Stripes Worn Well (Muskegon Chronicle)

March 1, 2012

Tim Flahive has battled diabetes for all but a few years of his life. But he's also filled half of those years with high school sports as a longtime official based in the Muskegon area.

The Muskegon Chronicle's Mark Opfermann tells the story of Flahive's final basketball game last week -- and makes us appreciate even more the significant role our officials fill to no fanfare.

A powerful excerpt:

He left the court with no fanfare, took off his whistle and shed a few tears.

But Flahive's story isn’t just about sports and an official leaving the hobby he loves. It’s about courage, getting back up and pressing on.

So, I guess it’s a lot like sports after all. But it’s a whole lot more about life.

That’s because when Flahive took the court last week, he did it with half of his left foot missing.

Click to read on.

Today in the MHSAA: 10/18/19

October 18, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

One of the most intriguing league cross country title races in some time came to a conclusion Thursday as a number of state-ranked girls and boys teams ran to be the best in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association.

1. Cross Country: Brighton’s girls – No. 5 in Lower Peninsula Division 1 – finished ahead of No. 2 Northville and No. 6 Salem to win the Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship meet, and Brighton’s top-ranked boys won their first league meet since 1995 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

2. Boys Soccer: No. 3 Marshall scored all of its goals during the final 12 minutes to come back and defeat Coldwater 3-2 in a Division 2 District Final – WWMT

3. Boys Soccer: No. 2 Troy Athens shut out No. 8 Berkley 3-0 to clinch a Division 1 District championship – Oakland Press

4. Boys Soccer: Division 3 No. 2 Hudsonville Unity Christian locked up its sixth straight District title with a 7-0 win over No. 6 Wyoming Lee – FOX 17

5. Cross Country: The LPD1 No. 5 Saline boys clinched the Southeastern Conference Red title with a second place at the final league jamboree, and the top-ranked Ann Arbor Pioneer girls won their race and league championship – Saline Post Boys | Girls

6. Boys Soccer: No. 7 Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep needed overtime but got past No. 9 Hillsdale Academy 2-1 in a Division 4 District Final – JoeInsider.com

7. Cross Country: Romeo and Marysville swept their divisions of the Macomb Area Conference championship meet, with Port Huron Northern’s boys and St. Clair’s girls also victorious; Romeo’s boys are No. 2 in LPD1 and Romeo’s girls are No. 14 – Athletic.net

8. Boys Soccer: Gladwin improved to 20-2-2 and won its first District title in this sport since 2015 with a 1-0 victory over Essexville Garber in Division 3 – Bay City Times

9. Boys Soccer: Dearborn’s second-half surge resulted in a 5-1 Division 1 District title win over Downriver League champion Brownstown Woodhaven – Southgate News-Herald

10. Boys Soccer: Bad Axe improved to 11-4-3 with a 4-2 Division 4 District Final win over Saginaw Valley Lutheran – Huron Daily Tribune