Peterson: Finlandia women get lift from locals

February 26, 2020

The Finlandia University women’s basketball team is enjoying one of its better seasons in quite awhile. With a nine-game winning streak — and overall 14-11 record this winter — coach Mariah Dunham’s team goes into the AACA tournament this weekend as the number two seed. You have to go all the way back to the 2003-2004 campaign to find a Lions squad as successful as this year’s edition. That Finlandia team of 16 years ago was led by local products Jill Koski or Baraga and Brooke Sirard of L’Anse. Koski, a great all around player, ended her career as the all-time ...

MHSAA still needs to tweek plan

February 19, 2020

The Dollar Bay-Tamarack City High School boys basketball program has been one of the most successful in the state of Michigan the past three years. The Blue Bolts, a Class D state semifinalist the last two seasons, has lost only a handful of games in that period of time. Three of those losses came at the hands of a record-setting North Central team and a powerful Southfield Christian team. And those two teams have claimed the last three state titles. It appears the Bolts have a good chance to go 20-0 again this winter, but will not get the chance to play a single tourney game on ...

Peterson: Gremlins, Jets 1970 matchup memorable

February 12, 2020

The 1970 basketball game between Houghton and Jeffers could only be described as a one-of-a-kind happening. Even though I wasn’t there to witness it, I’ve probably heard more about it than most other local athletic events since then. The score of the game — a 134-62 victory by Houghton almost exactly 50 years ago — wasn’t notable because of the number of points scored. It drew headlines because Gary Lange and Barney Salo of the Gremlins combined to score 109 points — still a state record for most points by two teammates in a single game. Lange notched 60 points, which ...

Peterson: Two seniors still going strong

February 5, 2020

It’s been said that advancing age is merely a state of mind. But don’t tell that Bruce Coppo of Calumet or Harold Filpus of Tapiola that. The two senior citizens have shown clearly that age is just a matter of mind for some people. In Coppo’s case, he went out on the ice recently for the CLK Wolverines in a game against Eagle River. Nevermind that Coppo, better known as “Cukie,” was playing against players forty or fifty years younger. He was out on the ice for a purpose — the game marking his eighth decade as a hockey player. I used to kid him that he first ...

Peterson: Super Bowl again is Super Hype

January 29, 2020

I can honestly say that I’ve watched every Super Bowl that’s ever been played. And with very few exceptions, all of them have been overhyped by the media. Of course, probably a half of the people in this country can make the same claim as I have done. The Super Bowl is like Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July and Labor Bay wrapped into one party-filled extravaganza for Americans. Sometimes, it seems like there’s more interest in just who will provide the halftime entertainment. Will it be Hootie and the Blowfish? Or maybe even Janet Jackson (without a wardrobe gaffe). And ...

Peterson: Playoffs show NFL’s future

January 22, 2020

Those football fans who are curious about the future of the National Football League got a good look at it this past weekend. I don’t think there’s much doubt that younger — and much quicker — quarterbacks are the wave of the future. Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and San Francisco’s Jimmy Garrapolo clearly showed they are ready to replace such legends as Tom Brady of the Patriots and Aaron Rodgers of the Packers. And there are a handful of other quarterbacks in their 20’s who are on the cusp of success in the league. Age is the one thing even the all-time football ...