The big day is almost here. No, Kosmo isn't talking about his wedding day, Armageddon or a day where ESPN actually did NOT talk about LeBron James or Kobe Bryant.
Nope, Kosmo is gearing up for Saturday, aka the busiest day of the year in high school sports in the state of Michigan.
There isn't another day on the calander, whether its fall, winter or spring, that compares to this day.
Every athlete who competes on Saturday will be competing in some sort of playoff game or meet.
And there'll be a lot of athletes competing, given it's the state finals for track and field and girls tennis, regional playoffs for lacrosse, district finals for girls soccer and district semifinals and finals for baseball and softball.
Whew.
That's a lot taking place on one day.
It'll be hard to cover everything, but the Oakland Press will do its best in Sunday's paper.
Read the OP on Sunday for blow out the budget coverage on what should be another memorable Super Preps Saturday.

Sitting in his cave in Northern Oakland County right now, Kosmo normally wouldn't think it's a big deal that the weather forecast calls for some rain on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The only problem is that the state tournament for baseball and softball opens on Tuesday, and if there's significant rain that forces postponements, it could put teams in a serious bind.
Especially the baseball teams.
District semifinals and finals are Saturday, so if teams can't play on Tuesday or Wednesday and have to make games up on Thursday or Friday, then teams who have to play pre-district games would have their pitching staff's seriously hampered.
If a team ace has to pitch in a pre-district played Thursday or Friday, there's no way that pitcher could go on Saturday, unless it was for an inning or two of relief.
Knowing that, teams that play in pre-district games better be praying for no rain today.
- Regardless of whether it rains or not, Rochester and Troy Athens will still play their girls soccer pre-district Tuesday night at Athens. It's too bad two of the area's have to meet in the earliest round of the playoffs, but it should make for some good theatre right off the bat.

Kosmo is aware the spring sports playoffs are around the corner, but before devoting this blog exclusively to spring sports over the next few weeks, Kosmo wants to get a couple of other items out of the way.
First of all, the MHSAA this week approved a state playoffs for smaller schools who can only field eight-man teams.
The K-Man isn't sure how many local teams are going to take advantage of this, but he does have some questions about whether it will work.
First of all, if football gets a playoff for eight-man teams, why can't other sports? What's next, 3-on-3 basketball state finals?
Kosmo hopes this isn't another case of the MHSAA catering solely to football.
Second, how are smaller schools going to get motivated to get an eight-man football team in the first place. If these schools wanted to put the money/time to find or build a field to play on, the interest would obviously be so great that those schools would have norma1 11-on-11 teams.
It seems this implementation will only benefit some select schools in particular areas around the state.
Regardless, Kosmo also wants to say good luck to Bob Brugger, who was recently named the boys basketball coach at Brighton High School.
Brugger was a class act at Lakeland for the last decade and he'll be missed in Oakland County, but Brighton hired a good man.

So far so good as it relates to the merger of Pontiac Central and Pontiac Northern. The new Pontiac High School has a qualified football coach in place, Greg Ganfield, and has a nickname that does honor the city's past, the Phoenix.
Kosmo isn't sure about the colors of purple and white, but there could be worse. Namely pink or teal.
Anyway, the real test for Pontiac will come when the school year starts. That's when we'll find out how quickly students can forget the past.
Students in the city have been known to dislike the other school no matter what the reason is, so asking them to become friends will be a difficult task right away at the new high school.
The sooner kids rise up and learn to like each other, the chemistry both on the football field and the basketball court should match what should be increased talent.
If kids still hold grudges, then there could be problems. It'll be interesting to see.

Glancing at the high school softball scence for most of the season from his cave in northern Oakland County, Kosmo has been intrigued by Clarkston's softball team, mainly because of the way the Wolves can hit.
However, the K-Man was concerned the Wolves didn't have enough pitching to carry them over the top in the state playoffs.
That was until Kosmo read main spy Keith D's story in Tuesday's paper detailing Clarkston's doubleheader sweep of Troy.
The Colts are a good-hitting team, and while they might have been off on this day, the Wolves limited Troy to just three hits on the entire day.
Bailee Branreuther threw a no-hitter, while No. 3 pitcher Megan Hastings tossed a three-hit shutout, striking out 10.
That certainly sent a message to Kosmo and possibly the rest of the county that Clarkston does indeed have the pitching go on a long run in the state tournament.
— Friday should decide the OAA Blue/South title when Farmington Hills Harrison plays at Birmingham Seaholm. Entering Tuesday, Seaholm was unbeaten in league play, while Harrison had two losses. Look for the Hawks to go to senior ace Justin Young to try and cool off the bats of Seaholm.

Lake Orion and Rochester Adams may not be in the same city, but as far as athletic rivalries go, Kosmo doesn't see many better when you look at entire athletic programs.
Forget just the annual football game the two have in the fall. The Dragons and Highlanders seem to have meaningful games in other sports as well, whether its soccer, basketball, softball or baseball.
Since the schools are only separated by roughly five miles, it's just as good as a border rivalry as well.
It'll be resumed again on Friday when the Dragons and Highlanders meet in a key baseball game.
Adams is unbeaten in the OAA Red, while Lake Orion is one game behind. The only league loss of the season for the Dragons came at the hands of Adams a couple of weeks ago.
It should be yet another meaningful sporting event for the two schools, and not only should it be a fun day for the kids, but for the spectators as well since it's supposed to be sunny and in the mid-70's.
Enjoy!

In case you needed more proof that the spring sports season is the shortest and fastest of all the seasons, along comes this weekend.
Believe it or not, league tournaments for girls tennis and league meets for track and field are already upon us this weekend.
Hard to believe, but that's indeed the case.
For tennis, the big league tournament to watch figures to be the OAA Red tourney at Birmingham Seaholm, where state-ranked teams West Bloomfield, Troy, Clarkston and Rochester figure to battle it out for supremacy.
The OAA Red track and field meet will be held on Friday at Rochester, with Rochester Adams, Lake Orion and Rochester the favorites in the boys portion of the event.
On the girls side of things, Rochester and Rochester Adams could also be contenders, but Troy looks to be a solid favorite.
Whatever happens, it's simply hard to believe league events are already here.

This weekend happens to be one of Kosmo's favorite prep events on the calander. Even if the K-Man is not going and is just going to hang out at his cave in northern Oakland County, he's intrigued by what will take place at the Michigan Stars high school softball tournament at Liberty Park in Sterling Heights.
Short of the state tournament, this is the biggest tournament of the season for softball teams.
A bevy of ranked teams from around the state compete in this event, some driving from as far as Alpena.
There's actually a waiting list of teams wanting to get in this tournament who hope somebody drops out of the field one year so they can compete.
There will be non-stop games around 10 different diamonds on Saturday and Sunday, so it's paradise for any fan of high school softball.
Teams will no doubt be better by the time Sunday evening rolls around because they would've played multiple games against some of the best teams in the state.
For those who attend, enjoy. Kosmo sure is anxious to read what happens from his cave.