Peterson: Rambling in a very rambling year

January 20, 2021

Since it’s been such a rambling year in every respect, I figured I would ramble through the sports of the past week. First off, how about that North Central High School 8-man football team? The Jets — the most successful sports small school in the Upper Peninsula — continued to impress with a big 70-48 state title win over Portland St. Patrick. The amount of offense against a very solid team had to make points with all observers. The fact that it capped an unbeaten season and was the third overall for the Jets was just icing on the cake. North Central also has a couple of ...

‘Bama coach should be in NFL

January 13, 2021

A wise man once told me that if you want to know what the future is going to be, simply study the past. In the case of college football and it’s national championship series, that old saying holds true. Alabama has dominated the history of the big game. In fact, ‘Bama has won six national crowns in the last 15 years. The easy victory that Alabama scored over Ohio State this week clearly illustrated that domination. An observer got the idea that the Crimson Tide could have named the score if it wanted to. Ohio State, while a fine team itself, was outmatched in nearly every ...

Niemi: Capitol rush an attack on democracy

January 7, 2021

I’ve never been more ashamed to be an American citizen than Wednesday. Seeing the images of President Donald Trump supporters breach the U.S. Capitol, interrupting the democratic process as Congress was in session, immediately made me think of the service members who have fought and died for our country while protecting our constitution. I wonder what those fallen soldiers would say about an improvised explosive device being found in the Capitol building after it was breached for the first time since the British did it in 1814. Germany was a democratic nation before being ...

Peterson: Bowl season gets a little muddied

January 6, 2021

The college football bowl season got underway the last couple of weeks with only a glitch or two. One of the messups came in the Tulsa — Mississippi State game when both teams mixed it up in as good a brawl as you’re going to see in football. This took place at, of all places, the Armed Forces Bowl. There were many punches (some of the sucker variety) thrown. And even a karate kick by one MSU player that could have been in the same category as Cobra Kai. To make it even worse, the Mississippi State Mike Leach said he told his players to “cut it out” while he was being ...

Peterson: Packers ready to win it all

December 30, 2020

Perhaps it was just the competition. Or playing in the frozen confines of friendly Lambeau Field. But it’s apparent — after an impressive win over the over-rated Tennessee Titans on Sunday — that the Green Bay Packers have what it takes to get to the Super Bowl this season. I’m not denying that I’ve been an anti-Packer fan for as long as I can remember. They’ve cost me more money in bets over the years to ever forget that. But I have to admit this edition of the Packers has enough talent in this strangest of all years to win the National Football ...

Peterson: Changes that need to get done

December 23, 2020

There are any number of things that will require fixing in 2021. I know that much will depend on the status of COVID-19 — and what variations of the disease are coming down the road. One of the many things that need fixing is the status of high school sports in Michigan. I believe that prep sports shouldn’t have been halted as early and often as they have been. The main reason for that reasoning is that many surrounding states (Wisconsin, Indiana and Iowa) have proceeded with sports for youngsters in this time. And in only a few cases has the threat of COVID even come up in ...