by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
Already a high school coaching legend in the Muskegon area, only a prolonged career as an active coach delayed Pete Kutches’ induction into the Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame. Kutches’ credentials as a winning football coach at several local high schools rank...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
One of the most productive hockey players in the history of professional hockey at the L.C. Walker Arena, Gary Ford scored 337 goals and 878 total points in ten seasons with the Muskegon Mohawks from 1967 to 1979. Gary signed his first professional contract with the...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
Among the numerous Muskegon-area gridders whose careers landed them in the National Football Leaque, Jerry Collins’ credentials were based more on determination than high-profile press notices during his prep and collegiate years. Despite a fine career at Western...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
A February 1945 graduate of Muskegon High School, Bill Bos was best known here as the city’s “Mr. Tennis” in the 1950s. He helped rescue the game of tennis from near-oblivion in Muskegon and made it one of the most popular forms of recreation for the youth in this...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
The prevailing question of the day when Muskegon’s Big Reds would suit up for football games back in 1927 wasn’t whether they would win, but by how much? Muskegon, which ranks in the top 10 in the nation in most football wins, has fielded a football team...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
Football fans at Reeths-Puffer High School still talk about their Rocket. After all, Johnny Williams was the most electrifying runner in school history before taking his talents to the University of Wisconsin and the NFL. Williams starred on the gridiron in 1977-78...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
Gene Visscher was one of those rare athletes who made as big an impact on the sidelines as he did on the hardcourt. That’s because Visscher returned to the two colleges where he played basketball to take up the coaching reins. Visscher, a Muskegon High School...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
There are those who say John Huizenga was born with a bat and ball in his hand. After all, it seemed like Huizenga was playing baseball every spare minute from the time he was big enough to toddle around the bleachers at Marsh Field. He was a three-year starter for...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
When it came to girls athletics in the 1970s, Annette Bohach set the standard. She was an all-state basketball player at North Muskegon and one of the top softball players in the city. But where Bohach towered well above the rest of her peers was in track and field. ...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
Considered one of the finest athletes ever turned out by Muskegon High School coach C. Leo Redmond, Paul Soper led the Big Reds to state titles in football and basketball during the 1936-37 season. Soper lettered in football, basketball and track at Muskegon. ...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
A three-sport performer for the Muskegon Heights Tigers, Russ earned All-Lake Michigan Athletic Conference honors as a defensive tackle in 1970, averaging 14 solo tackles a game as a senior. A member of the National Honor Society, he was recruited by a handful of...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
Co-captain of the Muskegon Big Red football team in 1949, Jim Neal earned Associated Press first team all-state honors at center as a senior. Following graduation, the 6-2, 205-pounder joined high school teammate Paul Dekker at Michigan State University. Neal became a...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
A Muskegon pharmacist by day, Dick Dolack spent his spare time rolling up countless hours as a referee for various sporting events. Ultimately, he embarked on a 25-year career as a field judge in the National Football League. Dolack began his journey in 1952 as a...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
A three-sport athlete at Newaygo High School, Dennis Adama competed in football, basketball and track for the Lions. An All-Newaygo County Athletic Association basketball player, he is best remembered for his performance as a high jumper for the track team. Adama...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
A three-sport star at Grand Haven High School, Steve Sluka was outstanding in football, basketball and track for the Buccaneers. Captain of the football and basketball teams in his senior year, he helped the Bucs to the Class B mythical football crown in the fall of...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Uncategorized
A founder and past president of the Muskegon Motorcycle Club, Dan Raymond was a pioneer in the area of motorcycle sports. His tireless efforts established Muskegon as a mecca for the nation’s top motorcycle hill climbers. In August 1920, Raymond, along with...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
A 1945 graduate of Muskegon High School, Ludwig lettered in football and baseball for the Big Reds. A starting halfback for Coach C. Leo Redmond’s gridiron squad in 1944, Ludwig helped pace the team to an 8-0-0 record and a mythical state championship. On the...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
In 1944, Lallo began his professional hockey career as a member of the Boston Olympics of the Eastern Hockey League. Slowly, the 5-foot-9½, 200-pound defenseman climbed the ranks of organized hockey to the International Hockey League. Lallo skated five seasons with...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
Members of the short-lived All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the Cook sisters displayed their baseball abilities on diamonds across the Midwest between 1946 and 1954. The AAGPBL was to be the inspiration for the popular movie “A League of Their...
by Maxwell Dinesen | Feb 11, 2024 | Traditional
Members of the short-lived All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the Cook sisters displayed their baseball abilities on diamonds across the Midwest between 1946 and 1954. The AAGPBL was to be the inspiration for the popular movie “A League of Their...
