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.
Soccer Districts Kick Off on MHSAA TV
October 13, 2020
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
The first round of District play in the 2020 MHSAA Lower Peninsula Boys Soccer Tournament highlights another full week of activity on the NFHS Network and MHSAA.tv.
Games this week begin Wednesday (Oct. 14).Here’s the schedule:
Wednesday – Oct. 13
Grosse Pointe North vs. Detroit Cass Tech - 4 PM
Macomb 'Anse Creuse North vs. Port Huron - 4 PM
Garden City vs. Detroit Cesar Chavez Academy - 5 PM
Lake Orion vs. Utica Eisenhower - 5 PM
Birmingham Seaholm vs. Birmingham Groves - 5:30 PM
Reed City vs. Hart - 5:30 PM
Brownstown Woodhaven vs. Taylor Preparatory - 6 PM
Fenton vs. Davison - 6 PM
Northville vs. Walled Lake Western - 6 PM
South Lyon East vs. Milan - 6 PM
St. Clair Shores Lake Shore vs. St. Clair Shores South Lake - 6 PM
St. Joseph vs. Sturgis - 6 PM
Waterford Mott vs. Utica - 6 PM
East Lansing vs. Swartz Creek - 7 PM
Hemlock vs. Saginaw Swan Valley - 7 PM
Saline vs. Belleville - 7 PM
Thursday – Oct. 15
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood vs. Madison Heights Lamphere - 4 PM
Manchester vs. Ann Arbor Greenhills - 5 PM
East Grand Rapids vs. Wyoming - 6 PM
Grand Blanc vs. Lapeer - 6 PM
Grand Rapids South Christian vs. Grand Rapids Covenant Christian - 6 PM
Novi vs. Brighton - 6 PM
Petoskey vs. Bay City Western - 6 PM
Clare vs. Pinconning - 7 PM
Comstock Park vs. Portland - 7 PM
Bloomfield Hills vs. Troy - 7:30 PM
Friday - Oct. 16
Vicksburg vs. Niles - 6 PM
During the coming week, nearly 700 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.
Here is a list of football and girls volleyball varsity events taking place over the coming week on the NFHS Network/MHSAA.tv (Home team generally listed first):
Football
Friday - Oct. 16
Dearborn Heights Robichaud vs. Dearborn Heights Annapolis - 4:30 PM
Lowell vs. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern - 6:55 PM
Brownstown Woodhaven vs. Trenton - 7 PM
Caro vs. Cass City - 7 PM
Chesaning vs. Byron - 7 PM
Clare vs. Harrison - 7 PM
Comstock Park vs. Sparta - 7 PM
Corunna vs. Lake Fenton - 7 PM
Dearborn Divine Child vs. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood - 7 PM
Detroit Catholic Central vs. River Rouge - 7 PM
Frankenmuth vs. Birch Run - 7 PM
Grand Rapids Catholic Central vs. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Eastern - 7 PM
Grosse Pointe North vs. Warren Woods-Tower - 7 PM
Holt vs. Portage Northern - 7 PM
Hopkins vs. Wyoming Godwin Heights - 7 PM
Houghton vs. Negaunee - 7 PM
Howell vs. Brighton - 7 PM
Kingsley vs. Sault Ste. Marie - 7 PM
Lake Orion vs. Farmington - 7 PM
Livonia Clarenceville vs. Oakland Christian - 7 PM
Manchester vs. Michigan Center - 7 PM
Maple Valley vs. Webberville - 7 PM
Marquette vs. Escanaba - 7 PM
Mason vs. Lansing Catholic - 7 PM
Mayville vs. International Academy of Flint - 7 PM
Millington vs. Hemlock - 7 PM
Montrose vs. Otisville LakeVille - 7 PM
New Lothrop vs. Durand - 7 PM
Niles vs. Buchanan - 7 PM
Northville vs. Novi - 7 PM
Ortonville Brandon vs. Clio - 7 PM
Ovid-Elsie vs. Mt Morris - 7 PM
Peck vs. North Huron - 7 PM
Petoskey vs. TBA - 7 PM
Plainwell vs. Three Rivers - 7 PM
Portage Central vs. Battle Creek Central - 7 PM
Rockford vs. Muskegon Reeths-Puffer - 7 PM
Saline vs. Ann Arbor Skyline - 7 PM
South Lyon vs. Highland Milford - 7 PM
South Lyon East vs. Waterford Kettering - 7 PM
St Johns vs. Fowlerville - 7 PM
St Johns vs. Fowlerville - 7 PM
St. Joseph vs. Richland Gull Lake - 7 PM
Stevensville Lakeshore vs. Battle Creek Lakeview - 7 PM
Stockbridge vs. Wyoming Lee - 7 PM
Suttons Bay vs. Mesick - 7 PM
Traverse City West vs. Cadillac - 7 PM
Troy vs. Pontiac - 7 PM
Walled Lake Western vs. Walled Lake Northern - 7 PM
White Lake Lakeland vs. Walled Lake Central - 7 PM
Whitmore Lake vs. Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest - 7 PM
Norway vs. Manistique - 8 PM
Saturday - Oct. 17
Traverse City St. Francis vs. Ogemaw Heights Oct 17, 2020 - 1 PM
Girls Volleyball
Tuesday - Oct. 13
Dearborn Heights Robichaud vs. Hamtramck - 4 PM
Multi-team Event @ Dollar Bay - 4:20 PM
East Lansing vs. TBA - 5 PM
Galesburg-Augusta vs. Martin - 5 PM
Holt vs. TBA - 5 PM
Bay City John Glenn vs. Saginaw Arthur Hill - 5:30 PM
Grand Rapids Christian vs. East Grand Rapids - 6 PM
Mayville vs. Caseville - 6 PM
Plainwell vs. Hopkins - 6 PM
Romulus Summit Academy North vs. Dearborn Henry Ford Academy - 6 PM
Sturgis vs. Vicksburg - 6 PM
Vermontville Maple Valley vs. Stockbridge - 6 PM
Madison Heights Lamphere vs. Warren Mott - 6 PM
Hartland vs. Canton - 6:15 PM
Mt Morris vs. Otisville LakeVille - 6:15 PM
Brighton vs. Howell - 6:30 PM
Chesaning vs. Montrose - 6:30 PM
Erie-Mason vs. Ottawa Lake Whiteford - 6:30 PM
Grand Blanc vs. Midland Dow - 6:30 PM
Grand Rapids South Christian vs. Thornapple Kellogg - 6:30 PM
Macomb L'Anse Creuse North vs. Utica Eisenhower - 6:30 PM
Maple City Glen Lake vs. Frankfort - 6:30 PM
Negaunee vs. Calumet - 6:30 PM
New Lothrop vs. Ovid-Elsie - 6:30 PM
Novi vs. Northville - 6:30 PM
South Lyon vs. South Lyon East - 6:30 PM
Southfield Christian vs. Plymouth Christian Academy - 6:30 PM
Walled Lake Northern vs. Highland Milford - 6:30 PM
Whitmore Lake vs. Allen Park Inter-City Baptist - 6:30 PM
Harbor Beach vs. Sandusky - 6:45 PM
Bear Lake vs. Marion - 7 PM
Bloomfield Woodhaven vs. Dearborn Edsel Ford - 7 PM
Brethren vs. Manistee Catholic Central - 7 PM
Garden City vs. Riverview - 7 PM
Grandville vs. Hudsonville - 7 PM
Kingsley vs. Leland - 7 PM
Pentwater vs. Baldwin - 7 PM
Rockford vs. Grand Haven - 7 PM
Waterford Our Lady vs. Warren Regina - 7 PM
West Bloomfield vs. Berkley - 7 PM
Caro vs. Vassar - 7:30 PM
Cass City vs. TBA - 7:30 PM
Dryden vs. Akron-Fairgrove - 7:30 PM
Wednesday - Oct. 14
Flushing vs. Linden - 5:15 PM
Holly vs. Fenton - 5:15 PM
Grosse Pointe North vs. Marysville - 6:30 PM
Petoskey vs. Gaylord - 6:30 PM
St. Joseph vs. Richland Gull Lake - 6:30 PM
Wayland Union vs. Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills - 6:30 PM
Traverse City West vs. Alpena - 6:45 PM
Bay City John Glenn vs. Birch Run - 7 PM
Bridgeport vs. Saginaw Swan Valley - 7 PM
Cadillac vs. Traverse City Central - 7 PM
Morley Stanwood vs. White Cloud - 7 PM
Waterford Our Lady vs. Riverview Gabriel Richard - 7 PM
Dearborn Divine Child vs. Wixom St. Catherine - 7:15 PM
Clare vs. Farwell - 7:30 PM
Harrison vs. Gladwin - 7:30 PM
Hemlock vs. Millington - 7:30 PM
Thursday - Oct. 15
New Lothrop vs. Beal City - 5:30 PM
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep vs. Clio - 5:30 PM
Armada vs. Yale - 6 PM
DeWitt vs. St Johns - 6 PM
Fowlerville vs. Mason - 6 PM
Mayville vs. Kingston - 6 PM
Plainwell vs. Three Rivers - 6 PM
Wayland Union vs. Wyoming - 6 PM
Williamston vs. Lansing Waverly - 6 PM
Warren Woods-Tower vs. St. Clair Shores Lakeview - 6:15 PM
Dollar Bay vs. L'Anse - 6:20 PM
Blanchard Montabella vs. Remus Chippewa Hills - 6:30 PM
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood vs. Royal Oak Shrine Catholic - 6:30 PM
Flint Powers Catholic vs. Flint Carman-Ainsworth - 6:30 PM
Galesburg-Augusta vs. Saugatuck - 6:30 PM
Grand Blanc vs. Saginaw Arthur Hill - 6:30 PM
Highland Milford vs. Walled Lake Central - 6:30 PM
Ishpeming vs. Hancock - 6:30 PM
Kalamazoo Christian vs. Lawton - 6:30 PM
Macomb L'Anse Creuse North vs. Romeo - 6:30 PM
Manchester vs. Michigan Center - 6:30 PM
Marcellus vs. Three Oaks River Valley - 6:30 PM
Southfield Christian vs. Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest - 6:30 PM
White Lake Lakeland vs. Walled Lake Northern - 6:30 PM
Whitmore Lake vs. Westland Huron Valley Lutheran - 6:30 PM
Calumet vs. Ishpeming Westwood - 6:45 PM
Harbor Beach vs. Cass City - 6:45 PM
Bear Lake vs. Onekama - 7 PM
Brownstown Woodhaven vs. Taylor Preparatory - 7 PM
Escanaba vs. Sault Ste. Marie - 7 PM
Grandville vs. Caledonia - 7 PM
Hopkins vs. Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian - 7 PM
Marquette vs. Houghton - 7 PM
Plymouth Christian Academy vs. Oakland Christian - 7 PM
Rockford vs. East Kentwood - 7 PM
Troy Athens vs. Utica - 7 PM
Kingsford vs. Gladstone - 7:15 PM
Bad Axe vs. Vassar - 7:30 PM
Caro vs. Reese - 7:30 PM
Dryden vs. Peck - 7:30 PM
Pellston vs. Johannesburg-Lewiston - 7:30 PM
Unionville Sebewaing vs. Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker - 7:30 PM
Friday - Oct. 16
Bloomfield Hills Marian vs. Dearborn Divine Child - 7:15 PM
Wixom St. Catherine vs. Farmington Hills Mercy - 7:15 PM
Saturday - Oct. 17
Bad Axe vs. TBA - 8:30 AM
Fenton vs. TBA – Part 1 - 8:30 AM
Linden vs. TBA - 8:30 AM
Multi-team Event @ St. Joseph - 8:30 AM
Chesaning vs. TBA - 9 AM
Flushing vs. Grand Blanc - 9 AM
Howell vs. TBA - 9 AM
South Lyon East vs. TBA - 9 AM
Cadillac vs. Grandville - 10 AM
New Lothrop vs. TBA - 10 AM
West Bloomfield vs. Rochester Adams - 12:30 PM
Grand Rapids Christian vs. Farmington Hills Mercy - 1 PM
Houghton vs. TBA - 3 PM
Niles vs. TBA - 5 PM
West Bloomfield vs. TBA - 7 PM
Monday - Oct. 19
Multi-team Event @ Petoskey - 5 PM
Negaunee vs. Ishpeming Westwood - 5 PM
Flushing vs. Flint Kearsley - 5:15 PM
Holly vs. Linden - 5:15 PM
Dollar Bay vs. Ewen-Trout Creek - 6:20 PM
Brighton vs. Novi - 6:30 PM
Galesburg-Augusta vs. Kalamazoo Christian - 6:30 PM
South Lyon vs. Highland Milford - 6:30 PM
South Lyon East vs. Waterford Mott - 6:30 PM
Sterling Heights Parkway Christian vs. Warren Fitzgerald - 6:30 PM
Walled Lake Northern vs. Waterford Kettering - 6:30 PM
Calumet vs. Houghton - 6:45 PM
Frankenmuth vs. Essexville Garber - 7 PM
Hemlock vs. St. Louis - 7 PM
Bay City John Glenn vs. Bay City All Saints - 7 PM
Marcellus vs. Lawrence - 7 PM
Livonia Clarenceville vs. Clawson - 7:30 PM
Tuesday - Oct. 20
Marcellus vs. TBA - 5 PM
Southfield Christian vs. Brighton Charyl Stockwell - 5:30 PM
St Ignace vs. Brimley - 5:45 PM
DeWitt vs. Williamston - 6 PM
East Lansing vs. Lansing Waverly - 6 PM
Kinde North Huron vs. Carsonville-Port Sanilac - 6 PM
Mason vs. Haslett - 6 PM
Mayville vs. Dryden - 6 PM
Norway vs. Carney-Nadeau - 6 PM
Peck vs. Genesee - 6 PM
Vermontville Maple Valley vs. Lansing Christian - 6 PM
Munising vs. Rapid River - 6 PM
Chesaning vs. New Lothrop - 6:15 PM
Mt Morris vs. Byron - 6:15 PM
New Lothrop vs. Chesaning - 6:15 PM
Otisville LakeVille vs. Ovid-Elsie - 6:15 PM
St Johns vs. Haslett - 6:20 PM
St. Clair Shores Lake Shore vs. St. Clair - 6:30 PM
Blanchard Montabella vs. Vestaburg - 6:30 PM
Frankfort vs. Suttons Bay - 6:30 PM
Highland Milford vs. TBA - 6:30 PM
Howell vs. Salem - 6:30 PM
Negaunee vs. Hancock - 6:30 PM
Northville vs. Hartland - 6:30 PM
Watervliet vs. Lawton - 6:30 PM
Whitmore Lake vs. Novi Christian Academy - 6:30 PM
Garden City vs. Dearborn Heights Annapolis - 7 PM
Gladstone vs. Marquette - 7 PM
Grand Rapids South Christian vs. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Eastern - 7 PM
Hopkins vs. Comstock Park - 7 PM
Kingsley vs. Buckley - 7 PM
Macomb Lutheran North vs. Yale - 7 PM
Plymouth Christian Academy vs. Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest - 7 PM
Saginaw Heritage vs. Grand Blanc - 7 PM
St. Charles vs. Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart - 7 PM
Troy Athens vs. Madison Heights Bishop Foley - 7 PM
Kingsford vs. Escanaba - 7:15 PM
Cass City vs. Caro - 7:30 PM
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.