PETE JAKEY’S SPORTSBEAT: Tournament trail grades
The grades are in from the tourney trip
So the tournament trail has come to an end for the fall sports season with Posen?s loss at regionals Monday evening.
In the pursuit of sports the last week, I averaged more than 100 miles a day over a seven-day period starting with the district semifinal game at Johannesburg-Lewiston High School last Tuesday.
That trip down the tournament trail was 120 miles round trip. I did it again on Thursday as Posen returned to capture the district tournament trophy.
That was just a warm up as I had planned for a couple of weeks to watch ?The game? with my father and brother Paul in Gladwin, Saturday.
My brother, a Lions season ticket holder, has a cottage in Gladwin called the ?Lions Den? and it?s almost the halfway point from his home in Ortonville and mine. It was a perfect meeting place to watch ?Meechigan? defeat Ohio State.
I racked up 260 miles on that trip over the weekend and another 270 miles on Monday for the regional game at Newberry. That?s nearly 800 miles in seven days.
From Gladwin to Newberry, and places in between, I?m looking forward to spending some time at home this weekend.
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I HAVE SOME final grades from my final tournament journey Monday.
I give part one of my trip from Rogers City to Cheboygan a ?B.? It was fairly smooth sailing, but between Cheboygan and Mackinaw City conditions got worse.
Visibility was only about 40 or 50 yards, and I knew as it got darker, it was going to get harder and harder to find my way along the road.
I was wondering how long it was going to last, and entertained thoughts of turning around, but kept pressing on to the bridge.
The wind was as strong as I?ve experienced on the Mackinac Bridge and I stayed in the inside lane away from the railing. There are some days, like Monday, when I wish I never had heard of a Yugo being blown off the span.
I drive a little gas-saving Escort, but I was trying to convince myself they are heavier than Yugos. ?They have to be,? I thought.
The wind blew in through a radio speaker in my driver side door.
The slippery, snowy conditions continued as I made my along US-2 toward M-117, but the roads improved the farther I got away from the Straits. That part of the trip I give a ?D-.?
From M-117 to Newberry wasn?t bad except for the film of salt on my windshield.
My children disabled the device that sprays window washer fluid, so I took a bottle of water and poured it on the windshield to clear the view. Part three of the trip was good and I give it a ?B.?
RADIO STATION, WNBY, the local FM station, playing ?soft rock, with less talk? gets a ?B.?
I found it after the AM station out of St. Ignace didn?t come in anymore. I caught a remote broadcast from Curtis as the announcer talked about giving away a ?pile of prizes.?
He said he would rather give away a pile of prizes than step in a pile of something. If the announcer hadn?t kept repeating himself about stepping in something, I wouldn?t have lowered the grade.
The station did have a great giveaway. Listeners can win Lions tickets. The winner would be flown to Detroit in the morning and brought back in the evening to brag about it to all his or her friends. The plane trip, not the Lions game, of course.
The Rapid River fans get a ?C-.? They spent more time harassing the Posen players than they did cheering on their own team. They laughed at missed shots and kept telling the Viking players to quit.
It probably wouldn?t have been so bad if there were more noise in the gym, but it was quiet.
The Posen players, to their credit, never quit and showed true sportsmanship until the final buzzer and receive an ?A+.? They cheered and encouraged each other all the way.
I DIDN?T THINK about it until I started home, but I recalled after the game Posen superintendent Dennis Stratton saying ?we really ran into a buzzsaw tonight.?
It wasn?t his comment that struck a cord, it was trueful statement, it was just the fact that he was in attendance. He braved the roads and was there to show his support.
The superintendent receives an ?A? for being there.
I guess I would get a letter grade of an ?E,? if one driver had her way. She believes I blocked her in when I parked my vehicle behind her in front of the school building.
I was running a little late and took the first available spot behind an SUV. I thought I had left plenty of room. Apparently not, based on the note left under my windshield wiper.
?Have a brain next time buddy!!? the note signed by ?angry driver? said. They could have popped the gear shift in reverse and rolled in backwards a few feet.
I didn?t think I blocked them in. On the amusement scale, I give the note an 8.
THE FINAL GRADE I have is for Pickleman?s Pantry and Pub for its
Pickleman?s is located near the M117/M-28 junction. I was really, really hungry, so that might be why it tasted so good, but I still give them an ?A.?I only had food for the road, if you were wondering.
Tournament time, and all the traveling, is not something I dread. I would have been right back there in Newberry again Wednesday for the regional final if needed, because this is the time of the season I look forward to.
Traveling down the different tournament paths is part of the job I love, and I look forward to more excitement come March.