The Detroit Tigers have shown impeccable timing with there current hot streak that coincides nicely with them becoming the sole team sport that Detroit still has going.
Last week was particularly rewarding with series wins at home against the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees in a variety of ways. Some of them were from dominating pitching performances others was pure ball mashing and one awesome Saturday night comeback to save a disastrous Dontrelle Willis performance.
Of course they have had the very good fortune of an older vet going down in Guillen only to see a rookie phenom in Brennan Boesch come up and start hammering the ball. Who would have thought that the first 2 rookie of the month winners would come from the Tigers with Austin Jackson winning the first and Boesch winning the second. Jackson sure has done a lot to make us forget about the Curtis Granderson trade. The ultimate question of course is can one or both of these rookies keep this up for the entire season.
The strongest and most consistent part of the team so far has been there bullpen far and way. They have been lights out so far with Zumaya learning how to become a pitcher instead of just a thrower but still the capability of hitting triple digits on the radar gun when needed. The biggest question mark is the starting pitching with only Justin Verlander shining on a consistent basis and lots of inconsistency with all the rest. It also seems like Miquel Cabrera has taken some huge steps in maturing as a person and cleaning up his personnel life. I don't think his MVP start to the season coming on the heels of him giving up alcohol is a coincidence.
Here's to another fun and exciting summer of Tigers Baseball
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Red Wings Season comes to an end
The title pretty much says it all and we are left with a slightly longer summer without hockey than most fans are accustomed to after Saturdays 2-1 defeat by the Sharks.
This certainly has been one of the most difficult seasons to judge in recent Red Wing history given all the adversity they had to fight thru. Of course I felt a profound sense of disappointment and sadness but it was more of a resigned contentment. This season had so many obstacles to it from the rash of early season injuries, compressed Olympic year schedule and the wear and tear of the last 3 deep playoff runs in the last 3 years. Needless to say aside from Pittsburgh with its much younger roster there isn't another team in the NHL that has played more hockey than the Red Wings these past 3 years. It was strange going into the Playoffs without the usual Stanly Cup or bust realistic expectation but that was the reality this year. There wasn't the usual finger pointing about this star or that one under performing or riding the goalie out of town. Jimmy Howard did a remarkable job as a rookie and showed he has the mental toughness to take on the toughest position in Detroit Sports (along with Lions QB of course). I don't even blame the refs with all of the missed calls and bad penalties thru out the playoffs. The Red Wings just had the unfortunate timing of running into a team that finally learned how to turn regular season success into playoff success after many years of disappointment in the San Jose Sharks.
Of course this summer will be very very busy for Ken Holland and the Red Wing brain trust with all the issues they have to deal with. From dealing with player's free agency with Lidstrom at the top of the pile to long time Wings like Maltby and Holmstrom and not so long time Wings player Bertuzi. They also have a host of restricted free agents in Helm, Eaves and Miller. I also can't imagine "the captain" deciding he wants to tackle that open GM job down in Tampa Bay and leaving the only organization he has ever known.
This certainly has been one of the most difficult seasons to judge in recent Red Wing history given all the adversity they had to fight thru. Of course I felt a profound sense of disappointment and sadness but it was more of a resigned contentment. This season had so many obstacles to it from the rash of early season injuries, compressed Olympic year schedule and the wear and tear of the last 3 deep playoff runs in the last 3 years. Needless to say aside from Pittsburgh with its much younger roster there isn't another team in the NHL that has played more hockey than the Red Wings these past 3 years. It was strange going into the Playoffs without the usual Stanly Cup or bust realistic expectation but that was the reality this year. There wasn't the usual finger pointing about this star or that one under performing or riding the goalie out of town. Jimmy Howard did a remarkable job as a rookie and showed he has the mental toughness to take on the toughest position in Detroit Sports (along with Lions QB of course). I don't even blame the refs with all of the missed calls and bad penalties thru out the playoffs. The Red Wings just had the unfortunate timing of running into a team that finally learned how to turn regular season success into playoff success after many years of disappointment in the San Jose Sharks.
Of course this summer will be very very busy for Ken Holland and the Red Wing brain trust with all the issues they have to deal with. From dealing with player's free agency with Lidstrom at the top of the pile to long time Wings like Maltby and Holmstrom and not so long time Wings player Bertuzi. They also have a host of restricted free agents in Helm, Eaves and Miller. I also can't imagine "the captain" deciding he wants to tackle that open GM job down in Tampa Bay and leaving the only organization he has ever known.
For a nice wrap up on The Red Wing Season feel free to look up this link.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Ernie Harwell Passes Away at age 92
Life has a funny way of putting things into perspective and last night was certainly one of those moments. The passing of such an iconic figure not only in Detroit sports but to legions of Baseball fans across this great nation certainly does just that. Today the sadness or fond memories being recalled or the happiness of our youth has nothing to do with the scores from last night but all about Ernie Harwell leaving us late yesterday evening.
The man from Georgia with that Southern drawl enlightened generations of baseball fans and stories of his kindness to each and everyone that met him are truly inspiring.
I can imagine that I am amongst the 1000's in the blogosphere all writing about this same topic and here is just one link from the "National" perspective that I have read today from across the board whether it is from radio, print media, or the internet.
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The man from Georgia with that Southern drawl enlightened generations of baseball fans and stories of his kindness to each and everyone that met him are truly inspiring.
I can imagine that I am amongst the 1000's in the blogosphere all writing about this same topic and here is just one link from the "National" perspective that I have read today from across the board whether it is from radio, print media, or the internet.
>
Monday, March 22, 2010
March Madness opens with a Weekend to Remember
What an exhilaration, breath taking, heart pounding, phenomenal (feel free to add any other hyperbole) start to March Madness. Never in all my years of watching the Mens NCAA College Basketball Tournament can I recall a weekend with more buzzer beaters, overtime games, and Cinderella upsets.
The first day had drama and suspense from the very beginning to the very end. It started in fine fashion with Old Dominion knocking of the Fighting Irish by a mere point. Even though my disdain of Notre Dame is more geared toward there football program, it still rubs of onto there basketball team as well. Then there was the near historic upset of #2 seeded Villanova by Robert Morris who had the lead and control of the game all the way up to the very end before they succumbed in overtime. Helped mightily by there 40 free throw attempts to 26 by Robert Morris, can you say big school bias anyone. Lets not forget about the Racers of Murray State that calmly knocked off #4 seeded Vanderbilt on a 15 foot buzzer beater by Danero Thomas who was only the 3rd option on the play. Maybe its my anti SEC football bias creeping in but always nice to see the SEC fall flat no matter the sport.
As incredible as these 1st afternoon round of games were, the evening session said hold up we have some sprinkles to add. Now normally I would not be caught dead giving props to any school that has Ohio in its name but when its #14 seeded The State University of Ohio toppling a powerhouse like #3 seeded Georgetown I will happily make an exception. A precursor of things to come for the Big East that saw only 2 of 8 teams advance to the sweet sixteen.
These games were just the tip of the Iceberg for the weekend which saw three double digit seeded teams advancing to the Sweet Sixteen. With #9 seeded Northern Perhaps topping all of that by taking down overall #1 seeded Kansas on a cold blooded 3 point shot that will undoubtedly make its way into the NCAA archives and live on for years to come. It was #12 seeded Cornell becoming the first Ivy league school in over 30 years knocking of Wisconsin handily to advance to next weekend. It was Pac-10 regular season winner Washington storming back against Marquette in the 1st round and then soundly taking out #3 seeded and very new to the party New Mexico. Then the little school that could out of the San Francisco area Saint Mary's College knocking of everyones darling mid-major Richmond first and then beating the aforementioned over rated Villanova next.
I most certainly did not forget the Drama that our home state M.S.U. Spartans brought to the table as the advanced not so easily or healthy to the Sweet Sixteen for the 3rd straight year. However I will be forth coming with another update this afternoon that will give there Spartans there due and I would be remiss if I did not give a very special honorable mention to what the Red Wings accomplished this weekend. Scoring 2 goals with less than a second to go on back to back nights to force the 1st game into overtime and to win in overtime the next night, seemed to fit in nicely with the weekends theme.
Jason Behr
The first day had drama and suspense from the very beginning to the very end. It started in fine fashion with Old Dominion knocking of the Fighting Irish by a mere point. Even though my disdain of Notre Dame is more geared toward there football program, it still rubs of onto there basketball team as well. Then there was the near historic upset of #2 seeded Villanova by Robert Morris who had the lead and control of the game all the way up to the very end before they succumbed in overtime. Helped mightily by there 40 free throw attempts to 26 by Robert Morris, can you say big school bias anyone. Lets not forget about the Racers of Murray State that calmly knocked off #4 seeded Vanderbilt on a 15 foot buzzer beater by Danero Thomas who was only the 3rd option on the play. Maybe its my anti SEC football bias creeping in but always nice to see the SEC fall flat no matter the sport.
As incredible as these 1st afternoon round of games were, the evening session said hold up we have some sprinkles to add. Now normally I would not be caught dead giving props to any school that has Ohio in its name but when its #14 seeded The State University of Ohio toppling a powerhouse like #3 seeded Georgetown I will happily make an exception. A precursor of things to come for the Big East that saw only 2 of 8 teams advance to the sweet sixteen.
These games were just the tip of the Iceberg for the weekend which saw three double digit seeded teams advancing to the Sweet Sixteen. With #9 seeded Northern Perhaps topping all of that by taking down overall #1 seeded Kansas on a cold blooded 3 point shot that will undoubtedly make its way into the NCAA archives and live on for years to come. It was #12 seeded Cornell becoming the first Ivy league school in over 30 years knocking of Wisconsin handily to advance to next weekend. It was Pac-10 regular season winner Washington storming back against Marquette in the 1st round and then soundly taking out #3 seeded and very new to the party New Mexico. Then the little school that could out of the San Francisco area Saint Mary's College knocking of everyones darling mid-major Richmond first and then beating the aforementioned over rated Villanova next.
I most certainly did not forget the Drama that our home state M.S.U. Spartans brought to the table as the advanced not so easily or healthy to the Sweet Sixteen for the 3rd straight year. However I will be forth coming with another update this afternoon that will give there Spartans there due and I would be remiss if I did not give a very special honorable mention to what the Red Wings accomplished this weekend. Scoring 2 goals with less than a second to go on back to back nights to force the 1st game into overtime and to win in overtime the next night, seemed to fit in nicely with the weekends theme.
Jason Behr
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Red Wings defeat Calgary 2-1 in key match up
Wow what an exciting late night game. Talk about a great way to start off the week by watching the Wings deliver a full 60 minute effort that results in a 3 point lead on the Calgary Flames for the 8th and final playoff spot.
It seems that our star players like Pavel and Hank have definitely heeded Mike Babcocks "our stars have to play like stars" mantra with both of them skating hard and making plays on both ends. I just marvel at a player like Holmstrom that can stand in front of that net take the physical abuse he does and still be so deft with his stick at deflecting in wide shots to the nets. The game winner with 1:19 left had to be a heart breaker for the Flames.
Of course we still have 2 key match ups with Nashville coming up and still need some teams in front of us to lose a game or two but all in all I like where the Wings are headed. I can't imagine either Chicago or San Jose looking forward to first round match up with a Wings team firing on all cylinders.
As always feel free to comment good, bad or otherwise
Jason
For an official recap go here
It seems that our star players like Pavel and Hank have definitely heeded Mike Babcocks "our stars have to play like stars" mantra with both of them skating hard and making plays on both ends. I just marvel at a player like Holmstrom that can stand in front of that net take the physical abuse he does and still be so deft with his stick at deflecting in wide shots to the nets. The game winner with 1:19 left had to be a heart breaker for the Flames.
Of course we still have 2 key match ups with Nashville coming up and still need some teams in front of us to lose a game or two but all in all I like where the Wings are headed. I can't imagine either Chicago or San Jose looking forward to first round match up with a Wings team firing on all cylinders.
As always feel free to comment good, bad or otherwise
Jason
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Michigan State bows out in big ten tourney
Does anybody remember that classic quote from Rob Schneider in the movie Necessary Roughness?
"Coach, nows not the time to make sure everybody has played. Hey, I haven't played yet, maybe I should go in."
That was actually one of his many classic quotes as announcer Chuck Neiderman.
It's the not the time to make sure everybody played that was eerily similar to the way Michigan State coach Tom Izzo handled his team on Friday. The Spartans loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament left many fans, media and even a few players scratching their heads over the way Izzo managed the player rotation.
With Chris Allen suspended for mysterious reasons, the Spartans were definitely in need of a lift at the guard play. For some reason though Durrell Summers was benched most of the second half again for mysterious reasons. In his place were seldom used Austin Thorton and walk-on Mike Kebler which left Spartan fans wondering why in the world is Izzo benching Summers for those two. Yes, Kebler did help the defense improve in the 2nd half, but offensively he was a liability. The stat line: 20 minutes, zero points, 2 missed free throws and two costly turnovers. One of those miscues was on a fast break where Kalin Lucas passed to him and he basically couldn't wait to release it back to a Minnesota player as if he were holding a hand grenade. The other was while grabbing a rebound after a Minnesota miss and basically tripping over his own feet out of bounds. Lucas was standing right near him and you could see the look of disgust on his face when they showed the replays.
So at the risk of making the offense look bad, Izzo thought at least he would make their defense look good. But Izzo didn't need to contribute to the offensive demise - the players did that on their own with all the missed free throws. Sparty was an aberration from the charity stripe in Friday's loss in which they were slightly over 50% including four straight crucial misses in overtime. Minnesota obviously didn't have issues with the basket as they were close to 75% in free throws. And did anybody notice how a few of the Minnesota players just step up to the line and calmly shoot it in no time? Usually their results are all net. Smooth and secure. The Spartan players stand at the line, stare at it too long, measure it, and almost aim it. Even a lot of their makes were rim rattlers that were fortunate to bounce in. Make a few more free throws and Michigan State could have been the ones facing the battered and bruised Boilermakers, which Minnesota dismantled on Saturday.
MSU's defense has actually improved over the last 4 or 5 games thanks in part to Chris Allen and due to Raymar Morgan playing up to potential. Get Allen back in. Get Summers some more playing time. And get the continued solid play from Morgan. Get all those in place and the Spartans can forget about the Minnesota meltdown and focus on a respectable run in the upcoming NCAA.
"Coach, nows not the time to make sure everybody has played. Hey, I haven't played yet, maybe I should go in."
That was actually one of his many classic quotes as announcer Chuck Neiderman.
It's the not the time to make sure everybody played that was eerily similar to the way Michigan State coach Tom Izzo handled his team on Friday. The Spartans loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament left many fans, media and even a few players scratching their heads over the way Izzo managed the player rotation.
With Chris Allen suspended for mysterious reasons, the Spartans were definitely in need of a lift at the guard play. For some reason though Durrell Summers was benched most of the second half again for mysterious reasons. In his place were seldom used Austin Thorton and walk-on Mike Kebler which left Spartan fans wondering why in the world is Izzo benching Summers for those two. Yes, Kebler did help the defense improve in the 2nd half, but offensively he was a liability. The stat line: 20 minutes, zero points, 2 missed free throws and two costly turnovers. One of those miscues was on a fast break where Kalin Lucas passed to him and he basically couldn't wait to release it back to a Minnesota player as if he were holding a hand grenade. The other was while grabbing a rebound after a Minnesota miss and basically tripping over his own feet out of bounds. Lucas was standing right near him and you could see the look of disgust on his face when they showed the replays.
So at the risk of making the offense look bad, Izzo thought at least he would make their defense look good. But Izzo didn't need to contribute to the offensive demise - the players did that on their own with all the missed free throws. Sparty was an aberration from the charity stripe in Friday's loss in which they were slightly over 50% including four straight crucial misses in overtime. Minnesota obviously didn't have issues with the basket as they were close to 75% in free throws. And did anybody notice how a few of the Minnesota players just step up to the line and calmly shoot it in no time? Usually their results are all net. Smooth and secure. The Spartan players stand at the line, stare at it too long, measure it, and almost aim it. Even a lot of their makes were rim rattlers that were fortunate to bounce in. Make a few more free throws and Michigan State could have been the ones facing the battered and bruised Boilermakers, which Minnesota dismantled on Saturday.
MSU's defense has actually improved over the last 4 or 5 games thanks in part to Chris Allen and due to Raymar Morgan playing up to potential. Get Allen back in. Get Summers some more playing time. And get the continued solid play from Morgan. Get all those in place and the Spartans can forget about the Minnesota meltdown and focus on a respectable run in the upcoming NCAA.
Monday, February 22, 2010
U.S. defeats Canada 5-3 in Olympic Hockey
Wow what an exciting game that was last night for both countries. In Canada they estimate that 2/3 of the entire population watched portions of the game and MSNBC recorded there 3rd highest show rating ever with only Presidential debates topping it.
For an official recap see US stuns Canada 5-3 to win Group A
This game really reminded me of old fashion playoff hockey pre-Lockout with the physical hard skating nature of the game and the officials just letting them play. I did not see to many ticky tack holds or interference penalties being called and the faster and more aggressive team coming out on top with the U.S. team. I found myself waiting for the announcers to mention names like Crosby, Iginla, Thorton, etc but instead it was mostly the 3rd and 4th line muck and grind types for the Canadian team being called. It did bring joy to my heart seeing Crosby sprawled out on the ice in front of his own net after a U.S. score.
The United States team used the tried and true formula of hot goal tending by M.S.U.'s own Ryan Miller stopping 42 of 45 shots with lots of effort and work in there own zone fighting of the Canadians and taking advantages of turnovers and mistakes on the other side. I am not sure where Dearborn's own and current Detroit Red Wing Brian Rafalski found all of this offense with 2 goals and an assist in the game coming on the heels of scoring the last two American goals the game before. The United States team really used there youth and speed to take it to the big guns of the Canadians who have only known the new NHL and never had to fight through the vaunted New Jersey Devils neutral zone trap and deal with defenders obstruction, hooking and holding til there hearts content. And yes I am talking to you Mr. Crosby, Nash, and Iginla you might want to talk to some of the older players on the team to get a handle on just how much effort and work is required in those tight checking games.
Now Canada faces the unenviable position of facing the Russians in the Quarterfinals and they better be ready to give all they can or the unthinkable could happen by missing the medal round completely.
Jason
For an official recap see US stuns Canada 5-3 to win Group A
This game really reminded me of old fashion playoff hockey pre-Lockout with the physical hard skating nature of the game and the officials just letting them play. I did not see to many ticky tack holds or interference penalties being called and the faster and more aggressive team coming out on top with the U.S. team. I found myself waiting for the announcers to mention names like Crosby, Iginla, Thorton, etc but instead it was mostly the 3rd and 4th line muck and grind types for the Canadian team being called. It did bring joy to my heart seeing Crosby sprawled out on the ice in front of his own net after a U.S. score.
The United States team used the tried and true formula of hot goal tending by M.S.U.'s own Ryan Miller stopping 42 of 45 shots with lots of effort and work in there own zone fighting of the Canadians and taking advantages of turnovers and mistakes on the other side. I am not sure where Dearborn's own and current Detroit Red Wing Brian Rafalski found all of this offense with 2 goals and an assist in the game coming on the heels of scoring the last two American goals the game before. The United States team really used there youth and speed to take it to the big guns of the Canadians who have only known the new NHL and never had to fight through the vaunted New Jersey Devils neutral zone trap and deal with defenders obstruction, hooking and holding til there hearts content. And yes I am talking to you Mr. Crosby, Nash, and Iginla you might want to talk to some of the older players on the team to get a handle on just how much effort and work is required in those tight checking games.
Now Canada faces the unenviable position of facing the Russians in the Quarterfinals and they better be ready to give all they can or the unthinkable could happen by missing the medal round completely.
Jason
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