INSIDE: ENTERTAINMENT, B5 . FOOD, B8 . CLASSIFIED, B10-12 SECTION B . (WL) THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2012 OBSERVER & ECCENTRIC HOMETOWNLIFE.COM
SPORTS
BRAD EMONS, EDITOR bemons@hometownlife.com (313) 222-6851
Ferris coach eyes NCAAs
Dolinski lifts WSU tankers
Wayne State University freshman Kaylee Dolinski (Livonia Stevenson) helped Wayne State University earn the NCAA Division II National Women’s Swimming and Diving championship by one point over Drury University (Neb.) last weekend in Mansfield, Texas. Dolinski swam the third leg of WSU’s first-place 800-yard freestyle relay team and also scored points with a 13th in the 1,000 freestyle (10:17.2) and a 14th in the 1,650 freestyle (17:21.97). Dolinski, who attends WSU on an academic scholarship, also competed in the 200- and 500-freestyle events.
Livonia roots planted firmly By Brad Emons Observer Staff Writer
Bob Daniels has stood the test of time when it comes to NCAA Division I hockey coaches. The Livonia native and Churchill High grad is in his 20th year Ferris State’s head coach and is enjoying one of his most productive years as the 23-11-5 Bulldogs Milam enter NCAA Tournament as the second seed in the Midwest Regional. Ferris takes on third seed Denver (25-13-4) in the first round beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis. Top seed Michigan and No. 4 Cornell fill out the Midwest Regional bracket. Daniels guided Ferris to Central Collegiate Hockey League’s regular season title and earned CCHA Coach of the Year honors for the second time in his career. Not bad for a guy who has over 300 wins. “It’s funny how that happens,” Daniels said. “You arrive one day, you start working … you don’t even think much about it. You blink your eyes and it’s 20
years later. I guess for me it just seems like I started yesterday. It probably has as much to do as how I enjoy being here at Ferris State and what a wonderful place it is to work. I guess when I take time off in the summer and look back … 20 years is a long time to be here. “I’ve appreciated the fact that it’s not your own program. You have so many different people that are involved in building it that you look back and say, ‘Wow, we’ve built a really strong and reputable hockey program here at Ferris State.’” Daniels was a three-time Coach of the Year in the North America Junior Hockey League (1983-86) for the Hennessey Engineers. He broke into the CCHA as an assistant at the University of Illinois-Chicago (1987-89) before serving stints at FSU under John Perpich (1989-90) and John Mancini (1990-92) before being hired as the Bulldogs’ sixth head coach in school history. “I always knew ultimately that’s what I wanted to do,” Daniels said. “I did get a degree in accounting at Michigan State, but in the back of my mind I knew I would like to coach. Pretty much at a young age I knew (coaching) college hockey would be awesome experience if I could ever land a job in it.”
WHAC lauds MU’s Barley FERRIS STATE SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS
Ferris State men’s hockey coach Bob Daniels, a Livonia native, stands next to Miami University Senior Associate A.D. Steve Cady after receiving the CCHA Coach of the Year award recently in Detroit.
Daniels finished 21-16-4 in his first season and has remained a fixture ever since in Big Rapids. “Early on I had an (another job) opportunity, but I made a promise here that I would stay a minimum of five years,” Daniels said. “The first offer came within that five-year window. When I got the job, the thing they really emphasized — No. 1 — there
was stability in the program and not continue to roll coaches over. And two — they’d be willing to put resources in to match that. They said, ‘OK’ and they made the promise. They put in the resources and I tried to add the stability for them.” In 2002-03, Ferris was the first Please see DANIELS, B3
Table hockey enthusiasts eye weekend By Brad Emons Observer Staff Writer
weightlifters. His father, Dante, is a former AAPF and APF record holder who also competed as a body builder and now serves as Livonia Franklin High’s strength and conditioning coach for football. Mother Loni once squatted 380 pounds in the 148-pound divi-
Kevin Williams played table hockey as a kid, but then took a 25-year hiatus before he launched his own league in 2007 out of Livonia which is called CAGA, an acronym for Cheap Ass Goal Artist. He tried to make his comeback in the Detroit Table Hockey League, but found himself out of his element. “I got wiped out in that because when you haven’t played in 25 years, you get a little rusty,” said the 48-year-old Williams, who began playing during the 1970s with his cousins and brothers. “It (CAGA) was like a developmental league initially, which developed into a more competitive league.” Detroit remains a hotbed for ice hockey with one of the most successful NHL teams, the Red Wings, in the sport’s history. Now hockey fans will get a chance to play a miniature version of the game in Hockeytown, USA. Players from four countries will participate in table hockey fun this weekend as the U.S. Table Hockey Association, CAGA and the Detroit Table Hockey League will cohost a pair of tournaments at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Livonia. There will be two tournaments this time around — a Friday evening session played on restored old-school table hockey game followed by a Saturday all-day event played on games made by Stiga, the Swedish manufacturer of ping pong tables. What is table hockey? It’s the same fun game you might remember playing as a kid, with miniature hockey players attached to rods that you control with your hands, trying to score as many goals as you can while preventing your opponent from doing the same. Table hockey has made a comeback in the past decade thanks to the web. Approximately 46 players ranging in age from 14 to 60 from the U.S., Canada, Norway
Please see LIFTING, B3
Please see TOURNEYS, B3
Joe Fortin, an eighth-grader at Livonia’s Emerson Middle School, set three national records recently at the APF and AAPF Michigan State Championships in Taylor.
Heavy duty Middle school pair set lifting records By Brad Emons Observer Staff Writer
When it comes to doing the heavy lifting, a couple of eighthgraders from Livonia’s Emerson Middle School have no peers. Joe Fortin, 14, broke three national 13-15 age-group records in a meet sponsored by the American Powerlifting Federation and Amateur American Powerlifting Federation Michigan State Championships held recently in Taylor. Classmate Nick Tilley, also 14, added another national mark in the same meet. Fortin, who weighed in at 200 pounds, was scheduled to compete for lifters under 198, but had to be moved up a class. It didn’t matter because he squatted 405 pounds and bench pressed 250 — both national marks — and deadlifted 410. His combined total was 1,065 pounds, also a record. “I was hoping to break some national records,” Fortin said. “I was pretty confident. I was looking up the records at the school and felt I could go for them. Originally I was supposed to be in a lower class, but I got put up one more class. But I still
Livonia Emerson Middle School eighth-graders Joe Fortin (left) and Nick Tilley (right) each set APF and AAPF national records at the Michigan State Championships held recently in Taylor.
beat some records. “I was really excited about my bench (press) when I did that lift.” Tilley, meanwhile, competed in the 165-pound class and deadlifted 405 to set a new national standard. “That’s the one lift he’s really good at and we push each other in that lift,” Joe Fortin said. Fortin comes from a family of
Madonna University junior shortstop Jackie Barley (Tecumseh) was named Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Softball Player of the Week after batting .538 with two homers, a pair of doubles and eight RBI as the Crusaders went 3-1 at the Lindsey Wilson/Campbellsville (Ky.) Classic. She leads the 12-9 Crusaders in batting average (.493), doubles (nine), triples (two), RBI (22) slugging percentage (.753) and on-base percentage (.500).
Dynamo 1st
The Livonia YMCA Dynamo, an under-10 girls soccer team, captured first place with a 7-0-1 record recently during the second session at High Velocity Sports in Canton. Team members include Andrea Abramson, McKenna Coury, Allie Fulton, Alexis Gibbons, Mandy Laiacono, Jenna McCann, Olivia Pelles, Julianna Racette, Jada Sabir, Jade Sabir, Abby Woods and Emily Woods. The Dynamo is coached by Laura, Don and Lesley McDougall.
Cole earns tennis honor
Grinnell (Iowa) College senior Michael Cole (Livonia) was named Midwest Conference Men’s Tennis Performer of the Week after winning all four matches last weekend against Augustana (Ill.) College and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Cole teamed with Elliott Czarnecki to win twice at No. 1 doubles, and also posted a pair of wins at No. 6 singles. He is now 7-2 in singles play and 6-4 in doubles as Grinnell improved to 8-3 overall.
Rooney eyes homecoming
Mount St. Mary University (Md.) men’s lacrosse co-captain Brendan Rooney (Livonia/University of Detroit Jesuit) will return for a match beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday against the host University of Michigan in the first meeting between the schools. He has appeared in five games this spring for the 2-4 Mountaineers.