Kosmo Seer Speculation

Well done, Quinones and Lewis

2008-06-02T17:12:00.000-07:00

After spending a week in his cave, Kosmo couldn't help but read the whopping SIX pages of preps sports coverage in the Oakland Press on Sunday. It was a great way of chronicling such a big day. Anyway, the only sad part about it as far as the K-Man is concerned is that Pontiac Northern senior baseball players Andrew Quinones and Kendall Lewis played their last games of their careers.
They did so much for Northern's program and to play a role in reviving the sport in Pontiac. Even better on Monday night, each was scheduled to receive college scholarships at the Pontiac's school board meeting courtesty of the Pontiac Alumni Association. Those are prestigious scholarships won by two deserving athletes who will be missed, and hopefully more baseball players will come along in Pontiac like Quinones and Lewis soon.

No average Joe

2008-05-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

It's Memorial Day weekend, and while Kosmo is gearing up for a weekend of barbecuing in his cave, he has to give a shout out to one of his favorite coaches, Lakeland softball coach Joe Alsup.
As legendary as softball coach around these parts as it gets, Alsup recorded his 800th career win last week for the Eagles, who have become a powerhouse since he took over earlier this decade.
Not only is he a great coach, but his wit, honesty and willingness to speak his mind are also qualities you don't see in all coaches, which is a shame.
Hopefully, Alsup and Lakeland can be back next month where they've been the last three years, and that's in Battle Creek competing for a state title.
- It's amazing in every sport how de facto state championship games take place on the first day of the playoffs, and the opening of the state baseball, softball and girls soccer tournaments on Tuesday is no exception.
Rochester Adams vs. Oxford in baseball, Fenton vs. Milford in softball and Bloomfield Hills Lahser vs. Birmingham Marian and Troy vs. Troy Athens in soccer are all games that probably deserve a bigger stage than the first round of the playoffs, but that's how it goes.

Softball worries

2008-05-20T14:34:00.000-07:00

First of all, sorry for the week-long layoff on the blog scene. Sometimes, taking care of the things around the cave is a higher priority for the K-Man.
Anyway, your seer is back on the blogging scene, and unfortunately he comes back worried.
Just by the way things have gone this season, Kosmo is downright terrified that there might not be ONE Oakland County softball team in Battle Creek. While there are great baseball teams galore (who hopefully will come through in the playoffs), there aren't any great softball teams in the area.
There are plenty of pretty good ones, such as Lakeland, Milford, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Farmington and Troy, but none are so dominant you can assume a lot will have to go wrong for them to be in Battle Creek.
On the contrary, a lot has to go RIGHT for any of those to be in Cereal City. The K-Man would say Notre Dame Prep is as good a bet as any, but Division 2 is loaded.
Hopefully the K-Man is wrong about them and all the others and it can be a good time for his spies in Battle Creek having a softball team to follow.

Giving a shout to Keith D's alma mater

2008-05-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

Main Kosmo spy Keith D. seems strangely hesitant to do so, but Kosmo will give kudos to Rochester's baseball team, which won the Rochester city tournament by beating Stoney Creek and Rochester Adams this past Saturday.
In fact, the Falcons beat Adams for the second time this year, quite an accomplishment considering Adams has owned the Falcons the last three years.
If there's any hitter in the area hotter than Rochester catcher Bill Cribbs, he'd like to see him. Again, good job Falcons, even if one of your own won't recognize it.

District draw fever

2008-05-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

State champions in baseball, softball and girls soccer may not officially be crowned until mid-June, but Koz can easily make a case that the next couple of weeks will just as easily decide who wins state championships in those sports.
The reason why is that district draws will be taking place very soon, and those draws go a long way in determining the teams that have the best chance to make a run in the state tournament.
What if a powerhouse team won't face a decent team until a district final? Conversely, what if that powerhouse team has to beat three quality teams to win a district title and is worn out by regionals?
Of those sports, draws aren't more important than in baseball just based on pitching matchups. What if a great team is bounced out by a weaker one because that weaker team had a great pitcher it was able to throw against them? A perfect example of this came last season.
Ranked No. 2 in the state entering the playoffs, Troy drew Utica Eisenhower in the first round of districts. Eisenhower didn't have a great team, but had a terrific No. 1 pitcher to throw at the Colts. Unfortunately for Troy, that pitcher was on his game, and led Eisenhower to a 3-1 upset over the Colts to knock Troy out of the playoffs. However, without another top-notch pitcher, Eisenhower got mercied in the district final by Troy Athens, 16-1. What if Troy had been able to face that No. 2 pitcher in a district final?
It's why draws are so important, and why this next two weeks will be an exciting time behind closed doors in AD offices.

Kudos to Richardson

2008-05-06T18:09:00.000-07:00

Kosmo knows it's the heart of baseball and softball season, and he ABSOLUTELY CAN'T STAND when he sees other peers in the media talk about offseason football and basketball happenings right in the heart of spring, but the K-Man does need to give a shout out to one of his favorite coaches in the area.
On April 19, longtime Clarkston football Kurt Richardson was elected into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
It's no doubt a deserving honor for such a fine individual and coach who has made Clarkston into an annual power within the county and the state.
As Kosmo often says, one of these years Richardson, and for that matter, Chris Bell of Lake Orion, will take a team to the state final. It's WAY overdue and will happen one of these years, perhaps this fall.

Worst part about baseball season

2008-05-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

Reading a copy of the OP from his cave on Sunday, Kosmo couldn't help but notice that Lake Orion, ranked 25th in the nation by "USA Today" and No. 1 in the state, suffered its first loss of the season to Novi in the second game of a doubleheader.
Here's Kosmo's response to that: Big deal, especially since it happened on a Saturday.
If there's one bad part about the high school baseball season, and there aren't many, it's how teams drop in rankings based on losses on Saturday.
There probably is no more meaningless day during the week for baseball teams than Saturday. Unless you're in the Catholic League, there are RARELY any league games played on Saturdays. It's just tournaments and doubleheaders, meaning teams throw their No. 5, No. 6 or heck, even No. 20 pitcher in those games in order to save their best pitchers for league play during the week.
Yet, when teams lose on Saturdays, they drop and people naturally assume the sky is falling. That unfortunately could happen to Lake Orion, which will be better off in the long run for losing a game, by the way.
You think the result might have been different had Josh Deeg of Connor Mielock faced a potent Novi lineup instead of guys they were just trying to give some innings to?
Koz sure thinks so, but oh well. As coaches say in every sport, the only rankings that matter are the ones at the end of the season.

changing of the softball guard so far

2008-04-30T12:02:00.000-07:00

If there's one thing that's been proven so far this year in the high school softball season, it's that it has been out with the old and in with the new.
Throughout this decade, teams such as Troy, Warren Regina, Lakeland, Trenton and Portage Northern have been fixtures in the state rankings.
Well, taking a look at this weekend's rankings, only Lakeland among those school is ranked at No. 10 in Division 1. Instead, you have teams like Okemos (No. 1 in Division 1), Alpena (No. 2 in Division 1), Taylor Kennedy (No. 8 in Division 1) and Niles (No. 1 in Division 2) ranked at or near the top of the polls.
It's certainly a strange sight, but we'll see if some semblance of normalcy returns in the last month of the season.
— Now that we're into May, we can officially begin the countdown to the start of the state playoffs for spring teams (yes, already). Postseason play opens up in less than four weeks, with the annual "Super Preps" day slated for May 31. On that day, the district semifinals and finals for baseball and softball, the district finals for girls soccer, and the state tournaments for girls tennis, boys golf and track and field will take place. It's easily the busiest preps day of the year.

Time for a new field

2008-04-24T15:05:00.000-07:00

Not that Kosmo is much of a high school baseball expert, but rumor has it that Birmingham Detroit Country Day head coach Frank Orlando has won over 700 games and the 1995 Class B state championship.
The K-Man can't imagine there are many coaches in many sports with those credentials, and he can't imagine there are many coaches with those credentials who now don't have a home field to play on.
Kosmo has been told that about a month ago, Country Day started construction on a new middle school gym. That's great. It should be a nice addition to an already beautiful campus.
The only problem is that tore up the baseball field so they could build the gym there, the same one where so many great Country Day baseball players have played on since Orlando took over in 1981.
Given that, Kosmo has this message for Country Day administors: Get Orlando a new field as soon as possible. No team should have to play all road games, particularly in baseball, where there's no bigger advantage to being the home team.
Progress is good, but not at the expense of making life more difficult for a group of players in what is becoming a rising sport again among youth.
With all Mr. Orlando has done for your school on the field and in girls basketball, you owe it to him to make sure there's a new field in place by next year.
Otherwise, all the progress made with the construction of a new gym will be a wash with all it's taking away.

Change at Groves

2008-04-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

Kosmo was somewhat sad to hear the other day that longtime boys basketball coach Bill Norton won't be brought back to Birmingham Groves. The Falcons struggled with a young team this past season, but Norton was hoping the payoff was going to come next season. Still, it sadly is the nature of the beast and here's hoping it works out for both parties. Regardless, there aren't too many coaches out there with the knowledge of the game Norton has. He's most noted for leading Birmingham Brother Rice to a state title in the 1970's.
— Even though the weather is just starting to get warm, Lake Orion's baseball team is wasting no time getting its offense heated up this season. Through their first six games, the state champion Dragons had scored a whopping 80 runs. Talk about "Murderers Row."
— It's still early, but it already has to be a strange feeling for Novi's girls soccer team. After barely losing the last three years en route to three straight Division 1 state titles, the Wildcats have already dropped two games this year, one to Grosse Pointe North and one to rival Northville.

Chapter 11 blues

2008-04-11T16:02:00.000-07:00

Just when Kosmo thought bankruptcy filings were reserved for airlines, mortage companies and auto suppliers, along comes the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
The K-Man would love to know in the history of high school athletics if a state organization has ever filed for bankruptcy.
Of course, all this is due to the fact the MHSAA was ordered to pay $7 million in legal fees after the 10-year gender-equity lawsuit that resulted in this past year's season switch.
No, it's not a good thing that the MHSAA is broke and have to pay the price for extending a lawsuit they knew they weren't going to win.
But ultimately, Kosmo isn't sure what effect this will have on high school sports in general.
Sure, maybe some things will be cut and initiatives slowed, but is high school sports just going to stop?
Are they just going to not have football or basketball seasons? It's doubtful. High school sports should still go on, although it's unfortunate the MHSAA is in it's predicament.
Unfortunately, they knew the risks going in with all their appeals, and shouldn't have acted so surprise the gauntlet game down like it did.

Spring has sprung

2008-04-07T16:20:00.000-07:00

What a great day to live in a cave. The sun is out and it's nearly 70 degrees. How did Kosmo ever survive the winter.
Anyway, it's been a few weeks since Kosmo last posted, but he has seen his spies do a terrific job putting out spring season previews.
Glancing at this week's schedule, Kosmo wants to give a message out to the fine students at Rochester Adams High School: Go support your baseball team on Wednesday.
Barring rain, the temperatures are supposed to be decent, so go out and watch your Adams team take on defending state champion Lake Orion.
Regular season games don't mean that much in the grand scheme of things, but these are two of the area's best and they figure to put on a show at your own school.
The OP will be there, so you can read about it regardless, but go anyway to not only support your team, but see two good baseball teams go at it.
It could be the first of three meetings this season between the teams. Not only will they meet at Lake Orion in May, but they could meet in the district round of the state tournament.

Is winter over already?

2008-03-12T13:47:00.000-07:00

Wow, there are NO Oakland County teams left in winter sports, so it must be on to spring. Maybe this wasn't such a long winter.
Regardless, Kosmo lounged in his cave last week and happened to stumble upon the Class A state girls hoops final between Grosse Pointe North and East Lansing.
Judging by what the K-Man saw, state champion North could win it again during the next two years because of center Ariel Braker. Kosmo has never seen a better sophomore girls hoops player, so he feels sorry for any local team or any other team in the state that has to guard her for the next two years.
East Lansing certainly couldn't deal with her.
- Orchard Lake St. Mary's must like playing long overtime games. After playing five overtimes in the Division 3 state football final, the Eaglets played eight in the hockey finals. Unusually, the game was called a tie, but Kosmo feels that was a good decision.
Not necessarily because of the player health issues, but because each kid will have a story to tell for years about the game's significance and it turned out to be a nice attention grabbing story for high school hockey. Should have it ended in a tie?
That topic was actually debated on sports talk radio shows? When will that ever happen again for high school hockey?

2008-02-27T12:31:00.000-08:00

When Rochester's girls basketball team lost to Southfield-Lathrup, Kosmo had one reaction out of utter love for the Falcons. Bravo. That loss was the best thing that could've happened to the Falcons. The pressure of having to maintain an unbeaten season entering the playoffs was off, and Rochester could have a reason to get better the next day in practice. It's paid off so far, as Rochester hasn't been tested in its playoff run and has a solid chance to make a run at a state title.
— Other coaches may not like looking ahead, but Kosmo does, so that's why he's already looking forward to Monday's regional semifinal round of the boys basketball tournament. Barring a titanic upset, Oakland County power Clarkston and Macomb County power Romeo will hook up in a regional semifinal at Lake Orion. The winner should get out of that regional, but unfortunately would likely earn a date with defending state champ and No. 1-ranked Saginaw in the quarterfinals.
— Sad to say, but this past week was about as dark a week for Lake Orion athletics. Five days after the girls basketball team's season ended via a shocking upset by Waterford Kettering, both the boys hockey teams and the boys basketball teams were upset on Monday, seeing their seasons end in the process.
Oh well, the fine folks at Lake Orion can take solace in a couple of things. One, the wrestling team will compete in the state quarterfinals in Battle Creek on Friday. Second, Lake Orion's defending state champion baseball team officially begins practice on March 10, right around the corner.

Pay attention to Kosmo's main man

2008-02-12T15:04:00.000-08:00

Well, the time is just about here. After weeks of toiling and witnessing virtually meaningless regular season contests, the fun is about to begin with the state playoffs around the horizon for just about every winter sport.
Knowing that, please pay special attention this week to Kosmo's main man, Marvin, who will be providing his usual stellar wrestling coverage as area teams begin districts this week.
The Division 2 and Division 4 team districts start on Wednesday, with the Division 1 and 3 districts happening on Thursday. The individual districts are Saturday.
As Marvin always says, "Someone's goin' down!" once the playoff starts, so not only heed that slogan starting this week, but pay attention to see which wrestling teams and wrestlers are still alive after this week.
- If Kosmo has said it once, he'll say it again. Birmingham Marian head coach Mary Cicerone is the best girls basketball coach in the state. Granted, Michelle Lindsey has had a breakout year, but the Mustangs don't have the most talented team they've had in years past.
Here they were on Sunday, winning another Catholic League title with a convincing win over state-ranked Livonia Ladywood. Look out for Marian in the playoffs as well, particulary in a district it will host. Pontiac Northern will be the main competition.

Snow Day Headache

2008-02-01T17:45:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of people Kosmo wouldn't want to be right now, and one of them is athletic directors, particularly after Friday.
With all the snow forcing school districts to close and games to be postponed, one simple question comes to mind.
When can these games be made up?
There's only two weeks left in the regular season for girls hoops teams and three for boys hoops teams. Throw in a winter break in that time frame for school districts, and all AD's should be awarded a medal if they can find times to make up the games.
Not that it would be the end of the world to simply cancel games, particularly if they have no bearing on league championship races.
Still, it's yet another headache for AD's that's been enhanced by what else, the sports season change. It's a safe bet not many girls teams have had to deal with "Snow Days" in the fall in recent years.
- Tis the season already for postseason conference tournaments, with the Catholic League, WLAA and Metro conference having their girls conference tournaments this week. Each league will have its boys tournaments the following week.
Kosmo remembers the time earlier in the decade when the OAA had a boys and girls hoops tournament, but sees the reasoning why it was abandoned.
The K-Man can't argue with teams who didn't want to play a rival four times, as Pontiac Northern and Pontiac Central did in 2002, or deal with all the extra busing costs for away games not planned for.
Also, scheduling gym time was hard enough back then and would be even harder with the cramp on facilities now.

Upset Thursday

2008-01-25T20:11:00.000-08:00

Just when you think you know what's going to happen in high school sports, along comes a night like Thursday for area girls basketball teams.
Southfield lost at home to Troy last Tuesday, so conventional wisdom and Kosmo's crystal ball for sure saw a loss to state powerhouse North Farmington.
It didn't work out that way, as the Bluejays recorded a swift and stunning 56-43 win over the Raiders.
If only that was the only surprise.
Just when it appeared a foregone conclusion that Lake Orion would go unblemished in OAA III, the Dragons suffered an overtime loss at Oak Park (50-47), a colossal upset.
Not the way the Dragons wanted to go into Saturday's game at Birmingham Detroit Country Day.
Finally, Troy, after winning at Southfield, turned around and could only muster 22 points in a five-point loss to Troy Athens.
Go figure.
The upset bug nearly affected unbeaten Rochester, which needed a late run to hold off a West Bloomfield team.
All the upsets likely will be a prelude to what happens in the state playoffs. As Kosmo's main man Marvin always says before the playoffs, "Someone's goin down!"
— With Donnavan Kirk eligible to return for Saturday's game against Lake Orion after transferring from Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, we should get a gage on just how good defending Class B state champ Birmingham Detroit Country Day is. The 6-foot-8 Kirk is one of the top 60 players in the nation in the 2009 class and should form a lethal frontcourt combination with 6-foot-11 Da'Shonte Riley, a top 20 player nationally in the Class of 09.

No surprises in OAA girls hoops

2008-01-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

Kosmo is always one to gloat whenever possible about his spies, and he'll gladly take this opportunity to praise his spies once again.
During the Oakland Press' scintillating girls basketball preview, Kosmo's spies pointed out the teams to beat in the OAA.
It's never an exact science, as almost assuredly one of those team's the OP puts a bulls-eye on falls.
Well, so far this year, that hasn't happened.
The spies pegged Rochester as the favorite in OAA I, and the Falcons haven't disappointed, given they all but clinched the OAA I crown with a win over Pontiac Northern last Friday.
Not only that, but the Falcons still haven't lost and are arguably the top team in the state.
Kosmo main spy and Rochester alumn Keith D. is practically foaming at the mouth.
In OAA II, North Farmington was thought to be the team to beat.
Well lo and behold, look who's on top of OAA II with an unbeaten league record? None other than North Farmington, which is ranked in the Class A state poll.
Ditto for Lake Orion, which is unbeaten and cruising in OAA III.
Which team did the OP say would win OAA III at the start of the season? Oh yeah, Lake Orion.
Finally, Hazel Park was thought to be the favorite in OAA IV.
The Vikings have proven to be exactly that, starting off the season 4-0 in OAA IV after a win over Royal Oak on Friday.
So there you have it.
Sometimes, it's unwise to doubt the K-Man's spies, at least as it relates to the OAA.
- In last Friday's Kosmo, the K-Man said he would give a shout out to any player, boys or girls, who scored 25 points in a game.
Well, kudos to David Mansfield of Novi Franklin Road Christian. Xander Strek of Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood was close with 24 points, while Dustin DeShais of Ortonville Brandon had 23.

Pontiac Schools should play at OU

2008-01-10T11:14:00.000-08:00

So this is the world of blogging, huh? Not bad.
It’s past Christmas, yet a miracle is happening in that Kosmo is entering the 21st century.
He’ll do so a couple of times a week, and if you’re reading this, you’re reading history because it’s Kosmo’s first ever blog.
Hopefully, it won’t be the last (just kidding, OP bosses).
Anyway, with Pontiac Central and Pontiac Northern about to meet for the first time on Jan. 17 at Northern, one thing keeps popping up into your seer’s mind.
Why don’t the Huskies and Chiefs play a game at Oakland University?
As Kosmo writes this, Rochester and Rochester Adams are scheduled to play a boys-girls doubleheader on Jan. 11.
It was a successful event last year, as roughly 2,000 fans packed OU’s arena for an overtime game between the two city rivals that was a showcase event for the Rochester community.
Your seer is no betting man, but he’d be willing to wage his whole cave that Northern and Central would sell out OU’s arena if they played there once a year.
Whenever the teams meet at Central or Northern, tickets have to be sold for what’s a sold-out game, which means hundreds, if not thousands, of citizens had to be turned away in a quest to watch Oakland County’s best sports rivalry.
With a game at OU, that wouldn’t be a problem.
Not only that, but the players could get exposed to what a college campus is like and what playing for a college program would be like (always an incentive to work harder on the court and in the classroom), and the university could better promote itself to a community in its back yard.
If that’s not a win-win situation all-around for everybody involved, then Kosmo doesn’t know what is.
Yes, it’s hard for a team to give up a home game. But just set it up where whichever school is hosting a district, that school gives up a regular-season home game because they’re likely getting a home game in the playoffs anyway.