Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Shooing Away the Cobwebs

With an unfortunate lull in the sports world - when my mind is forced to turn to tennis and international soccer tournaments to get me through the summer - I thought it might be a good time to do state of my thinking assessment of the Wings, Pistons, Tigers and Lions.

We'll start with the Pistons who fired their coach today. This was a necessary move as I was never going to take the Pistons seriously with Michael Curry as their coach. I'll admit much of my information on his ineptitude was second hand but it was pretty damning and the Pistons tumbled pretty far after making it to the conference championship six years in a row. I'm not sure if there is a plan in place with the Pistons - they seem be doing a lot of things as it comes, but a new coach, draft picks and some free agents should re-ignite some excitement. But still I would prefer to blow it up and start over, now that may happen anyway.

The Red Wings, after their heartbreaking game 7 loss, are in good shape. The only issues are will they have enough money to sign Marian Hossa or not and if they do who will they need to get rid of. Really, the most interesting thing about the Red Wings is they just opted out of their lease on Joe Louis Arena and could be playing in a new arena or the Palace in the next few years.

The Tigers are on a roll. Too bad I can't stand baseball. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. I was such a baseball fan back in the day. But I'll get on this bandwagon soon enough, as it appears the tigers are for real with the season half over and they are still in first place.

Lastly, the Lions. Things are going to better this year, of course not saying much. I love the summer but can't wait to get to the fall and the football season. Get my bets on again.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Tonight They Play for Everything!

So it all comes down to game 7 for the Red Wings and though this will be a big one, I'm already starting to feel the long summer before football season starts. Because baseball hasn't done it for me since I graduated little league. I will admit that baseball does get good when the playoffs start, but by then we already have football back on the field so it doesn't deliver for those long summer months. This must be why summer reading is a big deal.

I am pretty much a homer so even though I may love the team (the Red Wings) i do hate the league. The NHL is run by a moron and it's just been a series of bad decisions for the last 15 years or so. I've written about this before but because the Wings are in the Western Conference and the NHL's scheduling is so messed up they play in the New York area once a year even though there are three teams here, it makes no sense. And last I checked Detroit was in the Eastern time zone. And it just goes on from there. Like this franchise the league wants to keep in Phoenix instead of moving to Canada where people are ready to love the team even though the bankruptcy proceedings have made public that the team has lost $300 millon in their few miserable years in the desert.

Anyway, I digress. The game 7 tonight will be a tense one and I'm feeling a bit strange being so confident that the Wings will prevail. They have two huge things on their side: the way they have dominated at home this playoffs, losing only one game and history. A home team has not last a Game 7 since something like 1971 and that was the Canadians beating the Black Hawks. The most successful and legendary franchise in NHL history beating the most unsuccessful and unlegendary franchise. But when it all comes down to one game, it all comes down to one game. Anything can happen.

So whatever happens, happens. Of course I will be ecstatic with a victory. Let's parade the Stanley Cup around the ice (which, by the way, I just found it yesterday was a tradition created by former Red Wings #7 Ted Lindsay.) Then have a real parade through the streets of Detroit. Can't wait to watch the live webstream of that moment.

And then it's the long hot summer. I guess it will be spent jonesy and hoarding any bit of information I can get about the pathetic Lions.

And then maybe the Pistons will do something to create excitement. Because after last season, and what they will be losing in terms of Rasheed and Iverson (good riddens) being free agents and gone, and how there young players took a step back this past season, and how I am not sold on the new coach, the lights could be dim there for a while. And this NBA playoffs, it hasn't done much, the Lakers not really playing well, and yet winning, and tragic the Magic - that series is over.

A rambling Friday...Tonight will be awesome....the Lord Stanley stays in Detroit!