Mourning Those Who Contributed Much
April 14, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This weekend was a sad one for those who work in Michigan high school athletics or have appreciated the contributions from three who gave significantly to our games but died after long fights with cancer.
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart's Keisha Brown, Grand Haven's Robin Bye and Haslett's Jamie Gent left memorable legacies in their passing – Brown on Thursday, Gent on Friday and Bye on Saturday.
Following are just a few details of their contributions to schools and sports, followed by a handful of Twitter posts celebrating their commitments.
- Brown in 2006 became the first and only female coach to lead a boys team to the MHSAA Basketball Finals, guiding the Irish to the Class D Final before they fell to Wyoming Tri-unity Christian. She also served as principal and athletic director at Sacred Heart and coached the boys basketball team to a 114-30 record before taking over the Alma College women’s program, which she coached through this season. Click to read the memorial column from the Mount Pleasant Morning Sun’s Jim Lahde.
"RIP Keisha Brown. What a truly inspiring human being that battled cancer with courage and strength. My thoughts are with her family.” – Oakland Press reporter Drew Ellis, formerly of the Morning Sun
“Rest in Peace Keisha Brown #TrueWarrior. Words cannot express my sadness #HeartBroken.” – Alma College Sports Information Director Mike Hanson
- Bye worked in the Grand Haven school system for 34 years, including the last two-plus as athletic director after formerly serving as an assistant and a girls basketball coach. He also had been a middle school art teacher in the district, and last year received its “Spirit of Grand Haven” award for commitment and dedication to Grand Haven schools. Click to read the story on his passing from the Muskegon Chronicle’s Scott Brandenburg.
“Thinking of the Bye family tonight. Robin will be missed. As a person and an AD, he made me want to be better a person/coach. God Bless.” – Grand Haven boys basketball coach Steve Hewitt.
“I will miss Robin Bye. He made a big difference for the youth in our town, more than an athletic director; an inspiration.” – Grand Haven parent Pat McGinnis
- Gent began his career at Haslett in 1967 as a middle school teacher and high school coach in three sports. He was head coach of the track and field, boys basketball and football varsity teams at different times and began his second stint as the school’s athletic director in 1991. He also was an MHSAA registered official for more than 15 years and a mentor to many both in the Lansing area and statewide through his contributions to the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. He received the MHSAA’s Charles E. Forsythe Award in 2008. See below for a video posted that year in honor of Gent as he retired as athletic director, and click for Dick Hoekstra's piece in the Lansing State Journal posted today.
“Sad to hear of the passing of Jamie Gent, long time Haslett HS athletic director. Really great guy, very kind hearted.” – former Haslett athlete, current White Pigeon teacher/coach Kurt Twichell
“Jamie Gent was one of the best ADs I had the privilege to know. A great loss tonight for the Haslett community.” – Chelsea football coach Brad Bush
PHOTOS: (Clockwise from left) Former Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart boys basketball coach Keisha Brown comforts one of her players after the Irish fell in the Class D Final in 2006. Jamie Gent, left, receives his Charles E. Forsythe Award from Negaunee's Jim Derocher during the 2008 Boys Basketball Finals. Grand Haven athletic director, Robin Bye, is recognized as an assistant coach on the 1981 girls basketball team inducted into the Grand Haven sports Hall of Fame.
Bally Sports Detroit Set to Announce MHSAA Football Playoff Pairings
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
October 19, 2021
The 288 qualifiers for this season’s Michigan High School Athletic Association Football Playoffs will be announced at 5:30 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 24) on the Bally Sports Detroit primary channel.
Brackets and matchups in all eight divisions for 256 11-player teams and 32 qualifiers across two divisions for 8-player football will be presented during the “Selection Sunday Show,” with all brackets to be posted to the MHSAA Website after the completion of the show at 6:30 p.m. Dates and times for first-round games will be added Monday (Oct. 25).
Viewers also may watch on the Bally Sports Detroit website and app. The MHSAA Playoffs in both divisions are set to begin during the weekend of Oct. 29-30. The 8-Player Playoffs will conclude with both Finals on Nov. 20 at Northern Michigan University’s Superior Dome in Marquette. The 11-Player Finals will be played Nov. 26-27 at Ford Field in Detroit.
Lower Peninsula Boys Soccer District Tournaments continue this week with more than 50 games broadcast on MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network. Two weeks remain in the volleyball regular season, with a number of key matchups of schools large and small filling a broadcast schedule offering more than 300 matches total this week.
Viewers also will be able to watch more than 175 regular-season football finales on MHSAA.tv this weekend, plus the last of regular-season live broadcasts by Bally Sports Detroit and State Champs! Sports Network. BSD will broadcast live on its primary channel Friday’s Southfield Arts & Technology at River Rouge matchup, with kickoff at 7 p.m. State Champs! Sports Network will broadcast Saturday's second Detroit Catholic League Prep Bowl game between Warren De La Salle Collegiate and Detroit U-D Jesuit at 4:30 p.m. from Ford Field.
See below for links to a number of notable events on MHSAA.tv this week:
BOYS SOCCER
Oct. 19, 5 p.m.: Berkley vs. Detroit U-D Jesuit
Oct. 19, 5 p.m.: Ann Arbor Skyline vs. Saline
Oct. 19, 7 p.m.: Troy vs. Troy Athens
VOLLEYBALL
Oct. 19, 6 p.m.: DeWitt at Okemos
Oct. 19, 7 p.m.: Saline at Ann Arbor Skyline
Oct. 20, 6:45 p.m.: Traverse City West at Cadillac
Oct. 20, 7 p.m.: Frankenmuth at Freeland
Oct. 20, 7:30 p.m.: Beaverton at Clare
Oct. 21, 6:55 p.m.: White Lake Lakeland at Rochester Adams
Oct. 21, 7 p.m.: Dexter at Chelsea
Oct. 21, 7:15 p.m.: Marquette at Kingsford
Oct. 21, 7:30 p.m.: Unionville-Sebewaing at Cass City
Oct. 23, 9 a.m.: Byron Center at Lowell
Oct. 23, 1 p.m.: Hudsonville at Rockford
FOOTBALL
Oct. 21, 7 p.m.: Bark River-Harris at Ishpeming
Oct. 22, 6:35 p.m.: Lansing Catholic at Pewamo-Westphalia
Oct. 22, 7 p.m.: Midland at Midland Dow
Oct. 22, 7 p.m.: Lake Orion at Saline
Oct. 22, 7 p.m.: Saginaw Heritage at Mount Pleasant
Oct. 22, 7 p.m.: Grand Ledge at Holt
Oct. 22, 7 p.m.: Frankenmuth at New Lothrop
Oct. 22, 7 p.m.: Novi at Livonia Churchill
Oct. 22, 7 p.m.: Hartland at Belleville
Click the links below to see all three sports’ listings in full:
Football – Volleyball – Boys Soccer
NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $10.99 per month. Subscribers have access to all live video and streaming statistics across the country. School Broadcast Program participants benefit as a portion of every subscription sold by a school goes to benefit its program.
More than 400 MHSAA member schools are participants in the School Broadcast Program, now in its 13th year, producing games using traditional hands-on student crews or via Pixellot cameras installed at stadiums and gymnasiums across the state. A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA Website.