The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
10 spring things
Jerry Hinnen
PUBLISHED: May 8, 2008
Honestly, it felt like an explosion of some kind.
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Thanks to Old Man Winter, there basically hadn't been any spring sports before I took a couple of weeks off from the paper at the start of April. But since then, the schedule has been legitimately crammed with events. Last week's Reporter and News-Leader covered the results of 10 different varsity baseball games alone.
So naturally, there have been a lot of things to think about concerning all of those sports, and so naturally here's another "Fun & Games" edition of "10 Things I Think I Think":
1. I think the coaches who put together the state's Division 1 soccer rankings might want to look again. Look, I know rankings are irrelevant, meaningless, not worth worrying over, etc. But shouldn't they at least be halfway logical? And I don't see why it's logical that in last week's rankings Ann Arbor Pioneer (record at the time: 3-1-4) was three spots ahead of Saline (6-1-1), particularly when the Hornets beat the Canton team that handed Pioneer that first loss and suffered their only defeat at the hands of No.1, undefeated Northville.
2. I think Milan girls' track's on the way up, too. I've discussed in this space the improvement and bright future in other Milan girls' programs like basketball and softball, but after their whipping of Jefferson last week, it's obvious the same could be said for the girls' track team. The freshman class is deep and talented, and virtually every major contributor — Kai Beverly, Jordan Tomecek, Ashley Agar, Angela Swain, others — will be back next year, if not the year after.
3. I think it's safe to say Saline's looking pretty good on the diamonds — both of them. The Hornet baseball team's suffered exactly one loss in 10 Southeastern Conference games — a 5-3 loss to Tecumseh that they immediately redeemed with a 10-0 whitewash in the nightcap. The softball team likewise earned a split against the Indians. But considering that Tecumseh is the defending Division 2 state champs and one of the region's strongest programs, a split isn't too shabby.
4. Speaking of baseball, for what it's worth, I think it's not worth worrying over the Tigers. I doubt anyone is after the Tigers' first sweep of the Yankees in New York since bellbottoms were in style. But, for the record, there's no way a lineup that loaded was going to continue to look so lost at the plate as they did in the season's opening weeks. Regression to the mean isn't much fun when your team catches fire for a few weeks, but it's sure nice when said team starts the season batting something like.056, isn't it?
5. Speaking of the local professional sports collectives, I think that potential Pistons-Celtics series is a toss-up. Boston might have won 66 games and the Pistons might have struggled momentarily with the subpar Sixers — and, of course, there's no guarantee they'll beat the Orlando Magic — but the Atlanta Hawks have likewise shown that there are cracks in the C's faÁade, too.
The Pistons can stick Rasheed Wallace on Kevin Garnett and Tay Prince on Paul Pierce. If they can go one step further and cut off the C's three-point shooters — forcing them to rely on iffy offensive players like Rajon Rondo and Leon Powe for their points — the series would be there for the taking.
6. I think it's great to see our high school athletes play two sports at once. Maybe it comes from growing up a huge Bo Jackson fan, but for some reason I always get a kick out of athletes who can compete at a high level in two sports in the same season. So kudos to Milan's Sarah Towler — starting midfielder for the Big Red girls' soccer team when not playing No. 1 singles for the girls' tennis team — and Sam Rowe, one of Milan's best middle-distance runners when not roaming the Big Red outfield.
7. I think I'd better apologize. To anyone who had the misfortune of hearing my impromptu fifth-inning stretch rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at the Saline-Dexter baseball game last week: Sorry about that. Fear not, I'm keeping the day job.
8. But, while we're on the subject, I think that some fans in Milan really should be taken out to the ballgame. Next Monday at 4 p.m., the Big Reds are hosting Airport in what should be a match-up of the top two baseball teams in the Huron League and, almost without question, the two biggest games of Milan's season. I don't know how much of an impact fan support really has on a baseball team, but why take chances? Show up.
9. I think it should be called "aquapolo." At least, that's what I thought while attending a couple of Saline water polo games the past couple of weeks. Doesn't "aquapolo" just have a better ring to it? (Maybe it's just me.)
10. Speaking of aquapolo, I think it's hard to believe the postseason is already upon us. Yep, Saline's water polo team kicks things off at Districts this weekend, with track and tennis Regionals the following week. How time flies.
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