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Sweet(s) Talk. …

11-win seasons elusive for ‘winningest team’ in country

Sweet(s) Talk. …

I found this on Twitter, so I verified it. In the last 110 years, Michigan football has not had back-to-back 11-win seasons. In fact, the last occurrence of this in Ann Arbor?….. Head coach Fielding Yost led the Wolverines to three straight 11-win seasons from 1901-1903. Staying in the state for a comparison to this fact; while head coach at Michigan State, Mark Dantonio-led Spartan teams won 11 or more games in back-to-back seasons on more than one occasion — 2010 and 2011, then in three consecutive seasons from 2013-2015. Bo Schembechler didn’t accomplish this? Gary Moeller?? Rich Rodriguez?? Brady Hoke-y Pokey?? One would think with all the national attention “Big Blue” gets, that this can’t be so. Well it is so! …

Former Bayport, Wis., High School offensive lineman Brayden Doyle, son of Norway High School Class of 1990 graduate Tom Doyle, has signed a National Letter of Intent of play football at Central Michigan. Tom and his wife, Amy, are both retired Air Force veterans. I was out for a much needed walk one afternoon recently and ran into East Vulcan’s Jerry Truitt. He and his wife, Linda, are Tom’s parents, and Jerry was proud to tell me about his grandson’s success and upcoming college football future. The 6-4 275-pound guard is a 3-star recruit according to 247sports.com; the Air Force Academy, New Mexico State, North Dakota and South Dakota had interest in the big O-lineman. …

I’ll go out on a limb and assume that many of you reading this column have been watching the ESPN/NETFLIX documentary series “The Last Dance,” about the 1998 Chicago Bulls. The current national sports media gets scoffed at, fingers pointed at, etc., etc. for some of the ruthless reporting it does. Back in July 1993, James Jordan Sr., the father of Bulls great Michael Jordan was murdered. The report in the national media that surfaced, the one with enough audacity to connect MJ’s high stakes gambling with his father’s murder, was completely inexcusable and repulsive in this writer’s opinion. I count my blessings every day that I am not in a situation where I am expected, like a National Enquirer staffer, to “report” about things of that nature. No wonder MJ walked away from the game for nearly two years. …

Northern Arizona University men’s basketball coach Shane Burcar is a Keweenaw area native, having grown up in Chassell and attending high school in Hancock. After attending Gogebic Community College in Ironwood, Burcar moved to Arizona and lived with his sister. He coached junior high, high school and at a couple different junior colleges. He’s well-known in the Phoenix Valley for a very successful run as head coach at Mesa High School, where he won 277 games and a state championship.

While at Mesa High, he took his teams to East Lansing for annual Michigan State University team camps, thanks to fundraising and generous parents in the booster club. There, Burcar started gaining a rapport with Tom Izzo, soaking up knowledge during coaches socials in Izzo’s basement over a catered meal and Spartans game film.

When Burcar returned to East Lansing last fall with the NAU interim head coach tag, Izzo gave his fellow U.P. native full access to MSU offseason prep and Detroit Pistons practices, as Dwane Casey’s team was in town for training camp.

Izzo told Burcar to come by his office after a summer day of prep.

In an interview with Matt Schoch of the Detroit News, Burcar said:

“He shut the door in his office in his meeting room. Just me and him for an hour-and-a-half,” Burcar said. “He’s telling me, ‘These are just suggestions: These are things I would do over the years.’ I thought, ‘Are you kidding me? I’m taking this to the bank.’

“I’m 47 years old, but I’m not too old to say he’s an inspiration to me. I would say he’s an inspiration to long shots making it in this industry. Anyone you talk to in this industry knows that he’s the best of the best with giving his time. He’s real, man.”

Yes, Coach Izzo most certainly is real and gracious Mr. Burcar, I would have to concur. …

Matt “Sweets” McCarthy can be reached at (906)-774-2774 ext: 222 or at mmccarthy@ironmountaindailynews.com.

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