Looking for Inspiration
By Richard Silverman
Trustee, Board of Trustees
Well, it’s the height of the football season and just the beginning
of basketball and hockey seasons. Normally, that means that this
sports fan is bubbling over with opinions and analyses. But this
year, despite the wonderfully wacky year of upsets in college football,
the apparent resurrection of the Lions, and the usual red-hot start of
the Red Wings, I couldn’t think of anything worth writing about. A
real, honest-to-goodness writer’s block!
Desperate to find some inspiration, I jumped in the car and headed for
the Lady ‘Bird’s basketball practice at their spanking-new home in The
McGregor Athletic Complex (MAC) in Mio. On the way down M-18 and M-72, I
was trying to think about something for this column, but was distracted
by the splendor of Michigan’s late fall- not the gaudy part of fall
that’s dominated by the blinding red of the maples, but the slightly
more subdued fall, what I call the second fall, that is dominated by the
burgundy color of the oaks and the golden color of the poplars. To
add to this peak moment, I decided to pop in a Bob Seger CD and just
drive and drive.
So I rolled on past the MAC, over the AuSable and took a right to follow
the north bank of the river east to who knows where. Listening to
“Against the Wind” and “Working on My Night Moves”, I was totally
absorbed in my reverie.
After about five miles, a car pulled up along side me and the driver
asked me for directions to McKinley, which abruptly shook me out of my
reverie.
I then gave the man directions and headed back to Mio and the women’s
practice.
Because the women’s roster has yet to be published on the Firebird’s web
site, I asked coach Tom Ritter to provide names as I watched the
practice. I still haven’t learned them well enough to comment on
individuals, but my overall first impressions were positive. Eight
of the nine women who are on the roster were at the MAC. All of
them looked very athletic, a definite change from previous teams.
And all of them had decent size. Although none of the players
appeared to be 6 ft. tall, they seemed to be in the 5’8” to 5’11” range.
That leaves the absent Trish Peterson, the lone returnee from last year,
as the only short person on the squad at 5 ft. even. Several of the
women seemed to be very good outside shooters. And all of them
demonstrated adequate ball-handling skills.
As I watched, the thing that impressed me most was the difference
between this team’s intensity at practice compared to that of last
year’s team. The players were focused and seriously attentive as
they went through those early-season training drills which can be very,
very boring. No fooling around, no distracting cell phone calls,
no practicing crazy, circus shots that no player would ever attempt in a
game. It was a business-like practice.
The other important things that caught my attention were that this
year’s players all have high basketball IQs and the ability to play as a
team –emphasis on “team.” Make no mistake about it, once the
social chemistry develops and takes hold, this team will show fans how
the game should be played. However, whether this nine-person team
has enough bodies and depth to stand up to the grueling, physical play
in the MCCAA Eastern Conference is still a question. And whether
these nine bodies have the speed to cope with Schoolcraft, Mott, Wayne
County, and St.Clair remains to be seen. But, I can’t wait to find
out. And that, after all, is the most exciting part of fall.