Linked Up: Generations of Calls

July 9, 2013

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Father Ralph Burr recently finished his 50th season as an MHSAA official at 76 years old. His daughter Jackie has worked with him for 20 seasons, and son Jeff has served alongside Dad various times over the last 36 years.

Add in another son and grandson, and the family has officiated a combined 142 years in the Muskegon area. 

Grand Rapids' WZZM tells the story of the Burrs, focusing especially on Ralph and his other contributions including the care-taking of Muskegon's Sheldon Field.

Click for the WZZM story on the Burrs and watch below if your browser allows for Flash playback. Also, see the report done earlier this season by the Muskegon Chronicle.

PHOTO: Members of the Burr family pose during the MHSAA Officials Awards & Alumni Banquet in May including current MHSAA officials Jackie Burr, (to her left) Ralph Burr and (on far right) Jeff Burr.

Today in the MHSAA: 10/11/17

October 11, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Each weekday of the school year, we break down the top headlines courtesy of Michigan’s sports media.

Today's Top 10

1. Volleyball: South Lyon won its first league title in this sport by claiming the inaugural Lakes Valley Conference championship with a sweep of Walled Lake Northern – Oakland Press

2. Boys Cross Country: LPD1 No. 6 Brighton swept Hartland and Livonia Stevenson to secure its first league title since 1995, in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association Gold – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

3. Boys Soccer: Division 2 No. 17 Gibraltar Carlson claimed its first league title in this sport since 2006 and first as a member of the Downriver League with a 5-2 win over Melvindale – Southgate News Herald

4. Cross Country: Saugatuck’s LPD3 No. 2 girls clinched their 11th consecutive title and the No. 3 boys their seventh straight Southwestern Athletic Conference championship – Holland Sentinel

5. Cross Country: The White Lake Lakeland boys (No. 5 in LPD1) and Highland-Milford girls (No. 11) clinched Lakes Valley Conference championship, Lakeland handing Milford’s No. 11 boys their first league loss and Milford’s girls edging Lakeland’s by a point – Observer & Eccentric

6. Boys Soccer: Division 1 No. 4 Portage Central finished a regular-season sweep of rival Portage Northern in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference championship game – Kalamazoo Gazette

7. Volleyball: Class C honorable mention Mendon swept Marcellus to complete a perfect run on the way to the Southwestern 10 Conference title – Sturgis Journal

8. Boys Soccer: Okemos downed East Lansing to win the Capital Area Activities Conference Gold Cup, dedicating the victory to late coach Dr. John Picone – Lansing State Journal

9. Girls Cross Country: LPD1 No. 2 Northville won its sixth straight league title, finishing ahead of Novi to clinch in the KLAA Gold – Observer & Eccentric

10. Volleyball: Niles Brandywine swept Bridgman and Watervliet and split with Kalamazoo Christian to continue its hunt for a Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference championship – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium