A few years ago, NFL wideout Keyshawn Johnson wrote a book entitled "Just Give Me The Damn Ball," in an effort to make sure more passes were thrown his way.
Fortunately, Oak Park senior running back Edwin Baker isn't as much of a narcissist as Johnson, so he wouldn't dare write a book or make such demands because of his humility.
However, Kosmo will be happy to speak on his behalf.
In short, just give Baker the darn ball.
Against Lake Orion in Week 3 and Troy in Week 4, Baker barely got any carries, and the Knights got blown out each time.
Sure, the lopsided losses could be attributed a poor defensive effort, but when you've got the best running back in the state, it doesn't help matters when you don't use him.
Finally, in last week's win over Royal Oak, Oak Park gave Baker the ball. The result was 452 rushing yards on 26 carries, which was the fourth-highest total in state history. Yes, it came against winless Royal Oak, but the message should be simple to Oak Park coaches.
Just give the Michigan State-bound Baker the darn ball.

Not to disrespect some of the games in the last three weeks on the prep football scene, but Kosmo has admitted he's been a little bored with the matchups since Week 1.
After a sterling Week 1 with games such as Lake Orion vs. Rockford, Adams vs. Clarkston and Milford vs. Novi, Weeks 2, 3 and 4 just didn't seem to have the same appeal.
Sure there have been some good games, such as Clarkston's double-overtime win over West Bloomfield last Friday and Brother Rice's incredible comeback win over Catholic Central last Saturday, but overall there haven't been many games to get excited about.
That should change this week, the best slate of games since Week 1.
Adams and Southfield are good-looking unbeatens who will meet at Southfield on Friday, Ferndale and Auburn Hills Avondale will be a battle of unbeatens in the OAA Blue, Walled Lake Western and Lakeland will meet for what likely will be supremacy in the KLAA North, South Lyon and Novi will resume their annual border battle, while Ortonville Brandon and Oxford is a rivalry game in the Flint Metro.
All that is on Friday.
Everything will be capped off on Saturday by another one of the state's great rivalries, Orchard Lake St. Mary's and Brother Rice, who will meet at 7 p.m. Saturday at Southfield-Lathrup.
Without a doubt, Week 5 should be anything but dull.

Reading the Oakland Press on Friday, Kosmo noticed that Rochester girls basketball coach Jeff Haney resigned to spend more time with his family. Haney isn't the first fine coach to do this in Oakland County over the last year. Milford head football coach Pat Fox and Lake Orion boys basketball coach Jim Manzo were two others who stepped down from their positions for the same reason, to spend time with family/their younger children. For this, Kosmo fells all three and others who have done so should be applauded. As sad as it is to see great coaches leave, that's a great lesson to teach. Family comes first, even if it means sacrificing something you love doing. When each decides to return to coaching, those kids will have great role models to look up to, more so than ever, as a result of those selfless acts.

For those who are happy to see the fall preps season in full swing, you have it somewhat wrong. Believe it or not, even though the school year for most districts is only two weeks old, it's actually coming down the home stretch of the season for some sports.
Even though it seems like things are just starting, the boys tennis and girls golf seasons will be over in roughly a month from right now, with the state tournaments for those sports being held on Oct. 17 and 18.
With that in mind, events like next Wednesday's Oakland County girls golf tournament and state regionals for those sports are rapidly approaching.
If that's not enough, the state playoffs for boys soccer begin earlier than that on Oct. 13. Yes, the season just did seemed like it started and it seems like yesterday that the OP came out with its fine season preview.
Finally, it's already Week 4 of the football season, meaning the season will be nearly half over after this weekend. Wow.
Oh well, there's nothing to do but enjoy while it lasts, because it won't last long.

Well, three weeks of the high school football season has come and gone, with disappointments and surprises already emerging throughout the Oakland County.
So far, one team has especially caught Kosmo's eye, that being West Bloomfield.
The Lakers have so intrigued the K-Man that he feels they have a good shot of making the state playoffs for the first time since 2000 and for only the second time in school history.
West Bloomfield is 2-1 on the year and gave Lake Orion all it could handle in a 24-15 Week 2 loss at Lake Orion. The Lakers could really make a statement this Friday when they travel to Clarkston to take on the Wolves in an important OAA Red game.
If West Bloomfield can pull that win out, a banner could season could really be in the works. Even if the Lakers don't, odds look pretty good they can get the six wins necessary to return to the playoffs.
— Kosmo isn't right all the time, just most of the time, so he isn't shy about boasting when he makes a correct call. In his last blog, he predicted Lake Orion would hold Oak Park stud running back Edwin Baker to under 100 yards rushing on Friday. The Dragons more than did the job, holding Baker to just 52 yards rushing in a 34-14 win. Thanks for making Koz look good, Dragons.

Judging by his over 200-yard rushing performance against Southfield-Lathrup on Saturday, it seems that not much can stop Oak Park running back Edwin Baker. Lots of 200-yard games should be in the works this year for the Knights' star running back who is headed to Michigan State. However, Kosmo has a feeling one of those games won't be on Friday against Lake Orion. In fact, the K-Man believes the stout Dragons defense will hold Baker UNDER 100 yards. It's a tall order, no doubt. But Lake Orion should be ready. Of course, if Baker goes out and rushes for 250 yards and three touchdowns, feel free to give Kosmo some serious flack. Baker is good enough to make an all-knowing seer look bad.

Even though Kosmo is out in his cave somewhere in Northern Oakland County, he can hear all the trash talking from miles away already as Tuesday evening arrives. That's because there has to be a lot of smack coming from Pontiac, Rochester, Walled Lake and Farmington Hills with all the soccer rivalries taking place on Tuesday. Whether it's football, basketball, soccer, tiddly winks, whatever, there's a special buzz about city rivalries, and that should be the case on Tuesday. It's rare when so many rivalry games are showcased on one night, but there are plenty tonight with Rochester playing Stoney Creek, Pontiac Northern playing Pontiac Central, Walled Lake Northern playing Walled Lake Western and Farmington playing Farmington Hills Harrison.
Along with a horde of volleyball games, this is just the kind of night that spices up the excitement during a week until football games on Friday. Enjoy these games, read the results in Wednesday's Oakland Press and hopefully there's even more good-natured trash talking afterwards.

Sitting in his cave on a beautiful Saturday morning, Kosmo couldn't help but be a little mystified when reading up on what took place with prep football games around the county on Friday night.
What was up with all the blowouts? Week 2 wasn't filled with as many sterling matchups as Week 1, but this was still surprising.
Just check out some of these scores:

Rochester Adams 56, Stoney Creek 21
Clarkston 56, Troy Athens 26
Milford 40, South Lyon 14
Orchard Lake St. Mary's 42, Detroit U-D Jesuit 0
Bloomfield Hills Lahser 44, Berkley 0
Livonia Franklin 56, Walled Lake Western 34
Livonia Clarenceville 47, Cranbrook 27
Westland John Glenn 42, Pontiac Northern 7

In fact, of all the scores reported to the paper, only three were single-digit margins of victory, those being Ferndale's 14-7 win over North Farmington, Walled Lake Northern's 20-14 win over Salem and Birmingham Groves' 21-13 win over Farmington.
Maybe some teams just need to get some kinks out early in the season. Hopefully that's the case because Friday was an unusual night in terms of the numbers of lopsided wins.
- Speaking of Walled Lake Northern, Kosmo couldn't be happier to see the Knights snapped a 14-game losing streak. Those kids over there have worked hard and probably have had to suffer some embarassment, and hopefully this gives the Northern community something to feel good about. It's deserved.

Normally, Kosmo doesn't like city rivalry games that don't take place during the last game of the regular season, but Kosmo can't be any more geeked for a certain city rivalry game that will take place on Friday. For the first time ever, Stoney Creek and Rochester Adams will meet on the football field. Kosmo heard there might not have been a bigger gathering at Adams than last fall's playoff game between the Highlanders and Brother Rice, but this could top that. The score has a chance to be lopsided, but then again the Cougars could keep it closer than people think. No matter what happens, the Rochester community will win for having such an event take place.
— The K-Man also likes to seperate his blogs and his newspaper articles in to different entities, but he has to follow up on what he wrote in the Oakland Press for Friday's edition in this blog. Please support Grace Centers of Hope by buying tickets for their Sept. 13 raffle of a 1966 red Mustang. Tickets are $20 apiece. Even if you don't like classic cars and have no interest in winning the Mustang, support all Grace Centers of Hope does. You can buy them this weekend at the Arts & Apples festival in Rochester when the car is on display, or by calling Grace Centers of Hope communications director Shannon Grace Clark at (248) 334-2187.

Ah, nothing like a few months to recharge before getting back on the blogging scene. Yes, while Kosmo has made his first appearance in the print edition of the Oakland Press, he's procrastinated a little more to get back with blogging. There were things to do over the Labor Day weekend, but now that it's over the K-Man is glad to be back. As the football season enters Week 2, he just hopes the season hasn't already peaked in terms of quality matchups. There were a TON in Week 1, more than the K-Man can ever remember in all his years forecasting games. Milford and Novi and Country Day and Seaholm met on Thursday, and those normally would be the featured matchups of any weekend. However, along came Friday, when Walled Lake Central and South Lyon, Lake Orion and Rockford and Rochester Adams and Clarkston all played games that deserved lots of hype. Follow that with Birmingham Brother Rice and Oak Park on Saturday, a matchup that didn't quite prove to be as good as advertised with Brother Rice's 45-7 blowout of the Knights, and it was a great way to start the season. Hopefully there will be more to come throughout the season, starting with this week.