sport: January 2011

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Red-Hot Poker Dean Hamrick’s One Of The Best, Hands Down

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BMX-TRA SPECIAL 12-Year-Old Elida Beeman Is The Nation’s Best

ROLLING THUNDER Ron Antes Pursues Perfection At Royal Scot

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contents

FEATURES 10 BMX-TRA SPECIAL

Lansing’s Elida Beeman Is The Nation’s Best

BY COREY LOXEN

14 VISION QUEST

MSU Students Learn, Earn, Entertain With Scoreboards

BY ANDREA NELSON

18 THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Stadium Hockey Began Here, Then Spread And Grew

BY ANDREA NELSON

20 RED-HOT POKER

Dean Hamrick’s One Of The Best, Hands Down

BY STEVE GRINCZEL

24 STRIKE A POSE

12

Local Bodybuilders Discover Challenges, Success

BY ANDY FLANAGAN

Homecoming King

28 ROLLING THUNDER

BY ANDREA NELSON

Ron Antes Pursues Perfection At Royal Scot

BY CHIP MUNDY

Community Says Let The Magic Commence

DEPARTMENTS eb-servation

05 Happier New Year!

2011 Should Be Bigger, Better In So Many Ways

BY JACK EBLING

news + notes

30 Wild Start

Prep Basketball Begins With Bang

BY CHIP MUNDY

sports authority

08 The GLSA Is You

It Bucks Trends, Grows And Makes Greater Lansing Stronger

BY BRENDAN DWYER

finish line

32 A Closer Look

NFL Officials Always Have Game

BY DEAN LOOK

Volume #3 • Issue #1 JANUARY 2011

JANUARY 2011

3

assists

EDITOR Jack Ebling Jack has covered sports and more as a writer and broadcaster in Mid-Michigan since 1978. A three-time Michigan Sportswriter of the Year, he was a 2006 inductee into the Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame. He has written four books on Michigan State and one on the Detroit Tigers and is finishing book six, Heart of a Spartan (www.heartofaspartanbook.com). He has contributed more than 125 pieces for national publications and is a founding partner in Sportswriters Direct, a new freelance business. The former English teacher and coach spent nearly a quarter-century as a beat writer and columnist for the Lansing State Journal and won 21 major writing awards. A two-time graduate of MSU, he has lived in Greater Lansing for 37 years. With his wife, Robin, he has helped raise two remarkable young adults, Zach and Ali.

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS J. Robin Sumbler Growing up in East Lansing, three blocks from MSU, Rob had a camera in his hands since he was big enough to raise it to his eye.

After graduating from East Lansing High, Rob started shooting TV news for WLNS. Fourteen years and several broadcasting awards later, Rob can still be found behind the camera, shooting for Detroit’s WDIV-TV, for award-winning films and for sport magazine, including this month’s cover story.

Steve Grinczel Steve was an award-winning sports reporter for Booth Newspapers of Michigan and mlive.com and is a founding partner in Sportswriters Direct. He has covered Michigan State University football and basketball since 1986 and has written or co-authored two books on the Spartans. Steve began his soccer officiating career in 1975 and has more than 1,300 NCAA, high school and USSF games under his belt.

Greater Lansing Sport Magazine is published monthly by Sport Community Publishing with offices at 617 East Michigan Avenue, Lansing, Michigan 48912. Postage is paid under USPS Permit #407.

Subscriptions: One copy of the Greater Lansing Sport Magazine, is mailed complimentary to qualified business addresses in the Greater Lansing metropolitan area. Residential, promotional, out-of-area and additional subscriptions are available for $36 per year (a saving of 40% off the $5 cover price per issue) by mailing a check to Sport Community Publishing or paying online at www.

SportLansing.com. When available, back issues can be purchased online for $10 each.

Postmaster: Address changes should be sent to: Sport Community Publishing, 617 East Michigan Avenue, Lansing, Michigan 48912.

4 JANUARY 2011

Publisher Sport Community Publishing Editor Jack Ebling Assistant EditorS Andy Flanagan Andrea Nelson Contributing Writers Brendan Dwyer Jack Ebling Andy Flanagan Steve Grinczel Dean Look Corey Loxen Chip Mundy Andrea Nelson PhotographY Kris Randall Brendan Dwyer Andy Flanagan Ceil Heller Mike Major Matthew Mitchell MSU Athletic Communications Dane Robison Terri Shaver J. Robin Sumbler Julie Weaver MAGAZINE Design & LAYOUT Traction www.projecttraction.com Printing Millbrook Printing, Co. Mailer ICS Editorial Office 617 East Michigan Avenue Lansing, Michigan 48912 (517) 455-7810 www.SportLansing.com Copyright © 2011 Sport Community Publishing All rights reserved.

eb-servation

Happier New Year!

2011 Should Be Bigger, Better In So Many Ways

BY JACK EBLING

The old year wasn’t bad. How could it be?

A second straight Final Four for Michigan State basketball was a great way to start. A record win total and a Big Ten football championship was a fine way to finish.

A string of state titles for high school teams and individuals kept us captivated throughout 2010. It was a Mid-Michigan kind of year, whatever the sport.

The best news of all? 2011 could be better.

Will this be the season another boys team from Greater Lansing earns a Michigan High School Basketball State Championship, matching last year’s feat by the East Lansing girls?

Will this be the year an area prep football team goes all the way, a feat last accomplished by the 2000 Grand Ledge Comets?

Either way, we’re sure to see outstanding efforts from athletes of all ages. We’re bound to see amazing achievements in sports we barely know.

That’s where sport, The Greater Lansing Sport Magazine comes in – bigger and better than ever before.

Oh, we’ll still have the stories and photos you’ve come to love. In 33 years in the MidMichigan media, I’ve never seen a more positive response from a more grateful audience.

We’ll still cover every activity we can, often thanks to your tips. We’ll still bring you the stories behind the headlines and make you say, “I didn’t know that!”

The difference will be in the presentation, starting at the very top in an even-wider world of sport, where anything goes.

The five letters of the magazine title will be lower case, instead of all caps, and will reflect the diverse content inside with a less stern, more modern look. It’s very similar to a change Sports Illustrated made a couple of decades ago.

Also new is the placement of the words “GREATER LANSING” at the top of the cover to highlight the region much more. As has often been said, this isn’t a sports magazine, but a community magazine that deals with sports.

Past cover designs had often covered those words in a subhead below the title. Now, the region is the first thing you’ll see, in placement and with clear visibility.

The finish of the magazine will also be different, shifting from a glossy look to a matte finish – another inspiration of the best design team any editor could have.

From the owner of Traction, Camron Gnass, to the creative genius of Jon Eslinger and Brian Paulson to project manager Jessica Cosens, the eye-popping look of the publication will be even more exciting.

The matte finish will allow us to add spot color to the cover design with metallic ink.

It puts fluorescent and neon highlights in the game.

Adding to the greater impact is a half-inch of extra width that allows us to do a lot of different things. If most magazines are the old size, sport isn’t most magazines.

The bottom of the cover will have community tags to let you know where stories are originating. It will also include a bar code, which should facilitate single-copy sales.

Overall, the wider format allows us to stand out more. It means we can be horizontal when we should be and not always vertical. Yet, it isn’t so wide you’ll have to fold the publication 14 times if you want to carry it with you.

It will also change the way we present our sponsors with a new configuration inside.

With greater flexibility, a three-column format means you’ll see third-page vertical ads and new sixth-page opportunities for businesses.

The inside body text will be the same, though the way each story will be designed may be different. Headline design will change as the stories dictate.

We’ll still be reaching 75,000 readers each month and sitting in every lobby and waiting

room we can. But we’ll also be at more retail locations – more on that to come – and in your mailbox if you choose to subscribe at nearly half-off the single-copy price.

Sport Community Publishing is also excited to announce the publication of a new book, my sixth: Heart of a Spartan – much more than the story of a record-setting MSU football season.

Nothing great is ever easy, even if someone just handed you a winning Mega Millions ticket. That’s particularly true in college football for a program and a fan base that knows adversity like the setting sun. Another morning is on its way.

The story of resilience and resolute attention to detail is proof that big success comes from seemingly small choices every day in every way.

The photo-filled, full-color keepsake is available by advance purchase at www. heartofaspartanbook.com.

I also want to take this chance to thank a lot of special friends, the hundreds of people who’ve called, written, e-mailed and texted about my cancer surgery last month.

It wasn’t the most enjoyable December in memory. Any time your birthday and Christmas present is 30 days with a catheter, you start to wonder what you did wrong.

What I did right was realize early on that Greater Lansing is worthy of that title. It’s the place I choose to be – and have, with the exception of one three-year teaching/coaching stint in Lapeer, since September 1969.

The strength of Mid-Michigan is much more than its institutions – state government, the auto industry, the insurance sector and higher education.

This area is all about its people. Join us on our journey throughout 2011 and meet some of the best of the best. H JANUARY 2011

5

Published photos will receive a poster commemorating Your Shot, courtesy of Capital Imaging.

www.SportLansing.com

Send Us Your Photos!

your shot

PHOTOGRAPHED BY JULIE WEAVER

Williamston’s Oliver Weaver keeps his eye on the ball in the “Little Mo” tennis nationals in Austin, Texas. The talented 10-year-old, a fifth-grader at Explorer Elementary School, advanced through sectional, then regional play. He plays at Court One East in Okemos under coach Darren Gronski.

Dream Weaver

greater lansing sports authority

The GLSA Is You

It Bucks Trends, Grows And Makes Greater Lansing Stronger

The end of a year and the beginning of a new one is a great time to look back, see where you’ve been and plot where you’re going.

Reflecting back upon the past year’s struggles and success brings a wisdom and energy for the challenges of the coming year. This selfexamination is not saved just for individuals, but for forward-focused organizations as well.

As the Greater Lansing Sports Authority takes a last look back at 2010, it sees an exciting pattern of steady growth – with no end in sight.

Officially launched in 2007, the GLSA has taken its mission to grow Greater Lansing as a sports tournament destination and has knocked it out of the park, crossed the goal line and - insert your favorite sports euphemism here – established a healthy trend of development.

In a business climate where many have been content to simply lick their wounds, the GLSA has thrived. How do we know the GLSA is doing so well? Just like when comparing sports greats like Magic and Bird, you go to the numbers.

In 2008 the GLSA brought or supported 71 sports events that involved approximately 34,000 visiting athletes and total estimated event attendance of 120,000. The GLSA followed up 2008 (a 16% growth from 2007), with a record-setting 2009. Despite a slight dip in total events, the GLSA brought in more large events in 2009, welcoming over 47,700 visiting athletes and approximate sports event attendance of 167,000.

Not willing to simply hold steady to past success, the GLSA opened up the throttle a little more to have its best year ever in 2010.

The GLSA reached the century mark this year with 100 total sports events hosted, over 50,000 visiting athletes welcomed and drawing nearly 200,000 visiting spectators, family and friends to the Greater Lansing area.

While those are solid numbers, the real benefit comes with the potential economic impact they bring. Unlike one-day collegiate events, amateur sports tournaments bring athletes and spectators into our community for several days, along with their need for shopping, dining and lodging.

8 JANUARY 2011

Service With A Smile Meghan Carmody and Mike Price of the GLSA offer Greater Lansing area information to visiting athletes with the 2010 Senior Softball Tournament held last June.

Though all this is great for the GLSA, why should you care? What does it matter to the average guy or gal thumbing through Greater Lansing’s sport magazine? It matters for the same reason you picked up this copy of sport in the first place – because you’re interested in the status and well-being of our local sports community.

If the local sports community was a human body, the GLSA would be essential vitamins and minerals. By promoting area sports venues for national tournaments and helping to fill local hotels, restaurants and shopping centers with sports-minded visitors to our region the GLSA is providing two key elements to mid-Michigan.

These are a real shot in the arm for the local

economy and the further establishment of this region as a shining Midwestern sports community in a sea of tough competition.

Examples of event successes include the growth of the Capital City River Run and the Hawk Island Triathlon as well as the recruitment of events like the 2010 USA Hockey Girls 18U National Championships and the 2012 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships.

“We’re exceedingly proud of the growth of the GLSA over the years and of the strength of the many partnerships we’ve made along the way,” said Mike Price, Director of the GLSA. “Together we have taken the strength of our unique sports culture and mixed it in with new relationships between sports event planners and our local athletic facilities resulting in a new vein of business for the Greater Lansing area.

We’ve learned even in a down economy people still make it a priority to stay involved with the sports they, and their kids, love. The GLSA is here to make sure that Greater Lansing is at the table to host sports events of nearly every kind.”

From softball and soccer to hockey and horseshoes, the GLSA is committed to bringing every kind of sports tournament to town and the future looks bright. Bringing in these events really helps this community we all love so dearly. In fact, since we are all part of this community (and you love athletics or you wouldn’t be reading sport), accept this invitation to be a part of the GLSA. That’s right! An auxiliary staff member, if you will.

Can you think of a sports tournament that would be a great fit for Greater Lansing? Is there an existing sports event in town you think could be made even bigger? Think it over and share your ideas on our Facebook page at www. facebook.com/greaterlansingsportsauthority.

So yes, the GLSA is growing and with it the Greater Lansing amateur athletic calendar.

You’ve seen the proof of the success and an explanation of the benefits for the community.

Heck, we even invited you to help brainstorm event development. A healthy GLSA helps make a healthy local community.

Why should you care? Because you’re part of it. H

Photography BRENDAN DWYER

BY BRENDAN DWYER

Bmx-Tra Lansing’s Elida Beeman Is The Nation’s Best

BY COREY LOXEN

10 JANUARY 2011

Special

Photography KRIS RANDALL

It didn’t take Lansing’s Elida Beeman long to decide to jump into BMX racing. Now Beeman, who is ranked No. 1 in the country in two BMX bike divisions (12-year-old girls overall and 12-and-under girls Cruiser division), is looking to make BMX racing a good, long ride.

Elida’s BMX journey started at the age of 7 in 2005 when the Beeman’s neighbors, Blake and Pat Dent, asked her if she wanted to go with them to the local track. Pat was training his son Blake for BMX racing at the time and thought Elida might want to tag along and watch their practice session. The next thing you know, she got her own bike and started practicing with them. It wasn’t long before she was hooked and wanted to join a BMX team.

She won the NBL (National Bicycle League) national title on both of her bikes, one for the overall class (20-inch bike) and the other for her Cruiser class (24-inch). She also won the NBL Midwest title and the Michigan state title on both bikes as well.

“She put a lot of hard work in this year and it paid off big-time. I would love for her to get the exposure and recognition she deserves,” said her father, Mark. “No 12-year-old girl in the (United) States can touch her.”

Elida has definitely climbed the ladder in the BMX world one rung at a time. She has been Midwest and Michigan No. 1 for the past four years, and her national ranking has gone from 10th to first. This is an amazing feat for any BMX athlete, let alone a 12-year-old. For Elida it’s not even about gender when she steps within the BMX tape, or at least in her mind it isn’t an issue; it’s only about bike skills.

Elida says that several boys walked away sad upon her beating them, and a few even complained out loud. She believes it was just tough on their egos to lose to a girl. However, half of them were willing to show good sportsmanship and shake her hand.

Though Elida’s well above average on the track, she lives the normal life of any average preteen outside of it. She goes to Otto Middle School in Lansing and is an honor roll student.

She spends time on Facebook and with friends.

When asked how the kids at her school respond when they find out what she does outside of school, she begins to smile. “They

can’t believe it,” she said. “They don’t think it’s possible for someone as short as I am to have success in BMX, especially since I’m a girl.

That’s when I tell them to come out to the track and watch me one time.”

Her goal is to represent the United States at the Olympics when she turns 18 in 2016—a goal that is possible because of her dedication, consistency and determination.

In the past two years, Elida has pushed herself not only on the track but also in the way she trains. Most of it is plyometrics: jumping rope, sprints and sit-ups. Pat’s brother, Mike Dent, has been her manager for Team Diamond BMX for the past five years and has been teaching her how to train for the Olympics with some techniques by the respected Gregory Romero, one of the top BMX coaches in America.

To prepare for this endeavor, her father Mark had Elida begin racing against boys in Michigan.

This has helped her mental toughness. She does her best to overcome her fears by repeating “I’m No. 1.” Her dad tells her not to worry about any of the big-name racers or the crowd, just to focus. Elida knows that fear is weakness for any BMX racer: the weaker the mind, the weaker the athlete. Elida is strong mentally, which tends to translate to winning.

A crash course in BMX racing is helpful to understand this extreme sport. Let’s just be right up front: This sport can be very dangerous.

Elida has been fortunate to have not had any major injuries. In this type of extreme sport, that is rare. She has had only a deep shoulder bruise and some knee and elbow scrapes.

The way the race works is that each rider must race the track three times before making it to the main event. Typically, it depends on

how many riders show up for the race. They may be divided into two heats (called motos) of six riders each. The top four from that rack will then race against each other in the main event to determine the winner, so they must race twice to have a chance to win it all.

There are also different types of terrain obstacles called doubles, triples, rollers, tabletops and whooptidoos. Doubles are hills that go up two levels and then down. Triples would consist of three straight jumps on top of a hill. Rollers include five to 10 progressive mounds that are 2- to 4-feet high. Whooptidoos are the equivalent of running hurdles in track and field, where there is one jump after another for a longer period of time on a straightaway without any breaks.

The Beeman family has a full racing schedule the rest of this year, which will only get busier when Elida turns pro in four years. They went to Tulsa, Okla., for Thanksgiving, where Elida raced against Washington’s Kelsey VanOgle, one of her bigger opponents. Elida will represent Michigan in December at the President’s Cup, held in Columbus, Ohio. The Beemans would also like to attend the world event in Russia next year to ramp it up from the two gold medals she previously won in the state games.

This year the annual world BMX racing event was in South Africa.

Once Elida turns 16, she will qualify for Elite Women and be able to race professionally, which means there is money involved in winning instead of trophies. Her dream is to be the best professional BMX racer in the world. She is shooting for the moon, but if racing doesn’t work out she will go to college and study to become a nurse. Either way, she knows who she is and what she wants to make of her life.

It’s not too difficult to comprehend why Elida’s favorite saying is “Go big or go home.” She has some challenging races in front of her. If you decide to watch her race, her home track, Capital Area BMX, is located next to the Gier Park softball fields, across the street from Otto Middle School.

There is no charge to any of the events. H

For more information about BMX racing, go to any of the following web sites: MIBMX.com, NBL.org, usacycling.com and Hookit.com.

JANUARY 2011

11

Homecoming

King Community Says Let The Magic Commence

BY ANDREA NELSON

12 JANUARY 2011

g Photography matthew mitchell, msu athletic communicationS

It has been a long time since Earvin “Magic” Johnson was introduced in Jenison Field House as a member of the Michigan State men’s basketball team. But more than 30 years later, the welcoming cheers when he enters the gym haven’t changed a bit.

Johnson returned to East Lansing in December with a full agenda. In just a few days, he was a guest on ESPN’s “Homecoming with Rick Reilly,” spoke at an MSU graduation ceremony and received an honorary doctor of business degree.

But the show came first. Jenison was transformed into a studio and packed with 4,000 fans for the event. Some waited outside for hours to see Johnson take the stage on his home court. The former Spartan was all smiles as he walked in to a standing ovation from students, alumni, friends, mentors and family.

When asked about the welcoming and an outpouring of love, Johnson’s answer summed it up perfectly.

“That’s the Spartan way,” he said.

Among the audience were: Johnson’s parents, Earvin Sr. and Christine; his wife, Cookie; several brothers and sisters; his fifth-grade teacher, Greta Dart; his Everett High coach, George Fox; former high school, college and NBA teammates; MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo and the current MSU men’s basketball team. And many of them took their turn to talk about the most famous athletes in Greater Lansing history.

Earvin Sr. and Jr. shared stories about the family’s trash-collecting business. Johnson’s job as a boy was to pick up fallen litter around the trash cans. One cold winter day, Johnson said he did a half-job and ran back to his dad’s truck to get warm. Before he could shut the door Earvin Sr. was dragging him back out to finish the job.

It was at that time Johnson said he learned one of the most valuable lessons of his life from his dad.

“He said, ‘If you do this job halfway, you’ll be a halfway basketball player and a halfway student,’” Johnson said. “You’ve got to do things the right way.”

Johnson fought back tears as he told how his father has always been his hero. Earvin Sr. worked two full-time jobs, never missed a day of work in his life, cared for 10 children and still made it to every one of his son’s games. Though Johnson’s father had been a Boston Celtics fan when his son was growing up, it was obvious Johnson still looks up to his dad in more ways than one.

But Reilly’s show had the champion reminiscing about more than his parents and siblings. Johnson talked a lot about his favorite piece of clothing, a crushed-velvet maroon coat with a white fur collar. He said he wore the coat everywhere, even on the first date he had with his wife. Johnson compared the coat to a little kid’s blankie and said he was rarely without it. But over the years, Johnson lost track of the coat that his sister referred to as “awful, awful, awful.”

That is, until his brother stepped forward with it in his hands. The smile on Johnson’s

hero back. But Johnson’s weekend wasn’t over.

Two days later he stood tall in front of another crowd. This time, Johnson’s message was a bit different. He was chosen as the keynote speaker for the morning ceremony of the December 2010 MSU graduating class.

One of the most memorable parts of Johnson’s speech came when he described exactly what it meant to be a SPARTAN: Successful, Prepared, Ambitious, Ready, Trustworthy, Artistic, Newsworthy and Special. And he hopes the graduates will be just that.

“This is your special day,” Johnson said.

“Now go out and do something special in the world, because that’s what Spartans do.”

Johnson was rewarded with a degree of his own. He left MSU as a sophomore to pursue a career in the NBA and wasn’t able to earn a degree. The school granted him an honorary

This is your special day…go out and do something special in the world, because that’s what Spartans do. face was as big as ever as the coat was once again draped over his shoulders. And it still fit.

Johnson provided further entertainment for the crowd by singing and dancing to an acapella version of “My Girl” with the Spartan Dischords. Johnson’s demeanor made it obvious that his confidence and character have played a large role in his success.

Former Lansing Everett head coach George Fox said Johnson’s leadership abilities were obvious from a very young age. At a time when there were racial tensions at Everett, Johnson was called on as early as his sophomore year to settle disputes between students. Johnson gave credit to Everett for molding him into the successful person he is today.

His personality and the smile that made him unforgettable were apparent in Jenison that night. During commercial breaks, Johnson couldn’t help but show off the side of him that won over so many of his fans. He mingled with former teammates and shook current Spartans’ hands. From his seat, Johnson filled silences with shout-outs to other sports programs such as the football and soccer teams. And just like it had 30 years ago, the crowd responded with love.

For three hours that night, Jenison had its

doctorate in business for his highly successful Magic Johnson Enterprises, a multimillion-dollar collection of companies.

Johnson’s niche in the business world? Offering products and services to urban communities. He recently sold his shares of the Los Angeles Lakers and Starbucks. But Johnson has even bigger plans for the future. He’s part of a group trying to bring an NFL team to Los Angeles and is also interested in becoming a part-owner of an NBA team.

Whether he’s called “June Bug”, “Junior”, “E”, or “EJ the DJ”, Johnson hasn’t slowed down.

But it was the nickname “Magic”, given to him by former Lansing State Journal writer Fred Stabley Jr. that has followed him for a lifetime.

Most of the students gathered in Jenison for Reilly’s show had never seen Johnson play in his prime. They grew up hearing his name synonymous with the words “hero” and “living legend” in their households or were lucky enough to discover this role model on their own. For a few hours one night, they were able to sit in Johnson’s presence, listen to his inspirational words, be entertained by his charismatic personality and find hope through his experiences.

For one weekend it was, and was all about, Magic. H JANUARY 2011

13

Vision Quest MSU Students Learn, Earn, Entertain With Scoreboards

BY ANDREA NELSON

Whether you’re at Spartan Stadium, Breslin Center or Munn Ice Arena, one of the big attractions of watching games at those venues is the giant video board.

Maybe you’ve danced embarrassingly to see your face on the JumboTron. Maybe you enjoy its trivia or Spartan shuffle games. Maybe you just want to see replays.

Whatever the reason, you’re relying on a very young but talented group of people to enhance your fan experience.

Spartan Vision is the sports broadcasting program designed for this very reason.

The organization is a branch of Michigan State University’s athletic communications department. But the core of it is run by MSU students. Video Producer Bob Armstrong said he currently employs about 30 students to assist with the video board production of football, basketball and hockey games.

Students gain experience as camera operators, directors, engineers and producers working for Spartan Vision. They’re also in charge of running ad panels and replays during games, along with a variety of other responsibilities. Armstrong said experience isn’t necessarily a requirement to work for Spartan Vision, but it doesn’t hurt.

With several high schools now offering broadcasting programs, many students come 14 JANUARY 2011

to Spartan Vision with video experience.

But Armstrong said as long as students are ambitious and willing to work hard, he’s willing to teach them everything they need to know before they get inside a classroom.

“In the college setting, if you major in telecommunications, oftentimes you don’t really get your hands on this stuff until you’re a junior or senior,” Armstrong said.

“As a freshman or sophomore you can learn a lot working for us before you can even get a chance to do it in college.”

Spartan Vision students are required to be at games a few hours before they start. This allows them to have enough time to set up their equipment and troubleshoot any problems they might encounter. Only 10-12 students are needed to work basketball and hockey games.

Armstrong said they must arrive about two hours before their start. Since football is a larger venue, about 20 students are needed and they usually arrive three to four hours before kickoff.

The amount of hours students work is determined by the sports event schedule.

Armstrong said his students work anywhere

Photography dane robison

from five to 25 hours per week. The amount of work they decide to put into their schedule is completely up to them. Plus, they’re paid for it.

“You can get out of it what you want to,” Armstrong said. “Some students aren’t as interested in working everything. Maybe they have a heavy class load or something so they can’t quite manage it, so they’ll just work one sport.”

But many students take every opportunity they can to gain more experience. Junior journalism major Alyssa Dennis has been working for Spartan Vision for about two years. She said Spartan Vision is a sort of round-robin group where everyone has a chance to try a lot of different positions.

Dennis said her responsibilities vary depending on the athletic season, but her favorite job is producing women’s basketball games.

“As the producer of the big screen show, I sit at the stats table with Ryan, our announcer, to time out the scripting of the game,” Dennis said.

“I’m on a headset with the production crew of the Breslin and it really is a whole group effort to make it a great show for our women’s team and the fans and alumni who come to the games.

The most important thing to me is to make sure the fans are having fun; you want them to come back to the Breslin or Spartan Stadium again.”

And they usually do, whether mistakes are made during production or not. But most fans won’t notice a small error. Armstrong said his crew encounters problems all the time. It’s the way they respond that matters.

“Things are always going to be breaking and it just requires creative problem-solving to go through and fix things as seamlessly as possible,” Armstrong said. “Most of the time 99 percent of the people in the building have no idea what went wrong or even noticed anything wrong. But there have been times where we’ve had equipment failures that we didn’t get fixed until an hour before a football game and it would’ve been pretty devastating.”

Dennis said she has been swiped by a basketball while operating a camera, which caused her to fall off of the court and almost into the stands. She escaped with only a few bumps and bruises, but said she was at least able to save the camera.

Working in sports broadcasting isn’t always that dangerous. Nick Baker, a senior media arts and technology major, enjoys covering sports events even though he wants to pursue a career in news. Baker has worked for Spartan Vision for three years. He thinks the experience he has gained helped him build his portfolio and receive an internship at CBS. “I think it’s a great opportunity just in the fact that you’re meeting a lot of different people,” Baker said. “You’re meeting a lot of people from networks a lot of time that you communicate with. A lot of media request certain stuff, and also it gives you the opportunity to be professional at the same time.”

JANUARY 2011

15

vision quest

Concentrated Effort MSU’s Brendan Johnson, a Lyman Briggs sophomore, makes the most of his Spartan Vision editing opportunities at a basketball game at Breslin Center.

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Baker is currently one of the video editors for MSU’s “All-Access Daily Edition” sports show on MSUSpartans.com. As part of athletic communications, Spartan Vision assists in the production of this show as well as the “Spartan Football All-Access” and “Spartan Basketball All-Access” shows that air weekly on FOX Sports Detroit.

Dave Ellis, the video producer of the AllAccess shows, said the opportunities students have working for Spartan Vision is priceless.

Ellis said the students have been very good at embracing the technology used for the shows and learning different positions. He believes they get a well-rounded look at the operation and their extensive knowledge of the show’s production will help them in the future.

“If this kind of program existed when I was going to school, I would have been four more steps ahead when I came out of college,” Ellis said. “These kids are getting real-world experience before they even get their degree.

Even some of the classes and the clubs on campus can’t give them anything like this realworld experience. They get to see what it’s like to do an actual telecast and an actual game.”

Spartan Vision employees gain a lot more from

their jobs than just the work experience. Baker and Dennis agreed that they’ve had several useful networking opportunities through their employment. Students have opportunities to work with media outlets such as ESPN and the Big Ten Network. Armstrong said students never know who they might meet on the sidelines and make a connection with for a future job opportunity.

But the networking and experience isn’t Dennis’ favorite part of her job. Dennis said she has learned the ins and outs of covering college sports and how to work with her co-workers as a team in Spartan Vision productions.

“I enjoy the day-in, day-out interaction with my co-workers. We’ve all become good friends,” Dennis said. “There’s something special about walking into the Breslin Center and saying hello to every person you pass, whether they work for Spartan Vision, or the ticket office, or the teams. You don’t get that experience at other schools. All of the people who work in productions for MSU athletics are like a big family and they’re always welcoming more.”

Dennis said she feels very fortunate to have met so many people through Spartan Vision, especially Armstrong. She said it can’t be easy to stay organized and patient when you’re in charge

of so many students, but Armstrong finds a way to make it happen. Armstrong said working with students can be both frustrating and gratifying, and without them Spartan Vision couldn’t operate.

“It’s always entertaining, for sure,” Armstrong said. “It’s rewarding watching many of them really grow. Some of them are very talented at a lot of things and it’s satisfying seeing them go on to work places like ESPN or Fox Sports or move out to Hollywood.”

After being involved with television for more than 20 years, Ellis said one of the most rewarding things for him is to see students come through the program and be hired for jobs that are better than his. With students now working at ESPN, Disney, the NFL Network, the Big Ten Network and Fox Sports, it’s hard for him not to be proud of what they’ve accomplished.

“They’ve done great things and this is the jumping-off point for them,” Ellis said. “Then, they come back and tell us what they’re doing.

It’s great motivation for the kids that are in the program right now to see that we’ve had successful people come out of this program and they can be the next one if they put their minds to it.”

Ellis said one of the most exciting parts of the job for students is being able to go to events

they normally wouldn’t. Being able to operate a camera under the basketball hoop, stand next to the players on the football field and be close to the excitement at hockey games makes students feel like they’re part of the program, Ellis said. With the success MSU athletics has been having lately, that alone could be just as exciting as any other part of their job.

Outside of being able to attend major sporting events for free, Baker’s favorite part of his job is the unlimited access available to him that most people don’t have and being able to work for a program responsible for the ultimate fan experience.

“You’re putting out stuff that a lot of people don’t know you do,” Baker said. “A lot of people don’t actually realize that students put on all the big-screen stuff. So that’s cool when you tell them that.”

The next time you go to an MSU basketball, football or hockey game, take a look around at the number of students responsible for putting on the game-day show. They’re the brains behind Spartan Vision’s operation, a heavy responsibility for 18- to 22-year-old students.

But they’re up to the challenge and know this experience will do nothing but help them prepare for bigger and better things. H

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The Great O Stadium Hockey Began Here, Then Spread And Grew

BY ANDREA NELSON

Nine years after Michigan State hosted the Cold War at Spartan Stadium against the University of Michigan, outdoor hockey games have become a popular event at the collegiate and professional levels.

And it all started with a brief conversation in Munn Ice Arena.

Director of Athletics and master marketer Mark Hollis said the initial idea for an outdoor hockey game came from former MSU assistant hockey coach Dave McAuliffe.

18 JANUARY 2011

“He brought it up a few times before, unsuccessfully,” Hollis said. “When I heard the idea I said, ‘We should do something like that.’

Paul Schager, my assistant, said, ‘Uh oh, Hollis is serious.’ We did a lot of homework, did a lot of research, started the process and actually announced it before we knew if we could pull it off. And the rest is kind of history.”

It was easier said than done. Hollis said MSU encountered a lot of challenges as it prepared for the Cold War. They used a refrigeration system from Hollywood studios to maintain the ice, but a warm week before the game threatened the rink’s condition.

“It hit the 70s and we were close to having to put a canopy over the ice for a period of time,” Hollis said. “A combination of sun and wind really is devastating to a sheet of ice. But we had a back-up plan there ready to roll if the weather had continued to warm. Fortunately we didn’t have to go there.”

Hollis said their prayers were answered when the cold weather finally arrived in East Lansing.

It gave the rival schools one of the best sheets of ice they could have asked for. But the rink’s condition seemed like a small worry compared to another event that was on the minds of

many people. The much-anticipated Cold War came less than a month after one of the biggest tragedies in American history.

“It was an interesting time,” Hollis said. “It came right after 9/11. It was actually the first big event we had on campus after that tragedy, and that kind of added to the mix of something that’s never been done before.”

A new tradition may have been exactly what a heartbroken community needed. The Cold War caught worldwide attention, being the first modern-day organized outdoor game of its kind. It gave hockey programs a way to bring back the outdoor element of hockey that most players prefer.

“I think everybody, certainly my generation, spent more time on rinks outdoors than we did indoors,” MSU head hockey coach Rick Comley said. “It was just unique. I think Dave McAuliffe deserves a lot of credit for originating the idea, and then Mark Hollis for running with it. Look what it has done.

When the best hockey in the world copies it, obviously it’s extremely successful.”

Since the Spartans tied the Wolverines 3-3 with a last-minute goal on October 6, 2001, 11 collegiate, professional and international

Photography msu athletic communicationS

Outdoors outdoor games have been played. And many records have been broken. The Cold War set the then-world record for the largest crowd at an ice hockey game with 74,544 attendants.

This record wasn’t broken until the World Championships on May 7, 2010 in Germany, but it didn’t last long.

At the second outdoor meeting between the Spartans and Wolverines, that record was shattered. U-M reported a crowd of 113,411, more than for any football game there, though the Guinness Book of World Records would only certify 85,451 in attendance.

Hollis said he equates the Cold War and the other outdoor games to Apollo versus the space shuttle. Though it’s a lot easier today to put on an outdoor hockey game than what MSU went through, Hollis is proud to say the event started in East Lansing.

“It’s exciting to see it replicated,” Hollis said.

“When you can come up with an innovative concept on a college campus and actually pull a plan like that off, it’s very exciting. From our end, every time we see another one happen, we feel pretty good about it that we started that at Michigan State.”

Hollis said such a large event brought

positive attention to MSU. But drawing such an international interest wasn’t the only consideration.

Another goal Hollis had was to capture the essence of youth hockey across the state of Michigan by taking the game back to the outdoors. Scheduling the contest on an October night added to the mystique and appeal of the game by creating that kind of atmosphere.

Before the outdoor re-match between the Michigan rivals, the current MSU hockey team watched the game that began the rejuvenation of outdoor contests. Sophomore forward Anthony Hayes said the team was speechless at how hard the 2001 MSU team played and couldn’t help but gawk at the game’s intensity.

“Those guys hit hard,” Hayes said. “That was back before all of the infrastructure rules, and they really cracked down. The Cold War was probably the perfect name to call that game. We were all just speechless with how hard they were hitting each other.”

The Big Chill at the Big House may not have been as exciting of a game, but the rivalry and potential of a tradition speak louder than the 5-0 final score.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for both players and fans to be a part of a record-breaking

event that promised a lot of excitement. That’s exactly what Hollis had expected from day one.

“I think that’s what sports is about,” Hollis said. “When you step back and ask yourself, ‘What is college sports supposed to do?’ one is to provide opportunities for kids to compete.

But the second is to entertain alumni and fans. As long as you don’t get too crazy or too hokey and don’t become the three-ring circus, although I might try one of those in the near future, I think it’s good for college sports.”

Hollis hasn’t brought a circus to campus yet, but don’t expect anything to be out of his reach including a salute to the military on 11-1111 with a long-rumored college basketball double-header on an aircraft carrier. Even projects he didn’t expect to leave an impact on the community, like the Cold War, have spread around the nation and world.

“I thought a lot of people would come to the game and see the novelty of it and maybe leave after the first period was over or maybe leave after the second period was over,” Hollis said. “And gosh darn it, people stayed right to the very end. I think that was good for college hockey. People came in wondering, were curious, but left as hockey fans.” H JANUARY 2011

19

Dean Hamrick’s One Of The Best, Hands Down

BY STEVE GRINCZEL

The nationally renowned champion roams inconspicuously among us. He might be the guy just ahead of you in line at Meijer. Was it that man driving the Lincoln Navigator idling at the red light on Grand River? You and he attended some of the same classes at Michigan State…when he showed up. You may have even seen him on ESPN. Still, you don’t notice Dean Hamrick except for the crutches and the effectual, but methodically wobbly, gait. On this day he’s wearing a white Puma track jacket with kelly-green accents, faded jeans and scuffed brown shoes—he hasn’t bought a new pair in a couple of years. He comes across like a congenial, bright-eyed, fresh-faced young man you might see on a McDonald’s commercial.

20 JANUARY 2011

JANUARY 2011 21

“People who see me on the street are like, ‘Who’s that guy? Freaking crutches, that sucks, man. Bad beat, buddy, here’s five bucks,’” Hamrick said while sitting at a felt-covered gaming table in the Club on the River Poker Room, located in East Lansing’s Hannah Plaza.

It’s all a bluff.

Oh, this is Dean Hamrick in his most authentic form and habitat. But he’s 27 years old, he’s won in the neighborhood of $2 million-plus playing poker, and he pays for vacations by winning money playing Texas Hold ‘em online on his laptop while en route to wherever he and wife Jessica, a neo-natal intensive care nurse at Sparrow Hospital, choose to go.

His Nerves Never Buckled Dean Hamrick earned something no chips can buy, a World Series of championship bracelet.

Before anyone utters the words, “Boy, some guys have all the luck,” something needs to be cleared up right here at the start. In Hamrick’s world, it’s far better to be good than lucky any day. Hamrick isn’t even much of a gambler in the conventional sense and said he’s far worse than the average player of popular casino games.

“If you go to a casino to play a cash game like blackjack, craps or you go to bet on sports, those are all activities in which you don’t have an edge,” Hamrick said. “In Texas Hold ‘em, you’re not playing against the house, you’re playing against other guys.

“If you’re a professional gambler, the goal of your job is to make good, winning bets. If you’re playing blackjack and craps and betting on sports—which are huge statistical losers—you’re probably not going to stay in business very long.

To me, poker is 100 percent not gambling.”

The conversation with Hamrick quickly strips away many widely held misconceptions. For example, anybody with enough money to cover the buy-in can enter the events shown on TV in 22 JANUARY 2011

their final phases. His characterization makes high-stakes Texas Hold ‘em sound more like an intense round of strategic labor negotiations than a game of chance, although the lyrics from Kenny Rogers’ signature song, “The Gambler,” ring true, especially the “You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em” part.

In June, Hamrick used that knowledge, combined with the ability to read the behavior of other competitors—while astutely managing his cards and chips—to earn his first World Series of Poker championship bracelet and the $604,222 that came with it by winning the $1,500 No Limit Hold ‘Em Event No. 42 in Las Vegas.

“The bracelet is sort of like a Super Bowl ring for poker players,” Hamrick said. “They have 50 different preliminary events in the World Series that lead up to the $10,000 buy-in championship event, and so they give away 50 bracelets per year. It’s pretty exclusive club to be in.”

He busted out a couple days shy of the WSOP Main Event, which starts with 7,000 players, but he still won $31,647 for his 449th-place finish.

Poker is 100 percent Hamrick’s occupation.

He makes CEO-level money by playing online from his home or in person at tournaments— he has $730,423 in tournament winnings last year—around the country.

The best part of his job is its flexibility, and to stay “employed,” as Hamrick puts it, he must be disciplined to makes sure he has enough money on hand to cover his taxes, household bills, a six-month reserve in case he goes on a horrific losing streak, and tournament entry money. His take, after expenses, is roughly half of his gross winnings.

“It can be stressful,” he said. “You’ll have losing months. It’s almost like a commission-based sales job, except not many people come back to the office and say they just lost the equivalent of a teacher’s salary for the entire year in one day.”

Hamrick was born with dislocated hips, feet and knees after sharing his mother’s womb with his twin brother Yale. “I’m assuming (Yale) just beat me up,” he said. “It’s kind of a bad beat-down from birth and I walk around on crutches, but it’s all I’ve ever known.”

He has absolutely no qualms about playing his physical condition to his advantage while trying to win high-stakes poker, though any thoughts of him being handicapped dissipate within minutes of meeting him.

“Growing up with a handicap, you’re well aware of how people perceive you and I think that helps me at the table quite a bit,” Hamrick said. “The whole goal in poker is to have your actions dictate their actions. If I know how someone perceives me, I can get in their head and figure out how they’re going to react to me, and that gives me a head start on reacting to them.”

Hamrick grew up none the wiser during his humble upbringing in Redford Township outside of Detroit. Doctors credit his trying to keep up with Yale for never letting himself take on a woeis-me attitude. Hamrick swam for the Redford High School varsity and made the conference finals in the 100-meter backstroke as a senior.

“You should have seen me up there - 5-foot-6 sitting on the block with all these guys who were like 6-2, 6-3 stretching, and me saying, ‘What’s up, guys?’” Hamrick said.

Hamrick finished last out of six swimmers, but no matter. “I actually think that is a more impressive feat than any of the poker accomplishments I’ve had since,” he said. “I think that’s way cooler than winning some poker tournament. I worked harder at that than I ever did playing cards, which just came kind of natural.”

Hamrick tapped into the burgeoning gambling craze about the same time much of the rest of the country did, after the movie Rounders, starring Matt Damon, Edward Norton and John Malkovich, came out in 1998. Hamrick, a Redford senior working part-time as a car audio salesman for Best Buy, and his underage buddies traveled to Soaring Eagle Casino in Mount Pleasant on an increasingly regular basis.

“We’d play home games—nickel-and-dime games like Follow the Queen,” said Hamrick.

“Buy-ins were like 20 bucks. We’d actually sneak into Soaring Eagle all the time. The trick is you’ve got to go in through the snack bar because the security guards don’t get you. I think I actually spent my 18th birthday in the casino. I’d take a portion of my paycheck and go see how I could do.”

Hamrick was hooked by Texas Hold ‘em as though getting sideswiped by a Longhorn steer.

“I was doing OK,” he recalls. “It wasn’t enough to think about quitting my job or anything, but I won $2,000 one weekend and for someone who works at Best Buy, that’s a ton of money.”

Then came a crucial phase in Hamrick’s evolution from amateur to professional. It’s a cautionary tale he insists younger gamblers need to consider, lest they also teeter on the edge of financial disaster.

“I was a freshman at Michigan State and had a really bad run,” said Hamrick, who was on the verge of addiction. “I maxed-out some credit cards while playing online. I had to tell my mom because I needed to be bailed out. I actually stopped playing for a year-and-a-half or so. It was a couple thousand dollars, but at the time, for a broke college kid, it was a lot of money. I didn’t have a problem to the point where it was tough to quit, and I stopped playing, worked three jobs and got back on my feet.”

One of the ways he and a buddy made money

Photography J. Robin Sumbler

red-hot poker

was by running a home game on Monday nights in the off-campus house they shared with nine other roommates. Those games were “100 percent” illegal, said Hamrick— it’s OK, the statute of limitations has since passed—but hardly a rarity in college towns, and even attracted certain members of the lawenforcement community.

“The rest of the roommates didn’t like us because they’d come home from class and they’ve got 30 poker players in the living room,” Hamrick said. “But I bought nice TVs and stuff so they didn’t mind it too much. When the money became substantial enough, it seemed like I was just wasting time doing anything else, especially since I could always go back to college.”

There’s no way knowing how many MSU students required the services of a personal accountant during that time, but he was one of them while paying taxes for the $10,000-$20,000 he was making a week playing online poker.

“It was really tough to do anything else,” he said. “At one point, I had $300,000 in my online poker account. I grew up really broke in Redford.

My mom was a single-parent raising Yale and me, and she did a great job, but we never had a ton of money. It’s obviously not a very easy thing

to say, ‘Hey, mom, I’m gonna quit school to play professional poker,’ but that’s what I did.”

Hamrick shifted some of his attention to the lucrative tournaments that have become a staple of nightly cable TV. He shed his amateur status the day he filed his first tax return with his occupation listed as “professional poker player.”

Bigger things were foreshadowed in ’08 when, at the age of 25, Hamrick won $591,869 for finishing 10th in the exclusive World Series of Poker Main Event. Hamrick was allowed to sit at the final table for the November Nine, in which each of the nine finalists was guaranteed a minimum of $900,670 and the winner got $9.1 million, but he was the first to be eliminated while earning the nickname that sticks with him.

“I was at the final table, which is a big deal, but I didn’t technically make the final table and they called me the ‘Bubble Boy’ for that,” Hamrick said. “It was the first time I was ever on TV, and I was on quite a bit. Even though I had been succeeding at poker for quite a while, that’s when most people first heard of me and that’s when it became OK to be a professional poker player with all my family and friends.”

In June 2009 alone, Hamrick made more than $135,000 in WSOP events. He also

L I M I T E D

fulfilled a long-time ambition when he opened Club on the River, a gambling room that’s legal in Michigan as long as 50 percent of the proceeds go to charities such as the Knights of Columbus, the Lansing Film Festival and the Michigan Wildlife Conservatory.

Patrons pay a $25 buy-in to play Texas Hold ‘em or Omaha Hi-Lo. And while a successful poker player can leave the club $200 to $500 richer, Hamrick will be happy to break even.

And if the current renovation and addition of a full-service bar and restaurant turns it into a money-making proposition after its grand reopening in January, so much the better especially for Hamrick’s blood pressure level.

Poker isn’t for the faint of heart, impetuous or squandering kind, and Hamrick gives this advice to anyone who wants to try to follow in his shuffling footsteps.

“Don’t have delusions of playing it for a living,” he said. “For every five or six guys who I know that play for a living, there are thousands I know who tried and failed. It’s a very hard thing to do because if you go broke playing poker, you can’t buy into the games.

And it you can’t buy into the games, it’s really tough to have a job.” H

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Hard Bodies With Hardware Amy Watson and Ben Haag of Auto-Owners Insurance display their hard-earned bodybuilding trophies.

Photography andy flanagan

Imagine spending 10 weeks eating six times a day at specific intervals, drinking nothing but water and working out five times a week for 1½ to 2 hours.

Sounds daunting, doesn’t it? Yet that’s how two mid-Michigan residents, Amy Watson and Ben Haag, lived for most of the first part of last year. They decided - for different reasons - to enter the world of competitive bodybuilding.

Actually, Watson and Haag threw themselves whole-hog into the sport. Most people are happy to compete in one or two events a year.

But they decided to compete in four shows in 2010, which meant strict diets and workout routines for over four months.

“We went big,” Haag said with a laugh.

When he told other bodybuilders how many shows they were doing, Haag was called “insane.”

He was told that professional bodybuilders claim doing three shows, spaced out over the course of a year, is pushing it.

Watson and Haag, though, not only did four shows, but they did them in a span of about seven weeks. And here’s the kicker: Competing against 50 to 100 other bodybuilders, they finished in the top five in every show. Not bad for first- (Haag) and second-year (Watson) competitors.

“To place in your first year, you had to have done something right,” said Haag, 27, who along with Watson, 28, works at Auto-Owners Insurance Company.

Said Watson of the high finishes: “You

compete and do well, but then you want to see how much better you can do the next time.”

Watson and Haag took different paths to bodybuilding. Watson began competing in Figure, a women’s-only division, in 2009 at the urging of her trainer, Jenn Averill.

“It was more of a challenge Jenn posed to me - I was like, yeah, I can do that!” said Watson, who lives in DeWitt. “I used to be a runner and I needed something else because it wasn’t working out for my skeletal structure. My hips would hurt after a mile or two.”

After constantly being encouraged to take up bodybuilding from close friends, Haag chose to enter the world of bodybuilding with direction from his trainer friend, Troy Smith, who had competed in the past.

Because he has a well-developed physique, eats a balanced diet and has a constant need to push himself to his limitations and then some, Haag constantly has to tell people that he isn’t using steroids to bulk up.

“One of the reasons I decided to do this was I wanted to prove to people I am all natural and don’t take anything to be the way I am,” said Haag, who grew up on a farm and lives in Lansing. “Whenever I tell people I don’t take anything, they don’t believe me.”

Initially, they were looking at doing only two shows in 2010. But when the NPC (National Physique Committee) and INBF (International Natural Bodybuilding & Fitness Federation) published their schedules, adding two more shows to their calendar extended the dieting phase only another week or two. They decided they might as well go for it.

The hard work began the first week of January, 10 weeks before their first competition. That’s when Watson and Haag began their routine of rigorous diets (eating six times a day) and workouts.

Their diets consisted of chicken (for protein), a limited amount of rice or sweet potatoes for complex carbohydrates, and a fibrous vegetable, such as broccoli or asparagus. In order to make sure they were losing only fat and retaining as much muscle as possible, they had to eat a large amount protein while almost completely cutting out all sugars, carbs and anything else that was not needed for muscle tissue maintenance.

Haag was eating three pounds of chicken a day and only about 1½ cups of carbs.

“Eating is such a social thing,” Watson said.

“It’s ‘Let’s go out and grab something to eat for lunch,’ or ‘Let’s meet up and go have a few drinks. When you’re on this diet, you literally have to measure your water, and you have to eat your measured meals at specific time intervals. There is no going out and grabbing something to eat.

“A few times that we did go out to eat (while JANUARY 2011

25

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it was still a few weeks out from the shows), I would pack a food scale to measure the amount of meat we ate. Then you’re constantly asking for a detailed breakdown of the menu items and special ordering everything plain or on the side - like broccoli - no butter, none of that delicious salty seasoning, just plain. After you get done ordering you get a little scared that they may do something to your food just because you made so many special requests!”

After they figured out how much fat to cut from their bodies, Watson and Haag had to tailor their workout routines to fit their plans. About three weeks prior to a show they moved to a lighter workout routine, in part because the loss of weight also means a loss of energy supply.

“You don’t have the energy to push a lot of weight around,” Watson said. The diet and workouts paid off: Haag went from 206 pounds (with 10-12 percent body fat) to a lean 188 pounds with 2.3 percent body fat, and Watson went from 132 pounds (with 17 percent body fat) to 117 with 7.8 percent body fat.

Watson and Haag would begin preparing for their shows six days prior to the event. This meant eliminating all carbs from their diet for the first three days. On the fourth day they would add a few carbs back while reducing their water intake from two gallons a day to one. The fifth day they would eat a few carbs while their water intake was again reduced, this time to a half gallon.

The day before a show was “carb-up” day, which meant they would eat a half to a full cup of carbs for most of their meals. It was also the day they would start fully drying themselves out, which meant drinking 16 to 32 ounces of water in the morning, and then not drinking at all until they were off the stage Saturday night.

“We really wouldn’t have a drop of water until the competition was over,” Haag said.

“We would maybe use an ounce or two here or there just to wet our mouths, take our vitamins and brush our teeth, but that would be it.”

The reason they eliminated water was so they wouldn’t look “poufy” (bloated) for the competition. At this point they had to be careful regarding their water and carb intake. The carbs and water would go to their muscles and pouf them back up, but eating too many carbs would overflow into their skin and ruin their definition.

“You’ll also look really bad if you don’t eat enough carbs; you’ll look flat,” Watson said.

They day before a show, Watson and Haag would shave their entire bodies.

Ripped, My Dear Watson Watson, 28, lost 15 pounds and cut her body fat by nearly 10 percent, the bodybuilders’ definition of success.

“With the way the light reflects, you don’t want anything to distort your muscle or definition that’s what you’re going for,” Watson said.

Haag would also do additional posing and flexing while in the sauna, in order to squeeze out any additional water from his skin and muscle tissue.

“I would go in for maybe 20-40 minutes, and by the time I left I was able to drop 3-7 pounds just from the water I was able to sweat out,” he said.

The night before a show, they both would apply a tanner that is specially formulated for bodybuilding competitions.

“The darker you are, the more you can see definition in the muscle,” Haag said.

The competitions varied slightly. In Figure, the competitors have more body fat than female bodybuilders. The judges are looking for symmetry and muscular definition.

“It’s more feminine than women’s

bodybuilding,” Watson said. “They want you to still look like a lady.”

In male bodybuilding, the judges look not only for symmetry and muscular definition, but they also look for size and endurance as well.

Both said one of the hardest parts of competing is flexing.

“Holding those poses is a lot harder than what they look like,” Haag said. “Even in a ‘relaxed’ stance, you’re squeezing all of your muscles the entire time.”

to try and hit the gym, take care of your other chores, prep your six meals for the next day and try to maintain a social life.

“Your brain runs off sugars and you haven’t had any - even the natural sugar found in fruits - in a long time. You know how you get irritated when you start getting hungry? It’s even worse when you haven’t had any real sustenance.”

“You take things more personally,” Haag said. “You gotta remind yourself, they didn’t mean it that way, or ‘you’re overreacting here.’

Holding those poses is a lot harder than what they look like…even in a ‘relaxed’ stance, you’re squeezing all of your muscles the entire time.

“You don’t think it would be (difficult), and then you wake up the next day and you’re sore,” Watson said.

Disciplining yourself to become a bodybuilder isn’t easy, but one of the worst parts for Watson and Haag was their diet. Both said it affected their demeanor, especially at work. Watson said it made her “very emotional,” while Haag said, “You’re always angry or just moody.”

“It can really affect your work performance,” Watson said. “At the end of the day you’re exhausted because you spent all your energy staying focused at work. And then you have

Because it’s so draining, you’re kind of moody and you’d rather not talk if possible.”

Yet, both said learning to eat better - and differently - was one of the pluses of bodybuilding.

“Just being more conscious of what you’re eating and how much you’re eating,” Haag said.

“I still do it (eat smaller meals). Just knowing how much food can affect your life and your mentality, that’s kind of awe-striking.”

“You learn a lot about yourself and learn a lot how you react to situations and how much you rely on food and how much that can affect you,” Watson said.

Haag isn’t sure yet if he wants to continue with bodybuilding. Regardless, he said he got out of it what he was hoping to obtain, and he will continue to lead a lifestyle of exercise and watching his diet.

“I really wanted to emphasize to people that you don’t have to take anything to still compete or even look good,” he said. “You can do it naturally; it’s all about diet and exercise. You would be amazed at how much of a difference you will feel and see with a few healthy changes to your diet, and a little bit of exercise throughout the week can do.”

Watson plans on competing again this year.

“It takes awhile for you to forget how painful it can be when you’re prepping for it,” she said of bodybuilding. “But then usually in January you’re ‘Oh, wow, I need a new challenge,’ and that’s where the bug bites again.” H

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Ron Antes Pursues Perfection At Royal Scot

Ron Antes has bowled so many perfect 300 games that he can’t be sure of the exact number.

“I think it’s around 32 or so,” Antes said on a December afternoon at Royal Scot Lanes in Lansing. But his memory is much clearer of what happened at Royal Scot Lanes on October 13, 2010.

Bowling in the R.S. Singles Scratch League, Antes, of Wacousta, started with back-to-back 300 games. The league plays four games a week, two games on one pair of lanes in a head-tohead match, then two more on another set of lanes for another head-to-head match with a different opponent.

Antes moved to the new pair and started his third game with four strikes in a row before a stubborn 10 pin stood in the fifth frame.

Antes made the spare and struck out for a 279 game and an 879 series – the second-highest three-game series in Lansing bowling history.

He added a 240 in his fourth game for a fourgame total of 1,119 – or an average of 279.75.

“I think I was the most nervous shooting at that 10 pin,” said Antes, who was 63 when he rolled his big series and since has turned 64.

“I make 99 percent of my 10 pins. But after throwing so many strikes in a row, it was a little bit of a letdown. It was a little bit relaxing, too.”

Another amazing aspect of the big series and the back-to-back 300 games was that Antes had rolled a 300 just five nights earlier in a tournament at Royal Scot.

Antes is both a likely and an unlikely person 28 JANUARY 2011

to threaten the all-time Lansing record for a three-game series.

He’s likely because he already had an 868 to his credit three years ago at Pro Bowl. He struck on his first 32 deliveries before a 4 pin stopped him in the ninth frame of the third game. He also is a member of the Lansing Bowling Hall of Fame.

What makes Antes a bit unlikely is what happened seven years ago. Antes is a retired General Motors employee, worked as a pipefitter for 33 ½ years. One winter night after bowling, Antes went home and used his snow blower to clean out the latest dusting. Later that night, he suffered a heart attack.

“It just kind of came on me,” said Antes, who spent 12 days in the hospital. “I found out later that the doctors didn’t expect me to leave the hospital.”

Antes did not need open-heart surgery.

Instead, doctors inserted a stent to open an artery. It was three months before Antes returned to bowling, and he did so with some apprehension. His wife, Galeeta, was confident in his health but wondered if the setback would hurt his game.

“The first time out I wondered how he would do,” she said. “He had been up and around, and his recuperation was good, so I wasn’t worried about that.”

The apprehension was felt more by Antes.

“I almost pulled a muscle trying to be too careful,” Antes said. “I had to take a little time off. When I came back, I started throwing it the way I used to throw it.”

Antes is far from one of those 60-something bowlers who lazily rolls the ball down the lane.

He starts near the second set of arrows and takes five short steps in his delivery, finishing well short of the foul line.

“I use the five-step delivery because I think it helps me with my timing,” Antes said.

He throws the ball hard and turns it hard.

The timing device at Royal Scot recorded his deliveries consistently around 14 to 15 mph, while most of the others in the league were around 12 to 13 mph.

“Nobody here throws the ball as hard as I do,” Antes said.

Few score as well, either, although the R.S. Singles Scratch League is quite competitive.

Antes led the league with a 242 average through 36 games, but seven others have averages of 220 or better, including two in the 230s.

“He’s always helpful to everyone, even if he’s bowling against them, and he helps me, even though my scores aren’t worth mentioning,” Galeeta Antes said. “He just enjoys seeing people bowl well.”

On the day of Antes’ big series, Marvin Jones was the opponent in the first two games. Antes

Photography dane robison

BY CHIP MUNDY

had just purchased an Ebonite Mission 2.0 ball and used it for the first time, and Jones was so impressed that he bought one before his second two-game set.

“I was so excited about the ball he threw, I had to have one, too,” Jones said with a smile.

“So far, it has been pretty good. But I know it’s the person behind the ball who makes the difference and not the ball itself.

“Ron seemed to be so focused right from the beginning that day.”

As of November 28, 2010, there had been 18 three-game 900 series recorded in bowling history. And only one was thrown in Michigan: Robby Portalatin had a 900 at Airport Lanes in Jackson on December 28, 2000.

Antes was 50 when he recorded his first 300 game. And he said his biggest thrill in bowling was winning the singles actual and handicap and all-events actual in the 1998 Lansing City Tournament. He began bowling in high school and has watched the game change with scoring much, much higher than it was 20 or 25 years ago.

In fact, Antes averaged 202 while bowling in Lake Odessa in 1990, and he was practicing eight games a day at the time.

“Because of all the good bowlers and the competitiveness, the scores have to be good to keep the bowlers coming back,” Antes said.

“But you still have to be able to repeat the shot consistently.”

As Antes did with 28 straight strikes in one of the most amazing performances in Greater Lansing history. H JANUARY 2011 29

news + notes

Wild Start

Prep Basketball Begins With Bang

BY CHIP MUNDY

High school basketball fans should circle March 1 on their calendars.

If the regular season finishes the way it started for Lansing Sexton and Lansing Eastern, it should be quite a finale when they meet for a rematch at Sexton.

Sexton opened the season Dec. 11 with a 70-67 victory at Eastern in a game that featured three of the top players in the state and an unforgettable finish.

Junior Denzel Valentine had the gamewinning play for the Big Reds, a swipe-andscore in the closing seconds. The son of Sexton coach Carlton Valentine finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, six steals and five assists.

Valentine, a 6-foot-5 guard, was No. 7 on the Detroit Free Press preseason list of top players in the state and the second junior on the list. He was No. 16 on The Detroit News list and already has committed to play at Michigan State.

Eastern was led by LaDontae Henton, ranked the No. 1 player in the state by the

Detroit Free Press and No. 5 by The Detroit News. Henton, a 6-5 senior forward who has signed to play collegiately at Dayton, had 31 points and 13 rebounds.

Sophomore Cha Cha Tucker had 17 points.

The 5-11 point guard was ranked No. 25 on the Free Press list and is the No. 2 sophomore in the rankings. The Detroit News listed Tucker at No. 17.

Eastern was No. 2 and Sexton No. 7 on the Free Press preseason rankings of teams in the state, regardless of class. The Detroit News had Eastern No. 4 and Sexton No. 12 in its preseason rankings.

The rematch at 7 p.m. March 1 should be quite an appetizer for the high school tournament. H

DEWITT/HOLT

collegian with 14 tackles and two sacks against Eastern Michigan. Zajac finished with 24 tackles and 73 assisted tackles for a team-high total of 97. In his WMU career he has 61 solo tackles and 116 assisted tackles for a total of 177.

Grand Valley State senior midfielder Kristen Eible of DeWitt and Northern Michigan sophomore goalkeeper Jessica Baker of Holt were honored on the all-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference first team for women’s soccer.

KALAMAZOO Mitch Zajac, a junior for the Western Michigan football team, finished his season on a strong note. Zajac, a Holt graduate and a 6-1, 233-pound linebacker, tied his career high with 10 tackles for the Broncos in their second-to-last game of the season against Central Michigan.

The following week, Zajac had his best game as a

LANSING

Michigan State senior midfielder Jeff Ricondo was an unlikely hero in November when he scored the game-winning goal for the Spartans in the second round of the NCAA men’s soccer tournament. Ricondo had not played in more than a month prior to the second-round game in Indianapolis. But he entered the game with 10 minutes to play and scored from 25 yards out to give MSU a 1-0 victory over Butler. The Spartans lost in the

Do you have News + Notes? Please send them to news@SportLansing.com 30 JANUARY 2011

third round – their furthest advancement since 1968 – and finished the season 13-8-1.

Eleven games into the season, the Davenport University women’s basketball team was undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Division II poll. The Panthers were 13-0, as senior guard Kallie Benike led the team with a scoring average of 14.6 points per game. Davenport advanced to the Sweet 16 a year ago and is a cumulative 144-25 in the previous five seasons.

Former major league catcher Mike Redmond is the new manager of the Lansing Lugnuts, succeeding Sal Fasano, who was promoted and will manage on the Double A level in 2011. Redmond had a 13-year majorleague career with the Cleveland Indians, Florida Marlins and Minnesota Twins. The Lugnuts will play Michigan State in the annual Crosstown Showdown on April 5 at Cooley Law School Stadium and will open the regular season at home on April 7 against West Michigan.

Jessica Clarke could not have written a better script for the end of her college career in women’s soccer. Clarke, a graduate of Lansing Christian, was a member of the Spring Arbor University team that won the National Christian College Athletic Association national championship. Clarke, a senior forward, drew an assist on Spring Arbor’s first goal of the championship game. It was 1-1 after regulation, and Spring Arbor defeated Palm Beach Atlantic in a penalty shootout after double-overtime. Clarke finished the season with eight goals and six assists.

OKEMOS Okemos High School graduate Nichole Schiro was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference co-offensive player of the year in women’s soccer. Schiro, a sophomore forward at Loyola University in Maryland, led the conference with 15 goals and had six game-winners. Schiro was involved in basketball, soccer and volleyball at Okemos and finished her high school career with 101 goals.

Football Honors Abound Ithaca senior Alex Niznak was the most decorated of all Lansing-area high school football players last fall. Niznak, who passed for 31 touchdowns and ran for 21 scores, was named captain of the Detroit Free Press Dream Team, the quarterback on The Detroit News Dream Team and the Offensive Player of the Year by the Lansing State Journal. He has made a verbal commitment to continue his career at Central Michigan University.

Senior offensive lineman Kenny Rogers of Holt made the Detroit Free Press Dream Team and The Detroit News Dream Team in addition to a spot on the Associated Press Division 1-2 team.

Caleb Higbie of DeWitt received first-team all-state honors at two positions. He was named to the Division 3-4 team at quarterback by the Associated Press and was selected to the Division 3 team by the Detroit Free Press at defensive back.

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finish line

A Closer Look NFL Officials Always Have Game

It’s January again, time for the 2011 NFL Playoffs and a month to look back on 29 years as a pro football line judge and side judge.

I wore No. 49. And I was there, just a few feet away, to signal a touchdown when the 49ers’ Dwight Clark soared for “The Catch” to beat the Cowboys. I also knew before the Patriots did that “The Tuck” would give Tom Brady another chance to edge the Raiders.

None of those moments could’ve happened for me without the help of special people like longtime friend and official Robert “Doc” Jones and Michigan State head coach Duffy Daugherty, who always believed in me.

After my days as a halfback and quarterback with the Spartans ended, I had the rare opportunity to try pro baseball with the Chicago White Sox and pro football with the New York Titans. A broken neck ended those dreams in 1962.

I started selling insurance for George Guerre.

And wherever I went, guys like Jack Derocher and Harold Bell kept talking about officiating.

Finally, I relented. I said, “I’ll pay my $5 to the MHSAA, get my patch and do one game.” It was Everett Junior High and Lansing St. Mary’s.

I had no idea what officials did. But I kind of enjoyed it and did three games that year.

The next year, Doc said Muddy Waters had called him. He needed some officials at Hillsdale, so I said, “Sure.” I went down there with no special certification and did my first collegiate game. Another guy who worked in the Michigan National Tower, John Hoekja, was the supervisor of officials for the MIAA, and asked me to come into the league the next year. That was 1967.

I worked three years in the MIAA, one in the Mid-American and one in the Big Ten. Doc and Duffy helped me every step of the way. I did six games in the Big Ten in 1971 but never an MSU game, just scrimmages. I did do a UCLA-Michigan game in Ann Arbor and told a Bruins assistant, “If you don’t get back, I’m going to have to eject you.”

It was Doug Weaver, my freshman coach at MSU, and he gave me a hug – probably not a good thing.

Doc always told me I should think about getting into the NFL. He said that should be my goal. I said, “Geez, that’s pretty high up the ladder.” But 32 JANUARY 2011

No. 24 Also No. 6 And No. 8 Former Lansing Everett and MSU star Dean Look was sixth in the 1959 Heisman Trophy voting and eighth on sport’s list of the top 150 Greater Lansing’s athletes of all-time.

I applied and got a call from Mark Duncan, the NFL supervisor of officials. He was in Michigan to talk to the Lions and said I was on their short list. We set up a lunch for 12:30 in Ann Arbor. He didn’t show up till 2 and only stayed 13 minutes.

He said, “I’d like you come into the NFL.” And I almost tried to talk him out of it. I said, “Maybe it’d be good if I have a couple more years as a college official.” He said, “You know enough about football. We’ll teach you about officiating. But talk to your wife. You’re going to do a lot more traveling.”

NFL officials could be doctors, lawyers, teachers or longshoremen. Most of them have played some football. But when they’re rookies, they all have to carry the footballs, scrub them down and make sure we have peanuts, candy and water for our Saturday meetings. You usually come in at one position and stay there, unless you move up to be a referee.

I was a little bit different that way. When they added the side judge, I moved from being a line judge, right on the line of scrimmage, to the other side of the field, 20 yards deep, for the next 22 years. That’s where I was for the NFC Championship in Candlestick Park in January 1982, when Joe Montana hit Clark in the back of the end zone.

I’d had a heated discussion with 49ers coach Bill Walsh just before halftime. I’d called defensive pass interference against Ronnie Lott for cutting Drew Pearson off, before Lott intercepted and ran it back 50 yards. When I told the referee, Jim Tunney, what I had, he said, “Oh, my! That’s going to cause some excitement!” And it sure did. Walsh kept saying, “That’s terrible! How could you do that?”

But all people remember is Clark’s catch. I saw him coming across the back of the end zone, very close to the end line. The cornerback, Everson Walls, was right there. And I thought Montana was throwing it away. Clark had to go way up to get it. Even then, Dallas had another chance. It got to about the Niners 40 before Roger Staubach threw an interception. If the Cowboys had scored, Clark’s catch wouldn’t have mattered.

It was was a lot different from that day in New England, when we had about 6 inches of snow. Everyone thought Brady had fumbled.

But when I looked up on the big screen, I turned and went the other way. The Patriots said, “Where are you going?” I said, “I think you’re getting the ball back.” That’s what the referee, Walt Coleman, thought, too.

I was getting ready for my 30th and final year in 2001, when the league’s cardiologist didn’t like what he saw. An angiogram showed I needed triple-bypass surgery. But just when I thought I was done, they asked me to come back as a trainer of officials. My wife, Miki, liked it because it got me out of the house again. And that’s what I do today.

Only four guys have officiated in the league more than 29 seasons. But at age 73, I enjoy getting to the game site by about noon on Saturday, reviewing the previous week’s highlights – the good and the bad – and going over rules questions.

Everyone takes a test each week. I’m just glad to have stood the test of time. H

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