The RoJo story hits the fan...

OK, so I'm not going to spend too much time on this, as I am crying inside just typing the words.

Looks like Ronald Johnson will not be committing to the University of Michigan.

Why, you ask? So do I. Months ago, it seemed like RoJo was firmly headed to Ann Arbor, despite the fact that he would be entertaining other offers from OSU, Florida, and USC. Conventional wisdom had the kid sticking close to home, due to his close relationship with his family, and going to play with former Muskegon teammate Terrence Taylor.

But due to yesterday's events, it seems that scenario will not come to be. Ronald's mother called Michigan and told them not to bother taking their final visit to his home in Muskegon, yet Florida, USC, Ohio State, and Michigan State were/are all allowed to make their final pitch.

Why is this? Countless rumors are flying, so I guess you can believe what you want. A person close to the situation has told me that there may have been some improprieties in the way RoJo's Michigan recruitment was handled...but I am not saying by who. Thing is, Ronald's mother decided to remove Michigan from the running after discovering this. I can't say I blame her. I do not have personal knowledge of the matter, so I'm not going to speculate what happened. All we know now is that RoJo probably will not be wearing a winged helmet next fall.

So what team now has the inside track on one of the best athletes in the nation? Many believe that it's a dead heat between Florida and USC, both programs of high notoriety who can boast recent national championships. But I caution, do not remove Michigan State from your radar just yet. The Spartans made a shrewd play by offering Ronald's younger brother Corey a scholarship this past fall, despite the fact that he was only 16 years old at the time and not a highly recruited prospect. Some said it was a play to get RoJo, who is very close to his brother.

No matter what it was, MSU has a very viable shot at Ronald Johnson, because they remain the only in-state program in the picture. It doesn't hurt that Ronald's teammate from this year, Ashton Leggett, also committed to the Spartans. In addition, Mark Dantonio has been pushing his religious values on many of his recruiting pitches, and that is something that would matter to Ronald, who has decided to make his official announcement at his church on Super Bowl Sunday.

Regardless of where this kid goes, I wish him the best. In covering him the past couple years for FOX, he's been nothing but a class act, and a great kid to talk to. I am sad because I know he will succeed at whatever school he chooses, even if it's not Michigan.

Ronald Johnson update

Okay, okay, so the Keith Nichol thing didn't go over so well.

Not my fault though...seems that having a winning record and going to bowl games that matter (or maybe just going to a bowl in general) ended up being important to a kid who won a state title. Hmmm...top athletes enjoy winning...revolutionary theory.

So anyways, with that saga out of the way, I'm going to try and concentrate on our other local stud, Muskegon's Ron Johnson...the trick here is that he's being courted by some of the country's most elite programs...so I'm guessing that any information I gather on him will be flopped within 48 hours and turned into another huge embarrassing failure, but screw it, here goes:

According to our Michigan insider, Josh Helmholdt (http://www.thewolverine.com/), the Wolverine's D-coordinator Ron English was at the Johnson household last week and suggested that RonJon take his U of M visit first, rather than last, which was originally planned. So RonJon spent last weekend in Ann Arbor, touring the campus and watching the USC - UCLA game with the team. According to Josh he enjoyed his visit a lot, and had some slight feelings about giving Michigan a verbal at that time. But RonJon remains committed to taking the rest of his visits...next up is USC on the weekend of December 15th. Ohio State and Florida will also invite him on campus some time in January.

So, with the official signing day for recruits coming up in early February, looks like RonJon will be stretching out the recruitment process as long as possible. And when you're getting flown around to Southern California and Gainsville for free during the school year...who can blame him? More news as the story develops.

The West side...becoming the best side?

I felt a little bit of deja vu while at Ford Field this past weekend (and no, I did not feel like Denzel Washington; though it would be sweet if everything I said sounded way cooler than it actually was thanks to my deep voice and bad a$$ attitude). Last year West Michigan sent five teams to the State football Finals, and four came out victorious. While this year once again five of the eight games featured teams from the West side (though there were actually six teams present, as Coopersville and Zeeland West faced off in an all-West Division Four final), and four teams brought home State Finals hardware.


I would like to think it was my intimidating sideline presence that caused the East side teams to fold in the face of our local boys; but as anyone who played football with me can tell you, the only feeling the sight of me in pads elicits would be overconfidence.

But seriously folks, we've come a long way since the days where it was just an event for a West side team to make it far enough into the playoffs to have the honor of being blown out by a Detroit football power. Now I know Muskegon holds the state's record for wins by a school, but they have not enjoyed the amount of State Finals success as a program like East Grand Rapids simply because they are forced to traverse the Division 1 or D2 road every November.

Coming from a guy who hung up his cleats 5 years ago, a lot has changed in how the East side views teams from the West Michigan area. In earlier years it seemed like the East siders were just another breed of player; much faster, bigger, meaner than the average West side squad. I remember watching teams like Orchard View and Fruitport roll through team after team with their dominating running game, only to get snuffed out by some super-squad from Detroit that spread the field in a college-style offense and ran right past guys used to grinding it out in the mud.

But now all that has changed, and I believe the coaches deserve a lot of the credit. Guys like Tony Aneese (Muskegon), Ralph Munger (Rockford), and Peter Stuursma (EGR) have figured out how to close the deal in the highest divisions. Others such as Wing-T master John Shilito (Zeeland West) have realized that a massive running game doesn't mean much if you can't contain a pass-oriented offense. Teams have opened up the playbook enough where they actually throw the ball even if they don't have to (translation: when you're down by 21 and that draw call on 3rd and 20 doesn't look quiet as sexy as it did in the 1st quarter), and kids no longer seem to be as intimidated by the speed and size of many East side teams, mostly because the coaching staffs have them training to the point where the past two years it was apparent that the faster and more confident teams were from the West side.

West siders have been arguing for some respect for many years, but as usual those from the East have been reluctant to give it. The success of these past two years has gone a long way to diffuse the idea that the West side brand of football is inferior to that of our cross-state rivals. Now, if only we could get the same respect in basketball.