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!