Powerful Voice for High School Sports
December 19, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Paul Carey was home from the U.S. Army only a few months and just shy of 25 years old when Beal City embarked on its first trip deep into the MHSAA boys basketball tournament.
On the call for local radio station WCEN from gyms at Saginaw Arthur Hill and Lansing Sexton, Carey served as the voice of the previously “laughable” Aggies as they reached the Class D Semifinals before falling just six points short of playing for the title.
“All of Beal City emptied out. They’d never had anything before,” Carey recalled during his annual Thanksgiving weekend visit to the MHSAA Football Finals at Ford Field. “When I got home, within the next two weeks I got a letter from every citizen of Beal City thanking me for broadcasting their games. That’s the kind of appreciation that meant so much.”
During 42 years on the airwaves, Carey was best known as a voice of the Detroit Tigers bounding out of transistor radios all over Michigan, thanks to WJR’s powerful signal.
But for the state’s high school sports community, his legacy is similarly memorable as the voice of the longtime football and basketball scoreboard show and a voter for various all-state teams and wire polls over the decades.
Now 86 and retired since 1991, Carey remains a regular during the first day of the Football Finals, taking in games he broadcast for the MHSAA during the late 1970s and that continue to hold his eye as they have for more than a half-century.
“It was a passion of mine. High school sports always has been,” Carey said. “I think because my dad was a high school coach, and teacher initially, and my brother was a high school coach and teacher, I just grew up in families that appreciated coaching and athletics. I was not a great athlete, but it kept my hand in following sports that way.”
Now, the scores
Carey partnered with Ernie Harwell for Tigers radio broadcasts from 1973-91, including during the march to the 1984 World Series championship. He was named Michigan Sportscaster of the Year six times and to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.
But Carey’s early career included sitting on top of a car, plugged into a phone pole, for a Sacred Heart football game at old Fancher Field just a few blocks from his family’s Mount Pleasant home. Among many more accolades are a Distinguished Service Award from the Michigan High School Coaches Association and a place in the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Hall of Fame.
In fact, the start of his weekly announcing of statewide football and basketball scores preceded his baseball career by 16 years and ended two months after he announced his final professional out.
The Michigan High School Scoreboard show was a staple of WJR’s late Friday nights from 1957-91. Carey would read every score he could collect from a variety of sources, often organized by league and with state rankings and context mixed in.
His idea came from something similar read by Len Colby for Kalamazoo’s WKZO. Carey’s brother Terry was coaching at Niles during the second half of the 1950s, and he and other coaches would get together to listen to the Friday night scores from the southwestern part of the state.
Carey, who left WKNX in Saginaw for WJR in 1956, explained to then-sports director Bob Reynolds that the station’s strong signal could provide for a truly statewide scoreboard experience.
Carey then connected with Edgar Hayes of the former Detroit Times, who gave the OK for Carey to call the paper on Friday nights to get scores from the Detroit metro area. For the rest, Carey relied on wire services – there were three at the time – who relied on newspapers from all over Michigan to call in scores over the course of an evening.
Before every Friday during high school football season – and later Tuesdays and Fridays during boys basketball season – Carey typed up lists of games based on schedules in the newspaper, with spaces to add scores. More than a few times, Carey raced down a back ramp at Tiger Stadium after a Friday night game, back to the WJR studio, with 15 minutes to prep for the show’s 11:30 p.m. start.
“If the Flint Journal, the Grand Rapids Press, the Traverse City paper didn’t call in scores to the AP, then I was out of luck too. And that happened all the time,” Carey said. “I would call back occasionally, say, ‘Did you get anything more?’ It was a rat race.”
The show originally was set for 10 minutes and then extended to 15. American Airlines sponsored a record show that followed, and Carey’s scoreboard show had a sponsor only once in 35 years. Finishing up on time was expected, even with more than 200 scores to read.
But Carey said he always went 20 minutes, sometimes 25.
“Because I wasn’t done. I just kept right on going,” Carey said. “Jay Roberts did the all-night show most of the time, and he was patient with me. He didn’t say too much on the air about ‘that guy ahead of me took all of my time.’”
Carey continued the “rat race” until his final scoreboard show, Dec. 20, 1991. He retired from WJR at the end of that calendar year. And it's important to note: Carey was never paid a dime extra for doing the program. .
“I think Paul is really just a sports fan, and that came across to the listener on his broadcasts,” MHSAA historian Ron Pesch said. “Paul would gather as much as possible off the wire. He'd interject if scores were missing from sections of the state. Press polls from the Free Press, News, AP and UPI were big, so he could point out close calls and upsets.
“He provided immediacy, or the closest thing to it in the days before cable TV and the Internet, and because of his scoreboard show, you could get the results before the morning paper. For listeners, he brought life to something as simple as game scores.”
First team all the way
Carey, who resides in Rochester, also served as the engineer on Tigers broadcasts for 16 years, through 1990. He broadcast Pistons games on the radio for six seasons and did the first broadcast of a Central Michigan University football game, in 1949.
Harry Atkins, covering Detroit’s teams while with The Associated Press for 29 years including the last 21 as its sports editor for Detroit, took note of his colleague's hard work – and especially that Carey was one of few broadcasters who was a journalist in addition to a voice.
That made Carey's other major role in high school sports a natural fit.
Atkins split The Associated Press all-state selection panels for football and basketball into 11 regions, and Carey represented the Detroit area for a number of years. He also was a longtime voter in those sports' weekly polls.
“Paul is just that kind of guy. He thought it was important and he made time in his busy schedule to do it,” Atkins said “And it had an impact on the other 10 voters on the All-State panels, too.
“Some of them were from small out-state newspapers or radio or TV stations. Yet every one of them knew who Paul Carey was. And when he spoke, of course, with what often is called "The Voice of God," those voters paid attention.”
And he still does, as well.
At the end of each fall, Carey still puts together a compilation of the three high school all-state football teams – Associated Press, Detroit Free Press and Detroit News – and files them with years of research and results.
“It’s important to me. Nobody sees it but me, but I get a certain kick,” Carey said. “Once in a while I’ll see a kid playing at Central, Western or (Michigan) State or Michigan, and they’ll say he came from Clawson. I’ll go into my all-state collections, say that would’ve been 2009 he played, and I find a name.”
In addition to the Football Finals on WJR, Carey was part of the Baseball Finals broadcasts into the early 1990s, continuing to contribute even after his retirement from his fulltime gig.
He spent high school games over the years sitting next to legends like the Free Press’ Hal Schram and remembers when current Free Press longtime scribe Mick McCabe was just a rookie. One of Carey's final broadcasts was a 1992 Baseball Final with his nephew Mike Carey, who continues to broadcast MHSAA championship games to this day.
“I am eternally grateful to Paul Carey. His contribution to high school sports in Michigan has been great and significant,” Atkins said.
“We are lucky to have him.”
PHOTO: Paul Carey (left) and nephew Mike Carey broadcast the MHSAA 1992 Class D Baseball Final between Hillman and Athens for PASS.
Watch 550+ Events on MHSAA TV
October 27, 2020
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
The last week of the girls volleyball regular season, and playoff action in football and boys soccer will provide plenty of viewing this week on the NFHS Network, MHSAA.tv and FOX Sports Detroit.
Here’s the schedule:
Football Playoffs
Thursday - Oct. 29
Bay City Central vs. Pontiac - 7 PM
Midland Dow vs. Flushing - 7 PM
Suttons Bay vs. Manistee Catholic Central - 7 PM
Friday - Oct. 30
Traverse City West vs. Grand Rapids Union - 6 PM
Whitehall vs. Fruitport - 6 PM
Pewamo-Westphalia vs. Hesperia - 6:45 PM
Mt Morris vs. Pinconning - 6:55 PM
Birmingham Seaholm vs. Sterling Heights - 7 PM
Bloomfield Hills vs. Troy - 7 PM
Brandon vs. St. Clair - 7 PM
Brighton vs. Novi - 7 PM
Burton Bendle vs. Byron - 7 PM
Calumet vs. Houghton - 7 PM
Caro vs. Chesaning - 7 PM
Cass City vs. Reese - 7 PM
Cedar Springs vs. Petoskey - 7 PM
Charlevoix vs. Roscommon - 7 PM
Clare vs. Kent City - 7 PM
Corunna vs. Birch Run - 7 PM
Dearborn Heights Robichaud vs. Whitmore Lake - 7 PM
Detroit Catholic Central vs. Walled Lake Northern - 7 PM
DeWitt vs. Jackson Northwest - 7 PM
Durand vs. Detroit Collegiate Prep - 7 PM
East Grand Rapids vs. Grand Rapids Northview - 7 PM
Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker vs. Bad Axe - 7 PM
Erie-Mason vs. Ecorse - 7 PM
Fenton vs. Walled Lake Central - 7 PM
Flint Powers Catholic vs. Marshall - 7 PM
Fowlerville vs. Haslett - 7 PM
Frankenmuth vs. Bridgeport - 7 PM
Freeland vs. Saginaw Valley Lutheran - 7 PM
Gladstone vs. Negaunee - 7 PM
Grand Blanc vs. Lake Orion - 7 PM
Grand Blanc vs. Lake Orion - 7 PM – FOX PREP ZONE
Grass Lake vs. Manchester - 7 PM
Grosse Pointe North vs. Detroit U Of D Jesuit - 7 PM
Harbor Beach vs. Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary - 7 PM
Hartland vs. Howell - 7 PM
Hemlock vs. Vassar - 7 PM
Hillsdale vs Olivet - 7 PM – NFHS Network Bonus Coverage
Holt vs. Ann Arbor Skyline - 7 PM
Hopkins vs. Belding - 7 PM
Kalamazoo Central vs. Ann Arbor Huron - 7 PM
Livonia Clarenceville vs. Tecumseh - 7 PM
Macomb Dakota vs. Macomb L'Anse Creuse North - 7 PM
Madison Heights Lamphere vs. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood - 7 PM
Manistee vs. Kalkaska - 7 PM
Maple City Glen Lake vs. Elk Rapids - 7 PM
Mason vs. Ionia - 7 PM
Midland vs. Alpena - 7 PM
Midland Bullock Creek vs. Carrollton - 7 PM
Millington vs. Otisville LakeVille - 7 PM
Mount Pleasant vs. Gaylord - 7 PM
Northville vs. Salem - 7 PM
Notre Dame Preparatory vs. Hazel Park - 7 PM
Pinckney vs. Orchard Lake St. Mary's - 7 PM – FOX PREP ZONE
Portage Northern vs. Battle Creek Central - 7 PM
Portland vs. Lakewood Lake Odessa - 7 PM
Ravenna vs. Morley Stanwood - 7 PM
Reed City vs. Cheboygan - 7 PM
Riverview Gabriel Richard Catholic vs. Springport - 7 PM
Romulus Summit Academy North vs. Flat Rock - 7 PM
Saginaw Swan Valley vs. Shepherd - 7 PM
Saline vs. Ann Arbor Pioneer - 7 PM
South Lyon vs. Milford - 7 PM
South Lyon East vs. Garden City - 7 PM
St. Joseph vs. Richland Gull Lake - 7 PM
Stevensville Lakeshore vs. Niles - 7 PM
Unionville Sebewaing vs. Marlette - 7 PM
Vicksburg vs. Plainwell - 7 PM
Walled Lake Western vs. Waterford Mott - 7 PM
West Bloomfield vs. Utica Ford - 7 PM
Zeeland West vs. Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills - 7 PM
Grosse Pointe South vs. Oak Park - 7:30 PM – FOX GAME OF THE WEEK
Saturday - Oct. 31
Brownstown Woodhaven vs. Taylor Preparatory - 12 PM
Rockford vs. Holland West Ottawa - 12 PM
Peck vs. Ashley - 12:45 PM
Adrian Lenawee Christian vs. International Academy of Flint - 12:50 PM
Kingsford vs. Ogemaw Heights - 1 PM
Kingsley vs. Standish-Sterling Central - 1 PM
Portage Central vs. Jackson - 1 PM
Redford Union vs. Dearborn Heights Annapolis - 1 PM
Marquette vs. Muskegon Reeths-Puffer - 2 PM
Royal Oak Shrine vs. Waterford Our Lady - 2 PM
Kinde North Huron vs. Au Gres-Sims - 5 PM
Traverse City St. Francis vs. L'Anse - 6 PM
Zeeland East vs. Holland - 7 PM
Brethren vs. Bear Lake - 7 PM
Boys Soccer Regional Semifinals
Tuesday - Oct. 27
Alma vs. Macomb Lutheran North - 5 PM
Clawson vs. Clinton - 5 PM
Dearborn Divine Child vs. DeWitt - 5 PM
Hillsdale vs. Dowagiac - 5 PM
Petoskey vs. East Grand Rapids - 5 PM
Salem vs. Mattawan - 5 PM
Walled Lake Central vs. New Baltimore Anchor Bay - 6 PM
Dearborn Edsel Ford vs. Saline - 7 PM
Grand Rapids Catholic vs. Grand Rapids South Christian - 7 PM
Grosse Ile vs. Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard - 7 PM
Riverview vs. Chelsea - 7 PM
Spring Lake vs. Ada Forest Hills Eastern - 7 PM
Williamston vs. Frankenmuth - 7 PM
Troy Athens vs. Utica Eisenhower - 8 PM
Wednesday - Oct. 28
Marshall vs. St. Joseph - 5 PM
Elk Rapids vs. Ogemaw Heights - 6 PM
Richland Gull Lake vs. Holland - 7 PM
Shelby vs. Muskegon Oakridge - 8 PM
Girls Volleyball
Tuesday - Oct. 27
Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian vs. Montague - TBA
Dearborn Heights Robichaud vs. Hamtramck - 4 PM
Vicksburg vs. TBA- 4 PM
Burton Bendle vs. Genesee - 5 PM
Fremont vs. Ludington - 5 PM
Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian vs. TBA - 5 PM
Hart vs. Fruitport Calvary Christian - 5 PM
Multi-team Event @ New Lothrop - 5 PM
Multi-team Event @ Plainwell - 5 PM
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep vs. Holly - 5 PM
Troy vs. Detroit Country Day - 5 PM
Multi-team Event @ Onekama - 5:30 PM
Cass City vs. Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker - 6 PM
East Grand Rapids vs. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern - 6 PM
Fowlerville vs. Charlotte - 6 PM
Multi-team Event @ Grand Rapids Christian - 6 PM
Vermontville Maple Valley vs. TBA - 6 PM
Wayland Union vs. South Christian - 6 PM
Williamston vs. Lansing Catholic - 6 PM
Holland vs. Wyoming - 6:15 PM
Montrose vs. Ovid-Elsie - 6:15 PM
Mt Morris vs. New Lothrop - 6:15 PM
Stockbridge vs. Grass Lake - 6:15 PM
Warren Woods-Tower vs. Clint Twp. Chippewa Valley - 6:15 PM
St Johns vs. Portland - 6:20 PM
Bloomfield Hills Roeper vs. Novi Christian Academy - 6:30 PM
Erie-Mason vs. Sand Creek - 6:30 PM
Grosse Pointe North vs. Fraser - 6:30 PM
Livonia Clarenceville vs. Southfield Christian - 6:30 PM
Oakland Christian vs. Lutheran Westland - 6:30 PM
Romulus Summit Academy North vs. Ypsilanti Arbor Prep - 6:30 PM
Sterling Heights Parkway Christian vs. Westland Huron Valley Lutheran - 6:30 PM
Gladstone vs. Negaunee - 6:45 PM
Harbor Beach vs. Marlette - 6:45 PM
Brown City vs. Capac - 7 PM
Chesaning vs. Durand - 7 PM
Fulton vs. Ithaca - 7 PM
Garden City vs. Dearborn Heights Crestwood - 7 PM
Hopkins vs. Allegan - 7 PM
Marquette vs. Escanaba - 7 PM
St Charles vs. Blanchard Montabella - 7 PM
Bad Axe vs. Caro - 7:30 PM
Wednesday - Oct. 28
Macomb L'Anse Creuse North vs. Romeo - 4 PM
Waterford Our Lady vs. TBA - 4:30 PM
Grandville vs. Holland West Ottawa - 5 PM
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep School vs. Bloomfield Hills - 5 PM
Mackinaw City vs. Harbor Springs - 5:30 PM
New Lothrop vs. Clio - 5:30 PM
Riverview Gabriel Richard Catholic vs. Dearborn Edsel Ford - 5:30 PM
Suttons Bay vs. Fife Lake Forest Area - 5:30 PM
Madison Heights Lamphere vs. Ferndale - 6 PM
Williamston vs. East Lansing - 6 PM
Blanchard Montabella vs. Fulton - 6:30 PM
Fennville vs. Bloomingdale - 6:30 PM
Petoskey vs. Traverse City West - 6:30 PM
Traverse City Central vs. Alpena - 6:45 PM
East Kentwood vs. Rockford - 7 PM
Freeland vs. Bay City John Glenn - 7 PM
Grandville vs. Rockford - 7 PM
Morley Stanwood vs. Lakeview - 7 PM
Saginaw Swan Valley vs. Alma - 7 PM
Brethren vs. Evart - 7:30 PM
Pellston vs. Cheboygan - 7:30 PM
Thursday - Oct. 29
Dearborn Heights Robichaud vs. Ypsilanti Community - 4 PM
Fenton vs. Flushing - 5:15 PM
Ortonville Brandon vs. Lake Fenton - 5:15 PM
Allen Park Cabrini vs. Garden City - 5:30 PM
Galesburg-Augusta vs. Battle Creek Central - 6 PM
Kinde North Huron vs. Owendale-Gagetown - 6 PM
Mason vs. St Johns - 6 PM
Munising vs. Eben Junction Superior Central - 6 PM
Vermontville Maple Valley vs. Parchment - 6 PM
Frankfort vs. Lake City - 6:30 PM
Southfield Christian vs. Sterling Heights Parkway Christian - 6:30 PM
Harbor Beach vs. Brown City - 6:45 PM
Maple City Glen Lake vs. Mesick - 7 PM
Marquette vs. Calumet - 7 PM
Saline vs. Ann Arbor Huron - 7 PM
Kingsford vs. Houghton - 7:15 PM
Wixom St. Catherine vs. Novi Christian - 7:15 PM
Cass City vs. Bad Axe - 7:30 PM
Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker vs. Caro - 7:30 PM
Friday - Oct. 30
Peck vs. Mayville - 6 PM
Dollar Bay vs. Baraga - 6:20 PM
St Charles vs. Carson City-Crystal - 7:35 PM
Saturday - Oct. 31
New Lothrop vs. Chesaning - 8 AM
Saline vs. TBA - 8:30 AM
Mt Morris vs. TBA - 9 AM
St Charles vs. TBA - 9 AM
Plymouth Christian Academy vs. TBA - 12 PM
In the coming week, more than 550 events at all levels in a variety of sports will be available on the NFHS Network/MHSAA.tv. Monthly subscriptions are $10.99. Click for a complete list of upcoming games, and for a complete list of on-demand games.
Fans also can type their school name into the search field on the MHSAA.tv page to search for events. Varsity games being streamed also have links from the MHSAA Website’s Score Center, and from the schedules on individual school pages. Clicking on the green TV set icon listed next to an event will take you directly to a game. You can also watch on Roku enabled devices.
Now in its 12th year, the School Broadcast Program gives members an opportunity to showcase excellence in their schools by creating video programming of athletic and non-athletic events with students gaining skills in announcing, camera operation, directing/producing and graphics. Pixellot – The NFHS Network’s automated streaming solution – is used by schools wishing to live stream games, but lacking the ability to staff the events. The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.
NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $10.99 a month. Subscribers will have access to all live video and streaming statistics across the country. All content becomes available for free, on-demand viewing 72 hours after being shown live. A portion of every subscription sold by an SBP school goes to benefit its program.
A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA Website.