Battle of the Fans: Halftime is G.R. Christian's Time
January 29, 2012
GRAND RAPIDS – For many high school hoops fans, halftime is a break – perhaps an opportunity to grab a pop or some popcorn, catch up with old friends, or at least take a seat and catch a breath.
But for the Grand Rapids Christian student cheering section, it’s no time for rest. Those 10 minutes might be when Eagle Nation does its best work.
For this “Battle of the Fans” finalist and its six senior leaders, halftime is their time. Some schools play music between halves, or run contests on the floor. At Grand Rapids Christian, everyone knows that after two quarters of supporting the play on the court, the halftime action is in the stands.
It’s cheer after cheer after cheer, with only a few 20-second breaks along the way.
“People get into it, and it’s over in a flash,” senior Jesse Ludema said.
“We frown on down time,” senior Evan Metcalf added. “You can have down time when you get home.”
Grand Rapids Christian is one of five finalists for the MHSAA Student Advisory Council’s “Battle of the Fans” competition. MHSAA staff visited both the Eagles and Reese on Friday after starting the tour Jan. 21 at Frankenmuth. Trips will be made to both Rockford and Petoskey over the next three weeks, with videos posted of all five finalists on the MHSAA Facebook page. After an online vote and SAC discussion, the winner will be announced on Feb. 24. Clips from all five MHSAA-produced videos will be shown during the Girls and Boys Basketball Finals in March at the Breslin Center.
Eagle Nation prides itself on bringing the same enthusiasm to every game. But it was tough to ignore the extra juice Friday, with Grand Rapids Christian facing rival East Grand Rapids. The schools are just 2.5 miles apart, and their two football games this fall received hype statewide.
Eagle Nation’s senior leaders contributed in those grudge matches as well – but from their spots in the stands. “Our school is better served with us in the stands than on the field,” senior Joe Schierbeek laughed.
Ludema sarcastically agreed: “They don’t need my ‘huge’ muscles; they need our loud voices.”
So what happened when Grand Rapids Christian’s second-quarter buzzer sounded?
Students go bananas in a cheer led by costumed senior leader Cody Powers. Each Eagles class – seniors through freshmen – takes its turn doing a collective hip shake, a favorite in the Eagle’s Nest. A boxer throws left and right uppercuts before landing a knockout blow that falls the entire section backward. And on this night, Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo was in attendance and got some love from Eagle Nation – although it is only unconfirmed speculation that Izzo was there to check in on the “Battle of the Fans” craze.
Eagle Nation plans a theme for every home game, and Friday was all about neon. More than 400 students packed the sections behind the north basket, glowing in all hues of neon covering T-shirts, tank tops, pants, socks and head bands. Those six leaders each wore a hot pink tank top, with one letter painted on each spelling E-A-G-L-E-S. With help of the administration, the leaders even sold bright $1 bandannas to everyone in the student section to top off the neon look. Even the basketball team got into the act: Players surprised their classmates by wearing neon-green ankle tape and those same neon bandannas during warm-ups.
While Eagle Nation had been loud in the past, this level of organization debuted this school year. Before, the students were always told to just cheer louder, but without much of a plan. Now, there’s a Facebook group. Theme nights are mentioned with other school announcements. On Friday, leaders held a lunchtime pep assembly for student section members, and they had a similar training assembly with eighth graders earlier last week.
Leaders also take seriously the word “Christian” spelled out in the name on their team's uniforms. Being an example of their faith is a priority.
“People don’t see what happens in our school every day. And when they come to games, they see our student section, and they take that as an example of who we are as a school,” Powers said. “So we want to show them who are, and that’s why we value character.”
“That’s not to say we don’t get rowdy, though,” Schierbeek quickly interjected.
In the end, it’s all about having fun – a theme that played loudly in Frankenmuth as well. Metcalf watched the Frankenmuth video with a big smile. “Let’s visit them,” he said. "We can have a fan section dance party.”
But first the focus is on winning the “Battle of the Fans,” which to this student section is its “state finals.”
With his voice almost gone, Ludema gave some advice to the other finalists.
“Cheer loud,” he said. “And get some throat lozenges.”
View Grand Rapids Christian's application video, created by GRCHS senior Andrew Pruim.
PHOTOS by Grand Rapids Christian junior Janina Pollatz.Report by the MHSAA's Andy Frushour.
'I Wouldn't Have Done it Any Other Way'
June 27, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Gray Raymond would like to believe every high school golfer would’ve made the same call as he did on the final hole of his Regional this spring. And he hopes those who wouldn’t might hear about his story and reconsider next time they have the opportunity.
Three weeks after calling out an otherwise-unseen stroke on himself – which eventually may have kept him from an opportunity to advance to the MHSAA Finals – the Maple City Glen Lake now-junior can’t imagine making any other decision.
His story received some publicity close to home, but in case you hadn’t heard: Raymond finished his sophomore season by shooting a team-best 85 to lead Glen Lake to a fifth-place Division 4 Regional finish May 29 at Treetops’ Tradition in Gaylord. On the final hole, after his playing partners had finished up, Raymond approached his ball for a 5-inch tap in – and accidentally nudged the ball, by rule a stroke.
No one else saw it. No one else would’ve ever found out. But Raymond would’ve known – and he immediately called out the unintended hit so it could be recorded on his card.
Strokes are lost and gained throughout a golf round, so it shouldn’t be said that one made the difference. But when results for the day were posted, Raymond found out he potentially missed qualifying for the Finals by one shot. Taking a shot off his score would've put him in a tie for the third and final individual qualifier spot and set up a playoff with Mackinaw City's Kal O'Brien. Instead, O'Brien claimed that last Finals berth unopposed.
“I wouldn’t have done it any other way. That’s not the way I was taught, and definitely not the way I was raised,” Raymond said Wednesday as he loaded up a bucket of balls at the driving range. “I’d rather lose than be a cheater.
“At the time, I was just upset that I lost, pretty much. I didn’t think anyone really would care how it happened. I didn’t think anything of it until I got to school on Monday and my teachers were congratulating me and stuff like that.”
Raymond’s sportsmanship made a longer-lasting impression than probably most of the rounds played across the Lower Peninsula at Finals the following weekend. The story was picked up by the local Leelanau Enterprise for a story June 5, and last week Raymond was honored by Glen Lake’s board of education with the “Anchor Up!” Award,” which he said is given to adults for their contributions to the school district. He thinks he was the first student to receive it.
Raymond also was the subject of a now well-traveled email to members of the Northwest Conference from Suttons Bay’s four-time Division 4 champion coach Todd Hursey, who wrote in part, “My heart goes out to him, but my heart is also warmed by his integrity. These moments should be celebrated as much as the golfing accomplishments.”
Raymond learned the game in large part from his father Ron, who played in high school and college and who “made it clear at a young age, no matter what happens out there, rules come first. I definitely learned from classroom to green to tee,” Gray Raymond said.
The golf community can become close-knit, especially among the top players at the high school age levels, and Raymond said he’s received texts from quite a few competitors from other schools telling him “that was a really bold move” and offering plenty of support – including reminding him of the big picture, and how missing these Finals will end up just a detail in what should be two more great years of high school golf.
And Wednesday included, Raymond already is getting ready. He’s definitely going to adjust his approach next time. At this Regional, he was playing with that day’s eventual winner Will Newbold, and knowing he was a number of strokes back of the Frankfort ace figured he didn’t have a chance to qualify and let that sink his mental game – when in reality he was right in the running. Raymond would’ve played at least one hole a little differently to give himself a better shot.
And absolutely, it will be that much more rewarding when Raymond, perhaps inevitably, does qualify for the Finals over the next two seasons.
“I wouldn’t have been able to call myself a golfer, honestly, if I’d walked out to that first tee box at states, Raymond said. “People are saying not many high school kids would do that, to immediately just call (a stroke) on yourself. But it never crossed my mind not to.
“I would like to say they would (call it), but honestly I don’t know. I would hope so. I hope everyone has the mindset of well, I messed up. There’s always a consequence of something, positive or negative, and if I walked away there’s no consequence – so what’s the lesson learned there?”
PHOTOS courtesy of Maple City Glen Lake’s athletic department.