Column: A Season for the Record Books
The following thoughts are some season-ending ramblings from Clark Ramsey.
December 12, 2025 /// By Clark Ramsey
For someone whose responsibility it is to put moments into words, I’m having a difficult time doing just that after such a memorable season.
Yes, a local school brought home the state title. Yes, that school happens to be my alma mater. And yes, I happen to have family connections with multiple players. But that’s not what made this season so special.
I was able to yet again have a front row seat to witness a whole community come together and support a group of kids who likely will never have a stage like they had in the final weeks of November again. It’s more than just the actual games. It’s the life lessons of hardship, the long bus rides of camaraderie, the appreciation of the grind and the ability to believe that anything is possible with ultimate determination and heart.
With every passing week, especially as our coverage ran deeper and deeper into the playoffs, I was able to embrace the feeling that not only was everyone from Harbor Beach cheering on their team, but the entire region was tuning in and willing their ever-so-recent rival…now Thumb compatriot, onto victory. It’s an overwhelming feeling that we only get to see for a few glimpses every year – those moments when everyone is morphs into a USA Patriot softball fan, a cross country supporter, marching band aficionado or whatever one particular school is achieving, the entire Thumb is embracing.
That unifying feeling shouldn’t and cannot be overlooked. It doesn’t happen very often and it doesn’t happen everywhere. When Traverse City St Francis makes it to Ford Field, you don’t see Traverse City Central closing down their storefronts on Black Friday to support their fellow neighbors. Yet, when we looked out from our perch high atop the field in downtown Detroit, we saw fans from every local school – Lakers, Bad Axe, Ubly, Cass City, Sandusky and Deckerville – and those were just the ones my binoculars could spot.
It might have been Harbor Beach’s second state championship, but it was the Thumb’s eleventh moment of glory. The chants of “U.P. Power” are quickly being replaced by “Here Comes The Thumb.” When I introduce myself to fellow broadcasters, they all have the same reaction of who we cover. “Oh, you guys always have a team down here,” “it seems like you’re always at Ford Field” or my personal favorite, “how do your schools keep putting together these teams?”
It might be something in the water, but if I were to guess, it’s actually in the dirt. The same ground our families have farmed for generations and have since created thriving businesses in every industry, with the same mindset of the teams we cover: strong-willed, homegrown and not afraid of any challenge.
For me personally, it marked my 15th year with the WLEW Sports Network. Every broadcast, we try to make our finished product better than the week before. Sometimes, we succeed. A lot of times, we fall short, but we have a great time trying.
My team consists of anywhere from five people, up to eight, depending on the week. It’s controlled chaos and out of that, some of our best moments are born. Each week, we arrive to the field hours and sometimes, what feels like days before kickoff. No matter how much time we give ourselves, it’s always a sprint to the finish line to fire off Sweet Caroline 5:56:38pm. It’s a byproduct of our own choosing and we wouldn’t have it any other way (well, we could do without lugging up a nearly 200-pound box up that many flights of stairs, but, I digress…). From the very beginning, my goal was to create a quality product that matched or exceeded a Big Ten school’s broadcast. Now that half of the country is a member of the Big “Ten” Conference, that’s a tall task, but I would put my team up against anyone out there.
This year, we added Kevin Strieter and Thumb Audio/Video to our team, allowing us to expand our reach and provide video coverage for our broadcasts. It’s been a fruitful partnership since the very beginning and we couldn’t be more ecstatic to have Kevin on our team moving forward, including basketball.
Ed Klump was able to be on the sidelines for a record seven games this season. Chris Ream and Kayla O’Neil both served as his personal sideline camera operator, giving new sightlines for our viewers and maybe a little too much screentime for Ed.
Dan Behnke has served as our spotter since 2017 and is truly the best in the business. Somehow, Dan can keep track of all the action on the field, as well as anything happening on the sidelines, stands, concessions and maybe even the parking lot. His voice is what Dave and I hear in our ears, so what you hear is actually logical.
Kendall Anthes has been with us for four seasons and has gone from an intern to now our associate producer. That vague title allows me to task him with anything and everything under the sun. For example, when we were at Millington, Kendall made not one but two trips to the lumber yard, just to make our broadcast possible. He’s a master troubleshooter and is willing to do anything for the team.
Doug Cole serves as our Director of Sports Information and has been responsible for our stat systems since 2013. He provides us with countless stats throughout the game in real-time, in all phases of the game, making Dave and me sound far more informed than what we really are.
Of course, you know the voice of Dave Hanson who has been by my side for 13 years and a total of 234 broadcasts. We started as golf partners in high school and he filled in for a game at the start of the 2012 season and we have never looked back. Dave has an incredible ability to vividly explain the key to every play of a game and as a result, provide a complete picture to our listeners.
The rest is handled by me, which luckily for you, doesn’t leave much. It’s been an honor that so many of you trust us to provide you with your football coverage. I always enjoy hearing the personal connections you might have with our team or broadcasts, but the pleasure is all ours. I’m lucky to have such an amazing team and we have so much fun each week. Hopefully, our laughter and side conversations don’t get in the way of the game too much for you. This season, our audience tuned in from across 43 states and 48 countries. I never fully understand why someone would willingly spend their Friday night with us when living in Honolulu, Hawaii, but it means the world to us.
There are many individuals outside of our team who make a game broadcast possible and that certainly includes our local coaches and athletic directors. Most teams willingly send us their stats each week, so we can enhance our coverage to the fullest and it’s a huge key to our success. Our setup, which is about the size of a medium-range naval warship these days, takes up a lot of space in their press boxes, and yet, everyone welcomes us with open arms -- something that doesn’t go unnoticed by us. Thank you to every school’s team for all of the hospitality throughout the season, as always.
Someone that doesn’t get enough credit for our team’s success is my wife, Rochelle. She deals with the brunt of my broadcast responsibilities, when I’m cooped up in my office for hours/days/weeks at a time, preparing the next broadcast or wrapping up the previous week. As much as I enjoy calling a game, I enjoy coming home the most to Rochelle and Pearl, our overly-spoiled and needy English cream retriever. She doesn’t care if I messed up a touchdown call, as long as I fulfill my quota of pets and head scratches.
So now, it’s time to catch our breath, clean my office, enjoy the holidays and regroup before our basketball coverage kicks off in mid-January. Thank you again for making our coverage so enjoyable; it wouldn’t be possible without your passion for our local high school athletes.
