Category Archives: Sports

Chelsea Football vs Adrian: 26 September 2014

Chelsea traveled to Adrian to take on the Maples.

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The evening didn’t start well for me: when I arrived, I realized I’d left all my memory cards at home in Chelsea, about 45 minutes away. My dad (generously) offered to scour Adrian for a memory card or two to get me through the evening, so I just watched pregame warmups and hoped he’d be successful.

He wasn’t back with cards when the game started, but that was okay: the game didn’t start any better for Chelsea than the evening had started for me. Chelsea fumbled the first snap and Adrian took it back for a touchdown and a quick 7-0 lead. Then, to my great relief, my dad showed up with a couple cards (having had to visit four different stores to find them!), and I got to work.

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The Bulldogs got it together after that disastrous first snap and built a healthy 24-7 lead by the end of the half.

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This interception was a good moment…

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…in a half that had few good moments for Chelsea. Turnovers provided Adrian either with points or with an easier path to points, Chelsea’s offense ground to a halt, and the Maples slowly chipped away at the Bulldogs’ lead.

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Jacob had his helmet ripped off at the end of one play…

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…and he did not care for the officials’ decision not to call a penalty.

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Midway through the fourth quarter, Adrian took a 27-24 lead. The Chelsea offense responded with a long, methodical drive, much of which seemed to consist of runs to the left like this one.

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Eventually the offense was within field goal range, but there was still time to push for the end zone. Optimism was high when Chelsea had second and goal from the two, but a false start pushed the Bulldogs back, and the drive stalled.

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(There are three coaches visible in that photo, and they’re all striking the same pose! Coaches gonna coach.)

The field goal unit took the field…

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…and tied the game at 27 with under a minute to play. Adrian knelt to run out the clock, and the game went to overtime — Chelsea’s second overtime game of the year.

Chelsea won the toss and gave Adrian the ball first, and the Maples found the end zone. Chelsea had one possession to match Adrian’s touchdown.

Like so much else on Friday, it didn’t start well. First down…

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…was a seven-yard sack. That was followed by a false start and an incomplete pass, leaving Chelsea looking at third and goal from the 22. Justice Staton dropped back, rolled left to avoid pressure, and launched the ball into the end zone…

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…where Noah van Reesema came down with the ball, pulling it away from a defender for the improbable touchdown. The extra point once again tied the game, and Chelsea started the second overtime with the ball. On first down…

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…Kenny McDowell’s touchdown put the Bulldogs ahead, and Adrian had one possession to score. The Maples had third and goal at the one, but their third- and fourth-down passes to the corner of the end zone fell incomplete, and the Bulldogs began celebrating their 41-34 2OT victory!

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The 4-1 Bulldogs will be back in action this Friday at 7pm against Lincoln. This next part is VERY important, so pay attention: due to an incident that has made Lincoln’s stadium unavailable, the game will be at Ann Arbor Pioneer. Again, Chelsea will be playing Lincoln on Friday at 7pm at Ann Arbor Pioneer.

Vintage Base Ball in Chelsea: 23 August 2014

Both the Monitors and the Merries had a busy day on this Saturday back in August: after walking in the Chelsea fair parade, they each played a match. The Merries played the River Belles and the Monitors played the Early Risers, both from Detroit. (You may recall these clubs from Chelsea’s visit to Detroit’s Fort Wayne early in the summer.)

The Merries started the doubleheader.

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Chelsea Football vs Ypsilanti: 19 September 2014

On a beautiful fall evening, Chelsea welcome Ypsilanti to town for game 4 of the 2014 season. There were some special guests in town for this game:

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Those are members of Chelsea’s 1959 football team! They were recognized during the game:

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Also in attendance were Chelsea’s seventh- and eighth-grade football players. They were on the sidelines for pregame warmups as part of Future Bulldog Night.

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It won’t be long before we’re seeing those players on the field on Friday nights.

Okay, back to the usual Friday night events.

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Continue reading →

Vintage Base Ball in Flint: 6 September 2014

The Monitor Base Ball Club of Chelsea traveled to Flint to play the Lumber City Base Ball Club. The trip marked two firsts: it was the first time Chelsea had played in Flint, and it was the first time the Monitor roster included a thoroughly bearded gentleman who goes by the name Stagecoach.

The Monitors brought an enthusiastic crowd with them to Flint. One was both vocal and musical in her support.

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The umpire had a megaphone so the crowd could hear him.

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If you’re wondering why he’s not speaking into the megaphone…well, it’s not the megaphone that was important. They set up a loudspeaker, and the megaphone had a microphone in it. He used the system to call out the names of the strikers as they went up to bat and to explain the rules when they differed from modern baseball.

The Monitors struck first, and they put up three runs.

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Here’s Stagecoach in his first action with the Monitors:

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One of the best ways to look like you belong on a vintage base ball team is to have a beard like that!

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Three runs seemed like a good start…until Flint put up 12 in the bottom of the first. It was a rough half inning!

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Things didn’t look good for the Monitors after the first, but they kept hitting well. How well? They scored at least three runs in six of the first seven innings, including nine runs in the sixth! Not only that, but the defense recovered and held Flint to only one more run through five innings, at which point the Monitors had gained a lead they wouldn’t surrender.

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As with most vintage base ball matches, there were some humorous moments. Here’s the aftermath of one:

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They got tangled up on a play at first and ended up on the ground in a heap, accompanied by plenty of laughter. As I recall, the Monitor base runner — Caveman — was safe.

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On one play, Stagecoach established himself on third just before the third baseman could corral the ball.

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The Monitors ended up with a big 35-23 victory!

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Huzzah!

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When the teams were gathering for the postgame photo, Pepperbox tried to turn the tables on me. I was ready.

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If you’re in the Chelsea area and you’d like to see just how much fun a Monitors match can be, you have one more chance this season! The Monitors will be playing their final home match of 2014 this Sunday, September 14 at 2pm at Timbertown. Join us for a fun afternoon of base ball!

Chelsea Football vs Belleville: 5 September 2014

Chelsea’s first home game of the 2014 football schedule brought Belleville to town. The weather forecast was insisting that the evening would be marred by storms that would potentially wipe Michigan’s lower peninsula off the map — well, you know how dramatic weather forecasts can be — but as game time approached and pregame began, the weather remained pleasant.

The cheerleaders were ready for the game.

So was the band.

The team was ready for the game, too.

Last week’s game didn’t start so well for the Bulldogs — Northview jumped out to an early 14-0 lead — but this week’s game started so very well.

In fact, the team started so well that Belleville’s first possession ended with an interception.

The team gets pretty excited about interceptions.

The good start got even better when, on third and short from the 17, Justice Staton tried a quarterback sneak and found a whole lot of open space.

Two Tigers caught up with him around the ten yard line…

…but Staton was not impressed…

…and he shrugged off their attempted tackle to give Chelsea an early lead.

As all this excitement was going on, the sky was becoming increasingly grumpy.

Play continued for a bit longer, but before anything else of consequence happened, this ominous scene ushered in weather that brought the game to a halt.

After waiting over an hour to see if the weather would allow the game to resume, it was decided that the best course of action would be to postpone the rest of the game until the next afternoon. Unfortunately, I already had plans for Saturday afternoon, so I wasn’t able to see the rest of the game. But here’s a summary:

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Game over

In other words, Chelsea carried its dominating start through the rest of the game and ended up with a resounding 35-7 victory.

Chelsea’s next football game is at Ann Arbor Huron on Friday at 7pm. Come on out and cheer on the Bulldogs!

Vintage Base Ball: 17 August 2014

The Monitor Base Ball Club of Chelsea traveled to Northville to play the Eclipse Base Ball Club.

A good beard is a good beard no matter what team you play for.

Would you like to be check out the fun of a vintage base ball match? The Monitors and the Merries — Chelsea’s women’s base ball team — will both be in action in Chelsea next Saturday, August 23! The Merries will be playing after the fair parade (approximately 2:30), and the Monitors match will follow. All are welcome!

 

Vintage Base Ball in Chelsea: 26 July 2014

The Monitor Base Ball Club of Chelsea played a home match against the Wahoos of Royal Oak.

As always, the match began with a bat toss to determine which team would bat first.

(That ball was fair just inside the third base line.)

The match was very close the whole way, but the Wahoos held the Monitors scoreless in the ninth to preserve an exciting 12-11 victory.

This is what a postgame huzzah looks like:

You may have noticed “Tallies for Charity” at the bottom of the scoreboard. The Monitors were collecting donations for Smile Train, an organization that provides cleft lip and palate surgeries to those in need around the world. After the huzzahs, the Wahoos surprised the Chelsea captain with a very generous donation.

It was a great moment.

In fact, the whole afternoon was a rousing success: a large crowd — the largest crowd yet! — showed up to cheer on the teams, the match was exciting, and a worthy cause benefited.

After the postgame photo, they gave kids a chance to hit the ball and run the bases.

Would you like to join the fun? More spectators are always welcome! The Monitors’ next home match is the afternoon of Saturday, August 23, after the fair parade. Come check it out! (The rest of the schedule is here.)