Rockford fans, who saw the Ram’s football game with Brighton, will testify that there was a lot of  ORANGE and BLACK on display for the game. The Bulldog’s colors and ours are the same, and at times it was hard to tell from a distance which side a person was backing. Later, in the quiet of my home, I got to wondering just how many schools in Michigan had the same colors as Rockford and Brighton. Then, I started thinking about the name, RAMS, and naturally, I needed to know the number of schools with the same nickname as ours.  I went next to the Michigan High School Athletic Association School Directory to see if it contained some answers. Before I relate what I found, let me mention what I did before reading the directory. I decided to write down the schools that I could think of that had our colors, and then I did the same with our nickname. Readers might want to try doing the same before reading further.

         First, I tried to think of schools that I knew had the same colors as Rockford. Besides Brighton, I came up with Belding, Muskegon Heights, Ludington, Byron Center, Middleville (Thornapple-Kellogg?), Benton Harbor, Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills, White Cloud, Alma, Grant and Cheboygan. Counting Rockford, I totaled thirteen schools. When I tried to think of schools with the nickname, RAMS, I came up with only  two, and for a  long while, I only had one, Grand Rapids Central. Then, I remembered watching coach Tom Baers’ high school team, South Haven, play in the high school basketball tournament several years ago and their nickname was RAMS. Rockford, G.R. Central and South Haven made three schools. Then, I went to the directory and found out a lot more.

         It appears that there are fifty nine high schools in Michigan with the colors ORANGE and BLACK. If one adds three other schools, who list the their colors as ORANGE, BLACK and  WHITE to the list, there would be sixty two. My  recollections were good, and the schools that I listed above were correct. They did use the same colors as Rockford. I was also right on the two schools with the RAMS nickname. The directory, however, listed ten schools including Rockford. Let’s take a closer look at the colors first!

         Using the sixty two team total, which I feel is pretty accurate, the teams break down in the following classifications: Class A =14, Class B =19, Class C = 24 and Class D =5. Because Rockford is Class A, I will list those schools first. Belleville, Benton Harbor, Brighton, Brother Rice, Clio, Dearborn, Escanaba, Flushing, G.R. Ottawa Hills, Jackson, Northville, Pontiac Central, Rockford and Utica.

         Other schools with ORANGE and BLACK colors were: Class B - Allegan, Alma, Armada, Belding, Byron Center, Center Line, Charlotte, Cheboygan, Chesaning, Dowagiac Union, Fenton, Grant, Ludington, Marine City, Middleville, Stockbridge, Sturgis, Tecumseh and Vassar.  Class C - Almont, Elk Rapids, Harbor Beach Community, Harbor Springs, Homer, Houghton, Hudson, Jonesville, Kingsley, Leslie, Mancelona, Manton, Marcellus, Merrill, Mesick, Munising, Muskegon Heights, Newberry, Sommerfield, Quincy, Rogers City, Rudyard, Ubly and White Cloud. Class D - Hillman, Huron Valley Lutheran, Morrice, Republic-Michigamme and  Mid Peninsula.

         What about the nickname, RAMS? Nine schools in Michigan use the name besides Rockford. They are: Academy of Detroit, Flat Rock, Galesburg-Augusta, G.R. Central, Harbor Springs, Madison Heights Lamphere, Hill McCloy, North Adams Jerome and South Haven..

         Readers, who looked at all of the above lists VERY carefully will notice that there is one high school in Michigan, Harbor Springs, whose school colors and nickname are exactly the same as ours. Because Rockford is a class A school and Harbor Springs is class C, it is not likely that we would ever meet in competitive athletics. However, back in 1922 we challenged East Jordan to a football game to determine a state class C champion. East Jordan is still class C and plays in the same league as Harbor Springs today. Size often determines the teams to be scheduled, and while we have gotten bigger, East Jordan and Harbor Springs have not grown as much. I would think it kind of an intriguing idea to have the Rams play the Rams with both sides dressed in ORANGE and BLACK.

         Sometimes I have heard people talk about not liking our colors, and it is encouraging to know  that lots of other high schools  have them. From our athletic infancy, we have been ORANGE and BLACK and all of our most positive athletic achievements have occurred using these colors. Often, older athletes in our community will talk about participating for the ORANGE and the BLACK. To them, the colors stand for Rockford, and  probably always will.

         In the future, I am told, there will be another high school in Rockford with different colors and a different nickname. When that happens, new traditions will begin, and old traditions will change. Hopefully, it will be a positive time for all!