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Time is right for Friday night semifinals

You will be hearing more about this in the coming weeks, but the Michigan High School Athletic Association is planning to have a prime-time telecast of a semifinal football game on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m.

The MHSAA has designated Troy Athens as the site of the game, which will be shown live on MHSAA.TV and on participating cable systems, including Comcast Channel 900.

The MHSAA's representative council approved the plan because it will not conflict with the volleyball and swimming state championships that day; those should be over by kickoff.

I'm intrigued that the game will be played at night since, for several years now, the MHSAA hasn't let semifinal football games be played at night, except in the Yooper Dome in Marquette.

Anyone who attended the 1989 Class B semifinal game between East Grand Rapids and Farmington Hills Harrison at Flint's Atwood Stadium can understand the reasoning.

The game was played in an ice and snow storm and at one point, referee Joe Kavulich ordered the teams off the field. They only returned when Kavulich was ordered to resume the game.

Harrison won the game, 3-2, and no, Mill (The Thrill) Coleman did not hit a three-run homer to win it for Harrison. But considering the conditions, it would have been a tragedy had Coleman's brilliant high school career ended with a loss in that game.

At the time it seemed like a good idea to pull the plug on Friday night semifinal games, but now I'm not so sure.

If the MHSAA is willing to play a semifinal game that Saturday night, it should consider playing a few semifinal games that Friday as well.

Weather was the main reason the MHSAA stopped playing semifinal games on Friday nights. But for the most part at this time of year, the weather is better on Friday night. The wind seems to calm down as opposed to Saturday afternoons when the wind can wreak havoc with passing games.

And since 1989 we really haven't had a horrific storm on a Friday night of the semifinal weekend - maybe it's global warming.

Playing some Friday semifinal games would give football fans an opportunity to attend more than one semifinal game. It would also benefit even-numbered division teams that play championship games the following Friday, giving them a full week to prepare for the finals.

Travel is always a concern, but in several other sports the MHSAA hosts semifinal games on Thursdays and Fridays and those involved and their fans are expected to travel.

The MHSAA could solve the travel problems by limiting the Friday semifinal games to the metropolitan Detroit area.

And giving fans the opportunity to attend a Friday semifinal may prove to be a financial boon to the MHSAA, which still has a $5-million bill hanging over its head.

Besides, having a semifinal game to cover on Friday night would get me out of the house, which would be good news to my first wife.

This isn't an issue the MHSAA would have to run by its representative council for approval. It just needs to change some Saturday games to Friday night.

A bonus is fans whose teams play Friday night would be able to stay at home the next day and watch the much-anticipated Michigan-Ohio State game … OK, how about the Michigan State-Penn State game?

Contact MICK McCABE at 313-223-4744 or mmccabe@freepress.com.