Most Read Recent "Sports Thoughts" Columns

---

Thursday, March 20, 2025

March Madness has arrived.

It's my favorite time of year, not only because of the NCAA basketball and hockey tournaments.

It's also the time of year when spring ushers in the start of a new baseball season while the NBA and NHL quickly follow the March Madness fun of college basketball brackets and college hockey's march to its Frozen Four.

High school sports reach a fevered pitch of their own with the prep version of March Madness for hockey, boys' basketball and girls' basketball.

As this life-long sports fan enters the closing chapters to a fun-filled life, my thoughts during this season of spring turn to the many childhood memories of playing sports from sun-up to sundown and vivid visions of watching so many big games this time of year with all the friends and family no longer with us.

Young fan upset about losing Kirk Gibson from Detroit Tigers' telecasts don't even recognize names like Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey, George Kell and Al Kaline — baseball broadcasters I grew up listening to as a young sports fan.

I can still hear their voices in my head with so many historic calls forever etched inside my brain.

The favorite part of doing my sports shows is listening to our open with a rotating mix of all the greatest calls I've collected and obtained permission to replay.

It's funny how nobody has ever said "no" to letting me share their particular team's historic clips.

For me, I guess sitting back to relax a few minutes before getting every sports show started has a special significance. I swear there's a special memory tied to every single clip.

Who I heard it with at the time. 

Where I was in my life when it happened.

Take for example these special memories attached to each big moment in sports history.

The 1968 Detroit Tigers? Turning a cub scout meeting into a backyard football game as the radio blared the weekday afternoon call as the Tigers won to stay alive after going into a 3-games-to-one hole.

Mark "The Bird" Fidrych's starts during the magical summer of 1976? My dad crouching down on his knees in my bedroom to hear Ernie Harwell describe the final outs on the radio almost every game he pitched as packed crowds at the old Tiger Stadium had the place rocking like never before, or after. Those special memories of the absolute delight on my father's face will live with me forever as he so loved the crazy pitcher who talked to the ball in his Boston accent while manicuring the mound and hopping around the field to hug infielders who made nice plays. 

The game-winning, walk-off home run blast by Maglio Ordonez to put the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 World Series? Hearing replays of the radio call remind me of being there to witness it with three special friends who are no longer with us.

The 1984 World Series? My then, not yet 2-year-old son Billy swinging in his little chair and yelling along with us as I celebrated with my grandpa in his living room as my grandma worried about us not eating enough of her chicken dinner because we had filled up on her extra butter popcorn servings.

The big MSU upset over Michigan on the muffed punt in 2015? My oldest grandson was still in diapers but glued to the TV except during commercials when he would turn into a rambling running back with an under-sized football.

The 1980 "Miracle on Ice" victory by Team USA over the Russians? I was at a Goodrich basketball game watching my all-time favorite team to ever cover as my old football coach John Bishop led the Martians to victory en route to a Genesee Eight Conference championship. It's the only time I can remember my dad waiting up for me after a long night of work at the Flint Journal sports department. He awakened from a sound sleep on the couch when I opened the door  — turning into a play-by-play, blow-by-blow recapitulation of every last detail of the greatest moment in the annals of sports history.

The 1997 Stanley Cup victory by the Detroit Red Wings? Watching at a bar in Canada with my son and his travel hockey friends, wondering if my father up in Heaven was watching our 42-year wait for a Stanley Cup end.

Chris Weber's infamous time out call in the closing seconds of the 1993 NCA game against North Carolina when Michigan didn't have any time outs left? Watching with my all-time favorite group of employees at the old offices of Tri-County News as we were distracted from producing our daily newspaper before our midnight deadline.

MSU winning it all in the 1979 NCAA version of college basketball's March Madness: Watching with all the sports writers on the fourth floor at the old Flint Journal building as we were all jealous how Assistant Sports Editor and star columnist Dean Howe got to be there as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird went at it on the day America really fell in love with college basketball.

MSU winning it all in the 2000 NCAA basketball tournament? Watching on a small TV in my late uncle Troy's basement as Mateen Cleaves and the Flintstones were dancing in celebration just moments before tears could be seen streaming down our local star's face as they played "One Shining Moment" with a declaration from my favorite uncle that they would be replaying that scene when I'm someday watching with my grandchildren.

Wow. He was right.

Read This Week's Featured Column

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath is an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show Sundays from 6-8 pm, The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weekdays at 6 pm and on The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning news columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Thursday, March 13, 2025

It's Final Four time Friday (March 14, 2025) with a Flintstone flavor for prep basketball's Division 1 tournament in March Madness at the Breslin Center in East Lansing on the campus of Michigan State University.

Flint Carman Ainsworth plays at 2 pm in one semifinal matchup against Wayne Memorial. The other Final Four battle is at noon as Flint pair Trey McKenney and Mateen Cleaves Junior lead number one ranked and defending state champion Orchard Lake St. Mary against an East Lansing team that features KJ Tolbert —  the odds on favorite of many to be next year's Mr. Basketball who is the son of Flintstone great Kelvin Tolbert who starred at the Breslin for MSU after being selected as Mr. Basketball in 2001 when playing at Flint Northwestern. He later played professionally overseas.

McKenney won Mr. Basketball for 2025 earlier in the week. He's the grandson of the late former Flint Mayor, County Commissioner and State Legislator Woodrow Stanley.

Cleaves is the freshman son of Mateen Cleaves Sr. who was an all-state performer at Flint Northern before winning a national championship as an All-American at Michigan State and playing in the NBA after becoming a 1st round draft choice of the Detroit Pistons.

Both Division 1 games will be broadcast live on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio. They will then replay at 8 o'clock Friday and again at midnight.

Flint Carman-Ainsworth is the only remaining local team on the boys' side of March Madness  while Genesee Christian, Goodrich and Frankenmuth are still alive in girls' basketball after winning Regional titles earlier in the week sent all three to next week's state quarterfinals. 

The best game of the entire tournament could be at noon Friday when Michigan Wolverines-bound Mr. Basketball star Trey McKenney tries to help the Eaglets of Orchard Lake St. Mary get revenge for a one-point regular season loss to East Lansing in overtime.

McKenney, who didn't play in the East Lansing loss, came up big in the state finals a year ago with a 37-point explosion to carry his team to a Division 1 championship at the Breslin Center.

MSU fans will likely be rooting against the kid who is considered by many as the top recruit in all of America who is headed to Ann Arbor next season to continue his career at the collegiate level.

Wouldn't it be sweet if Flint Carman-Ainsworth's cinderella run to the Final Four could be extended just one more game to see their old friend Trey McKenney who could have been their teammate if he hadn't picked Orchard Lake St. Mary over playing with friends in Flint where he grew up.

You can bet I'm gonna be rooting for Flint C-A to face Flint kids Cleaves and McKenney in Saturday's state championship game.

Read This Week's Featured Column

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath is an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show Sundays from 6-8 pm, The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weekdays at 6 pm and on The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning news columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Monday, March 9, 2025

Flint Powers Catholic's run to a second state championship in three years wasn't needed to cement its place atop local high school hockey programs in our all-time history books.

Sure, dramatic victories in the quarterfinals and finals made 2025 extra memorable. But there was a game-winning goal on a breakaway in the closing seconds to win it all two years ago, too.

But forget the two state titles and Flint Powers hockey is still in a class by itself.

They only bring back fond memories of a storied program that has reached new heights under its new leader.

Coach Travis Perry's state titles are the only ones by a Genesee County hockey prep program although one other school in the Metro Flint regional area owns three state crowns.

Hartland won it all in Division 2 under Rick Gadwa in 2018, 2019 and 2022 after reaching the state finals in 2013 and 2014.

Hartland's five trips to the championship game give the Eagles one more than all the other schools in the regional area combined. Davison had back-to-back state runner-up finishes in Division 2 under Doug Towler in 2002 and 2003. Others to make it to the final game, only to lose, include Clarkston in 2023 in Division 1, Flint Kearsley in Class A in 1986, the old Flint Ainsworth in Tier II in 1977 and Flushing in Tier II in 1976.

Nobody comes close to the hardware collected by Powers hockey.

The Chargers have won 35 league championships between the Saginaw Valley League and the old Big Nine Conference. They've won 36 regional crowns and made it to the Final Four in the state tournament 23 times.

This winter marked the school's seventh time to reach the state championship game.

Perry stepped into big shoes when taking over as Flint Powers head coach in 2006 after previously serving as an assistant under the legendary Court Benson.

Benson was 375-137-33 during a 20-year career and he turned in his whistle after taking his last team to the 2005 state championship game. That team lost 3-1 to Orchard Lake St. Mary to mark the first time the Powers program had a realistic feeling of "belonging" on the biggest stage.

Benson-led teams made it to the state finals in 1989 and 1993, too. They lost 9-0 to Southgate Anderson in 1989, then 13-0 to Calumet in 1993.

Flint Powers Catholic first reached the state finals stage in 1982 and 1983 under another legendary coach — Dave Durkin.

Durkin's first team lost 6-2 to Houghton and his second team was blown out 8-0 by Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook.

Perry, now with 20 seasons at the helm under his belt, surpassed his mentor Benson as the all-time winningest coach in school history earlier this season with his 376th victory. He's now an astounding 386-117-20.

Durkin was 189-31-6 over a span of nine seasons.

The only other coach in Powers' history was Terry LaJeunesse who began in 1976 and was 47-65-8 over five seasons.

Perry is now No. 3 on the all-time victory list among Genesee County coaches with his 386 victories. Only the late Chris Christensen at Flint Kearsley (427) and Doug Towler (656) are ahead of him. Towler, in fact, broke the state record with his 631st victory during the 2023-24 season.

With 46 seasons to get there, he has averaged just over 14 victories per year during his time behind the bench at the old Flint Northern, Grand Blanc and Davison where he now leads a co-op team of players from Davison, Goodrich, Flushing and Swartz Creek.

Perry has averaged an amazing 19.2 victories per year during his behind the bench at Powers.

Christensen averaged 15.5 victories per season during his 28 years as Kearsely's coach.

That puts Perry in a class by himself as the most prolific winner in the annals of local prep hockey.

He now counts 13 league titles, 12 Regional titles, nine Final Four appearances and four trips to the state finals.

In addition to winning it all in 2023 and 2025, his 2008 team lost a 1-0 overtime thriller to Calumet and his 2010 team lost a 3-1 barnburner to Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook.

All in all with all the facts presented above, nobody can argue with my declaration that Travis Perry already belongs in the Greater Flint Sports Hall of Fame.

It was created as a way to celebrate our Genesee County champions, and two state championships puts him in an elite class.

Read This Week's Featured Column

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath is an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show Sundays from 6-8 pm, The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weekdays at 6 pm and on The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning news columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Sunday, March 8, 2025

Checking tidbits from my Sports Notebook and ran across this e-mail a loyal reader passed along to share with sports fans today:

 Stevie Wonder and Tiger Woods are in a bar talking about golf and singing.  Woods turns to Wonder and says, “How is the singing career going?”  

Stevie Wonder replies, “Not too bad! How’s the golf?”  

Woods replies: “Not too bad, I’ve had some problems with my swing, but I think I’ve got that right now.”  

Stevie says, “I always find that when my swing goes wrong, I need to stop playing for a while and not think about it. Then, the next time I play, it seems to be all right.”  

Tiger asks, “You play golf?” 

Wonder replies, “Oh yeah, I’ve been playing for years.” 

And Woods says, “But you’re blind. How can you play golf if you’re blind?”  

Wonder replies, “I get my caddy to stand in the middle of the fairway and call to me. I listen for the sound of his voice and play the ball towards him. Then, when I get to where the ball lands, the caddy moves to the green or farther down the fairway and again I play the ball towards his voice.”  

“But how do you putt?” asks Woods. 

“Well,” Stevie says, “I get my caddy to lean down in front of the hole and call to me with his head on the ground and I just play the ball towards his voice.”  

Woods asks, “What’s your handicap?”  

Stevie says, “Well, I’m a scratch golfer.”  

Woods, incredulous, says to Stevie: “We’ve got to play a round sometime.”  

Wonder replies, “Well, people don’t take me seriously, so I only play for money, and never play for less than $10,000 a hole.”

Woods thinks about it and says, “OK, I’m game for that, when would you like to play?”  

Stevie says, “Pick a night!” 

Read This Week's Featured Column

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath is an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show Sundays from 6-8 pm, The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weekdays at 6 pm and on The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning news columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Saturday, March 1, 2025

March Madness is officially upon us.

It's not NCAA tournament time yet but our state's two powerhouse college basketball teams are warming up for the big dance by first taking care of business in the Big 10 Conference.

Michigan State got last-second heroics Wednesday night in College Park, Maryland from Tre Holloman with a game-wining half court bomb from beyond the half-court line.

Then Nimari Burnett drained a game-winning 3-pointer the next night at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor to send the Michigan Wolverines' fans into a frenzy as the buzzer sounded to end the upset bid of Rutgers.

These two arch rivals are among the best college basketball teams in the country.

If each team wins out, there will be a rematch in East Lansing next Sunday afternoon with a noon showdown on national TV to determine the Big 10 regular season championship.

If one of them loses tomorrow or during their final week of games before next Sunday's Big 10 finale, they can win then to create a co-championship.

UM faces Illinois tomorrow at 3:50 pm on the nightcap CBS national TV game. MSU faces Wisconsin at 1:30 pm on CBS.

MSU needs only to beat Wisconsin tomorrow and win at Iowa on Thursday to do its part to make sure the outright Big 10 regular season bragging rights are on the line against their arch rivals.

Tomorrow against Illinois is part of a closing three-game homestand for new Coach Dusty May's Wolverines. They began with the barnburner buzzer beater over Rutgers and will follow up Wisconsin by hosting the same Maryland team that nearly derailed Coach Tom Izzo's Spartans.

This columnist will be glued to the TV all day tomorrow with my maize and blue gear on.

But let me assure you that I won't be rooting against the arch rival Spartans.

I hope Tom Izzo gives his troops the most inspiring pep talk of their lives an does his best coaching job on the court to get MSU to the big battle for all the marbles next next Sunday.

How can any UM-MSU rivalry get any better than one game for all the marbles at the end of the regular season schedule?

In 2019, they met for the only time ever in the  Big Ten tournament final in Chicago.

MSU beat UM for the third time that season then to begin a streak that now sits at winning 10 of the last 14 meetings. 

Last Friday night's upset for MSU at Crisler Center made it three in a row and four of their last five with a streak of 6-of-8 to go with the 1-of-14 run.

The Wolverines could have sewed up a title by winning at home in that Feb. 21 showdown at Crisler Center to build a two-game advantage.

This columnist thought the game belonged to Dusty May's crew until Tom Izzo's magic pulled out victory from the jaws of defeat in the late going.

The loss was a bitter pill to swallow for UM faithful.

But now with all that's on the horizon with the rivalry's most spectacular showdown ever nearing a reality, maybe Michigan fans can be thankful that MSU pulled it out last time.

Read This Week's Featured Column

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath is an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show Sundays from 6-8 pm, The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weekdays at 6 pm and on The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning news columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Tuesday, Jan. 28 2025

Checking tidbits from my Sports Notebook:

OWOSSO AD FACTS: The Superintendent of Owosso's school district issued a letter on social media to clarify the facts on the exit of Athletic Director Steve Irelan on Friday. District officials wanted him to apologize and attend disciplinary training. Irelan refused and we don't blame him. Superintendent Steve Brooks said Irelan's attorney negotiated with the district's lawyer to come up with a resignation both sides accepted. As Larry Coleman said on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio's Monday Daily Gazette Sports Night Show, AD's and coaches now face a situation where it's "the power of the parents" in today's world. The sad fact is that Irelan will have a difficult time getting another AD job with this dark cloud hanging over his head with everyone wondering what the "real" story is out there. Nothing but crickets out of Owosso's school board members. (Listen to a podcast replay of Coleman's comments on Monday's sports show)    

GAME(S) OF THE NIGHT: Tonight at Goggins Field House on the Flint campus of Powers Catholic High School is the place to be for local prep hoops fans. Sure, the Powers' boys are unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the state in Division 2 by the MHSAA. The Chargers put their 13-0 overall record on the line against Saginaw Valley Conference rival Davison that is led by Mike Williams who left Flint Beecher after six state titles to take over the Cardinals' program. But there's another show at 5:30 pm with the Powers' girls. It's a show by one girl to be exact. Kendyl Smith, only a junior, went over 1,000 points for her career and she's one of the best girls to ever come out of the Metro Flint regional area. The Lady Chargers also host Davison with both schools still in the Valley title picture. Both have a single loss in Valley play, both coming at Mount Pleasant which is tied atop the Valley with Saginaw Heritage.

BULLETIN BOARD MATERIAL: We aired a clip last night on The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show (6 pm weeknights on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio) that may get a Davison player some attention on the locker room wall of the Powers Catholic girls' basketball team. She was interviewed on the school's student-run DTV station, and told how simple Davison's game plan would be — just stop Kendyl Smith because nobody else can shoot! (Here's a link to the sports show with the DTV clip)

SPEAKING OF FEMALE STARS: The place was rocking Sunday in Ann Arbor at the Crisler Center as Michigan's women hosted arch rival Michigan State University in a battle of top 25 schools. The turnout was 10,873 fans! No. 24 UM was ahead by 4 points at halftime but No. 21 MSU raced away with things in the second half with a 34-point advantage to win by 30.

NEW LIONS GUY BIO: Who is this new offensive coordinator hired by the Detroit Lions to replace departing Ben Johnson who has taken the head coach job of the Chicago Bears? John Morton has had NFL jobs as a senior offensive coach for the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints, San Francisco and Las Vegas Raiders. He served under a couple pretty good college legendary coaches — Jim Harbaugh when he was at San Diego and Steve Sarkisian when he was at USC. Morton played his college ball at Western Michigan, then became a wide receiver in the Canadian Football League as well as on NFL practice squads with the Green Bay Packers and the old Oakland Raiders.

DEFENSIVE GURU FOR LIONS: The Lions are promoting linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard to replacement defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn who defected from Dan Campbell's staff to become head coach of the New York Jets . Sheppard, 37, joined Campbell's initial staff when he took the Lions' job in 2021.

REPEAT GAC CHAMPS: The Hamady Hawks ran host Bendle out of its own gym Friday night in Burton to complete a hat trick of lopsided victories over the top challengers in the Genesee Area Conference (GAC) boys' basketball race. The Hawks won 66-49 over Bendle on Friday night and the 17-points margin was closer than their other two big games. Coach Casey Short's Hawks beat the GAC's other once-beaten teams by even bigger spreads — 34 points (79-45) over Flint Elite on Jan. 7 and 28 points (68-40) over Flint International Academy on Jan. 17. Hamady has a second date with Bendle, Flint Elite and International Academy but don't expect any trouble for Coach Short's club. Score it as "wrapped up" for a second straight GAC crown after ending Flint Beecher's run of 11 in a row last winter.        

UH OH, DEMAND BY LOCAL HOOPS REFS: The Basketball Director of the Genesee County Coaches & Officials Association issued an important announcement today via e-mails to coaches and officials about mandatory pre-game meetings for coaches and captains are indeed MANDATORY! Darrell Young said to refs: "There was an incident ... where a head coach refused to attend the pre-game coaches and captains meeting. While it is unlikely a head coach from the schools we typically cover will refuse to attend, if you do encounter such a situation, the result is simply that they lose the coaching box  privileges for the entire contest. The meeting will take place without them, and it makes no difference if an assistant coach attends. We should certainly, gently, appeal to such head coach to attend before imposing this penalty. In addition, you must notify the assignor following the end of the contest to let them know of the situation. They will handle it from there going forward."

Read This Week's Featured Column

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath is an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show Sundays from 6-8 pm, The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weekdays at 6 pm and on The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning news columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Friday, Jan. 24, 2025

Junior sensation Kendyl Smith of Flint Powers Catholic is mid-way through her junior season, and she's already in the 1,000-point club. 

She joined Thursday when firing in 17 points by just 8 seconds into the second half.

They stopped the game to celebrate the big accomplishment amid a thunderous ovation from Powers' fans that included a strong contingent of Kendyl Smith's family and friends. They surely  outnumbered fans in the student section. Not many Powers Catholic sports fan came to celebrate which is pretty sad.

I expected to see a packed house.

It's highly likely that the Powers sports fans followed the boys' basketball team up to Bay City Central. They have an undefeated team on their hands at the midway point of the schedule with a No. 1 state ranking in Division 2 from the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) power ratings.

Maybe bad weather causing the cancelation of the school day hurt the turnout, too.

But 1,000 points?

She tried six days earlier to reach the magical milestone, so Powers people should have known about it. Athletic Director Mike Watson must have a long-term contract or something. I dropped him a note to let him know I'm willing to buy a few of his home dates if he wants to sell them to me for the price of last night's gate receipts.

My press pass has been getting me in free to see big games for my last 50 years as a journalist but I was tempted to go back and pay double. Watching Kendyl Smith last night was more fun than watching Caitlin Clark as the college phenom at Iowa last season that did so much to build women's sports.

Maybe the entire county of girls' basketball grads and up-and-coming players should have been there at Powers last night to witness the historical hugs Kendyl received from her teammates and big sister Amaya who ventured down from Mount Pleasant to watch history be made. The Smiths are a year apart and were both all-Valley first team in the Saginaw Valley Conference last season when Powers was a surprising 21-4 in a run to the Division 2 state semifinals.

All the hugs for Kendyl came after the thunderous ovation when she dropped a 3-point bomb from near the top of the circle from the right flank to eclipse the 1,000 barrier.

She only played sparingly in the second half and finished with 27 points on the night. Powers cruised to a 71-23 romp over visiting Bay City Central. Kendyl had 18 points in last week's 75-34 romp over Saginaw United when passing out 9 assists —14 points coming before halftime. She exited a couple minutes into the second half in that one to finish 17 points shy of the 1,000 mark.

Grandpa Smith had a glass case constructed for a historical ball that had special engraving to forever remember the big night. School officials presented her with a special ball, too. Fans held "1,000" signs and there was a special banner to mark the historic occasion.

All that was missing? A big crowd to see the special occasion at Goggins Field House.

WJRT ABC TV 12 sent fans to Bay City by mistakenly saying the game was there when noting how Kendyl could reach the 1,000 mark in a few hours. Yousef Nasser also erroneously labeled her as a sophomore to showcase his basketball brilliance because no 10th grader in state history has scored that many points halfway through their second high school varsity season.

Hey, at least TV 12's Yousef was on hand to capture a few minutes of game footage and interview Kendyl, her coach (Ryan Trevithick) and her dad (Kevin Smith). I guess WNEM CBS TV 5 and Mid-Michigan Now's TV 25 and TV 66 were busy covering the boys' action around the county because they didn't send anybody to watch history be made by Kendyl.

Maybe fans of women's sports around these parts should write a letter to women's basketball superstar Caitlin Clark who set college records at Iowa before going pro in the WNBA this year en route to a multi-million Nike deal. Heck, Caitlin's text about Taylor Swift enjoying her boyfriend's exploits with the Kansas City Chiefs led to her accepting a subsequent invitation from the music superstar to share her luxury suite last weekend.

Here's a line to get her attention. Tell her some guy named Mike Killbreath wrote a column and said on his local sports talk radio show that Kendyl Smith could smoke the famous Caitlin Clark in a 3-point shooting contest. 

Or maybe we should appeal to the Athletic Director at Flint's Mott Community College (Al Perry) to step up his school's effort to build the women's game. Or wait, there is no effort going into it. More about that later in today's column.

Mott has hosted top boys' teams at its historic Steve Schmidt gymnasium inside Ballenger Field House on its beautiful Downtown Flint campus.

With six days to promote, why didn't Mott entice Powers Catholic officials to let Kendyl Smith put on a show for a big crowd there? Invite little girls from all over the county. Stage other top local prep teams before and after showcasing the best entertainer I've ever seen in the local girls' game. She's more fun to watch than Caitlin Clark.

Kendyl Smith has a Magic Johnson-style command of running the show.

Her passing is spectacular. Her passion, all-out hustle and leadership abilities are evident from simply watching her direct the offense. Her defensive toughness stands out, too.

But the deadly shooting range. Wow.

She dropped in 75 3-point bombs a year ago as a sophomore, so don't be surprised to see her break the all-time state record of 105 in a single season either this winter or next season. Lexi Gussert of Crystal Falls Forest Park set the MHSAA mark during the 2013-14 campaign. The record for the Metro Flint regional area is 78 by Angie Gengler of Chesaning during the 1993-94 season, and Kendyl came within just three of matching that last winter.

 Career 3's? She's a ways from state record holder Tiffanie Shives of Lansing Christian who had 311 from 2001 until 2004. Shives needed 762 shots to make that many. I'd be curious as to the best percentage marks ever but MHSAA record books don't show that statistic. But take it to the bank on this one. You can count on Kendyl Smith breaking the local record for Metro Flint regional area girls. That mark is 187 by Kelynn Kujat who played at Frankenmuth from 2017 until 2020. Kendyl can likely erase that mark before her junior campaign is finished.

A few weeks ago she tied the Metro Flint regional area's single game record of 9 by Mia McLaughlin of Frankenmuth (set against Birch Run last season) when connecting 9 times from behind the 3-point arc in a 42-point explosion at Mount Pleasant. It was in front of the entire Central Michigan University coaching staff. 

CMU is where Kendyl has announced she will play her Division 1 ball with big sister Amaya. She let the Division 1 coaching world know via a tweet earlier this season on X — formerly known as Twitter.

Her 42 points at Mount Pleasant is notable, too. The MHSAA record book shows only 23 girls with more points ever in a single game. Tops in the local area are 51 by Karen Histed of Flint Kearsley against Flint Powers  on Oct. 9, 1984, 50 by Birch Run's Heather Compton against Essexville-Garber on Sept. 24, 1992, 48 by Pat McNeeley of Grand Blanc against Flint Southwestern on Nov. 27, 1973 and 43 by Ryleigh Zinn of Genesee on Feb. 17, 2023 against International Academy of Flint.  

The state's career scoring record of 3,034 by Jasmine Hines of Central Lake from 2007 until 2011 may require Coach Trevithick to reconsider his strategy so far to sit Kendyl Smith so much.

I'd suggest at least letting her work on racking up some assists by perfecting her playmaking act to set up reserves until the final seconds of games that get way lopsided like the last two did. But with a once-in-a-generation player? She sits on my bench only if she asks for permission to do so.

The scoring record for the Metro Flint regional area was set by Tonya Edwards of Flint Northwestern in 1985. She scored 2,307 points in her career and the only girl to come close has been Burton Atherton's Deborah Stevens whot got within 204 with 2,103 points.

With 11 regular season games left this season, 22 more next year and at least one state tournament game each season — Kendyl Smith needs to score at an amazing 37 per game clip. Add in a couple nice tournament runs of say, 10 games? That reduces the magic formula to 28.8 per game.

It's certainly possible but all that lies in the hands of Coach Trevitick.

And avoiding injuries.

Read This Week's Featured Column

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath is an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show Sundays from 6-8 pm, The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weekdays at 6 pm and on The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning news columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Saturday, December 7, 2024

New Coach Dusty May can now make a case for his Michigan Wolverines to earn a top 25 ranking in college basketball.

They beat Iowa 85-83 on Saturday in front of 12,200 fans at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor to go to 2-0 in Big 10 Conference play.

It was a battle of teams with 7-1 overall records and followed Michigan taking down undefeated  Wisconsin in the Big 10 Conference opener. The Badgers were 8-0 overall and ranked among the nation's top 10 teams at times this season. 

Vladislav Goldin, UM's 7-foot transfer who left Florida Atlantic when May took the job in Ann Arbor, had his best game as a Wolverine. His double-double included a game-high 20 points to go with yanking down 11 rebounds.

Danny Wolf, the other part of UM's twin towers of 7-foot big men. contributed a double-double effort, too. Wolf, a junior transfer from Yale, scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.

Floor general Tre Donaldson added a great all-around game for UM by scoring a career-high 18 points and passing out 5 assists. Roddy Gayle Jr. also passed out 5 assists and scored 17 points. Will Tschetter added 13 points off the bench.

 Michigan will travel to take on Arkansas in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Tuesday (Dec. 10, 2024. Tip-off is set for 9 pm on ESPN.

Read This Week's Featured Column

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath is an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show Sundays from 6-8 pm, The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weekdays at 6 pm and on The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning news columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

 Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024

Last night was a stark reminder that there's one opponent that eventually nobody can beat.

It's Father Time.

Mixed between rooting for the old geezer in the boxing ring to land a lucky punch and praying for his mere survival, it became increasingly evident that eventually — Father Time beats all of us.

Mike Tyson went the distance in his match against Jake Paul. His legs were shaky at times. He appeared uneasy on his feet. He often looked like he was ready to quit, too tired to go on.

But there we were — hoping and cheering for the old guy to land one big powerful punch.

It would be a blow for everyone who faces the prospects of feeling too old to compete.

Sure, Jake Paul looked worried. Mike Tyson's "stare" is like looking into the awful glare of a killer. Who wouldn't be a bit scared when watching old videos of Mike Tyson delivering knockout after knockout like no champion before him, or after him. The first 19 times he climbed into the ring, Tyson knocked out every opponent  — 12 times challengers went to the canvas in the very first round. In all, 22 of his 44 career KO's came in the opening round.

But the reality was that Mike Tyson is 58 years old. Jake Paul is 27.

In fact, Mike Tyson retired 19 years ago when Jake Paul was just 8. Tyson began his boxing story before Jake Paul was even born.

So it was impossible not to root for the hero in a story like this one. FanDuel reported that more than 70 percent of its wagers were betting on Tyson to win.

Yet, we knew it couldn't happen.

But there were more than 72,000 fans in the stadium to watch in Arlington, Texas where the Dallas Cowboys play football. So many millions more were watching live on Netflix that they literally broke the internet. The screen kept freezing up, proving streaming isn't yet ready to bring us live sports.

Mike Tyson got a $20 million paycheck.

Master promoter Jake Paul, the YouTube sensation turned boxer, cashed a $40 million paycheck for beating a 58-year-old, over-the-hill former world heavyweight champion. He can say he retired Mike Tyson for good.

Tyson's best punch at age 58 turned out to be at the weigh-in when he got in a good slap after Jake Paul stepped on his foot.

Read This Week's Featured Column

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath is an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show Sundays from 6-8 pm, The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weekdays at 6 pm and on The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning news columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024

"We may not agree on politics or religion but we all want to see Mike Tyson knock out Jake Paul in the first round."

That's what Bob Seger said when summing up the thoughts for a lot of us old geezers about Friday's (Nov. 15, 2024) big boxing match.

Seger, the Motown Madman (he's a singer famous for Old Time Rock & Roll and so many other great songs before some of you younger readers were born), made the above social media post that has gone viral all over the internet about the much-hyped fight featuring the former heavyweight champion of the world — Mike Tyson.

You younger readers likely recognize his opponent who is a YouTube sensation turned boxer by the name of Jake Paul. 

He looks a bit chubby although a Netflix documentary shows a strong, strong man. A younger man. Much younger.

He's only 27 year old. Tyson is 58 and he retired from the sport 19 years ago.

So should we worry about Mike Tyson?

I suggest no. He was one of the baddest, most vicious champions of all time with 44 KO's in 56 fights. He won 50 of them and now chalks up many of his defeats to poor training, no training,  overconfidence, drugs and alcohol.

He once bit off Evander Holyfield's ear when things weren't going his way in a big fight in Las Vegas.

Iron Mike says he might kill Jake Paul.

"This guy does not belong in a ring with me," Tyson told reporters a few days ago.

I believe it.

Or maybe all this isn't real, but just a prank and a huge money grab.

Netflix is showing it to subscribers, and I'm gonna watch. In fact, I can't wait.

I haven't been this excited over boxing since the days of greats like Muhamad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Tommy "Hit Man" Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard.

I guess it's because Jake Paul is the master promoter. He started boxing as a pro only four years ago and is just 10-1 but he's climbing into the ring for a $40 million payday. He mentioned  at the weigh-in how Tyson is getting only $20 million and must really need the money to risk getting killed.

Tyson slapped him.

Tyson has a history of legal and financial troubles but has said he isn’t fighting for the money.

"I don't like the guy," he told reporters. "I'm gonna kick his ass. Listen, don't worry about me. I'm not gonna lose... Listen, I'm not losing!"

Tyson's muscles don't look like they belong on a 58-year-old's body. Video of his training sessions must send chills of fear from Jake Paul's toes to the top of his ugly head.

Yeah, I'm with Iron Mike on how ugly the guy is and I don't like him either — both from his babbling to hype this fight to being forced to watch his influencer videos when two of my grandchildren discovered YouTube before he became a pro boxer.

Going to prison for rape and his troubled lifestyle while wasting millions of dollars makes Mike Tyson a hard guy to like.

Maybe it's the "old guy" cracks we keep hearing from Jake Paul that bother me so much.

Hey, I'm older than Iron Mike.

Former champ Oscar De La Yoya had this to say about the biggest sports event so far of 2024: “Jake Paul and Mike Tyson are set to fight tomorrow night on Netflix. Jake, you’re a f—ckin’ spectacular marketer my man. After only a few years in the sport you managed to get yourself an enormous payday and you’re fighting Mike f—cin’ Tyson. But you’re fighting Tyson at 60 years old. This is serious sh-t, where you can actually hurt an old man. Jake, it adds zero credibility to your resume. I’ve been saying this for years, that if you want to be taken seriously in boxing you need to take a different path. Regardless, I will be watching and I do hope Mike catches you with that left uppercut and knocks you the f-ck out.”

Any round will do for me.

Read This Week's Featured Column

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath is an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show Sundays from 6-8 pm, The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weekdays at 6 pm and on The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning news columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Friday, Nov. 1, 2024

NEW YORK (CCN) — Down 5-0 early in Game 5 of the World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied to win 7-6 and claim their eighth championship in franchise history.

The New York Yankees roared in front 5-0 in a bid to win for the second game in a row Wednesday night (Oct. 30, 2024) after going down 3-1 in the Series by losing the first two on the west coast before dropping Game 3 in New York.

Aaron Judge ended a slump by blasting a first inning home run to get the Yankees off and running. The Yankees super star battled Jack Flaherty in a 10-pitch at bat that was capped off by ripping a monster 403-foot shot into the right field seats. The two-run homer was his first home run of the Series after smacking 58 during the regular season.

He was batting only .152 in October post season action and just .131 in his first world Series appearance until sending a Flaherty pitch into orbit.

It seemed then that this World Series was shifting back to the opposite coast after Jazz Chisholm Jr. went back-to-back with Judge by belting a solo home run to make it 3-0.  Alex Verdugo added a RBI single in the 2nd inning to make it 4-0 and Giancarlo Stanton then ripped a 3rd inning home run to make it 5-0.

With all-star Gerrit Cole on the mound, it seemed like a cinch that this wasn't the last baseball we would be seeing this fall. Cole, a former No. 1 pick in the 2011 Major League Baseball draft, signed a $324 million contract before the 2020 season to do exactly this kind of thing for the Yankees.

His free agent deal was signed after a 2019 campaign when he led the Houston Astros to the World Series title by going 20-5 with a sparkling  American League-leading 2.50 earned run average. The Yankees gave Cole the biggest free agent deal ever issued to a starting pitcher at the time. It was for nine years but gave Cole a chance to opt out after five years.

Losing this World Series might make Cole opt out of his contract when considering that Yankees Manager Aaron Boone twice pulled him while he was cruising on the mound. Cole was visibly angry both times that Boone asked for the ball and turned it over to relievers who blew the games.

Cole recovered from trouble in the 5th Wednesday night to get back in his groove with a 1-2-3 6th followed by getting the first two outs in the 7th before Boone yanked him after a walk.

But it was bad defense in the 5th that did the Yankees in, along with the kind of clutch play that highlighted the Dodgers' resume this summer.  They trailed 43 times during the regular season, yet came back to win. They were down by at least 3 runs 9 times, but rallied to win. Five times they came back in the 9th inning, including in Detroit in front of a sellout crowd of more than 45,000 fans when Shohei Ohtani won it for the Dodgers with a home run blast.

Remember, this was before the All-Star break when the fans were there to see Ohtani do exactly what he did because the Tigers were not very good yet.

They were there to see the $70 million per year man do his thing. It was one of 54 homers he belted this year after signing his $700 million, 10-year to play in tinsel town. Ohtani also swiped 59 bases to become baseball's first 50-50 man ever in those categories.

About all Ohtani didn't do during his first 6 MLB seasons with the Angels was make the playoffs. His 225 home runs in his first 7 seasons is better than Babe Ruth's 162 although the Babe was primarily a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox until they traded him to the Yankees in 1920. Babe Ruth smacked 307 home runs in his first 7 seasons with the Yankees. Babe Ruth started off as a pitcher and had a 2.28 ERA in his first 148 starts. Ohtani's 2022 ERA was 2.33 when he was a 15-game winner but his career mark is 3.01 for his first 86 starts.

The super star from Japan is on track to break the Babe's original home run mark of 714 but he has a ways to go to catch Babe Ruth in World Series rings. The Babe had 7 in his career.

He didn't get to celebrate like Ohtani and his Dodger friends though. The city of LA threw a parade for their baseball heroes and more than 200,000 people lined the streets to get a glimpse of them. They also tried to burn down part of the city in the wee hours of the next morning after Wednesday's victory, and we wonder what the Babino would think about such behavior.

All over a baseball team winning it all.

Wednesday's 5-run deficit was epic, however, as it marked the biggest comeback ever in the clinching game of a World Series.

Babe Ruth once a shot in the 1932 World Series and hit it exactly where he pointed. But never did his famed Yankees go down 5 runs and rally to win the clinching game. 

So we witnessed a bit of history with Wednesday's rally —  even if it was clouded by the kind of bad baseball more common on little league diamonds.

It all began when Judge misplayed a line drive to centerfield to open the flood gates for the Dodgers in the top of the 5th inning. Two more botched plays later in the inning led to 5 unearned runs to tie the game at 5-5. In addition to Judge dropping a routine fly ball, Anthony Volpe made a bad throw throw to third base and pitcher Garrett Cole didn't bother to cover first base on an infield hit.

The first run scored when Cole failed to cover first base on a ball hit between first and second. Freddie Freeman then did what World Series MVP's do by delivering a key two-run single to cut LA's lead to 5-3. Then Teoscar Hernández ripped a game-tying two-run double on a two-out, two-strike pitch from Cole.

The Yankees promptly grabbed the lead back in the 6th when Juan Soto walked and later came in on Giancarlo Stanton's RBI sacrifice fly.

The Dodgers then rallied from the 7-6 deficit with a pair of runs in the top of the 8th. Kiké Hernández  and Tommy Edman started things off with back-to-back singles. Then Will Smith drew a walk to load the bases.  Gavin Lux tied it with a RBI sacrifice fly and Mookie Betts drove in what proved to be the winning run with another RBI sacrifice fly.

The Yankees got two runners on in the bottom of the 8th before  Blake Treinen extinguished the fire, then Walker Buehler closed it out for the Dodgers with a 1-2-3 9th that was culminated by striking out Austin Wells and Alex Verdugo.

So the champions of baseball for 2024 are a bunch of guys who came to Detroit earlier this summer before the All-Star break and played in front of sellout crowds all weekend. Yeah, they won one on a Friday night homer by Ohtani in the last inning.

But I prefer to think about the Saturday and Sunday games before everybody left for the All-Star Game.  There was a 5-run rally then, too. But it was by the Tigers. And all the runs came in the bottom of the 9th inning. 

An improbable 5-run uprising was capped off by a clutch game-tying home run from rookie Colt Keith. The Tigers then won it 11-9 when another rookie, Gio Urshela, ripped a walk-off two-run home run to complete the comeback victory.

The Tigers then did it again the next day when rookie Justyn-Henry Malloy delivered a pinch hit RBI single in the bottom of the 9th to tie it and 

rookie Wenceel Perez dropped a run-scoring bunt to win it 4-3.

A team that was once 10 games out of the wild card race and 5 games under .500 impressed me that weekend against the Dodgers.

That's why I was livid when the July 30 trade deadline arrived and our Tigers opted to be sellers. That's how the Game 5 starting pitcher Jack Flaherty got to Los Angeles.

The Dodgers wanted his arm.

Don't forget either that Flaherty was dealt away along with the likes of star pitcher Andrew Chafin and hitters Mark Canha and Carson Kelly. And yes, they nearly traded ace Tarik Skubal.

The Tigers wound up with a roster half full of rookies and beat the Astros in a Wild Card series sweep before losing to Cleveland in the Division Series. 

Watching the Yankees lose softened the blow for me in our Tigers breaking my heart.

They're primed for big things next spring. I'm sure of it.

Maybe a World Series parade is in their future by beating the Dodgers like this summer in Detroit.

Nobody tried to burn down the city then either.

Read This Week's Featured Column

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath is an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show Sundays from 6-8 pm, The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weekdays at 6 pm and on The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning news columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Monday, Sept. 23, 2024 Column

Later today, Michigan Coach Sherrone Moore will meet the media in Ann Arbor.

It's a tradition. All coaches do it in college football.

I'm not going today, so you can bet nobody will ask the big question on every realistic Michigan football fan's mind: "Do we have another Brady Hoke-Rich Rodriguez situation on our hands?"

Sure, the Wolverines won  27-24 over USC with a late drive to avoid two losses in a row.

They're talking in Ann Arbor about how Moore is an offensive lineman at heart and is getting back to Bo Schembeckler's brand of smash nose football — run it down your opponent's throat behind the big fellas up front.

UM has a good offensive line. They have a great defense. The running game is looking good with Donovan Edwards and Kalel Mullins.

But you don't win national championships without a great quarterback.

UM does not have a top quality QB.

Alex Orji was 7-for-12 for only 30 yards in his first start for the Wolverines. He saw action behind David Warren in the first two games but it was mostly for his legs.

He adds another dimension to UM's offense with his ability to run the ball. He ran it 13 times on Saturday against USC for 43 yards.

He has potential. But he's not yet good enough to take UM to the top of the polls. Maybe he can help the Wolverines win the Big 10. Maybe.

Potential does not win big football games against nationally-ranked opponents but Coach Moore benched Warren after he threw three interceptions in the 31-12 loss to Texas last week at the Big House. Warren was 22-for-23 for 204 yards through the air but Orji got the call this week.

Sherrone had to do something.

Losing twice in a row at the Big House?

Yeah, that would be taking us back to the disastrous era of Brady Hoke following Rich Rod.

So Sherrone chose to go with potential and chose Orji to save his job.

Yes, save his job. Losing to Texas already had many in the UM faithful remembering back to the days of Brady Hoke and Rich Rod. Some suggested talking Tom Brady into giving coaching a try instead of broadcasting if he wants to stay in football.

Losing two in a row at the Big House would have doomed Sherrone.

So he benched Warren.

Potential does not win big football games against nationally-ranked opponents but Coach Moore benched Warren after he threw three interceptions in the 31-12 loss to Texas last week at the Big House. Warren was 22-for-23 for 204 yards through the air but Orji got the call this week.

Thankfully, Mullins ran 17 times for 159 yards and two touchdowns to lead UM's 290 yards on the ground to only 96 for USC. It was 199 to minus-16 in the first half.

USC came into the game 2-0 in non-league play and ranked 11th in the country.

But did the Trojans deserve to be ranked that high? If so, Big 10 football is presenting some national championship kind of talent with UM, Ohio State, Penn State and Illinois all joining USC in the top 25.

The Wolverines jumped up to No. 12 after the Texas loss sent them from No. 9 to No. 18.

Ohio State is No. 3 and Penn State is No. 9 this week. Both are 3-0 while 4-0 Illinois is now No. 19. USC fell to No. 12 behind UM this week by loisng its debut game in the conference after leaving the Pac 10 this season.

Minnesota's P.J. Fleck is rowing his boat of Golden Gophers to the Big House this week for UM's second Big 10 showdown. If Sherrone lets his troops take their eyes off the challenge to become better fast, he could find himself quickly in the coaching fraternity unemployment line. UM's fan base won't tolerate "pretty good" — just ask Brady Hoke or Rich Rod. And they got the ax before  Jim Harbaugh delivered last season's national championship trophy to Ann Arbor.

But Minnesota is coming off a 31-14 loss at home to Iowa — its first of the season after non-conference romps of 48-0 over Rhode Island and 27-0 over Nevada. You can bet Fleck will have his Gophers pumped to play UM on the road. “Row the Boat” is a mantra and philosophy used by Fleck that encourages people to embrace challenges and achieve their goals. It's how he put Western Michigan University on the national map to get the job at Minnesota in the first place.

I'm predicting a Minnesota upset to end any talk around Ann Arbor of making the expanded NCAA playoff field this season. Talk of Coach Sherrone not being the right guy for UM will dominate the rest of the year and he will get his walking papers when his Wolverines don't win the Big 10 crown again when losing to Ohio State, and maybe even Michigan state.

I hope I'm wrong. I sure enjoyed that last ditch drive to nip USC — probably more than the national title since I was relegated to watching that one from a hospital bed at UM Hospital in Ann Arbor after a kidney transplant to save my life.

When initially told my new kidney wasn't working, I figured God was giving me a "going away" gift with that national title game victory by the Wolverines I've rooted for since my childhood. 

But I can be in Heaven on earth if I'm wrong about Sheronne being the guy to lead UM

Read This Week's Featured Column

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath is an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show Sundays from 6-8 pm, The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weekdays at 6 pm and on The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning news columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 Column

I've been addicted to high school football ever since seeing my first game at Flint Hamady High School on Oct. 16, 1964.

The Hawks lost 48-0 that night to Ortonville Brandon but I was hooked on this sport from the first time I heard the roar of the crowd as the Hawks ran on the field — jumping all over each other in a big pile up near their sideline in front of me. The excitement gave me chills.

A family friend, old cement man Eddie Bielec, sat next to me and offered a game-long crash course lesson on how football was played. He explained what was unfolding in front of me. I remember his announcing that we were leaving after the Hawks yielded yet another touchdown as he complained Ortonville was "running up the score" and it was "time to go home."

We left early that night despite my polite protests but I don't think I've ever left a football game early since that first one that was beyond my control.

The next morning after watching my first prep football game, there I was organizing my first neighborhood football game.

It wasn't long until I discovered there were the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears, thanks to the old weekly Saturday NFL highlights show.

I guess all that losing had already begun for my Detroit Lions because they were never featured on the NFL highlights show. It wasn't until 1966 that I found out there was a team called the Lions when they played the Green Bay Packers at the old Tiger Stadium. My dad had two tickets and going with him that cold fall day remains one of my most memorable moments with him. We stayed until the bitter end despite my dad shivering and making multiple requests about whether or not I was read to head home.

Hey, it started out in the mid 30's at the noon kick-off and temperatures climbed into the mid-40's by the time the game was over.

I fondly remember my dad being concerned a few times as I rooted strongly for the Green Bay Packers. "You can't do that," he cautioned. "We are in Detroit. We root for the Lions."

My Packers won 31-7 that day. A google search tells me we were among 56,954 people who packed into the old Tiger Stadium on that fall afternoon.

It was later in 1966 that I discovered the Michigan Wolverines and fell in love with the greatest college fight song there is.

After Vince Lombardi quit winning Super Bowls with the Green Bay Packers, my loyalties eventually drifted into Go Blue chants for UM and my frustrations began with the Detroit Lions annually teasing us with early optimism that they were going to finally be good.

They never were, of course, until last year when falling one game shy of the Super Bowl with this new cartoon-like character I love named Dan Campbell leading the troops.

But as much as I love Michigan football, all college football, my Lions and the NFL — it's prep football that will always and forever hold first place in my heart. There's nothing like the Friday night lights and all the fun that comes with experiencing the atmosphere at a high school game.

Thanks to MHSAA TV, this reporter can now watch all the prep football action I want.

Obviously, it helps us provide great coverage here at The Daily Gazette. My Michigan Sports Zone Show every day (4:45 pm daily and the live taping weekdays at 11:45 am) benefits from my vast knowledge from watching so much prep football on MHSAA TV. I also still do The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weeknights at 6 pm that's devoted to local sports and my favorite show of the week is Sunday's with The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show from 6 pm with a two-hour tour through the local sports scene.

I'm better known for busting crooked politicians as an award-winning columnist, investigative reporter and owner of the old chain of 14 community newspapers that reached more than 86,000 homes every week. But I've always made it a point to sneak in high school games and big sports stories with UM, MSU and our four pro franchises.

Covering games has allowed me to meet my all-time favorite Detroit Lions growing up — middle linebacker Mike Lucci and tight end Charlie Sanders. I got a chance, too, for interviews with my all-time favorite Tigers — Al Kaline, Allan Trammell, Jack Morris, Mickey Lolich, Denny McLain, Willie Horton and Mark Fidrych. Add in sit-down interviews with such all-time greats as Bo Schembeckler, Hank Aaron, Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky, Magic Johnson, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Red Berensen and Ron Mason.

I can remember every detail of every interview with the list above of sports heroes. My list of interviews in the news world is impressive with the likes of Presidents, Governors, Congressmen and business leaders. But that was work. The details fade over the years 

Sprinkling in the occasional sports stories has been my way to relax and forget the troubles of the world my newspapers and radio shows have covered over the decades.

It's the sports fan in me that has made my job fun for these last 50 years as a journalist.

Read This Week's Featured Column

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath is an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show Sundays from 6-8 pm, The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weekdays at 6 pm and on The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning news columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

You can't blame Kristin Haynie if she is rooting for an off weekend or for Flint's Kendyl Smith to get sick after last weekend's impressive performance in Louisville, Kentucky. (See Related Story in Today's Most Read Recent Stories in the Sports Section of The Daily Gazette)

Haynie took over as the new head coach of Central Michigan University's women's basketball team last year. Landing Kendyl Smith to go to CMU would help her rebuilding project there since the junior-to-be at Flint Powers Catholic is sure to attract interest from Big Ten schools and other top Division 1 programs as a potential Miss Basketball winner before she's done.

CMU was the first Division 1 school to offer Kendyl Smith a full ride scholarship (when she was an 8th grader with two national championships on her resume in lower level AAU brackets) and Coach Heynie has been showing up often at her games during the last high school season and on the AAU trail this summer.

Only one more summer event remains with an invitation only tournament for top players from around the country on tap this weekend in South Carolina. Smith will get to show off her skills there against top 16u stars from around the USA.

She has been doing that all summer, too, around the midwest with the Legends U 16u team of prep all-stars from Michigan and Ohio. The Columbus-based program features five all-star AAU teams at the 17u, 16u, 15u and 14u brackets. They went a combined 33-1 with four national championships last weekend in Louisville.

"She's being seen by college coaches everywhere," Kevin Smith said about his daughter. "It has been such a great experience playing in this program."

We honored Kendyl Smith for her big weekend with The Morning Gazette Radio Show's Bouquet of Roses for spreading a little Metro Flint pride in Louisville. Listeners immediately complained via a flood of texts that high school athletes never get such a distinction from our radio show. I guess that really makes it more special what a big accomplishment it was for the young Smith girl.

In fact, she's not the first local prep athlete to get such an individual honor. A number of local prep teams contending for state championships have been given the special salute as a "team" but only one other local prep player has been given the honor in an individual fashion. . We gave Monte Morris of Flint Beecher our Bouquet of Roses on a show with the late Flint City Councilman Eric Mays on the morning we found out he won Mr. Basketball en route to leading the Bucs to their second straight Class C state championship.

Morris went on to a great collegiate career at Iowa State before making it big in the NBA where he has now played for four teams  — the Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizard, Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves. 

Could a career in the WNBA be ahead for Smith?

CMU's head coach certainly would be one with connections to help get her there. Haynie has WNBA pedigree, including a championship in 2005 while playing at Sacrament with the  Monarchs. She also played in the WNBA with the Atlanta Dream and Detroit Shock as well as playing professionally overseas afterward in Italy, Lithuania, Russia and Greece. She has also been an assistant coach in the WNBA with the  Minnesota Lynx.

You can bet Haynie has Kendyl Smith's dad rooting for her to win the recruiting sweepstakes because Mount Pleasant would be within driving distance from Flint for friends and family to see her play. Her grandpa (Craig Smith) is a CMU grad, too. Older sister Amaya Smith is also in the fold at CMU for next season as one of five top freshman recruits Haynie landed in her rebuilding project with the Chippewas.

 Amaya Smith was first team all-Saginaw Valley League this past winter with younger sister Kendyl while leading Powers to a deep run in the state tournament. Powers won a Division 2 regional championship.

Now that Coach Haynie has had an up close experience with Amaya Smith, I'm sure she is impressed with the work ethic. She's a gym rat who has been shooting 1,000 3's every day in her workout routine since she was in grade school. That's why she's deadly from outside but it's her defense and leadership that makes her one of the area's best I've ever seen in local girls' basketball circles.

In a radio conversation with the legendary Eric Mays, he once classified Bryan Rison of Beecher as the best ever he had seen in local boys' hoops while I went with Flint Central's Eric Turner. When the subject turned to the best girl ever, I went with Goodrich's Taylor Gleason who was all-state four times and led the Martians to back-to-back state championships her last two years with tenacious defense along with averaging over 21 points per game as a senior. Mays paused and made a prediction about a then 5-year-old.

"You might think I'm crazy but I saw this little white girl playing against older boys, making them cry she was so much better than everyone out there," Mays said about Kendyl Smith. "Her and her sister were the only two white girls in the gym, and I'm telling you  —  they were dominating! I don't know their names but they are the girls of Kevin Smith who is a Flint cop. That little one is gonna be something special  — maybe the best ever from this area for sure. Ask Mateen Cleaves. She made his kid cry."

I'd put her in a class with Goodrich's Gleason, the old twin towers of Flint Northern (Pamela and Paula McGee who went on to play professionally after All-American careers at USC followed back-to-back titles with the Vikings in 1979 and 1980), Deanna Nolan who also won two state titles at Northern as a Miss Basketball winner her senior in 1995 before eventually going on to WNBA stardom, Goodrich's Tania Davis who was a  Miss Basketball winner in 2015, Powers Catholic’s Lisa Negri who led her school to a fourth straight Final Four appearance in 1991, Flint Hamady's Laurie Byrd who completed a brilliant career with the Hawks in 1978 before going on to star at Eastern Michigan and play professionally and current Mott Community College Coach  Letitia Hughley who never lost a game in high school basketball when helping lead Flint Northern to three straight state titles prior to leading the Vikings to two state titles as a coach before landing the Mott job in 2005.

I'd complete my all-time top 10 in the Metro Flint regional area with the Smith sisters.

Younger sister Kendyl is flashy in a Magic Johnson mold and obviously has more talent than Amaya, but I'm not so sure my first pick in a draft wouldn't be the big sister. Her defense stands out but best of all  —  she's a winner who inspires everyone around her.

Look for big things out of her at CMU.

The biggest prize of all may be luring sister Kendyl to the CMU campus.

Read This Week's Featured Column

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath is an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show Sundays from 6-8 pm, The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weekdays at 6 pm and on The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning news columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Tuesday, July 2, 2024 Column

A friend e-mailed me a clip from Fox 2 Detroit late last night after the 11 o'clock news revealed why Craig Monroe has been off broadcasts of the Detroit Tigers' games. (See Related Story)

I have not missed C-Mo and all the fun and baseball knowledge he brings to the booth.

My home has Comcast Xfinity which couldn't reach a deal with Bally Sports which took Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization not long after buying out Fox Sports Detroit TV.

So C-Mo quit coming into my home.

By the time I finally figured out how to add the special app to see games again on my TV (well, I needed one of the older 5 grandkids to come visit), a nose dive back into loserville soured my zest to shell out more money for cable TV and all our various streaming TV services.

But if they had not gone on to their nose dive into 15 games out of first place long before the All-Star Game break, C-Mo would have given me some entertainment on nights when watching the Tigers  would be better than watching mindless shows with another member of my household.

But C-Mo likely isn't coming back — guilty or not on these charges of rape of more than 20 years ago while he was in the minor leagues. What's worse  — allegations are that it began while the victim was under age.

If true, prison is the best place for him.

But before we jump to conclusions, remember our area's own victim of untrue rape allegations. I went to every day of a high profile trial for Mateen Cleaves  — our Flintstone star of national championship fame at Michigan State. He used the Manley brothers (Frank and Mike) to prove he didn't do it.

So where does he go to get his reputation back?

Just last week, someone mentioned how he "got away with rape because he could afford the Sharks" and I had to set him straight.

But remember how Mateen was immediately shouting to the world that he didn't do it.

Nothing but crickets out of C-Mo.

I'm worried about that fact. If he didn't do it, why isn't he out denying it happened?

If he's not guilty, he needs to give Frank Manley a call. If he's guilty, don't bother.

Frank Manley wins cases because he says there's a simple key to his success: He only defends clients who are not guilty. 

Read This Week's Featured Column

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath is an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show Sundays from 6-8 pm, The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weekdays at 6 pm and on The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning news columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Monday, June 24, 2024 Column

A letter passed on to me by a volunteer little league coach hit home as I spend so many weekends watching my two grandsons at baseball parks. 

One (Jack) is on Foutch baseball's 9u travel team and another one (Preston) is one of the few two 6-year-olds on Foutch's 8u coach-pitch travel team. The Foutch program attracts quality parents who are there for all the right reasons  —  supporting their kids as they chase their dreams of getting better and building self confidence while enjoying all the life lessons of America's greatest game. 

I'm really glad to be away from the rec league ballparks for a bit (I have a third grandson who is only age 3 but already spending too much time at ballparks not to fall in love with the game!)

It's at these rec league parks all over America that parents are often there for all the wrong reasons  — expecting coaches to work magic to transform their once-per-week or twice-per-week young athlete into an absolute superstar. Forget all the practice, dedication, travel and traveling to far away places it takes for travel parents to produce better talent from their kids.

Well, anyway, here's the letter from a Volunteer Coach and it fits, too, from several of our Foutch baseball opponents this summer: 

"Today I heard a comment made about me behind my back. I started to turn around and look, but then decided better of it and kept my eyes on the field. My wife hears things like this more often than I do, because many of you don’t know who she is. She tells me what you say. I have received angry emails, full of “suggestions,” about who should be playing where and how I... lost that day’s game for the kids. I thought I’d write an open letter to all of you parents, even though I might never send it. I’ll start it this way: “I am a volunteer.”

I’m the one who answered the call when the league said they didn’t have enough coaches. I understand that you were too busy. I have some news for you. I’m not retired. I’m busy too. I have other children and a job, just like you do. Not only do I not get paid to do this – it costs me money. I see you walk up to the game 15 minutes after it started, still dressed for work. 

Do you know I’ve already been here over an hour? Imagine if you had to leave work early nearly every day. I’ve never seen you at a practice. I’m sure you’re plugging away at the office. But I’m out here, on the field, trying my best to teach these children how to play a sport they love, while my bank account suffers.

I know. I make mistakes. In fact, maybe I’m not even that great of a coach. But I treat the kids fairly and with respect. I am pretty sure they like coming to my practices and games, and without me or someone like me, there’d be no team for them to play on. I’m part of this community too and it’s no picnic being out here on this stage like this. It’s a lot easier back there with the other parents where no one is second-guessing you.

And I also know you think I give my son or daughter unfair advantages. I try not to. In fact, have you ever considered that maybe I’m harder on him than on the others? I’m sure he hears plenty of criticism at school from classmates, who hear it from you at home, about what a lame coach I am. 

And if, even unconsciously, my kids are getting a slight advantage because I know them better and trust their abilities, is that the worst thing in the world, considering the sacrifice I’m making? Trust me, I want to win too. And if your son or daughter could guarantee we’d do that, I’d give them the chance.

After this game is over, I’ll be the last one to leave. I have to break down the field, put away all the equipment and make sure everyone has had a parent arrive to pick them up. There have been evenings when my son and I waited with a player until after dark before someone came to get them. 

Many nights I’m sure you’ve already had dinner and are relaxing on the couch by the time I finally kick the mud off my shoes and climb into my car, which hasn’t been washed or vacuumed for weeks. Why bother cleaning it during the season? Do you know how nice it would be if, just once, after a game one of you offered to carry the heavy gear bag to my car or help straighten up the field?

If I sound angry, I’m not. I do this because I love it and I love being around the kids. There are plenty of rewards and I remind myself that while you’re at the office working, your kid is saying something that makes us all laugh or brings a tear to my eye. The positives outweigh the negatives. I just wish sometime those who don’t choose to volunteer their time would leave the coaching to the few of us who do."

Read This Week's Featured Column

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath is an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show Sundays from 6-8 pm, The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weekdays at 6 pm and on The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning news columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Saturday, June 23, 2024 Column

Now that  out-of-state media giant Townsquare Media has shut down 1470 AM, Metro Flint News/Talk Radio is left as the only local radio station presenting high school football and basketball broadcasts.

We will keep in mind that we're the only game in town for prep athletes to get such recognition as we prepare for another prep season.

We will kick off our 2024 broadcasts on Thursday, Aug. 29th when Davison takes on Warren De La Salle Collegiate in the Xenith Prep Kickoff Classic at Wayne State University. The two-day event is sponsored by the Detroit Sports Commission.

Davison plays  in the second game of an opening night doubleheader at 7 pm. A second team from the Metro Flint regional area (Clarkston) will also play in the 12th annual kick-off event at Wayne State University.

The Thursday opener pits Southgate Anderson against Trenton at 4 p.m. 

Action on Friday, Aug. 30 will will feature Belleville taking on Clarkston at 4 pm and Detroit King facing Cleveland Heights at 7 pm.

We will feature some of our veteran broadcasters and we're still looking for new talent to expand our presentation of game broadcasts. If you want to apply, call us at (810) 771-8421 to leave a message or go to our CCN Jobs Page to apply.

We pay only $50 for play-by-play announcers and $35 for color commentators who must have previous experience. Candidates without experience may be able to win a chance to join one of our veteran broadcasters on the air for on-the-job training if you want to win a paying position.

Who knows? You may have what it takes to someday move into a big time media job as a broadcaster or move up to the state college ranks.

Read This Week's Featured Column

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath is an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Daily Gazette Sports Weekend Show Sundays from 6-8 pm, The Daily Gazette Sports Night Show weekdays at 6 pm and on The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning news columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.