Glen Lake’s Marissa Treece was a star winning the pole vault (9-6), the 800 run (2:27.5) and the 1600 run (5:27.6) at the 36-team Grand Valley State University indoor meet. Teammate Katie Christiansen added a fourth-place in the high jump.

Read Treece wins three events at GVSU in the Record Eagle [scroll down]

I was just reading about the Wings 4-0 win over the Sharks and got to thinking how lucky we are to have good teams. The Wings and Pistons both have the best records in their respective leagues and have a legitimate shot at championships.

The Lions and Tigers have hired new coaches and put together competitive rosters that need some fine-tuning and both could get that from Marinelli and Leyland. Both are veteran coaches/managers (though Marinelli has never been a head coach) and will demand alot out of their young stars. If the Lions and Tigers can finish with a winning record (or at least .500 for the Tigers) then this would be an amazing and fun year for us Detroit sports fans.

I know I am excited about the NBA & NHL Playoffs, but if the Tigers can get off to a fast start and the Lions can actually draft a need then the Motor City and the state of Michigan will be buzzing with excitement this spring and early summer. Let’s just say that 2006 could go down as one of the best sports seasons in Detroit history, with a little luck of course!

Here’s a list of all of the Leelanau County state championships won by our county schools. The head coach is listed after the sport.

Originally printed in the Leelanau Enterprise.

1942 - Leland boys’ basketball - Carl Furney

1944 - Leelanau School boys’ track - John Evans

1959 - Glen Lake boys’ basketball - Harold O’Brien

1977 - Glen Lake boys’ basketball - Don Miller

1978 - Glen Lake girls’ basketball - Ted Swierad
- Leland volleyball - Mike Kenney

1980 - Leland girls’ basketball - Larry Glass
- Leland volleyball - Mike Kenney

1981 - Leland girls’ basketball - Larry Glass

1982 - Leland girls’ basketball - Larry Glass

1985 - Suttons Bay girls’ X-country - Terry Ebright

1986 - Northport soccer - Don Hungerford

1987 - Suttons Bay girls’ X-country - Tim Bedford

1988 - Northport boys’ basketball - Gordie Wick

1991 - Glen Lake girls’ track - Bill Brendel

1992 - Glen Lake girls’ track - Bill Brendel

1994 - Glen Lake girls’ track - Doug Greer

1994 - Glen Lake football - Bill Hollenbeck

1995 - Glen Lake girls’ track - Doug Greer

1998 - Glen Lake/Leland girls’ skiing - Mark Fisher

1999 - Glen Lake/Leland girls’ skiing - Mark Fisher

2000 - Glen Lake boys’ track - Pete Edwards
- Suttons Bay boys’ golf - Todd Hursey
- Glen Lake girls’ cross country - Bryan Burns

2001 - Suttons Bay boys’ golf - Todd Hursey

2002 - Leland girls’ volleyball - Laurie Glass

2004 - Glen Lake/Suttons Bay boys’ skiing - Mark Fisher

2006 - Leland girls’ volleyball - Laurie Glass

Totals by School
Glen Lake - 13
Leland - 10
Suttons Bay - 5
Northport - 2
Leelanau School - 1

The Pistons struggled early, but in the end were able to wear down the Heat and earn a 82-73 victory to improve to 2-1 against the Heat this season. Same old story according to Shaq, the Pistons never get any of the credit when defeating the Heat.

Shaq: “It wasn’t really anything they did — we just made a lot of mistakes and they capitalized.”

How about that tough team defense Shaq? Did that have anything to do with it?

Although it looks like Wade is beginning to get it.

Wade: “I missed some shots that I normally make, and they really pressured me. It was tough, but when we play them again in April, we’ll have some counters for what they were doing tonight.”

You had better have some counters if you want to even extend the series to 6 games.

Read Pistons shut down Wade, top Heat 82-73 at Yahoo! Sports

It was finally the Tigers turn to be the focus of Deadspin’s Four Tiny Tidbits feature. They didn’t disappoint…

Read Four Tiny Tidbits On: The Detroit Tigers at Deadspin

The Traverse City North Stars knew they were in the playoffs, but now have an opponent. The USA National Team Development Program U-17’s clinched the #1 seed in the NAHL North playoffs and face the North Stars in a best-of-5 first round series. The schedule is as follows…

Game 1: Thursday, March 30th at Ann Arbor Ice Cube, 7 PM
Game 2: Friday, March 31st at Ann Arbor Ice Cube, 7 PM
Game 3: Friday, April 7th at Centre ICE, 7:30 PM
Game 4: Saturday, April 8th at Centre ICE, 7:30 PM (if necessary)
Game 5: Sunday, April 9th at Ann Arbor Ice Cube, 3 PM (if necessary)

For more info visit the Official Site of North Stars Hockey

Leland hadn’t been in this situation much this season as they found themselves trailing Battle Creek St. Philip 2 games to none and facing elimination in the Class D Volleyball Finals. But then Alisha Glass and the Comets stepped it up to claim the state title with a 21-25, 20-25, 25-19, 25-23, 15-9 come-from-behind win. Alisha Glass set a state record with 48 kills in the championship match and Jennifer Hecht added a strong game with 22 digs.

Read Comets capture crown in the Record Eagle
Read Glass finally gets that elusive title in the Record Eagle
Listen to the MHSAA Class D Girls Volleyball Final via MHSAA EZStream
View Box Score from MHSAA
View Class D Volleyball Finals: Leland vs. St. Philip at 9&10 Sports Video Uncut

Suttons Bay ran into a hot team and fell short in their quest for a Class C state title with a 25-15, 25-15, 25-15 loss to Union City.

Read Norse fall in state semifinal in the Record Eagle
Listen to the MHSAA Class C Girls Volleyball Semifinal via MHSAA EZStream
View Box Score from MHSAA

Grand Traverse Resort & Spa’s Director of Tennis Christopher Michalowski has been named the 2005 Michigan Tennis Professional of the Year by the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA).

Read the Press Release at GrandTraverseResort.com

Tom Kowalski has an article about how Joey sabotaged the Lions QB school and wanted out.

My View: I don’t blame him and would want to play elsewhere too. I just thought it was interesting that the Freep or News isn’t covering it from this angle. Once again Kowalski lets us know what really happened. Great job Killer!

at MHSAA EZStream. It’s very cool! You can listen live or to archives of select MHSAA playoff games right now. Check it out!

Here’s the summary of the 1959 Class A Championship game…

Radio broadcast from Jenison Fieldhouse in East Lansing of the 1959 Class A Boys Basketball Final between Lansing Sexton and Hamtramck. Sexton rallies to force overtime, and then wins the game on Bob Davis’ jumper at the final buzzer. It was the first of 2 straight Class A titles for the Big Reds.

It’s been up for a while, but I just stumbled across it the other day when following our two county teams in the volleyball playoffs.

Leland advanced to the Class D Final with a 25-13, 25-15, 25-16 win over Adrian Lenawee Christian. Leland now faces Battle Creek St. Philip for the state title on Saturday, March 18 at noon.

Read Leland earns rematch with Battle Creek St. Philip in the Record Eagle
View the Boxscore at MHSAA.com
Listen to the broadcast archive via MHSAA EZStream

Just got this from the Detroit Insider…

“Joey Harrington will be cut or traded by Monday. Just heard on the radio.”

Updated 1:00 PM - Just heard the Lions have agreed to terms with Josh McCown.

My View - This officially ends the Joey Era in Detroit. He won’t be missed my many. The Lions are going to get a great quarterback competition from two guys who both want to start, hopefully it will bring out the best in both!

For a great read check out The Sports Dude and his hilarious “Dear Joey” letter!

Here’s another great article by Big Al on the rumors…

Sweet! Go to mhsaa.ezstream.com for all the details!

A little journey around the world of Detroit Sports…

Pistons - Flip is starting to give the bench more minutes and they are responding. Dice had a great game tonight as did Maurice Evans, but the bright spot off the bench was Tony Delk. This will end up being a huge move by Dumars as Delk brings experience, defense and solid 3-point shooting off the bench. The Pistons should be able to hold on to their overall lead for best record while giving the bench enough minutes to keep the starters fresh. They will have the occasional letdown, but once their are about 5-6 games to go in the regular season watch these guys start to turn it up a notch!

Red Wings - The Wings are rolling right along. Goaltending still makes me nervous, but the team is a good combination of youth and experience right now. The young guys are coming along and no matter how minor a move Ken Holland makes it ends up helping the Wings. Amazing!

Tigers - Health is going to be the key to the 2006 season for Detroit and so far it hasn’t been the best of spring for injuries. The competition for the 5th starting spot has been better than expected leaving Leyland with some difficult decisions ahead. Come on Opening Day get here!

Lions - Kitna is a good move, not spectacular but good. I think the best signing so far has been the resigning of Kalimba Edwards. (Added link to a good article by Kevin Antcliff on the signing of Edwards, see I’m not the only one!) In Marinelli and Henderson’s new defense he could have a big year, he is due for a big year that’s for sure. Corey Bradford gives some more experience and depth to the wideout spot.

P.S. Now I am off to second guess my bracket and probably make some boneheaded changes. If I would just leave my original picks I would probably be better off! If you need to join another bracket contest head on over to www.kevinantcliff.com where some Detroit (and Denver) sports bloggers are having a contest!

P.S.S. How come paint looks so different in the store than after it’s on your wall? Seriously it didn’t look like that on the color swatch at Menard’s!