My hs team lost tonight...on a buzzer beater 3 pointer off the backboard

Submitted by UMxWolverines on
Not cool. My school (Temperance Bedford) lost to Ann Arbor Skyline by none other than a 3 off the backboard as time expired. That's twice in three days dammit!

Tater

February 26th, 2011 at 11:47 AM ^

There are tons of great athletes out there.  When you get to the college level, and especially the NBA level, at least half of the game is mental.  It's becoming obvious that his dad gave him some great genes.  It looks, though, like his dad's greatest contibution is the mental part.  

THJ has been around NBA players and probably practices since he was a kid.  He has seen first-hand what it takes to be successful in the game.  He's not intimidated by anything or anyone on the court.  And he doesn't worry if his shot isn't falling.  

One question I always ask about any player who has a professional athlete as a father is, "What would people think about his game if his name was John Smith?"  In THJ's case, I'm pretty sure that most people would appreciate his game just as much as they do now.

THJ definitely has the goods.  And he will be good enough to have a career in the NBA.

Sgt. Wolverine

February 26th, 2011 at 2:05 PM ^

is being a big pest for a lot of SEC schools.  Though it wasn't in such dramatic fashion, I think they've knocked off Chelsea and Dexter, too.  And maybe a couple other schools.  For a team with no seniors (from a school with no seniors), they're playing very well.

Sgt. Wolverine

February 26th, 2011 at 3:08 PM ^

Skyline is the recently-built third high school in Ann Arbor -- the school with the generic name with no local history or relevance, the generic mascot (Eagle) with no local history or relevance, and the color scheme (power blue and white) that desperately needs a dark contrasting color for sports uniforms.  In sum, the school was organized to be wholly inoffensive and forgettable.*

All my negativity aside, I don't keep track of A2 academics much; I just keep an eye on high school sports.  All I can tell you is that they'll have their first senior class next year, their football team didn't win a game in its first varsity season (not surprising with no seniors), and their basketball program has developed fairly quickly (with a playoff victory last year and several surprising victories over conference rivals this year).

*(I think it would have been great to name it after Bo and give it the mascot of the Aviator.  The Schembechler High School Aviators would have been TREMENDOUS.  I know the chances of that ever happening with a public school anywhere in A2 are nil, but I can dream, right?  Just think of the opportunities for a great logo.  And the sports student sections could have coordinated by wearing aviator sunglasses!)

justingoblue

February 26th, 2011 at 3:22 PM ^

Sounds exactly like what happened sports-wise with my high school when it was built.

I do think it's funny how out of the way Ann Arbor's schools go to be inoffensive. My cousin went to Community and I always thought it was funny the way they handled their colors (rainbow) and mascot (Antizebra). Although they only have the one sport, so I guess it doesn't matter much.

BlueDragon

February 26th, 2011 at 4:03 PM ^

The community I live in was organized with land-grant principles--parcels of land were set aside for various schools from the inception of the community.  Because the city kept expanding bit by bit over 2 centuries, the school district had to build a new 2nd high school in the mid-90s.  It was contrived that the new high school would become the dedicated varsity football program and the old high school (mine) would keep being a soccer/lacrosse/field hockey powerhouse.  Almost all the talented football players jumped ship and went to the new school, and they're pretty good year in and year out.  My high school won a total of four football games the four years I was a student there.  When my brother was in the marching band, the team was so bad the band challenged them to a flag football game and won.  But almost all of our non-football sports are reasonably to highly legitimate.  Our school colors are red and blue so there's almost always a patriotic vibe because the uni designers love to slip in some white lines or numbers or what-have-you.

Academically the old school still DOMINATES the new school, but the district passes all of the state requirements to be rated "Excellent."  Neither school is bad, but there's definitely a step up at the school I attended.

Anyways, this info probably doesn't really apply to anything, I just felt like sharing it.  Thanks for the insight.

Sgt. Wolverine

February 26th, 2011 at 4:32 PM ^

districts try to encourage certain schools to be good at certain sports.  IMO, schools ought to have firm geographical boundaries independent of sports.  For years, Farmington Hills (MI) has given its students some freedom to choose which of its three high schools to attend; as a result, Farmington Hills Harrison -- the smallest of the three, I believe -- is a football powerhouse, while the others are occasionally decent but never a title threat.  Harrison's enrollment may be more comparable to high schools in smaller towns, but its pool of available athletes far outnumbers those smaller towns.  That bothers not just me, but a lot of other people with an interest in southeastern Michigan high school football.

I realize larger cities simply have to have multiple high schools, but there's a certain community spirit for high school athletics that's lost when there's more than one high school.  (That spirit is diminished even further when the school's population is scattered throughout the town, rather than limited to one specific area.)  There are positives as well, but for me, that negative outweighs them (in the context of high school athletics).  That's one of the reasons I still live in a small town.

Sgt. Wolverine

February 26th, 2011 at 4:16 PM ^

I meant powder blue, not power blue.  There's no power in their blue.

The official site shows this bizarro Trogdor-like logo I've never actually seen associated with their teams:

The logo commonly in use is this:

And with rare exceptions, their uniforms do not feature significant amounts of black, no matter what the scary S logo might lead you to believe.