Hey Pittsburgh, look over there! *YOINK*

Well, the trading deadline has come and gone, and once again Dombrowski has pulled the proverbial rabbit out of his hat, acquiring 1B Sean Casey from the Pirates in exchange from some no-name minor leaguer that I've never heard of before. Umm, OK... I wonder how long it took DD to accept that deal..."wait, you want who for Casey? Is that guy even in our system? Where do we sign?" Best...Deal...Ever...(for us, anyway). Oh, and just in case you were wondering, it was a busy day in the trading market, proving that the Yankees actually did open the trading floodgates.

In other news, the Red Wings have resigned Dominick Hasek. I actually think this is a terrible move, mainly because he's like 90, and we have some young (and unproven, I understand) goaltending that we've been developing, and I just think that we should've given one of the young guys a chance to start, maybe see if they can "sink or swim". Oh, well, Kenny Holland (Wings GM) knows what he's doing, so I guess we'll just see what happens.

And (C)Ashley Cole may be heading to Real Madrid for cash, and another player, just to spite the Chavs (Chelsea). Whatever. I just want this stupid thing to be over with.

The weekend in review

The Lions finally got their top two draft picks signed, and both were on the field for Sunday AM's practice. That's good to hear, as long drawn out contract negotiations are bad for all parties involved.

Tigers took 2 out of 3 from Minnesota, but probably should've swept the series. Oh, well, 2 out of 3's not bad, and our lead in the AL Central is at a comfortable (but not overwhelming) 8 1/2 games.

And finally, the Yankees (who else!) make the blockbuster trade that everyone was waiting to happen, picking up Bobby Abreu and Corey Lidle from the Phillies for 4 prospects (I didn't know the Yankees even HAD 4 prospects, as everytime they get a decent minor leaguer, they trade him away for overpriced talent). This trade will do 1 of 2 things for the remainder of the trading deadline (which is tomorrow night): It will either set off a cascade of trades, or there will be absolutely no trading. I'm curious to see which it will be. Well, I guess that's it for now. 'Til tomorrow...

What a difference a day makes...

After I read yesterday that the Lions were having trouble signing 6 of their 7 draft picks, 5 have now been reported as signed, with only 1st Round LB Ernie Sims, and 2nd Round S Daniel Bullocks not signed yet. As in everybody's signed except the two guys we drafted and penciled in to start. Ahhh, the good ole' Lions, always there for a laugh. Hopefully this situation will resolve itself during the night, and they will report to training camp on-time for morning workouts.

The Tigers finished off another series with a 4-1 win against the Indians. Verlander looked great in his 6 2/3 innings of work, walking zero and striking out 8. Good thing his father jumped in during negotiations and helped work that whole contract thing out, it would suck for another team to get to draft him, and then he turns out this good. No major trades have occured yet, and with 4 days left 'til the deadline, it's possible that none will. I would be ok if we were to do nothing, but even a small trade may make a big difference.

And finally, in the big news today, Tour de France winner Floyd Landis has tested positive for high levels of testosterone in his last stage sample, and they are going to test his 'b' sample to double check. IF Landis was stupid enough to dope himself up, then it makes Lance Armstrong look bad by association. The French will probably want him to undergo tests as well, even though he didn't compete this year. Oh well, if there's one thing I've learned from watching football (un-american style), it's that Europe loves a good sporting controversy...

Why Curtis Granderson is my prototypical lead-off hitter

Anyone who knows baseball may scratch their head at that, but for my money, Curtis Granderson is one of the best lead-off hitters in baseball. Now, don't read that as lead-off HITTER, because it's more than just the hitting (besides, he's only hitting .284, which is ok, but not great, as you would rather have your typical leadoff hitter at around .300). No, the real reason I like Granderson leading off is because of his first at-bat. At the beginning of any baseball game, the best lead-off hitters take as many pitches as possible before either getting a hit, walking, or getting out. That allows the rest of your teammates to see all of the pitches that the opposing pitcher is throwing, and watch arm speed, pitch speed, location, etc., and allows them to have a good read on the pitcher. Plus, the more pitches thrown per batter, the easier it is for teams to get to him, and knock him around a bit. The Tigers, for the most part, have employed lead-off hitters who swing away, making it impossible to get a good read on a pitcher, decreases our productivity (especially in the early innings), and allowed pitchers to last longer in the game. Granderson is good for about 6+ pitches per at-bat, fouls off many good pitches, and keeps his at-bat going, which forces the pitcher to use all of his pitches to try and record the out. It gives your team a huge advantage when your lead-off hitter can get a lengthy at-bat in the first inning. It also explains why the Tigers have scored more than twice the amount of runs in the first inning than their opponents. So you can keep your Johnny Damon's and your Ichiro's, I hope we stick with Grandy.

In other 'earth-shattering news' (lol), the Red Wings are reported to have signed D Danny Markov to a free agent deal. Well, at least it's something. Also, the Lions have reportedly signed 7th rd. OG Fred Matua, but the rest of the rookies' contracts are more difficult to complete...just what the Lions needed, a bunch of hold outs...

T-minus 8 days and counting.

The Tigers took care of the A's today, 8-4, winning yet another series, and keeping the White Sox at bay (who beat Texas 5-0, and are still 6 1/2 games back). So as we head to the coast of Lake Erie to take on Chief Wahoo's tribe, the question that Tigers fans would like answered is "What will DD do before the trade deadline"?

ESPN reports that we are one of the front runners to trade for Alfonso Soriano, a right hand hitting OF/2B who could be only the 4th person ever to finish a season with 40HR's and 40 stolen bases. It seems that our offense is a bit sluggish at times, and his bat could only help the team, but his contract expires at the end of the season, and I think if we traded for him, we should try and see if he would be willing to sign a long term deal to stay in Detroit, instead of being just a rent-a-bat (Although, from reports I read on ESPN, we are only looking for a rent-a-bat type person. I hope not, especially if we are trading a good young pitcher for him). The other names that I've been hearing are Sean Casey, Shawn Green, and David Dellucci, all experienced hitters, none that would come with the 'wow' factor of Soriano. And in the Detroit News today, Jerry Green says that we should just stand pat, and not worry about trading. With 8 days to go until the deadline, no one but DD knows what may happen, but he's done very well with the trades he's made so far (not just in Detroit, but in Florida and the late Montreal as well), and I'm sure whatever decision he makes will be the right one in the long run. Just as long as he doesn't trade Verlander or Zumaya.

And 'vaarwel' means goodbye...

in Dutch, that is!

Today, Arsenal said goodbye to Dennis Bergkamp, in the inaugural game at Emirates Stadium. The Dutch striker, who spent 11 years at the club, played for the Arsenal side as they took on his first club, Ajax Amsterdam. Arsenal fielded a '2nd' team with a couple starters against Ajax in the first half, with only Klaas-Jan Huntelaar of Ajax able to find the back of the net. In the 2nd half, both sides fielded a 'Legends XI' team, with the likes of Johann Cruyff, Marco van Basten, and Frank Rikjaard fielded by the Ajax side, while Thierry Henry, Tony Adams, and Patrick Vieira were among some of the known names of the Arsenal side. At full - time, Arsenal came out on top 2-1 (Henry, Kanu)(Huntelaar), and while Bergkamp did not figure in the scoring, he was nonetheless the main attraction. And he will be missed not just by Arsenal fans, but by football fans worldwide. (For an idea of what he brought to the game, check out some of his highlights here).

Song of the Moment

I'm really liking the "Panic! at the Disco" songs that I've been hearing (free samples of their music here). "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" is rushing up my favorite songs chart quickly, but still behind Gorillaz "Feel Good, Inc." and Fall Out Boy "Dance, Dance". Other new music I like include music from The Fray, The Artic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, and Taking Back Sunday. So there's my music update. Enjoy!

We're all behind our baseball team...

Go get 'em, Tigers!!

The Tigers took business this afternoon, beating Chicago 2-1, increasing their lead in the central to 5 1/2 games, and winning the series. Clutch hitting, good baserunning, and some excellent pitching allowed us to improve to a Major league best 64-31 record. Which is an amazing feat, considering where Randy Smith left this team before DD came in to rectify the matter. After coming into town with no minor league system to speak of (except for the talent posing as the major league franchise), Dombrowski made some shrewd trades, signed some key free agents (none more key than Kenny Rogers, who just missed out on his 12th victory), and allowed this team to get back to where it should be - class of the league. Not only that, but he re-awakened Tigers fans across the country, and revived what essentially is a huge baseball town in Detroit. We still need to keep up the great ball we've been playing, if we want to see the first post-season ball since '87(?), but I like what I see so far...

Greetings and Salutations...into the first rant

Welcome one and all to my initial post! This is my new speakerbox, a way to tell the world how I feel about sports (mostly), and anything else that I find worthy of a rant.

Today we start with my beloved Tigers finally getting the better of the White Sox, thanks to a Craig Monroe grand slam. All I can say is that it's about damn time! We were having the worst time getting a hit for the better part of two games, and all of a sudden we put it together for one inning, and escape with the victory. Here's hoping that Kenny Rogers can take care of business tomorrow, and we can take the series. It won't be an easy task, however, since Jose Contreras has been pitching spectacularly this season, with one loss on the books in 2006. Should be a good game.

In other sports news that I care about, the Arsenal are about to sell left fullback Ashley Cole to rivals Chelsea, because he is stupid. It's a bit to explain, but basically he and his agent were found to have had an illegal meeting with Chelsea last season, and Cole got upset because the Arsenal were not sticking up for him in the trial that followed. Ok, hold on a second, you go behind our backs to arrange a move to a rival club (when you're under contract), and then you want us to help keep you out of trouble? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha *breathes* hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!! Oh, sorry, you were being serious? Good luck to him, and by that, I mean "Piss off" to Chelsea, jerk!

Pistons announce the signings of Ronald 'Flip' Murray, Nazr Mohammed, Ronald Dupree, and the resigning of Lindsey Hunter. Well, I hope the poor man's Ben Wallace (Mohammed) can at least make 50% of his free throws (on a side rant, no one is worth 60 million dollars if they cannot hit at least 50% from the line, or at least show improvement from season to season. Good luck, Chicago, when 2-3 years down the line your cap room is "mysteriously" non-existant). I do like the signing of 'Flip' Murray, as we needed another consistant scorer on our bench, but I hope he doesn't take away minutes from Carlos Delfino, or we will lose another talented player simply because we do not give him enough minutes to develop (see: Darko Milicic). Expect less wins, but another trip to the conference finals.

Wings...haven't done squat this off-season. What's up, Ken Holland?? The deals I've seen free agents sign this off-season haven't been monumental, and a signing or two would go a long way (and I'm not talking about Ed Belfour. If we have all of these talented goalkeepers, then start one of them, and have 'em learn on the ropes. Otherwise, it's time to start trading our minor league stockpile). I know our salary cap is decimated because of the sudden change due to work stoppage, but we need to at least show some intent on making the team better than last year's...and losing "The Captain" and Brendan Shanahan, and gaining no one doesn't seem to be doing it.

The Michigan Wolverines have received verbal commitments from 2 4-star shooting guards in the past week (according to scout.com). Alex Legion, a 6'4" shooting guard who had previously decommitted from Michigan, recommits, and joins fellow 6'4" SG Corperryale Harris in the 2007 class, joining PG Kelvin Grady, and SG Martell Webb. Hopefully, this will be the year for the men's hoops team to make the NCAA tournament, instead of the U-MIT, uhh, I mean NIT.

U-M's football recruiting class for next year is also looking promising, with 9 verbal commitments, lead by 5-star QB Ryan Mallet and 5-star S Jerimy Finch. Kind of shocking to see that no top linemen have committed to U-M yet, as we tend to do well in that category, but it's early, and I'm sure that when it's all said and done, we will get our usual 5 linemen, and all will be ok.

Which leaves me with...the Lions...poor, poor Lions. Hopefully, this is the year we turn it around. I already like the new coaching staff, and their philosophies, and the offensive line should be GREATLY improved this year. But, as coach Marinelli says, "I want to see it on the film". If it's on the film, it's during a game, and we can have our first non losing season since 2000.

Anything I missed, or should talk about? Leave a comment!