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: 5/26/21

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

May 26, 2021

1. Baseball: Division 4 top-ranked Beal City clinched its 17th-straight league title by splitting with Evart in the Highland Conference – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

2. Girls Soccer: Division 1 No. 18 Muskegon Mona Shores downed Division 2 No. 18 Zeeland East 4-1 to lock up fourth-straight league tournament and overall championships, this time in the Ottawa-Kent Conference Green – Local Sports Journal

3. Track & Field: Clare’s sweep of Jack Pine Conference championship meets gave the girls an outright league title and the boys a shared championship with Shepherd; both Clare teams are ranked No. 1 in Lower Peninsula Division 3, and Shepherd’s boys are No. 7 – Mount Pleasant Morning Sun

4. Softball: Division 1 No. 6 Farmington Hills Mercy and Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett earned Detroit Catholic League championships – Detroit News

5. Softball: Division 2 No. 5 Gaylord’s sweep of Traverse City Central locked up a shared Big North Conference championship between the Blue Devils and Traverse City West, which swept Cadillac – Petoskey News-Review | Traverse City Record-Eagle

6. Softball: Essexville Garber came back to defeat Alma in extra innings and earn a share of the Tri-Valley Conference East championship – Bay City Times

7. Track & Field: New Lothrop clinched a sweep of Mid-Michigan Activities Conference titles with wins in the third league jamboree – Owosso Argus-Press

8. Track & Field: Centreville swept the Southwest 10 Conference championship meets to clinch both the girls and boys overall league titles – Three Rivers Commercial-News

9. Baseball: Hillman swept Posen to finish its North Star League Little Dipper championship run – Alpena News

10. Softball: Evart and McBain tied for the Highland Conference title with Evart’s sweep of Beal City – Big Rapids News

Also of note …

Baseball: Troy Athens clinched the Oakland Activities Association Blue title with a win over Auburn Hills Avondale – Oakland Press