officiating brings at any level.
“You become a better people person through officiating. Your communication skills are sharper,” he says. “Not only what to say and when to say it, but you learn to listen. You have to be a listener in this business, and that’s a great skill to have in life.”
It also provides the opportunity to be a teacher and recruiter. It’s one of the reasons he’s closing in on nearly three decades as an MHSAA registered official. What better way to pass the knowledge forward?
“No matter where you end up, always remember where you started, and keep your friends,” Simpson said. “I return every call, every text. I still talk to the same guys I grew up with. From an officiating standpoint if we could all just bring along one person at a time, think of the effect that would have.”
Simpson does more than his share, from speaking at camps and clinics – all voluntarily, mind you – to the behind the scenes recruitment, such as the time he surrendered all of his baseball umpiring equipment to a friend under the condition that person register with the MHSAA and begin working games.
He thinks back to the suggestion from Coach Menafee frequently. “Oh, all the time,” Simpson said. “I think of the places I’ve been, the things I’ve seen, the people I’ve met and the person I’ve become. This is what being an official does.”
There’s a scenario that Simpson replays time and again when he talks of officiating, and it doesn’t pertain to his collegiate or professional experience. In fact, it’s not even about basketball.
“It’s Friday night, and you’re working the big rivalry game between two communities. You get on the field, the bleachers are packed, the bands are playing, and you’re right in the mix,” Simpson says with reverence. “That’s it right there. It doesn’t get much better than that. That’s it.”
PHOTO: Lamont Simpson officiates WNBA games during the summers, including this contest involving the Atlanta Dream and player Erika de Souza (14).
NOTE: This is the fifth installment in the series "Making – and Answering – the Call" detailing the careers and service of MHSAA officials. Click the links below to view the others.