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: 4/17/19

April 17, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Big-time matchups in soccer, baseball and softball highlighted a busy day of spring sports action across the state Tuesday.

2. Girls Soccer: No. 6 Hartland scored a major win over No. 10 Brighton, 3-1, in a matchup of top teams in Division 1 – Livingston Daily Press & Argus

2. Baseball: Two-time reigning Division 2 champion Stevensville Lakeshore claimed a pair of one-run wins over Division 1 No. 9 Portage Northern – St. Joseph Herald-Palladium

3. Softball: South Lyon East handed Division 1 honorable mention Walled Lake Northern its first loss, but Northern came back to take the second game of the doubleheader – State Champs Sports Network

4. Softball: Traverse City West and Kalkaska each handed the other its first loss in a doubleheader split – Traverse City Record-Eagle

5. Baseball: Hudsonville won the first game and was leading the second against Division 1 No. 16 Rockford in a key Ottawa-Kent Conference Red matchup – FOX 17

6. Boys Lacrosse: Traverse City United came back from a halftime deficit to edge Petoskey 8-7 – MI Sports Now

7. Track & Field: Alpena’s boys defeated Traverse City Central 92-71, highlighted by Gabe Bullis breaking his school pole vault record by seven inches at 15-7 – Alpena News

8. Baseball: Division 2 No. 10 Detroit Country Day emerged from a matchup of sharp pitchers to down Birmingham Groves 3-1 – Observer & Eccentric

9. Softball: Division 2 honorable mention Chelsea improved to 7-0 in handing Dexter its first losses of the season – Chelsea Sun Times News

10. Baseball: Kingsley earned what could become a key Northwest Conference sweep over Frankfort – WPBN

Also of note …

Boys Basketball: Southfield Christian coach Josh Baker has stepped down to take a job at University of Alabama under Nate Oats, who formerly coached at Romulus before turning Buffalo into a mid-major power – MLive-Detroit

Wrestling: Hudson’s Jordan Hamdan was named Mr. Wrestler by the Michigan Wrestling Association – Adrian Daily Telegram