Soccer, Volleyball Streaming Wednesday

November 4, 2020

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties

Tune in tonight for live streams of MHSAA Boys Soccer Semifinals and continuing Girls Volleyball District action on the NFHS Network/MHSAA.tv.

Here is tonight’s schedule:
 
Boys Soccer
Mattawan vs. Detroit Catholic Central at Novi (Meadows Stadium) – 6 PM
Grand Rapids South Christian vs. Elk Rapids at Cedar Springs HS – 6 PM
Clarkston Everest Collegiate vs. Adrian Lenawee Christian at Troy Athens HS – 7 PM

Girls Volleyball
Birmingham Groves  vs. Troy Athens - 4:45 PM
Birch Run  vs. Mt Morris   - 5 PM
Comstock  vs. Kalamazoo Christian  - 5 PM
Davison  vs. Fenton   - 5 PM
Dearborn Heights  Crestwood vs. Garden City   - 5 PM
Edwardsburg  vs. Berrien Springs   - 5 PM
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern  vs. Lowell   - 5 PM
Grosse Pointe North vs. Detroit East English  - 5 PM
Haslett  vs. DeWitt   - 5 PM
Lake Orion  vs. Oxford   - 5 PM
Madison Heights Bishop Foley vs. Warren Michigan Collegiate  - 5 PM
Marquette vs. Traverse City West   - 5 PM
Midland  vs. Bay City Central   - 5 PM
Ortonville Brandon  vs. Goodrich   - 5 PM
Otisville LakeVille vs. Burton Atherton   - 5 PM
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep vs. Madison Heights Lamphere   - 5 PM
Portage Central  vs. Sturgis   - 5 PM
Richmond  vs. St. Clair   - 5 PM
Romulus  vs. Grosse Ile   - 5 PM
Springport  vs. East Jackson   - 5 PM
Sterling Heights Parkway Christian School vs. Chesterfield Austin Catholic   - 5 PM
Troy  vs. Auburn Hills Avondale   - 5 PM
Walled Lake Central  vs. Hartland   - 5 PM
Westland Huron Valley Lutheran  vs. Lutheran  Westland  - 5 PM
Battle Creek Harper Creek  vs. Parchment   - 5:30 PM
Cassopolis  vs. Niles Brandywine   - 5:30 PM
Center Line  vs. St. Clair Shores South Lake   - 5:30 PM
Chesaning  vs. Saginaw   - 5:30 PM
Grandville Calvin Christian  vs. Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian  - 5:30 PM
Hart  vs. Hesperia  - 5:30 PM
Lansing Catholic  vs. Portland   - 5:30 PM
Leland  vs. Traverse City Christian - 5:30 PM
Manistee Catholic Central vs. Brethren  - 5:30 PM
Maple City Glen Lake  vs. Elk Rapids   - 5:30 PM
Morley Stanwood  vs. Pewamo-Westphalia   - 5:30 PM
New Lothrop  vs. Vassar   - 5:30 PM
North Branch  vs. Yale   - 5:30 PM
South Lyon East  vs. Pinckney   - 5:30 PM
Clinton Twp. Chippewa Valley  vs. Sterling Heights Stevenson  - 6 PM
Fraser vs. St. Clair Shores Lake Shore  - 6 PM
Mayville  vs. Peck  - 6 PM
New Life Christian Academy vs. Brown City   - 6 PM
Pinconning vs. Beaverton   - 6 PM
Traverse City Central  vs. Petoskey   - 6 PM
Unionville Sebewaing  vs. Harbor Beach - 6 PM
Bloomfield Hills Marian  vs. Birmingham Seaholm   - 6:30 PM
Dearborn Divine Child  vs. Dearborn   - 6:30 PM
Flint Hamady  vs. Burton Bentley   - 6:30 PM
Grand Blanc  vs. Lapeer   - 6:30 PM
Grand Ledge  vs. St Johns   - 6:30 PM
Macomb Lutheran North  vs. Algonac   - 6:30 PM
Niles  vs. Dowagiac Union   - 6:30 PM
Bridgeport  vs. Saginaw Swan Valley   - 7 PM
Calumet  vs. Hancock   - 7 PM
Clawson  vs. Detroit Country Day   - 7 PM
Clio vs. Caro   - 7 PM
Flint Powers Catholic  vs. Lake Fenton   - 7 PM
Flint Powers Catholic  vs. Lake Fenton   - 7 PM
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central  vs. East Kentwood   - 7 PM
Grass Lake  vs. Michigan Center   - 7 PM
Holly  vs. Clarkston   - 7 PM
Imlay City  vs. Almont   - 7 PM
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix  vs. Portage Northern   - 7 PM
Lake Leelanau St. Mary  vs. Suttons Bay   - 7 PM
Lakeview  vs. Carson City-Crystal   - 7 PM
Mancelona  vs. Traverse City St. Francis   - 7 PM
Mason County Central  vs. White Cloud   - 7 PM
Merritt Academy vs. Marine City Cardinal Mooney Catholic   - 7 PM
Mount Pleasant  vs. Bay City Western   - 7 PM
Novi  vs. Plymouth - 7 PM
Onekama vs. Pentwater  - 7 PM
Plymouth Christian Academy vs. Taylor Trillium Academy  - 7 PM
Romulus Summit Academy North  vs. Flat Rock   - 7 PM
Saginaw Valley Lutheran  vs. Millington   - 7 PM
South Lyon  vs. Howell   - 7 PM
Vicksburg  vs. Three Rivers   - 7 PM
Watervliet  vs. Bridgman   - 7 PM
West Bloomfield  vs. Pontiac   - 7 PM
White Lake Lakeland  vs. Highland Milford   - 7 PM
Williamston  vs. Corunna   - 7 PM
Wyoming The Potter's House  vs. Grand Rapids Covenant Christian   - 7 PM
Royal Oak Shrine vs. Madison Heights Madison - 7:15 PM
Cass City  vs. Bad Axe   - 7:30 PM
Farwell  vs. Houghton Lake   - 7:30 PM
Kingston  vs. Dryden   - 7:30 PM
Memphis  vs. Marlette   - 7:30 PM
Warren Regina  vs. East Detroit   - 7:30 PM

Grisdale to be Honored for 40 Seasons on Call for Cheboygan Football

By Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com

September 13, 2024

When Jason Friday was in high school, there were two types of football fans in Cheboygan.

Northern Lower PeninsulaFolks either went to watch the Cheboygan Chiefs play under the lights, or they listened to the game on the radio called by play-by-play announcer Mike Grisdale.

Well, not much has changed. Friday, a 1992 Cheboygan grad, is now the school’s athletic director. And Grisdale is in the middle of his 40th season on the air.

What is changing tonight, though, is Cheboygan will officially dedicate the stadium press box to Grisdale in a special pregame ceremony before the Chiefs (1-1) take on Elk Rapids (1-1).

Former Cheboygan coaches, Grisdale’s family and people who have worked with him on the radio over the years will be on hand for the ceremony.

“We were able to get Dan Miller, George Blaha, Ken Kal and Dan Dickerson — radio broadcasters for all four Detroit sports — to record statements that we will play over the public address system,” said Friday. “Mike will be presented a smaller version of the plaque that we will be hanging in the press box, and he will have a chance to talk.”

Naming the press box after Grisdale has been in the works for more than a year, Friday noted. Grisdale first learned of the plan when he was interviewing Friday during halftime of a football game last year.

“Jason surprised me on the air,” Grisdale recalled. “I was shocked, but honored and thankful.”

The Cheboygan stadium press box will be dedicated to the longtime broadcaster.Grisdale, a 1979 Cheboygan grad, is humbled noting there are so many people who contribute to the radio broadcasts and football program. He remembers listening with his father to Jorden James and Bob Martin call Chiefs games when some of the older kids from the neighborhood were playing high school football.

“I have just been so fortunate to do it for this long and have become the go-to guy for historical information and perspective,” Grisdale said.

Grisdale, who has also done nearly 1,000 Chiefs basketball games on the air, along with some hockey and soccer, said his interest in sports goes back to his childhood.

Grisdale grew up in Cheboygan with three brothers in a neighborhood full of kids. Sports were a big part of their lives — collecting baseball cards, listening to the Detroit Tigers on the radio, and playing basketball, kickball and wiffle ball.  

Grisdale, who also hosts a Saturday morning radio show from a local restaurant called “Coaches Corner,” vividly recalls trying to keep a scorebook while listening to high school basketball games on WCBY radio and dreaming of becoming the next Blaha, or Ernie Harrell, Bob Ufer, or Bruce Martin - four legendary broadcasters of Michigan professional and college sports.

While at Central Michigan University earning a broadcasting degree, Grisdale got extensive of on-air experience on student stations. He worked on Cheboygan radio stations during summers.

Some of his fondest memories of Chiefs broadcasts have come from the locations where they’ve played.

“I have enjoyed having the opportunity to cover games at places like the Pontiac Silverdome, Palace of Auburn Hills, Crisler Arena and the Breslin Center,” Grisdale said. “You remember the exciting moments and big games”

Grisdale is on the call for another Chiefs game. The 40 years on the air, along with earlier turns covering Marshall and Albion football and basketball games, are really just a blur to the highly-revered radio personality.

“The seasons just seemed to run together,” Grisdale said. “There were many, many times when the weather and the long road trips took their toll.”

Grisdale played football at Cheboygan High School and was an offensive end and a defensive safety on a 9-0 squad his senior year in 1978. He caught three touchdown passes that season. He also held for extra points, collecting snaps from his brother Mark, the Chiefs’ long-snapper.

Mike Grisdale doesn’t hesitate to point out the best player he covered was fullback Shannon Scarborough from the 1991 team that reached the Silverdome – “The all-stater was strong and fast and played both ways,” he noted. But Grisdale has loved all the players and teams over the years. “I do it because I enjoy promoting the kids, keeping the traditions alive, seeing the community come together, good sportsmanship, and being part of a team.”

Friday, who also has broadcast multiple games alongside Grisdale over the years, has enjoyed Grisdale’s efforts to promote every player.

“Kids always love to hear their name on the radio,” Friday said. “What I think he does better than anyone is to make sure the offensive and defensive linemen are consistently mentioned — those boys in the trenches often get overlooked, but not with Mike on the call.”

When Cheboygan installed NFHS Network cameras, the athletic department sought to successfully connect Grisdale’s radio broadcast through the video feed. 

“That has been a huge bonus and something that many community members have told me they appreciate,” Friday said.

Grisdale, who also works part-time for Black Diamond Broadcasting in its Cheboygan studios and serves Mackinaw Health System based in St. Ignace as its marketing director, has no plans to end his broadcasting career.

“As long as our local radio station can keep the tradition alive and I am still around, it would be my privilege to keep it going,” Grisdale said.

Cheboygan High School games are carried on WCBY (Cheboygan) 1240 AM, 100.7 FM and 98.1 FM, and streaming at BigCountryGold.com.

Tom SpencerTom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Mike Grisdale, right, and partner Nate King broadcast a Cheboygan game from Central Michigan University. (Middle) The Cheboygan stadium press box will be dedicated to the longtime broadcaster. (Below) Grisdale is on the call for another Chiefs game. (Photos provided by Grisdale and the Cheboygan athletic department.)