#SocialStudies v9.0
April 12, 2012
While thousands of high school students return to class this week after Spring Break -- surely ready to regale their friends, teammates and teachers with tales of their adventures on vacation (or "stay-cation" for some), I thought it might be fun to show you what we've been privy to over the past week.
Welcome to #SocialStudies, the Back-to-School-In-Spring Edition.
As usual, it's a hodgepodge of ridiculous, funny and sporty. Enjoy, and don't forget that a little moisturizer makes that tan last a lot longer.
1. Stayin' Alive in the Magic Kingdom
For the marching band at Dexter High School, Spring Break meant traveling to Orlando, Fla. -- and performing before the Main Street Electric Parade at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. Congratulations to the Dreadnaughts Band, who clearly enjoyed its time down south, and gave the Mickey & Minnie-loving crowd a sweet Bee Gees jam.
2. Buckle up
Any adrenaline junkies out there? Yeah, I figured as much. If you haven't ridden this coaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio -- think about making the trip. Just try not to get all amped up around 50 seconds into this front-row POV vid from the spectacular Erie-lakeside Millenium Force. Keep your hands and arms inside the car at all times, and enjoy your ride.
3. Even the pros do it once in a while
We've all been there. If you've played a sport, you know that sometimes the desire to try something spectacular can sometimes end in sheer disaster. This is why coaches tell you to take the "easy two." In that spirit, I give to you a sure-fire NBA Hall-of-Famer, Vince Carter, missing a wide-open layup.
4. Lots of Laughs
To be perfectly honest, when schools are out of session, our office gets a little too quiet. The phones ring less, several staff members take vacations to coincide with Spring Break, and it's typically the week after our winter tournaments (read: CRAZY TIME!) conclude.
As such, those of us left in the office need to get creative with how we stay engaged. Here's one way we got through last week without you all. I make no excuses. (As an aside, big congratulations to our Assistant Director of IT, Jordan Cobb, on the birth of his first child, Zoey!)
As always -- if you find something worthy of us watching, send it over. Links, photos, stories ... whatever strikes your fancy that week. Make it part of our #SocialStudies!
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#SocialStudies v4.0
February 23, 2012
The best part about #SocialStudies, as I’m sure you’ve all realized by Week 4, is that the sum of its parts make entirely zero sense when combined into one.
There are no easy transitions from flying squirrel wrestling moves to some guy dancing down a professional sporting arena aisle while Bon Jovi blares in the background. Nevertheless – we love compiling the weird and wacky each week.
So, without further ado …
1. You won't see this in Battle Creek, but ...
Last summer, this Chicago-area high schooler stunned an arena with acrobatics not seen on a wrestling mat since… well, never. Yes, we are very aware that this type of "flying squirrel" move is illegal under high school rules – but that doesn’t make it any less cool to watch. Don’t worry: multiple angles shown.
2. Dance Machine, circa 1986
The lip-syncing is fairly horrific. The moves aren’t anything spectacular. And this video is more than three years old. And yet, once you start watching this weird dude at a Celtics game – you cannot stop. His stellar sassy-steppin’ solo starts around 10 seconds in. Ladies and gentlemen: I give you Mr. Jeremy Fry in HD.
3. He is the Hunter; Robichaud, the hunted.
Junior Vincent Hunter of Detroit Consortium knows how to dunk. Here’s a compilation of no less than four of them from their game last week against Dearborn Heights Robichaud. The Cougars won the game, 73-67 – pushing their latest winning streak to four straight.
4. Say it with us: Battle ... of ... the ... Fans!
And finally, it seems amiss to neglect the final day of fan polling for our Battle of The Fans contest. View all five finalist submissions here and click the image below to vote on Facebook for your favorite. Good luck to Frankenmuth, Grand Rapids Christian, Petoskey, Reese and Rockford!
It's MHSAA tournament time, which should reveal a bevy of video highlights and social media madness as we finish up February and fly full bore into March.
See something high school sports-related online that the rest of us must see? Capture some cool video yourself? Upload it to We're always looking for more to add to your weekly #SocialStudies.
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