SAC Sound-off: The Sixth Man

February 14, 2012

It's double overtime and your legs are exhausted. The score is tied with 10 seconds left. Your team needs that key play to win the game. It’s do-or-die, and all the while there are fans screaming so loud your ears are ringing.

I don’t know about you, but most athletes get a much-needed boost in adrenaline when they hear this. I know I have.

Crowd noise plays a huge factor in deciding the outcome of the game. It doesn’t necessarily have to be that “double-overtime buzzer-beater” moment. Steady cheering throughout the game can help a team gain momentum and push through while the other team is near exhaustion.

Once in a while, when I’m playing, I’ll glance up at the crowd. Just to see the excitement on their faces gives me the extra drive. They are there to watch you. YOU are the showcase, the main event, the entertainment.

The MHSAA Student Advisory Council has been featuring the best student sections in the state with our “Battle of the Fans” contest. The fan bases for some of the schools in Michigan is incredible. They all have one goal – help their team to victory.

I attend Rudyard High School in the Upper Peninsula. I come from a small area, and the population is much smaller than many communities down-state. Life is a little slower up here, but the townspeople all have one thing we can do to get away from everyday stress – go to the big game.

Whether it be Friday night football, or District Finals in basketball, you can expect to see Main Street empty and the school parking lot full of cars.

One game I will always remember for lots of fans and noise was our basketball Quarterfinal in 2010. I was a sophomore, brought up to varsity toward the end of the regular season. I had gotten more playing time in the playoffs and got to play some solid minutes in the Quarterfinal. We ended up losing the game, but the atmosphere was exhilarating. To step on the court, and look up and witness 3,000 fans going absolutely nuts gave me an experience I will never forget. Keep in mind, Rudyard’s population is a whopping 500 people.

For me, there are those certain fans for whom you always want to perform well. I am always working hard to impress my grandparents. They live more than 100 miles away and still manage to attend a good portion of my games. They always have been supportive, and I always try my best to win for them and for my team.

Then there are the young ones who look up to you. Just this year, my basketball coaches started a youth basketball camp, and every Saturday we open the gym and kids as young as 3-years-old get their chance to be like us. They bounce the ball with the biggest smiles on their faces, and we know that they are always watching us on and off the court – and always learning from us.

I once had a young boy ask me, “Can you slam dunk it during a game for me this year?” He had been attending camp every Saturday and watched some of our practices. Just knowing how much of an influence we have on the youth of our town makes me want to be even better, and work even harder.

Young or old, sold-out house or not, fans always will be essential in supplying the home team advantage and deciding the outcome of the game. And they’ve left me with more sports-related memories than just those made on the court.

Tyler Wilson, Rudyard senior

Sports: Football, basketball, baseball
Non-sports activities: Student Council, band, drama, National Honor Society
Favorite class: AP government
Must-see TV: "Pardon The Interruption"
One shining moment: When we made the football playoffs this year after starting the season 2-3.
What's next: I plan on attending college and playing a sport. I’m not exactly sure where, but I have been narrowing it down. I plan on studying pre-med.
My favorite part of game day is: ... spending time with teammates. Sometimes we will have a team breakfast on game day. We’ll get together during lunch at school, etc. Just the feeling you get when you walk around the halls wearing a jersey or being dressed up.

PHOTO courtesy of Tyler Wilson.

High 5s - 2/21/12

February 21, 2012

Every Tuesday, Second Half honors 2-4 athletes and a team for its accomplishments during the current season.

Have a suggestion for a future High 5? Please offer suggestions by e-mail to [email protected]. Candidates often will have accomplished great things on the field of play -- but also will be recognized for other less obvious contributions to their teams, schools or the mission of high school athletics as a whole.

Dillon Mayer
Sault Ste. Marie senior
Swimming and Diving

Mayer won his second straight Upper Peninsula Finals diving championship Saturday in his home pool with a score of 226.55. He finished no worse than fourth at the Finals during his high school career, and set a school record this season with a six-dive score of 236.00. He also runs track and has a black belt in Kuk sool wan, a form of Korean martial arts.

"I have strived for the past four years to break the team diving record. This year I was finally able to break the team record, and then continued to break it through the season for a total of five times before the end of the season. Being the U.P. diving champion for the second year in a row was pretty awesome too!"

Up next: Mayer will attend either Michigan State University or Lake Superior State University, and hopes to dive if he attends MSU. He plans to major in fire science and paramedic studies. "I would like to work as a flight paramedic for a level one trauma center."

I learned the most about diving from: MSU diving coach Eric Best and Sault Ste. Marie coaches Ray Groeke and Kelli Vander Baan.

I look up to: "... the university divers I learned from at the MSU diving camp each year. They are amazing divers with a lot of knowledge to share."

I like most about diving: "From a competitive standpoint, I like the feeling of nailing a dive. From a recreational standpoint, I enjoy the thrill of trying new things."

I'm motivated by: "The new records on the record board, my family and my teammates."

Leah Hartman

Ovid-Elsie senior

Bowling

Hartman bowled the first and one of only three 300 games in the state this season, on Jan. 4, according to listings maintained by the Michigan High School Interscholastic Bowling Coaches Association. Her high series of 524 is third-best in the state this winter, and she's carrying a 201 game average this season. She qualified for last season's MHSAA Division 3 Final and made the all-state third team. She also played volleyball and softball at the start of high school, but has focused on bowling the last two years.

"My first 300 game was the most memorable because other coaches announced my game at other tournaments, and my name was on a neon sign at 300 Bowl in Alma. It gave me a feeling of accomplishment"

Up next: Hartman is considering Alma College because of its strong art program and bowling team. She plans to spend her first year of college deciding between a major in fine arts and accounting. She could also compete on the Michigan Junior Masters or Junior Gold circuits. Among her goals: bowl an 800 series and sell her art.

I learned the most about bowling from: “Mike Braun. He is the instructor at Lansing Community College. He teaches bowling and he has been helping me achieve better bowling techniques. But before him, it was my mom Sherri Hartman and dad Don Hartman."

I look up to: "My mom, because she is the one person who is strong enough to take on life. And my dad, who has helped me with my bowling since the beginning. Then I look up to Pete Weber and Norm Duke, who are, in my opinion, the best PBA bowlers to ever set a foot on the lanes."

I love bowling because: "I have a lot of stress built into my life, and it is hard for me to stay focused. But when I bowl, it is the one time I feel like a genius. I want to continue bowling becuase I feel like there is nothing better than the feeling of your first 300 game, and all the fans who are cheering for you to win.

I'm driven by: "... when I walk into a bowling alley and I run into my fans who are cheering me on every step of the way, and the applause whenever I hear my name announced. It makes me feel proud of myself when others cheer when they hear my name."

Adam Coon

Fowlerville junior

Wrestling

Coon is seeking his third MHSAA individual championship. He won both his District and Regional and enters next weekend's Finals with a 46-0 record this season and 153-3 record over his three-year high school career. He won his first two MHSAA championships at 215 pounds and moved to 285 this winter. He also is a three-year starter on the Gladiators' football team, playing linebacker and on the offensive line, and placed sixth in shot put in Division 2 at last spring's track and field Finals.

Up next: Coon is just a junior, but would like to wrestle or play football at the next level and study aerospace engineering, with his sights set on the space program. "I'd love to go to space. It's always been a dream."\

I learned the most about wrestling from: "My dad, Dan Coon. He is the (Fowlerville) coach, and he continues to push me and teaches me the most."

I look up to: "Dan Coon. He teaches me a lot about life and wrestling, and he's just a great guy to look up to."

I love most about wrestling: "The aggressiveness, the contact and necessary skill. The strategy behind it. The technical skill. It tests you mental wit and brute strength."

I get ready for my match by: "I warm up five matches previous. With one match left, I slap myself, then take off my sweats and go to town."

Most shining moment: "My most memorable win was in summer wrestling, in Hungary (at the Cadet World Championships) . I won the Finals match there. after being down 4-0, and came back and ended up body locking him and winning the match."

Detroit Martin Luther King boys basketball

The Crusaders avenged earlier losses to both Detroit Crockett and then Detroit Pershing to win the Detroit Public School League championship, downing the Doughboys in the final 76-69.

The PSL championship was King's first since 1999. The Crusaders are 15-4 heading into next week's Operation Friendship game against the Detroit Catholic High School League A-B champion, which will be decided Saturday. Click to see all of Detroit King's scores this season.