All Saints Celebrates on Big Screen

July 31, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Forty years ago, Bay City All Saints brought its hometown the first of two straight MHSAA boys basketball championships – which continue to stand as the only ones won by a Bay City school.

As part of the Class of 1974’s 40-year reunion this weekend, organizers will show the broadcast of that 71-59 victory over Detroit Servite in the Class C Final, on Friday at the downtown State Theater.

The team was coached by Russell “Lefty” Franz, who sits 14th in MHSAA boys basketball coaching history with 545 wins (545-215) at All Saints, Bay City St. Stanislaus and Pinconning achieved from 1953-1991. All Saints repeated as Class C champion under Franz in 1975 with a 79-69 win over Cassopolis.

The Bay City Times caught up today with three starters from that team who are expected to return for the showing of the game. Click to read more.

Rooting for Haske

Northern Michigan basketball fans and supporters from all over are cheering on Traverse City St. Francis  boys basketball coach Keith Haske, who is battling throat cancer and seeking treatment in Houston, according to a report by the Petoskey News.

Haske has coached three boys teams to MHSAA Class C runner-up finishes – St. Francis in 2012 and Charlevoix in 2004 and 2001, and also coached at St. Johns prior to taking the Rayders job in 1998. He also coached the Charlevoix girls team to a Class C runner-up finish in 2004.

Click to read more about Haske and how to donate to his treatment.

Thanks, Gary Hice

The MHSAA welcomed 43 new athletic directors to East Lansing today for training as they take over their schools’ athletic departments.

An athletic director we’ll certainly miss is Petoskey’s Gary Hice.

Hice – an MHSAA Allen W. Bush Award winner in 2002 for his contributions to high school athletics – has retired after 30 years as his school’s athletic director.

Click to read more, again from the Petoskey News, about Hice’s service to his school and community.

PHOTO: The Bay City All Saints Class of 1974 reunion this weekend will include a showing of the boys basketball team’s Class C championship game win over Detroit Servite.

Continuing Education

February 17, 2012

Eight MHSAA staff devoted an entire Friday late last month to discussions with a visitor from another statewide high school association. The focus was on what that association was doing, how and why in the areas of electronic media, marketing, merchandising and branding and the dozens of sub-topics these categories spawned.

Two weeks earlier, five MHSAA staff joined staff of ten other similar associations for two days of meetings in Chicago. There was sharing on topics ranging from student leadership programs to information technology.

A few days before that, I joined my counterparts from 45 other states for discussions of a variety of topics important to school sports in general or the administration of our serving organizations. I amassed 13 pages of notes from comments made by speakers and colleagues over three days.

Meanwhile, the MHSAA office hosted 12 MHSAA committee meetings during January. Each committee focused on a particular sport, or on a specific topic that affects all sports. Their recommendations will be vetted this spring and considered by the Representative Council by May.

Ideally, every month presents opportunities for us to learn, but last month provided a particularly broad and deep curriculum.