Jack Schugars, Don Mosley, Dave Michayluk enter Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame
by Tom Kendra | The Muskegon Chronicle
Saturday June 06, 2009, 10:50 PM
Last fall, Jack Schugars capped a perfect weekend of state football titles for Muskegon County at Ford Field.
On Saturday night, Schugars was the "anchor man" again, as the final inductee on a memorable night at the 23rd annual Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Holiday Inn-Muskegon Harbor.
"I'm the last one again," joked Schugars as he got up to the podium.
Schugars, the longtime football coach at Oakridge, joined equally long-time Mona Shores wrestling coach Don Mosley and ex-Muskegon Lumberjacks great Dave Michayluk as the hall's "Class of 2009."
Earl O'Brien received the annual Distinguished Service Award and the night began by honoring Student-Athlete Award winners Jeff Petsch of Montague and Marie Roof of Mona Shores.
Earl O'Brien
O'Brien, who now lives in Grand Haven, made it clear several times in his speech that he still is and always will be a Muskegon Big Red.
O'Brien, 71, organized and ran youth sports leagues in Muskegon and Grand Haven for more than 40 years, with the emphasis on participation and giving kids opportunities -- not winning.
He carried that same spirit over to the world of fishing, starting a tournament to benefit St. Jude's Children's Hospital in 2005 which has raised more than $140,000.
O'Brien ended his speech with a challenge to all in attendance to get involved in volunteer work.
"The time you invest will bring you rewards for the rest of your life," said O'Brien.
Don Mosley
Mosley has come a long way from being called a "gutless wonder" by his football coach at Muskegon Heights, first-year MASHF inductee Okie Johnson.
Mosley was actually a standout center and defensive tackle for the Tigers, who didn't know a thing about wrestling until he happened to be dorm roommates at Central Michigan with two wrestlers.
That's where he learned the sport and he taught it to Mona Shores kids for 38 years, retiring in 2001 with a dual record of 494-189-5.
Mosley looked out at a room packed with ex-wrestlers, assistant coaches, opposing coaches and relatives and shared his love for them and for wrestling.
"A wrestler knows how to work," said Mosley, 69. "Wrestlers don't have to have a lot of talent, but they have to have pride. When I had to do hiring, if I knew they had been a wrestler, that gave them a leg up. I knew what they had been through."
Dave Michayluk
The soft-spoken Michayluk cherished his time at the microphone on Saturday, because it gave him the chance to do something he never was able to do when the Lumberjacks left Muskegon for Cleveland in 1992.
"This is a great night because it gives me the opportunity to come back and thank the people of Muskegon," said Michayluk, 47, in his trademark Canadian accent.
The feeling was mutual, as a strong representation of Muskegon's hockey past -- including former Lumberjacks owner Larry Gordon -- were on hand to honor one of the true greats in the town's almost 50-year professional hockey history.
Michayluk scored more than 100 points in all seven of his seasons in Muskegon in the 1980s and early 1990s, an era of hockey dominance by one of the International Hockey League's smallest cities.
During Michayluk's years here, the Jacks won Turner Cup league titles in 1986 and 1989 and finished runner-up four times, in 1985, 1987, 1990 and 1992.
"Muskegon felt like home and playing here I felt like part of a family -- I mean that," said Michayluk, who is now a farmer in his hometown of Wakaw, Saskatchewan.
Jack Schugars
The hall broke precedent with the induction of Schugars, who is still very much active in his coaching career.
Schugars, 62, actually goes in at the very top of his game, after leading Oakridge to its third state football championship last fall.
He thanked many coaches for mentoring him in his early days, particularly the late Rich McCarthy and former University of Colorado head coach Bill McCartney.
"Bill McCartney taught me that it was possible to be a Christian who happened to be a football coach," said Schugars, who attracted a crowd full of high school coaches from around the Muskegon area. "I was hired at Oakridge to teach biology and then convinced to coach football."
Schugars, who has an area record 247 wins in 29 years as the Eagles' head coach, will return next year riding a 31-game West Michigan Conference winning streak.
build a web site | fundraising | community | collect fees online | blogz
Welcome 
