Midnight madness

By Jon Malavolti
C & G Sports Writer

East Detroit excited to kick off football season 

Eastpointe East Detroit’s football team plans to be first and last this season.

That is, East Detroit will be among the first teams in the state to start practicing, and hopes to be one of the last playing, as its sights are set on the playoffs.

The Shamrocks are kicking off the 2010 campaign at 12:01 a.m. — just after midnight — Aug. 9. The season-opening practice will be at Memorial Field and is open to the public.

Aug. 9 is the first day teams are allowed to practice, and East Detroit plans on taking advantage of the momentum it built last season to get this year going as early as possible.

“The kids are really excited about the season, and so are the coaches and community,” coach Paul Windham said. “We’re ready to go.”

Windham said he got the idea to try out a season-opening midnight practice from its popularity among the college basketball and football ranks.

“We want to keep the enthusiasm going from last year,” the coach said. “Everybody’s pretty excited about it. We’re hoping for a large event. A lot of people responded positively about it. It’s really taken off.”

Windham said it would mostly be a standard practice, but with maybe a little more scrimmage-type action thrown in for the crowd.

“That’s what they want to see, more so than blocking stations. We want to entertain, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

The coach also noted that the band would be in attendance, the concession stand will be open and there will be “special things” for the fans.

“It should be a fun event,” Windham added.

The coach is hoping the community continues its support of the team from last season, when the Shamrocks fell one game shy of making the playoffs.

“It’s really huge for us,” Windham said. “It’s really important for us to get the support. We’ve got to feed off whatever momentum we can.”

The Shamrocks will need all the momentum they can muster because later that day, they’ll be involved with a fundraiser at the Cloverleaf Restaurant. The players will be working as servers throughout the day.

“Everyone’s kind of getting involved — parents, lots of businesses are involved and supporting us. We’re really excited.  Now we want to win some games.”

The coach said there would be plenty of challenges for the Shamrocks to overcome this season.

“It’s not going to happen overnight,” he said.

But a twilight jump on the competition should definitely get things going in the right direction at East Detroit.

Panthers pride

Speaking of the competition, challenges and momentum from last year, Roseville High is anxiously awaiting the opening of the season, too.

The Shamrocks and Panthers will pick up where they left off last season, facing off in an Aug. 26 season-opening game, with Roseville serving as hosts.

Roseville topped East Detroit in overtime of the regular-season finale between the two rival squads, advancing to the playoffs with the win.

“It was a big game last year; it’s going to be huge for a number of reasons (this year),” Windham said.

But the showdown with the Shamrocks isn’t the only big game on the schedule for the Panthers. Roseville will head to Fraser High Sept. 24 to cap off a week of charity fundraising events by the schools’ athletic and other activity programs.

Check upcoming editions of the Eastsider for more information on the charity game, and be sure to check out detailed season previews on Roseville and East Detroit’s squads in the special Aug. 25 Prep Football Preview Section.

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Jon Malavolti at jmalavolti@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1040.