March 12, 2004

LANSING – Talking to the students of Watersmeet Township School and their supporters today via videoconference, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm told them they are setting an excellent example as “ambassadors for Michigan.”  The community and its boys’ basketball team are featured in a series of commercials on ESPN that have brought national attention to the community of 1,472 in the western Upper Peninsula.

The team and their coach are making an appearance next week on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno as well.  The Governor also sent the school a letter yesterday offering her best wishes to all the students.

“The commercial is the talk of not only the state, but the entire nation,” Granholm said.  “It shows how much high school sports can mean to a town, no matter what the size or location.  It also shows that no matter how small your town, school spirit is irrepressible, and it touches residents both in Watersmeet Township and across the state.”

The community and its high school boys’ basketball team have been featured in commercials aired on ESPN, a national sports network.  The theme of the commercials is, “Without sports, who would root for the Nimrods?”

The school’s sports teams are nicknamed the Nimrods.  A Nimrod is a “mighty hunter,” according to the Old Testament of the Bible.  The community of Watersmeet lies in the heart of the Ottawa National Forest, which is prime hunting and recreational land in the Upper Peninsula.  The school adopted the nickname for their sports teams in 1904.  In 1986, ESPN first brought attention to Watersmeet and the Nimrods when the network named them the third best high school sports nickname, following the Beetdiggers of Brush, Colorado, and the Syrupmakers of Cairo, Georgia.

Wearing her own royal blue Watersmeet Nimrods hooded sweatshirt, the Governor conducted a videoconference with the students at the school Friday morning.  She mentioned that her children and husband are avid basketball fans and said that First Gentleman Dan Mulhern’s pick-up basketball team comprised of executive office staffers might be interested in challenging the Nimrods in the future.

“Too often, news of our youth focuses on problems,” Granholm said.  “Every now and then, a story like the Watersmeet Nimrods comes along to remind us that our young people and high school sports often are the catalysts that can unite a community.”

The Nimrods boys’ basketball team and their coach, George Peterson III, will be guests on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno Monday night.