Boy, is it ever nice to have the playoffs back, isn't it? The first night of the boys soccer state tournament was Monday, and it produced surprising upsets, shootouts and even overtime games. And to think, there's still a couple more weeks of the playoffs to go to witness more excitement. Of all the things that jumped out at Kosmo on Monday's first night, it was the success public schools had against private schools, in particular Catholic League opponents. Berkley shocked CHSL champion Birmingham Brother Rice, 5-4, and Novi topped Novi Detroit Catholic Central, 1-0. Bloomfield Hills Lahser also knocked off Orchard Lake St. Mary's, although that was a lot closer than people expected since it went into a shootout. Add the fact that Clawson nearly beat Birminngham Detroit Country Day - Country Day pulled out a 3-2 win in overtime - and Monday was a great day for public school soccer programs. Hopefully the games tonight and the rest of the week will produce the same drama. One thing for sure though is that it'll be hard to top the success all of our public schools had against private school opponents on Monday.