Best of Kornacki: Top 10 Stories from 2017
12/29/2017 8:30:00 AM | General, Men's Basketball, Features
With 2018 approaching, MGoBlue.com feature writer Steve Kornacki has selected 10 of his best stories from 2017. The series begins Thursday (Dec. 14) with the "Best of the Rest" before beginning the countdown with No. 10 on Friday, Dec. 15. Stories 9-5 will be reposted from Dec. 18-22, with 4-1 going from Dec. 26-29. Kornacki has added a postscript for each story, sharing background and his own feelings on what made the subject special.
March 10 // Men's Basketball
Kornacki Reflects: The pilot of our plane hit the brakes, but we weren't stopping. We crashed through a fence but avoided disaster, and before there was time to think I was running down the right wing of the plane behind Moritz Wagner and the rest of the team, jumping down and then running to safety. About 24 hours later, after considering forfeiting, the Wolverines won the first of four games in four days to take the Big Ten Tournament championship. When I look at that trophy and the net draped on it at Crisler Center, it brings it all back and I remember how blessed we all are.
March 1 // Football
Kornacki Reflects: John Paul Harbaugh came into this world more than six weeks prematurely, weighing four pounds and 13 ounces. He required a two-week stay in the NICU at Mott Children's Hospital, and after he went home I spoke with Jim and Sarah Harbaugh about the challenges and the joy they experienced. They were so thankful to the hospital staff and Deb Berman, the former Michigan gymnast who was their doctor and delivered the couple's fourth child. At the Big Ten football meetings in July, I asked Jim for an update and he said John Paul was doing great and had catapulted into the higher percentiles in terms of size for his age.
April 26 // Baseball
Kornacki Reflects: Wolverines pitcher Oliver Jaskie pitches for his older sister, Hanna, who is "developmentally delayed," according to their mother, Suzette. Their father, Henry, is Olivia's caretaker. The three of them made the four-hour round-trip from Ada, on the west side of the state of Michigan, for all of Oliver's starts and other games, too. Talking to them before one game was a joy because I never tired of looking at the love in their eyes. Hanna asked me to join them for dinner after the game, too.
Sept. 18 // General
Kornacki Reflects: There wasn't a harder story to write this year. Talking to a mother about her son's suicide in the first conversation you ever share is a unique experience, but Cathy Radovich quickly put me at ease in discussing Garrick Roemer, the Wolverine runner who took his own life three years ago. She was so encouraged by the "Messages of Hope" board being placed in the student academic center to honor her son and knew the good it could do for those contemplating the same thoughts her son did.
Nov. 28 // Baseball
Kornacki Reflects: He was one of my heroes as a kid, and when I discovered that Freehan had Alzheimer's, I knew there had to be special story to tell about a special man. And there was. I spoke about it with our common friend, Jim Price, for over a year, and eventually Jerry Lewis, who operates the Detroit Tigers' fantasy camps, put me in touch with Bill's wife, Pat, who became a friend during the process of interviewing and writing the two-part story that was about family and love as much or more than baseball and football. [ Bill Freehan: The Tiger Who Was a Horse ]
Aug. 24 // Football
Kornacki Reflects: Watching the Wolverine left tackle block had become something special, and then on one play against Wisconsin, a knee and leg injury put his career in jeopardy. Newsome nearly lost the leg, and then was told he might never walk again, might never run again, might never play again. All except the latter have been accomplished, and if you have to pick one person on campus to root for, Newsome should be the choice. He has a heart of gold and constantly gave back to children in the hospital when he wasn't in the hospital himself.
April 11 // Ice Hockey
Kornacki Reflects: It struck me that while Berenson was retiring as the Michigan hockey coach, he would remain as the head of the family that his generations of Wolverines created with their care and love for one another. It also must be pointed out that his subtle humor was something his players and others eventually came to enjoy. I once showed up in his office wearing a long-sleeved, neon lime green thermal shirt. "Are you on road work detail today?" Red asked with that classic smile/smirk.
April 1 // Women's Basketball
Kornacki Reflects: Siera Thompson played all 55 minutes. Jillian Dunston, Katelynn Flaherty and Hallie Thome each exceeded 50 minutes in a triple-overtime win over Georgia Tech. The Wolverines appeared all but done a few times, but they refused to get tired or lose. I can still hear them chanting through the locker room door: "WE GOT THE BANNER!"
Aug. 21 // Baseball
Kornacki Reflects: Here's an against-all-odds story to cherish. Hill and his wife, Caitlin, lost their infant son, Brooks, and Rich's career was fading as he played for the Independent League Long Island Ducks. But he never stopped believing. Never stopped trying. And, with a fastball that barely hits 90 mph and a killer curve, Hill became the No. 2 starter for the Los Angeles Dodgers and helped them to the World Series. We spoke in Detroit in August and I walked away so impressed. [ Related: Hill's Learning Curve Changed His Career Path ]
June 1 // Women's Tennis
Best of the Rest
11: What Can Happen When So Many Open Their Hearts, Nov. 6
12: Braylon Edwards Has New No. 1, April 27
13: The 100-Year-Old Wolverine Recalls Yost, Harmon, Oosterbaan and Kipke, Aug. 31
14: Driven by Family, Gary Primed for Breakout Season, April 13
15: Brady, Howard Among Those Grateful for U-M's 'Secret Weapon', Feb. 14
16: Former Wolverine Smith Planted in #EATING Effort, Feb. 7
17: The Rawls Family Way, Feb. 23
18: German Countrymen Wagner, Nowitzki Share Special Moment, Feb. 20
19: Trip to IU a Walk Down Memory Lane for Bottom, Jan. 12
20: Life Comes Full-Circle for Hard-Working Higdon, Oct. 31
