About a week back or so, noted college basketball bracketologist guy Rocco Miller put out into the universe that YOUR Marquette Golden Eagles men’s basketball team will be hosting Central Michigan in the 2024-25 season.

Now, I feel comfortable passing along Rocco’s information as solid. The next thing I’m going to pass along is stemming from that and since I don’t know the two Twitter accounts in question, I can’t vouch for the information. However, not one but TWO Twitter accounts noted that 1) Central Michigan will be hosting Stony Brook in 2024-25 and 2) that game is part of a Multi-Team Event that Marquette is (technically) hosting.

We already talked about Marquette’s home game against Stony Brook, so the pieces fit together there. Marquette Deputy Athletic Director Mike Broeker mostly confirmed the hosted MTE in an interview with Cracked Sidewalks’ Alan Bykowski without actually saying it is 100% happening or who was involved, so that fills in that side of the puzzle as well.

“I would say we are going to host our own MTE. We’re going to get three games out of it. Next year’s MTE is really a factor of a desire to play an additional home game or two and the best way to do that. Is it an every year thing? I don’t think we can say that. I’ve said this, historically, your schedule has to do two things. One, it has to reflect your roster and what you’re capable of doing. And then two, it always has to feed your competitive expectation for the program, and obviously, our competitive expectation is pretty clear and Shaka has been open about it.”

Okay, so back to Central Michigan. This game will be the third ever meeting between Marquette and CMU. The Golden Eagles have won both, with both coming as home games for MU. Marquette won 81-67 in December 2008, and then again by a score of 97-73 in 2022. That game was the Students Only game at the Al McGuire Center. Marquette has confirmed that they are doing that event again in 2024-25, but between being a repeat opponent just two years later and coming as part of the MTE, I would presume that the Chippewas will not be the opponent slotted into that game.

Central Michigan is coming off an 18-14 season in Tony Barbee’s third season in Mount Pleasant. The Chips went 12-6 in MAC play and earned the #4 seed in the conference tournament, but had their season cut down in the quarterfinals by way of a 66-56 upset loss to #5 seed Bowling Green.

They finished 2023-24 at #277 in KenPom.com’s rankings, #269 at BartTorvik.com, and #264 in the NET. The Torvik computers show the Chippewas as perhaps being a touch better next season, as they project at #234 in the country, although that’s only 7th best in the MAC. Central Michigan returns Anthony Pritchard, a 6’2” guard who led the Chips in scoring (12.8/game) and assists (4.7/game) last season. He’s not much of an outside shooter after connecting on just 26% of his long range attempts last year, and shooting in general was a struggle for CMU all season. The Torvik RosterCast tells us that Central Michigan doesn’t return much else outside of Pritchard, so Marquette could have a notable tactical advantage if this game gets played in the first week or two of the season.

A date with Central Michigan brings us to seven known games on the Marquette schedule for 2024-25. We know dates for four of them — Maryland, Purdue, Georgia, and Iowa State — while we wait for details on the yearly game against Wisconsin as well as the aforementioned Stony Brook game and this CMU contest. There’s another game for the MTE that lays out there in the wilderness, and I would presume the opponent is on the rough level of Stony Brook and CMU. There’s also the theoretical game against NC State that Andy Katz reported as a possibility, but there’s been no announcement about that or further rumoring.

Tours draw thousands of visitors

Like pilgrims in a cathedral, thousands of visitors from metro Detroit and beyond trekked to the Michigan Central Station on Friday to marvel at the restored beauty of the longtime eyesore.

They took in every detail from the polished floors to the majestic ceilings to the craftsmanship that went into the original clock. The mood was festive as people moved through the building. Dramatic music played in a loop ending with a voice telling them that trains were pulling into the station.

“You see the work they did out here: They re-created everything the right way,” said Tom Toft, as he waited outside for his tour to begin. “It’s spectacular.”

Toft toured with his wife, Renee, and her cousin, Sylvia Ross-Schultz and her husband, Tom Schultz. The families had relatives who worked in the building back in the day.

“We’re so glad to see it getting so much better, and it’s beautiful. … It’s just in my heart, it’s been the neatest thing,” said Ross-Schultz. “It’s another crown jewel in the renovation of Detroit.”

Her husband agreed.

“I made the statement, and I was wrong, that (the comeback) would never happen in my lifetime,” said Schultz. “The rebirth is off the charts.”

‘People are coming in here awestruck’

By midafternoon, about 1,800 people had toured the building and that number was expected to grow to about 5,000 by the time the tours ended at 10 p.m., Michigan Central spokesman Dan Austin said.

Paul Wilson, 42, of Detroit, said he’s just thought of the station as a ruin his whole life — until now.

“It’s so cool how they refurbished everything and still kept a whole lot of the building intact,” Wilson said.

John Martin is a new Michigan Central ambassador after an advertising career and a couple years working part-time gigs. He snagged the job just in time for the station’s reopening and Friday was just his second day of work.

Martin grew up in Lincoln Park, later worked in downtown and spent most of his life watching the city up close. He toured Michigan Central’s open house back in 2018 after it was acquired by Ford and has since been stunned by Detroit’s numerous and gorgeous renovations.

On Friday, Martin stood at the doors of the Grand Hall, greeting people as they entered with smiles widening and eyes lighting up at their first sight of the hall.

“People are coming in here awestruck, they’re not complaining,” he said.

More: Michigan Central Station tours: How to visit Ford’s renovated train depot

More: Michigan Central Station: What you’ll see on the tour

Christina Roki, of Sterling Heights, and Grant Sloan, of West Bloomfield, are two automotive content creators who were invited to opening day by Ford. They said they were brought to tears by the stories preserved inside Michigan Central Station.

“What we appreciate about it most is how much detail Ford cared to preserve to show the story. They kept part of the graffiti on the walls, they preserved a lot of the tickets they found. … Even the brick, all the chisels we see on the brick, they didn’t try to make fine cut lines, they still want to show all the history that this building has,” said Roki.

As they walked from room to room, they remained at a loss for words.

“The inside was literally mind-blowing. I feel like I was walking in on such a big piece of history that’s been preserved for so long, so it’s crazy to think that this is something they’ve been working on in the past few years,” said Roki.

But the pair said one of the most significant parts was just to see how Michigan Central had been given new life, narrowly dodging demolition. Sloan remembered times passing the station with friends just before the renovation began. He saw graffiti and decay. Now, to see the modern history meshed with its historical past was an awesome experience.

“Any Detroiter will agree that this building was such an eyesore for such a long time. Growing up in Detroit and knowing its history but never seeing it operational. … But now seeing it up in running, it’s really touching to see that Ford took on such a large project,” said Sloan. “It’s early but I think it’s safe to say that the investment already paid off.”

‘Not enough wonderful words to describe it’

Bob and Shari Bilkie, of Northville, have deep family ties to Detroit. They often went on dates downtown before marrying almost 41 years ago.

On Friday, they walked the side streets surrounding Michigan Central Station as they waited for the public tours to begin at noon. They parked at 10 a.m. and took in the sights of the Corktown neighborhood on the cool, cloudy day.

“It is so cool, the fact that they took something decrepit, falling apart, an eyesore and turned it into something absolutely beautiful,” Shari Bilkie said.

Southwest Detroit resident Jennifer Serra set an alarm in hopes of scoring tickets to see the train station on its first day of public tours. 

“There’s just not enough wonderful words to describe it,” Serra, 45, said after taking the tour. 

Her only problem? She had somewhere else to be Friday afternoon and wanted to spend more time in the station. She has already made plans to come back for another tour in a few days. 

Pro tip: How to get into a popular Berlin bar

“I feel like it’s like a symbolic representation of what goes on in our city,” she said of Michigan Central Station. “I feel like there’s just these landmarks in certain cities … that just really kind of embody the overall history of what’s going on. I feel like this helps us bring a little bit of closure to some tough times and shows renewal.”

People’s excitement was obvious, even before they got inside.

NPR reporter Bobby Allyn, 35, walked quickly toward Michigan Central Station as he prepared to interview President Joe Biden’s director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Arati Prabhakar, at Newlab, which is next door to the station.

He said he was super excited to be in Detroit, having heard so much about the city when he lived in Berlin.

“Berliners are obsessed with Detroit because of techno music,” Allyn said. “It’s the birthplace of techno. Look up Jeff Mills, of Detroit, and techno. You’ll see. When you go to Club Berghain in Berlin, it’s impossible to get in but if you wear a hat that says, ‘Detroit,’ they let you in.”

Allyn, a technology correspondent, reports on startups, artificial intelligence, privacy issues and tech litigation. While he was directed to the neighboring building, the whole site is part of the mobility hub led by Ford Motor Co. Allyn said he couldn’t wait to see the inside of the restored train depot after the interview.

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – A new drug has been showing up across Michigan, it’s called Medetomidine. Health experts say it has already caused multiple deadly overdoses here in our state. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says the drug is an animal tranquilizer that is not intended or approved to be used by people.

“It’s even more powerful than xylazine, so a very deadly drug of grave concern,” said Patrick Patterson, the Executive Director of Mid-Michigan Recovery Services.

Medetomidine slows your heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and decreases brain and spinal cord activity.

“The problem with xylazine and medetomidine is that they’re sedatives so, Narcan doesn’t work and there is no test strip for it yet. We developed… test strips that are now available to test for Xylazine,” said Patterson.

Patterson says anyone who still chooses to take the drug or anything laced with it, will need medical attention quickly.

“Depression of the central nervous system which affects the heart and lungs. So, you’d just stop breathing,” said Patterson.

But long story short, it’s best not to buy street drugs.

“It’s likely that this drug is used to cut other drugs. People who are buying heroine is going to be the most common route here but any drug you’re buying illegally, you’ve got to be careful,” said Patterson.

There have been 3 overdose deaths reported in Ingham, Berrien, and Wayne counties. Though it’s not as effective, health experts still recommend using Narcan or Naloxone if an overdose occurs.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction, you can visit the Mid-Michigan Recovery Services website here or call their office at (517) 887-0226 OR TOLL-FREE AT (800) 337-2310.

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