The Red Line
Raindrops keep fallingMy first memory of the 2009 prep football regular season is trying to take the Lake Linden-Hubbell team picture on a drizzly Thursday afternoon in August.
I couldn't write down the names for the caption on wet notebook paper and if you look closely at the picture in the Kickoff special section, there are imperfections because of water on the lens.
It remained wet and dreary the next day for scrimmages in Baraga and Ewen, which meant more iffy pictures and rainjackets.
It was wet and dreary on opening night when Houghton and L'Anse played at Sherman Field. There were some nice ones in the middle there, but Weeks 7, 8 and 9 featured downpours, snow pellets and the sideways rain/snow combination defying description that fell on Copper Bowl night.
It's the Keweenaw in autumn. It's unpredictable, I know, but keeping the camera dry felt like a full-time profession.
The good news is that there are many other things to more fondly remember the 2009 campaign by.
Of course, we've got three very talented teams still going at it in the state playoffs this weekend.
One of them, Lake Linden-Hubbell played a real barn-burner on a sunny Saturday afternoon against Hurley, Wis. The Lakes pulled it out on a great touchdown catch by Travis Ambuehl in the fourth quarter and the following Monday, we had a beautiful picture on our front page.
Over the following weeks, I got a few "attaboys" for the Ambuehl pic. There was just one problem: I didn't take it.
After the game, Ironwood Daily Globe Sports Editor Jason Juno asked me if I wanted the pic since he couldn't use it anyway (I doubt any Hurley fans wanted to relive that play) and it ended up adorning our page. For that, I'm thankful.
More than one person asked me if we cast the lone first-place vote for Calumet that tipped the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association poll in their favor after Week 6.
Not me, either, though the circumstantial evidence was enough to get me called an 'idiot' on the Internet.
The Copper Kings have proven their mettle over the season, but a home loss to Gladstone, which ended up finishing fourth in the five-team Great Northern Conference, was too hard to overcome.
Calumet's good, but it wasn't that good, at least not then.
For all the slings and arrows over the course of the year, there were still a lot of highlights: Calumet's Nate Sturos breaking away on an option play, Houghton's passion in winning the Copper Bowl, the resurgence of Ontonagon's program and its return to the playoffs, the crunching defense by the hometown Lakes at new-look Warner Field.
I've got a hunch that there's still a lot more football to be watched. We'll be taking some time to honor the best of the area with the All-UP selections (they come out Saturday) and hopefully watching some long playoff runs.
The arguments, the bad weather, the occasional running clock really pale in comparison to the passion these players bring to the game. Makes it worthwhile, whatever the conditions.
As I put my camera away for the first half last Friday at Sherman Field, I looked up into the sky, snowflakes falling down, and thought to myself, 'You know what, this has been a fun year.'" Hope you felt the same, too.
Brandon Veale can be reached at bveale@mininggazette.com.
