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: 9/16/2015

September 16, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

MHSAA Finals favorites in cross country and boys tennis got an early look at each other Tuesday, while a Corunna volleyball standout set a school record – literally.

Cross Country

Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart has become arguably the team to beat in Lower Peninsula Division 4 girls cross country, evidenced again by its win at the Beal City Invitational ahead of the reigning MHSAA champion Aggies – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

Boys Soccer

Division 2 No. 14 Fruitport scored with six minutes to play to push past Division 3 No. 12 Ludington 4-3 – Muskegon Chronicle

Northville, ranked No. 4 in Division 1, improved to 8-0 with a 4-1 win over Livonia Stevenson – Detroit News

Boys Tennis

The top-ranked teams in LP Division 4 met Tuesday, with No. 1 Ann Arbor Greenhills prevailing in close matches to claim a 6-2 win over No. 2 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett – Mlive-Detroit

We’ve heard of lots of traveling trophies in football, but this might be a first for tennis; Clio tied Swartz Creek 4-4, and with a 5-3 win as well this season, retained “The Rock” – Flint Journal

From Saturday, we’ve got a more detailed account of how the strong competition played out at the Grosse Pointe North Invitational – Grand Rapids Press

Girls Tennis

Iron Mountain, last season’s Upper Peninsula Division 2 runner-up, moved to 14-0 this season in a close match against reigning Division 1 runner-up Kingsford – Iron Mountain Daily News

Volleyball

Reigning Class A champion Romeo rode a strong finishing run by Miss Volleyball favorite Gia Milana to down always-powerful Marysville – Macomb Daily

Corunna’s Skylar Napier broke her school’s career assists record with 2,328 during a pair of wins over Lake Fenton and Montrose – Flint Journal

Midland Bullock Creek may be unranked, but at least locally has been nearly unstoppable, moving to 19-2-1 with a pair of wins Monday – Midland Daily News

Good Read

And a good cause – Okemos and Mason’s boys soccer teams introduced this season’s "Compete for a Cause" game, which will be played Sept. 26 under the lights at Okemos High School. The teams combined last season to raise $11,000 for childhood cancer research – Lansing State Journal