Mixed Messages
November 27, 2013
One of the very few enjoyable aspects of waiting in an airport is the guiltless time it allows me to visit its bookstores and page slowly through some of the old classics I vaguely remember and the new releases I can’t wait to read.
Two months ago in one of the terminals of Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, my attention went quickly to a prominent display of books about football. Five titles were mostly critical of the game, focusing on the sport at the major college and professional levels. Down at the bottom of the display was one title that addressed the positive value of football to students, schools and communities.
One month ago, while I was eating breakfast, the television news reported on the results of new research about youth concussions. While the narration mentioned multiple sports, the video was mostly of football. I saw that story repeated on another television channel that evening. I wondered, how many times on how many channels did how many people get this gift of the latest youth concussion statistics for all sports presented in football-only wrapping paper?
The public is getting mixed messages about school-sponsored football. The problem of college and professional football is not the problem of school-sponsored football. And what problems of head trauma that do exist in school sports are not exclusively problems of football.
In fact, school-sponsored football has never been freer of serious injury than it is today – that’s true whether we are talking about heads, necks, knees or nicks. It’s the result of the most careful and cautious rules making, coaching and officiating ever. And it’s safer – not less so – as we ever more quickly assess and refer injuries to ever more educated and capable health care professionals.
Week 6 Football Playoff Listing
September 26, 2012
Here is a list of Michigan High School Athletic Association football playing schools, displaying their win-loss records and playoff averages through the fifth week of the season. Schools on this list are in enrollment order. An asterisk (*) beside a record indicates that a team has eight or fewer games scheduled. A carrot (^) beside a school’s name indicates that a team is one win away from playoff qualification.
Those schools with 11-player teams with six or more wins playing nine-game schedules, or five or more wins playing eight games or fewer, will qualify for the MHSAA Football Playoffs beginning Oct. 26-27. Schools with 5-4, 4-3 or 4-4 records may qualify if the number of potential qualifiers by win total does not reach the 256 mark. Schools with six or more wins playing nine-game schedules or five or more wins playing eight games or fewer may be subtracted from the field based on playoff average if the number of potential qualifiers exceeds the 256 mark.
Once the 256 qualifying schools are determined, they will be divided by enrollment groups into eight equal divisions of 32 schools, and then drawn into regions of eight teams each and districts of four teams each.
Those schools with 8-player teams will be ranked by playoff average at season’s end, and the top 16 programs will be drawn into regions of eight teams each for the playoff in that division, which also begins Oct. 26-27.
To review a list of all football playoff schools, individual school playoff point details and to report errors, visit the Football page of the MHSAA Website.
The announcement of the qualifiers and first-round pairings for both the 11 and 8-player playoffs will take place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 21 on the Selection Sunday Show on FOX Sports Detroit. The playoff qualifiers and pairings will be posted to the MHSAA Website following the Selection Sunday Show.
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11-Player Playoff Listing
|
1. |
Utica Eisenhower |
2772 |
3-2 |
62.000 |
|
2. |
Sterling Heights Stevenson |
2766 |
4-1 |
75.800 |
|
3. |
Clarkston ^ |
2721 |
5-0 |
94.400 |
|
4. |
Grand Blanc |
2644 |
3-2 |
57.600 |
|
5. |
Macomb Dakota |
2608 |
4-1 |
80.600 |
|
6. |
Lake Orion ^ |
2565 |
5-0 |
96.000 |
|
7. |
Rockford |
2526 |
3-2 |
57.400 |
|
8. |
Troy |
2502 |
3-2 |
57.400 |
|
9. |
Clinton Township Chippewa Valley |
2462 |
4-1 |
77.000 |
|
10. |
Dearborn Fordson |
2442 |
4-1 |
83.400 |
|
11. |
Holland West Ottawa |
2262 |
4-1 |
71.000 |
|
12. |
Northville |
2220 |
3-2 |
60.400 |
|
13. |
Detroit Cass Tech |
2200 |
4-1 |
77.400 |
|
14. |
Canton |
2166 |
3-2 |
51.200 |
|
15. |
Monroe ^ |
2154 |
5-0 |
83.200 |
|
16. |
Detroit Catholic Central |
2060 |
3-2 |
47.800 |
|
17. |
Plymouth |
2050 |
4-1 |
71.200 |
|
18. |
Salem |
2039 |
4-1 |
75.600 |
|
19. |
Livonia Stevenson |
2005 |
4-1 |
77.200 |
|
20. |
Holt |
1992 |
3-2 |
57.200 |
|
21. |
Hartland ^ |
1932 |
5-0 |
91.200 |
|
22. |
Warren Mott ^ |
1879 |
5-0 |
86.400 |
|
23. |
Livonia Churchill ^ |
1877 |
5-0 |
100.800 |
|
24. |
Walled Lake Central |
1857 |
3-2 |
52.200 |
|
25. |
Macomb L'Anse Creuse North |
1853 |
3-2 |
58.400 |
|
26. |
Saline |
1849 |
4-1 |
72.400 |
|
27. |
Grandville |
1846 |
3-2 |
53.600 |
|
28. |
Flint Carman-Ainsworth ^ |
1772 |
5-0 |
88.000 |
|
29. |
Grand Ledge |
1743 |
4-1 |
70.600 |
|
30. |
Rochester |
1725 |
4-1 |
72.800 |
|
31. |
Traverse City West |
1720 |
4-1 |
72.200 |
|
32. |
White Lake Lakeland |
1700 |
4-1 |
72.400 |
|
33. |
Harrison Township L'Anse Creuse |
1680 |
3-2 |