Kosmo mentioned this a couple of times on his blog last week, but he wanted to further discuss the decision made by Troy senior soccer player Sean Cunningham to stay in Michigan and play his senior year of high school. Cunningham had been offered to play professionally for a team in Germany starting this year, which meant he would've finished high school over there while playing soccer.
The K-Man applauds Cunningham for this decision, even though it couldn't have been the easiest thing in the world to postpone a professional offer.
You only get one senior year in high school, and Cunningham would've sacrificed so much had he decided to leave.
A chance to play with friends, football games, prom, and most importantly, graduating from the home high school.
All that would've been negated, and if he would've played over there and gotten hurt or something this year, he might not have had as much to fall back on.
More offers to play professionally should easily come in the future for a player as great as Cunningham is, so it was wise to postpone it so he can enjoy all the fun of being a senior in high school.
- Even though a majority of the football games are taking place this Thursday around the state due to the Labor Day holiday, the Week 2 ledger within Oakland County will see the best two games taking place on Friday. Both are in the OAA White, with Farmington traveling to Rochester Adams and Southfield playing at Farmington Hills Harrison.

Normally, Kosmo doesn't like to panic with teams who lost their season opening football games. After all, there is eight more games left to play.
But Kosmo admits he's a little worried about the state playoff prospects of three teams that lost their opening games in Week 1.
First is Birmingham Brother Rice, which fell to Detroit Martin Luther King, 32-19. Brother Rice plays in one of the toughest league's in the state, and losing a game out of league hurts tremendously. Brother Rice has to deal with Warren De La Salle, Novi Detroit Catholic Central and Orchard Lake St. Mary's during the regular season and then possibly again with one of those teams in the Prep Bowl, meaning the Warriors have to win at least two of those four games to stay afloat.
Likewise, Stoney Creek has a fight on its hands to make the playoffs after losing on Thursday to Port Huron Northern, 23-13. The Cougars reside in another balanced league, the OAA White, and have to somehow get two wins against the group of Farmington Hills Harrison, Rochester Adams, Southfield and Farmington to keep their playoff chances alive.
Auburn Hills Avondale also has an uphill climb after the Yellow Jackets lost to Warren Fitzgerald, 21-20. The Yellow Jackets need to be one of the top teams in the OAA Blue now, or else there won't be a playoff appearance.

It's just a couple more days until the sporting event that Oxford and Lake Orion have been waiting nearly three decades for. Finally, the teams will renew the old M-24 rivalry when they meet in football for the first time in 26 years.
Back in the day, the teams played for a trophy, and believe it or not, that same trophy will likely be presented to the winner on Friday.
After all these years, the "Double O Trophy" is still in existence. The trophy is a bronze shoe with a football and kicking tee with results of previous meetings between the schools on it.
Kosmo can't imagine many people have seen it in many years, so it'll be good for the old-timers who knew what the rivalry was like to see it again and for the younger generation who will experience the rivalry for the first time to see it.
— Word has come down to Kosmo that Troy senior soccer player Sean Cunningham, one of the nation's best in his age group, has decided not to play in Germany this season. He'll finish his senior year at Troy. Cunningham was mulling an offer to play professionally for a team in Germany.

- With soccer season officially beginning, Kosmo has heard from a prominent spy that one of the county's best soccer player is debating about whether to accept an offer to play for a professional team. Troy senior Sean Cunningham is mulling whether to start a professional career in Germany starting this fall. He'd finish high school over there. This week is when Cunningham will likely decide. Cunningham has played for the U.S. under-18 national team and was a Dream Team player last year. Whatever he decides, Kosmo wishes him all the best.
- In the high school football preview section, it was reported that Country Day senior Kenny Knights has committed to Stanford. Evidently, he hasn't. The OP received a preseason survey from Country Day saying Knight committed to Stanford, but Knight has since announced that Stanford was among his final choices. He hasn't made a verbal committment anywhere yet.

Practice has only been held for fall sports teams around the county for over a week, and already the effect of new pay-to-play policies seems to be having an effect. Kosmo has been hearing that plenty of coaches, especially football coaches, are noticing that numbers are down significantly this year in terms of players coming out for the team.
Kosmo knows there could be other factors involved, but he thinks the biggest one is pay-to-play. With budgets tightening around the state, many districts had to raise pay-to-pay prices. Rochester, for example, had to more than double theirs to over $400 for one sport. Given that, it's hard to blame families or kids for not trying out for sports teams, especially ones that don't know for sure if they'll get a roster spot or playing time.
It's a sad sight in general, but especially sad knowing that the season hasn't even started and pay-to-play seems to be rearing its ugly head for teams around the county and state.