I learned something today after reading that a 600+ foot freighter got stuck Monday morning in the Detroit River at Belle Isle Anchorage. As one who grew up on the Detroit River and knows most of river between Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair, I had no idea what the Belle Isle Anchorage was. I could see in the pictures where the ship was located, but I had no clue. So, I asked ChatGBT and this is what I found out.
Belle Isle Anchorage is an area in the Detroit River downstream from Belle Isle on the U.S. side of the International Boundary line1. It is used for the temporary anchorage of vessels of all types, but especially for naval and merchant vessels awaiting berths, weather, or other conditions favorable to the resumption of their voyage1. The area is defined by a set of boundaries starting at a point bearing 250 T, 5400 feet from the James Scott Memorial Fountain (42°20′06″ N., 82°59′57″ W.) at the West end of Belle Isle1. Vessels are required to anchor in a way that does not swing into the channel or across steering courses1. Additionally, vessels may not anchor in the Belle Isle Anchorage for more than 72 hours without permission of the Captain of the Port of Detroit1.
It is always a good day when I learn something. Now I just need to find out how the ship got stuck in the first place.
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As a former sports official, I look at a game differently than your average fan. As I read about U of M’s victory over OSU in one of the best THE GAMES in recent memory, the local papers were singing UM’s praises for toughness, resiliency, and execution. The stories mentioned the domination UM has had over OSU the last three years and how OSU’s coach Ryan Day’s job may be on the line, which is ridiculous. Day is 56-1 in the regular season if you exclude the last three Michigan games.
I, however, think about the call the referees made on the touchdown pass caught by UM’s Roman Wilson after an extraordinary pass thrown by J.J. McCarthy. Wilson caught the pass as he was falling into the endzone. Just as he was attempting to secure the ball, it was ripped out of his hands by the OSU defensive back. The call on the field was a touchdown and it was upheld. After watching the replay multiple times, the play could have just as easily been called an interception. In my opinion if the call on the field had been an interception, the replay would have upheld that call also. There just wasn’t enough evidence to dispute the call no matter what it was.
If you take away that touchdown, Michigan possibly loses by one point and the storyline is much different. I am sure the officials are re-evaluating the call over and over in their minds. I know that is what I would be doing.
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As we were driving back to Petoskey on Friday, Leah asked me what was my favorite thing about our Thanksgiving dinner? I said it was when dinner was over, and she and I were sitting on the couch in the family room watching the four grandchildren play hide-and-seek while Katy and Chris were in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner. It made me feel proud of my two kids and what they have become.
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Orchid of the Day: Doug Karsch, Michigan’s football radio play by play announcer for allowing long time M announcer Jim Brandstatter to make the radio call in the closing seconds of M’s win in THE GAME on Saturday. Pure class on Karsch’s part. See my Video of the Day.
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Onion of the Day: Juwan Howard. The Michigan men’s basketball coach was on the sidelines during Michigan’s three game tournament in the Battle of Atlantis. Howard, who is recovering from a heart procedure, was not M’s designated head coach for the game against Texas Tech on Friday. Interim head coach, Phil Martelli, was the designated head coach during the tournament. Howard seemed to forget the unwritten rule of basketball referees, non-head coaches on the bench are to be seen and not heard. When Howard started barking to the referees about whether a shot by Texas Tech was good as time expired in the first half the refs immediately gave Howard a technical foul. When he continued to say something, he was rightfully ejected.
It was a dumb move on Howard’s part. Michigan was not playing well, and they were down by 12. As a result of the two techs, Texas Tech was awarded four foul shots and the ball at the start of the second half. Any chance of a Michigan rally was killed by Howard’s antics.
The worst part was that Howard was justified in complaining about the call. After a replay review, the basket was waived off. Unfortunately, the damage was done, and Howard was gone. If Howard had been patient and let the process work, he would have saved himself some embarrassment and given his team a chance to rally in the second half.
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Quote of the Day: “Here was defensive back Quinten Johnson leveling an Ohio State receiver so hard even the ball asked for a bandage.” Mitch Albom, Free Press sports columnist describing Michigan’s Johnson’s hit on the OSU receiver.
Second Quote of the Day: “I don’t think we proved any of those guys wrong. I think we proved ourselves right.” M quarterback J.J. McCarthy following the win over OSU
Question of the Day: How does a freighter get stuck in the Detroit River?
Image/Video of the Day:
Hey Tom….great blog from you as usual. The game was terrific and I thought your comment on Brandstatter was right on. A class thing to do. Have a great week!
I was at one of the exhibition games & supposedly they did allow Howard into the arena but if he was quiet & in hiding. Hard to do with this big guy.