Michigan
How Tim Washe made Western Michigan hockey believe: ‘He’s a natural-born leader’
Western Michigan captain Tim Washe on winning NCAA national championship
Tim Washe said the Broncos wanted to prove they were a ‘special’ group this year.
St. Louis — As Tim Washe skated up to grab Western Michigan’s national championship trophy after Saturday’s 6-2 title win over Boston University, his teammates huddled to the side waiting to pounce.
Like the Broncos were drawn by a magnet, they inched closer and closer and closer to their captain, waiting for the moment he’d bring that trophy right into their arms. When he did, he lifted up the trophy, smiling, and in big, gliding strides dove right into his teammates’ arms. Western Michigan had won it all.
For the next half hour, Washe and his teammates skated around Enterprise Center in St. Louis flaunting their hardware. They embraced. Shook each other. Laughed. Especially with Washe, the captain who got them here.
“We said at the start of the year it was special. We wanted to prove that,” Washe said. “We did it every day by just focusing on each day at a time, getting better every day. And then it just came down to belief.”
In 52 seasons, no captain has gotten Western Michigan this far. Not even Pat Ferschweiler, a captain himself who sat at the podium as a coach amazed with what his team accomplished.
Two days earlier, Ferschweiler had laid out why.
“I think we have the best leader in college hockey,” Ferschweiler said. “And that’s Tim Washe.”
All in Western Michigan’s locker room agreed with him Saturday night, where Washe’s leadership had guided them to a moment none will forget. A team that started the season with 16 newcomers, many overlooked by blueblood programs and NHL scouts, had beaten Denver and Boston University — two of the sport’s storied programs — to win the crown.
Washe made them believe.
“He’s a natural-born leader,” linemate Matteo Costantini told The Detroit News. “He’s a huge piece of this puzzle, and he’s a guy that anybody would want to follow. He set the example from Day One, and it was a pretty good example.”
“No better guy to lead this group all year, and he’s done a fantastic job,” forward Owen Michaels added. “Keeping us close, keeping us tight, and keeping us grounded.”
Western Michigan didn’t win its championship because it had more talent, or resources or ability. It won because of how it banded together as one unit, all focused on the same goal.
Saturday’s win was an emotional for Western Michigan athletic director Dan Bartholomae. He watched his hockey team defy the odds, down a blueblood and win a title it could have only dreamed of years ago. He got choked up a few times.
One of those happened when he hugged Washe.
“I am so proud of that young man, that guy, that kid has done nothing — nothing — but show up every day, bust his rear end, do everything right in the classroom, in the community, with his team. It’s never about him, you know. He never has to be in front of the camera. He just wants to be great and wants to will his teammates to be great. And he did it.”
No one around Kalamazoo holds back their praises for Washe. He’s the captain who tied this Western Michigan team together in pursuit of its crown. He created belief out of the toughest circumstances, even in losses. Out of ashes. Like losses to Boston College and Michigan State, earlier in the season, that made it clear Western Michigan could hang with anyone. Washe was right there reminding his teammates what could happen if they stuck with it.
Seven years ago, Washe committed to Western Michigan, not just as a hockey team but as a program. A packed Lawson Arena hosting wins over tough teams like Denver wooed him. He committed not only to the Broncos, but to the long road ahead. He didn’t know it would end like this, in a championship. Like when the Clarkston native Washe stuck around AAA his junior year of high school, instead of leaving for the next step up in junior hockey.
“He just kept sticking with it, getting a little better, finding ways to evolve on and off the ice,” said Brian Burke, Washe’s AAA coach at Victory Honda. “Now he’s paved himself a path where he’s gonna have an opportunity to play for a long time.”
Or when Washe joined Western Michigan half a year early because COVID-19 shut down his season with the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers and he had to scramble to find a new spot. That was four and a half years ago, when a game like Saturday felt like a pipe dream. Or what about the next step? There are NHL teams ready to sign Washe to an NHL contract, now that his season is over.
“He’s a winning forward on any given team in the NHL,” Ferschweiler said, once an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings. “Obviously later down the lineup. But he can win a draw against anyone, he can kill a penalty. And his physicality, honestly — and it probably doesn’t seem like it to you guys — is dialed back a little this year because he’s almost too strong at times for college hockey.
“He’s 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, chiseled out of a piece of granite. At times he has to control himself so he doesn’t destroy people out there and get penalties.”
Washe put all his talent on display Saturday, setting the tone for his team. His third line settled a nervous start and led to the opening goal 1:48 in. All game long, he forechecked hard into corners and created scoring threats. Western Michigan’s second goal, scored by Cole Crusberg-Roseen, came off the rebound from Washe’s shot and was aided by a screen he set.
In between periods, Washe kept his message simple: “He just told us, let’s keep doing our thing,” forward Iiro Hakkarainen told The News. “And just (that) we know we can do that.”
When all was said and done, Washe led the celebration, too. The longtime DJ of the Western Michigan locker room, he put on “Atlantic City” by The Band before shuffling off for interviews, his teammates singing along as loud as strained voices could muster. A fitting ode to a team of underdogs, overlooked but fighting for a chance.
“I will tell you, at the start of the year I said this team has a chance,” Ferschweiler joked Friday. “This is the best music of any college team I’ve ever been around. Fantastic.”
Perhaps the best captain of any college team he’s ever been around, too. And Ferschweiler isn’t shy about saying it.
For all the great captains across college hockey, only one ends the season with a championship. Washe’s legacy at Western Michigan could’ve ended in heartbreak, coming up short in a game like Saturday’s. But because of him, both as a player and as a leader, the Broncos leave St. Louis atop the sport.
cearegood@detroitnews.com
@ConnorEaregood
Michigan
Birmingham police say massive pool party should have been shut down sooner
Police in Birmingham, Michigan, say officers should have shut down a massive pool party in a residential neighborhood sooner last weekend.
More than 100 people showed up for a party in the 300 block of Westchester Way on June 13, when city officials say a private residential pool was rented out to a third party, violating zoning regulations.
“While officers shut the party down and issued multiple citations, the department acknowledges the party should have been shut down earlier,” said Birmingham police Chief Scott Grewe in a social media post. “Protecting public safety and preserving the quality of life in Birmingham neighborhoods remain top priorities. Should an event require intervention in the future, there will be police supervision to ensure the orderly and safe dispersal of attendees.
Homeowners on Westchester Way told CBS News Detroit that the street was filled with cars and some intoxicated partygoers.
“Women, I don’t even know if they were wearing anything, thong bikinis on top of vehicles, twerking,” said homeowner Brian Homer.
Birmingham police confirmed the individual who rented the backyard over the weekend was a promoter. Police say the homeowner and the person who rented the pool were among those who received citations.
Residents told CBS News Detroit that the house has been hosting parties for years and that its pool is listed on Swimply for rent.
“This isn’t the first time; this has been ongoing. This is just the first time he got caught,” said a resident who shares a fence with the homeowner who is renting their pool.
During a Birmingham City Commission meeting Monday night, Birmingham Mayor Clinton Baller said that the city had failed in this case.
Homeowners who spoke with CBS News Detroit said they are concerned about their safety, given that the neighborhood is filled with children.
In April, three men were arrested and later charged in connection with a shooting at a short-term rental in the 1400 block of East Lincoln Street. According to police, a party was advertised at the rental home, and three 18-year-old men drove up to the property, where other teens were gathering, when an argument ultimately led to a shooting.
Michigan
Skateboarding legend conquers California, revisits Michigan roots
Meet Michigan’s own Skateboard Hall of Famer Bill Danforth
Grosse Pointe native and legendary skateboarder Bill Danforth talks about how it all began for him and how it continues across the country.
Warren — Skateboarders flew through the air at Macomb County’s Eckstein Skatepark, launching off concrete ramps as spectators looked on from the surrounding rows of vendor tents.
Punk rock music from a band on the Creative Grind Fest stage echoed across the park as veteran skateboarders — and a legend in the sport — stood alongside the youngest, offering help and encouragement. Among them was 4-year-old Nikky Bukobich, who said the first thing he learned on a skateboard was “to fall.”
Bill Danforth, a Grosse Pointe South High School graduate, surveyed the scene. With buzzed silver hair, limited edition Danforth Vans sneakers and a white T-shirt, the 60-year-old skateboarding trailblazer talked with fans and signed boards.
“Young skateboarders are the future of the sport, and will be able to carry it on long after we are not,” Danforth told The Detroit News. “You’re never done with skateboarding. But after we slow down, they got to keep that tradition going.”
Danforth returned to Metro Detroit last weekend as one of the newest inductees into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame, making appearances at Royal Oak’s Modern Skate & Surf — which Danforth credits with keeping skateboarding alive in Michigan — and Warren’s Creative Grind Fest. As the skateboarding industry continues to grow, Danforth’s induction offers a look back at the figures who helped shape the sport’s early years.
Grosse Pointe meets California
Danforth was drawn to skateboarding as a Grosse Pointe youth when he realized it allowed him to express his creativity like no other sport did.
“I played organized sports when I was a kid. I played hockey, I played baseball, I played golf,” he said. “Skateboarding was unique, and it had no rules. We created our own groove.”
Danforth started skating wherever he could: “Most of it was at schoolyards or loading docks. This is before we were even building ramps.”
Then, in 1978, Detroit’s Endless Summer Skatepark opened in Roseville and Danforth began competing through the Great Lakes Skateboarding Association. These competitions drew attention to Danforth and other Midwest skaters from some of the largest industry groups on the West Coast, earning Danforth a sponsorship from Madrid Skateboards.
“We started getting recognized by California,” Danforth said. “All of a sudden we were sponsored by California companies — we’re getting free skateboards, we’re getting free wheels and we’re getting free components.”
‘Style is faster, more charged’
Art director and brand manager for Madrid Skateboards, Eagle Barber, said that Danforth stood out from others in the way he skated.
“His style is faster, it’s more charged. He was never an apprehensive, laid-back skater,” Barber said. “He was always going faster and bigger, and he had a very certain air of intimidation about him.”
Michigan professional skateboarder Garold Vallie, a close friend, added that Danforth was known for skating anything and everything.
“He could skate big halfpipes, but he could skate street,” Vallie said. “He could skate anything. He had his own style, and people gravitated towards that.”
Jerry Shirts, a skater and artist selling his spraypainted road signs at the festival, had often been inspired by Danforth’s tricks on the board, he said: “He was a big influence on me when I first started skating. I had seen him in the mags and such, and then realized he was from Michigan, so he was my favorite local skater. I copied all his tricks.”
Danforth was also unique simply for being a Michiganian. Todd Huber, founder and CEO of the Skateboarding Hall of Fame, said Danforth emerged from a region rarely associated with professional skateboarding.
“He wasn’t from California, and California kind of got the spotlight. He was from Detroit, no spotlight was on him,” Huber said. “He was cut from a different cloth, and he did things differently.”
Growing up in Michigan forced skaters like Danforth to be resourceful: “We had to fight a lot of issues just to be a skateboarder in Michigan. Nothing was given to us; we earned it out of our own blood, sweat and tears. We were skateboarders without attitudes in the Midwest. California was a bunch of attitudes with skateboards.”
‘The American Nomad’
The same determination that helped Danforth break into the sport also took him far beyond Michigan. Danforth flew, drove and hitchhiked across the world, skating any terrain he could find and earning him the nickname “The American Nomad.”
His journeys included a trip to Tahiti in the 1980s. Intended as a skateboarding clinic and demonstration tour, the trip turned into what Danforth called an unexpected adventure when political unrest erupted on the island. Danforth evacuated before continuing his travels through New Zealand and Australia.
Stories like these helped make him one of skateboarding’s most recognizable figures during the 1980s.
“He had the number one-selling board in the United Kingdom. He had one of the number one-selling boards in America,” said George Leichtweis, founder of Royal Oak’s Modern Skate & Surf. “And he would go anywhere with anybody in skating, and that’s a level of respect to the core of skateboarding.”
Memorabilia, renewed demand
Today, one of Danforth’s signature boards is part of the Smithsonian’s collection, alongside a copy of “Street Survival,” an instructional VHS video starring Danforth that helped teach a generation of skateboarders.
“He was definitely a really influential skater of the ’80s,” said Jane Rogers, a curator with the Smithsonian. “His board had a lot of cool elements — the graphic and the way the board was shaped. The circle of skulls definitely represents that time.”
Madrid Skateboards recently reissued several of his signature boards as part of a limited-edition collection. Only 200 of each design were produced, and the company said Danforth’s boards were the strongest sellers in its Gold Reissue Series.
Danforth has his own board company, American Nomad, where boards cost upwards of $95. Reissues or originals of Danforth’s signature boards can sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars, according to industry experts.
Such demand was visible during Creative Grind Fest. There, the Modern Skate & Surf tent reported strong interest in Danforth’s Hall of Fame commemorative deck, selling for $119, and his Madrid Misfit reissue boards, priced at $84.
“A big percentage of people are buying these things for the collectability aspect of it,” Barber said.
For many collectors, the boards represent more than a piece of equipment, skateboarding industry expert Iain Borden said: “To some extent, people are buying back the youth that they had.
“A lot of people in their 40s, 50s, 60s who can’t skate anymore, they’ve got injuries, they’re too heavy, they’re out of practice, but they still have this relationship to skateboarding that’s been a central part of their life. Board collecting is a way of keeping up that relationship.”
‘People can relate to Bill’
Danforth’s influence isn’t measured solely by the value of his memorabilia. Those who know him often point to his impact off the board as his most lasting contribution.
Danforth has spent decades mentoring younger skaters and supporting Native American skateboarding programs and Michigan skateparks, saying it is important to “share our knowledge with everybody”.
“People love Bill because people can relate to Bill,” said Creative Grind Fest organizer Bridget Harrington Renteria. “He’s great with kids, and he’ll talk to anybody. He’s got time for everybody.”
Among those eager to meet Danforth was 9-year-old Junior Wilie, whose admiration for the skateboarding pioneer was evident. With a photo of Danforth hanging on his bedroom wall, Wilie was excited to get his skateboard signed by him and other Michigan professionals. Wilie toted his skateboard around the park, darting in and out of vendor tents with his parents to find the perfect items.
Wilie wasn’t the only one eager to attend. Miguel Lynn rode his skateboard down into the concrete bowl before accelerating back up and over the rim. Lynn, who has been skateboarding for more than 20 years, said he was excited to learn Danforth would be attending the festival.
“He’s awesome. I look up to that guy,” Lynn said. “He’s been skating for so long, being that old, being able to skate, it’s amazing.”
Vallie was among the skateboarders mentored by Danforth. What began with drawing pictures of Danforth in class as a child eventually led to years of skateboarding and traveling alongside him.
“I think the term legend gets thrown around too much,” Vallie said. “But I do think he embodies every part of what that word encompasses — not only from his skateboarding accomplishments, but bringing skateboarding back to Michigan and helping kids.”
atisch@detroitnews.com
Michigan
Detroit Bar Misses James Beard Award, Leaving MI Without Any Winners
Chartreuse Kitchen and Cocktails is best known for its farm-to-table American cuisine. It has earned numerous accolades, including Yelp’s No. 1 Detroit restaurant in 2017 and 2018.
Freya, known for its prix fixe tasting menus typically served with wine, has also earned high praise, including a spot in the New York Times’ most exciting restaurants list.
The 20 chefs will headline events in their hometowns as part of the foundation’s Taste America culinary tour, which begins Sept. 16 in New Orleans and continues in cities across the country through March 2027.
The foundation said the chefs were selected not only for culinary talent but also for their work beyond the kitchen, including efforts such as supporting sustainable agriculture, investing in restaurant teams, elevating quality ingredients and advocating for a stronger food system.
Chefs in Houston, New York, Detroit, Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta, Miami, Phoenix, Los Angeles and New Orleans are among the 20 to watch.
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