Detroit Sports and stuff

Giving Him The Business!

2007-11-27T20:48:00.001-05:00

College football call of the year!

Lions are 6-2!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-11-08T20:54:00.001-05:00

This video says it all

Yay indoor soccer! and other sporty bits

2007-11-02T17:21:00.000-04:00

So my indoor soccer league started up two weeks ago, but since I was in the middle of softball playoffs (4th place, we lost our game 23-15) I had to miss the first indoor match (we lost 5-1). So Wednesday, I finally get out onto the pitch, and I remember why it took 1/2 a year for me to get back into shape. Because nothing prepares you for soccer, except to play more soccer. I was gassed from just before halftime on, and because of this, I missed a couple of shots that I should've hit, and we ended up losing 5-2 (to the same team no less, thanks a lot soccerzone). Blah. I'm hoping next weeks game goes better, but I'm thinking it will take a couple of more weeks for me to get back into shape, and hitting the back of the net once more. Oh well...

On to the professionals!!

Last saturday, Michigan took care of Minnesota, 34-10, doing so without starters Chad Henne and Mike Hart. It was a close game until halftime, when Michigan arose from its slumber and put the beatdown on the Gophers, and took home the Little Brown Jug in the process. They play MSU this week in E.Lansing, and I'll be at the game!!!!!!!!!! Go BLUE!!!!!!!!

The Lions did something that they haven't done in quite sometime, and that is to go into Soldier Field, and come out with a victory. After a 16-7 win over the Bears, the Lions record is now 5-2, and there is a quiet confidence growing about this team. They seem to be doing the bad things (dumb penalties, giving up tons of sacks, and the secondary getting destroyed) less, and trying to improve on important areas, such as running, and blocking people. This game against Denver could tell us where this team is headed. A win here will be the longest winning streak in Matt Millen's tenure as GM. We'll see how it goes, but this is the best the L's have looked since a certain 20 lined up in our backfield.

Arsenal continue their unbeaten streak, going into Anfield, and drawing 1-1 with Liverpool. This game had disaster written all over it after Steven Gerrard put the Reds in front with a free kick in the 7th minute, but the Gunners never quit, and Cecs Fabregas leveled 12 minutes from time, and split the points. On Wednesday, the Carling Cup squad took the field against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, and again, the Gunners were victorious. Eduardo had a pair of goals, including an absolute screamer from 20 yards out, and Denilson added the 3rd, as Arsenal move into the next round of the competition very handily 3-0. Another huge test this week for the Gunners, as they host Manchester United at the Emirates. A win sees us increase our lead in the Premiership, while a loss sees us fall into 2nd place. It should be a great match.

The Pistons opened the season with a 91-80 win over the Miami Heat, without Rip Hamliton or Rodney Stuckey (while the heat were without Dwayne Wade). They play again tonight against the Orlando Magic, who we were 8-0 against last season (including playoffs). I hope we make it 9 in a row.

The Wings cannot lose, winning their last 7 games, and completing a 3-0 streak over Western Canada (Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver). Henrik Zetterberg leads the NHL in scoring with 12 goals, and 24 points. Pretty good start, I'd say. I hope they keep it up.

And finally, The John Beilein era got under way yesterday, as U-M's basketball team knocked off division II foe Ferris State, 78-40. I know it's pre-season, and I know that Ferris is not an opponent you should base a season off of, but a 38 point win is a 38 point win. Freshman Manny Harris lead the team in scoring with 15 points, and 10 players played at least 15 minutes for the Maize and Blue. That will probably be the norm, as it seems like this team will be a track team, fast breaking and knocking down threes whenever they get the chance.

Well, that's all for now, I hope to post on Monday, but it just depends how busy I am. Will post on Thursday about my indoor soccer adventures. 1 MONTH TIL GRADUATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a great weekend!!!!

2007-10-23T22:41:00.000-04:00

Boy, things don't get much better than last weekend...

Michigan led off the weekend with a come-from-behind 27-17 victory over Illinois in Champagne. Playing without leading rusher Mike Hart, and with QB Chad Henne in and out of the game with various injuries, the defense stepped up and lead the way for the Maize and Blue, and contained the explosive Illini offense. In what some were calling 'the only road block left between us and Ohio St.', we held up our end of the bargain, to stay undefeated in the conference. Next week is against Minnesota, a game that we may rest our big guns so they are healthy for MSU in 2 weeks. Here's hoping for another convincing win.

On Sunday Morning (EST time), Arsenal continued their incredible run of wins with a hard fought 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers. Bolton of course would rather kick the player than the ball, but nonetheless, Kolo Toure found the back of the net, and Tomas Rosicky followed suit shortly after, securing all 3 points for the Gunners. And as good as they looked Sunday, they looked spectacular earlier this evening, taking care of Slavia Prague in the Champions League, 7-0 Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott had 2 goals apiece, Alexsander Hleb would've followed suit, except one of his goals was changed to an own goal, and Nicklas Bendtner topped it off, after being subbed in minutes earlier. An impressive win, which almost surely sees us through to the knockout phase of the competition. Well see what this team is made of, with a trip to Liverpool coming up this weekend, and hosting Manchester United next weekend. But so far, so good!

And finally the Lions... almost singlehandedly ruining most weekends for a decade now, they are slowly coming back to respectibility. And while I am thrilled about this 23-16 win against the Bucs on Sunday, and we did win the 4th quarter, and had some success running the ball, it was a game that felt like we were going to lose it the entire way. If it wasn't for the defense coming up with two HUUUUUGGGGEEE turnovers (and it should've been 3 - FALL ON THE BALL, CORY REDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), this would've been a loss. But we did get the turnovers, and we did win the game, so you take what you can get. Hopefully, we can win a 2nd road game (I know, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself) with a victory in Chicago this weekend. Here's hoping!

Well, that's it for now. Sorry about my erratic posting.

Sorry for the delay, slow week

2007-10-18T20:19:00.000-04:00

Well, last weekend was a slow sports week. The Lions didn't play, Arsenal didn't play, and Michigan played Pur-don't, and promptly had the game won before halftime. Hence, no post.

The Red Wings have been playing pretty good lately, although they can't seem to beat the Blackhawks. Blah. Pistons are in pre-season mode, don't really care about them quite yet. So no news.

Except for this: My friend Jackie got interviewed by another literary blog! That's fairly exciting, since I've never been interviewed for anything. Even if it is for a book blog :-p (just kidding :-) ).

This weekend will be a good one, though, as the Lions welcome Jeff Garcia and the Tampa Bay Bucs into town, and hopefully give them a lovely parting gift - a loss. Arsenal returns from international break minus 2 starters, striker Robin Van Persie, and central defender Phillipe Senderos, as they head to the NE to play Bolton. I hate Michael Bolton, I hope they kick him in the nuts... wait, it's a different Bolton? oh, well I hope they lose too. Wings continue their west coast swing Tonight in San Jose, and Michigan plays under the lights against Illinois, and put their new, shiny #25 ranking on the line as well. I think they'll be ok, but we'll have to see. And that's it!

More posting goodness for you this weekend. Oh boy, oh boy...

Decent weekend, not as good as last weekend.

2007-10-08T17:07:00.000-04:00

Well, 2 teams held up their end of the bargain...

Michigan beat Eastern Michigan 33-22, who played Big Blue tough, and tested our reserves (who were thrust into action because of injury), but in the end, the Eagles were no match for Mike Hart, who had 214 yards and 3 TD's in the win. A game we should've won by a greater margain, but you take what you can. Purdue is up next week, and it should be an interesting game (I'm more worried about the Illinois game in 2 weeks, but that's for another blog).

Arsenal took care of business, barely, 3-2 over Sunderland at home. The hosts were up 2-0 on goals by Robin Van Persie and Phillipe Senderos, but Sunderland (currently near the bottom of the table) didn't give up without a fight, and leveled the score just after halftime. Van Persie completed the brace 10 minutes from time however, to save Arsenal's blushes. This week is an off week due to internationals, (hopefully no one gets hurt), and then we have a champion's league match against slavia praha, and are away to Bolton. So we'll have to see if we can continue this amazing run of form that we are currently on.

And then... there are the Lions... *sigh*. I was hoping we could sweep the 'old' Lions under the rug with a win at DC, but the old Lions and the new Lions are strikingly familiar. This team this year is more frustrating, because they're going good game/bad game, from week to week. They too have a bye this week, so let's hope they can fix their non-existant running game, pass rush... and maybe see if they can find their offensive line somewhere (i know, a bit of a stretch). 34-3 is just pitiful, no matter where they lose the game.

Besides that, MLB playoffs going well, if only the Yankees would've lost last night, the final four would be the teams I picked... stupid yankees. Hopefully they lose tonight...stupid yankees. (psssst - yankees suck!)

And on a brighter note, I went 12-1 yesterday picking NFL games. (Eat it, Mike!!!!!!) ok, that's all for now. Red Wings update perhaps tonight, perhaps tomorrow, just depends on when I feel like doing it. Thanks, as always, for reading!

Funny pics - sports division

2007-10-06T22:31:00.000-04:00

There's a website with 10 'perfect timing photos' (including the one above, captioned 'Finish Him!'. I thought it was amusing. Link is here.

Michigan, Lions, Arsenal update tomorrow (possibly Red Wings, too). MLB playoffs update Monday.

Go Lions! Go Arsenal! Hoooray Michigan!

Credibility? For Detroit's NFL team? What?

2007-10-04T20:43:00.000-04:00

Ok, I'm officially starting to get goosebumps now. People are starting to talk up the Lions. The laughingstock of the league may start to do the laughing. What's going on here? There is an article here on ESPN's NFL page singing the Lions' praises while piling on the St. Louis Rams' ineptitude. But here's the kicker from the article...

'While the Lions seem playoff bound, there was a recent column in St. Louis detailing why the Rams could finish 0-16.'

Wait, what was that p-word in there? Playoffs? (Cue Jim Mora)... I'm blown away by that. However, I haven't had enough of the Kool-aid quite yet to utter the P-word, and mean it, so we'll just take it 1 game at a time. And it would really be great if we could take out Washington. But I'll wait to see what happens on Sunday.

The Wings looked pretty good last night, beating the Stanley Cup champion Ducks of Anaheim 3-2 in a shootout, with a couple of great saves in the shootout by Hasek, and a beauty of a winning goal from Jiri Hudler. Hopefully this is the first of many goals, and hopefully the Wings can put it together when it matters most, in the Playoffs. Again, we'll have to see.

That's all for now, YouTube clip of the month was posted below. I'll try to post something either over the weekend or on Monday. :-)

Stormtroopers Gone Wild! (YouTube clip of the month)

2007-10-04T18:56:00.001-04:00

Here it is, my YouTube clip of the month! Something tells me this wouldn't sell to actual stormtroopers, but maybe it would catch on with other Star Wars races?

A 3-0 weekend, plus a great tuesday

2007-10-02T21:30:00.000-04:00

First of all, I'd like to say 'CEDAR POINT, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' It was another great weekend down at 'america's rockin' roller coast'. Myself, Ilea, and 6 others went to 'the point', and had a great time. The new coaster, 'maverick', was sweet, and all the other rides were great as usual. The only bummer was that 'max air' was down all weekend. I love that ride, so that was a bummer. But everyone seemed to have a pretty good time. I cannot wait to go back again!

Anywho, onto the great weekend of sports. Michigan won its 3rd in a row with a 28-16 win over Northwestern in Evanston, Ill. Since NU was up 16-7 at the half, at home, this seemed to be a pretty good win. We'll see if we can continue this streak against Eastern Michigan (hint: we will.)

Arsenal continue their amazing run of play right now with a hard fought 1-0 win over the weekend at West Ham. Robin vanPersie tallied the winner, and did so again tonight, where we won a Champions League game at Steaua Bucharest, also 1-0. That is nine consecutive wins for the Gunners, who find themselves in 1st place both in the Premier League, and in Group E of the champions league. There's still a long way to go in the season, but we are in terrific form at the moment.

And the Lions....who the hell are these guys?? They improve to 3-1 with a 37-27 win over Chicago at home, scoring an NFL record 34 points in the 4th quarter. 34 points!! Now, granted, Chicago was a little banged up, but not much, and to drop a 34 spot on them in any quarter, or in any game, for that matter, shows how much this team has improved. Now, it was still a sloppy game, and we have a loooooooong way to go to contend for anything, but we are off to one hell of a start. And it appears that head coach Rod Marinelli has his players' attention, because no one is quitting, and the hard work they put in is paying off. This week will be a great test, however, because we travel to the nation's capital, where we have not ever won a game. Good time to end that streak, eh? Here's hoping!

Anyway, U-M v EMU, Arsenal v Sunderland, Det @ Washington. Should be another great weekend of sports. Wings start their season off against the defending Stanley Cup champs Anaheim at home Wed. Night, so that should be fun too!

That's all for now, Wings recap, you tube clip of the month coming to you on Thursday!

I knew 3-0 was too good to be true...

2007-09-27T18:53:00.000-04:00

Well, as usual, I got caught drinking the honolulu blue and silver kool-aid, or put the glasses on... because I thought this year might be different... but after the butt-kicking we got in philly, it just seems like this team will never change. Damn. Hopefully they can prove me wrong against the bears this week, but it just seems like we've been here before...

It seems as if either michigan is back to their old ways (of winning), or penn st. was waaaaaaaaaay overrated, as the maize and blue took care of business at home, 14-9. Freshman QB Ryan Mallett is now 2-0 as a michigan starter, but I would expect Chad Henne back under center this weekend against Northwestern. Hopefully the defense continues playing well, and the offense gets it done, too! go Blue!!

Arsenal keep winning, beating Derby 5-0 on saturday, and then taking out newcastle united in the carling cup, 2-0, using their backups instead of their starters. I know it's still early, and football is a marathon, and not a sprint, but this season could be special.

I would post a you tube of the month tomorrow, but i'll be in CEDAR POINT!!!!!!!!! so it will have to be next week.

Go michigan, go Lions, go Arsenal

later!

Lions possibly 3-0?

2007-09-20T23:14:00.000-04:00

Big game coming up for the Lions on Sunday, when they take their perfect record into Philadelphia to play the Eagles. I watched the last Eagles game on MNF, and they looked terrible. Really, really terrible. I would not be surprised if the Lions were to lose this game, but I think this is a win-able game. I hope I'm right.

Arsenal took care of business this week with convincing wins over the Scum (T*ttenh*m) and in the Champions League against Seville (3-1 against the scum, 3-0 against Seville). With this weekends clash against bottom dwellers Derby County, it looks like a good way to cap a great week.

And Finally, the Maize and Blue get into the win column, with a 38-0 thumping of Notre Dame. Ha Ha, ND, Ha freaking Ha. Hopefully we can keep this win 'streak' going against Penn St. on saturday.

More importantly, though, I get to go to Cedar Point next weekend!!!!! YAY CP!!!!!

Ok, I'm done. Later.

Has this become the Bizarro sports world?

2007-09-09T20:11:00.000-04:00

First, Michigan starts off 0-2, next the Lions win by showing heart at the end of the game, forcing 2 turnovers, and stamping it with a late touchdown. What the hell is going on???

Lions 36, Raiders 21

Oregon 39, Michigan 7

2007-09-08T21:29:00.000-04:00

I think I'm gonna go throw up now.

Recap

Those classy fans from Columbus

2007-09-06T18:52:00.000-04:00

I hope they don't end up reqretting the 15+ bucks they just spent... Buckeye fans buying App St. gear... oh, wait, yes I do.

Tondar has some great commentary about the game, our rivals joy in it, and the coaching carousel that may or may not occur.

Yeah, it was a bad loss. But 1 loss doesn't make a season. And if we win the next 11 games, maybe this game will fade from memory probably not, as Columbus, E.Lansing, and South Bend will make sure to remind us every chance they get. Oh well, life goes on. (Unfortunately, I was there to witness that crapfest, too. Blah)

Arsenal moved up to 2nd in the Premiership with a convincing 3-1 win against Portsmouth on Sunday. We are looking pretty good so far in the year 1 AT (after Thierry). Hopefully we can continue our good run against T*tt*nham Hotsp*rs next saturday, at Broken Heart Lane, umm, I mean White Hart Lane.

On a personal note, I have started my last semester of college, and should graduate in December. Yay me!! About fricken time, too!

And since I haven't done a movie review in a bit, here ya go...

If anyone has not seen the movie 'Superbad', the first half of the movie is... interesting... to say the least. But the 2nd half was really funny, salvaged the movie.

'War' is pretty good, but I didn't like the very, very end of it. But the movie itself was excellent, a good action flick.

'Bourne Ultimatum' - Awesome. Go see it. Now. Why are you still here??

'Stardust' - A bit different than what I had imagined, but it was still a very good movie.

'Die hard 4.0' - Awesome. You don't have to see it right away, but soon. It is very good. Justin Long's character was funny, but I felt that he was too whiny. Also, I didn't recognize Kevin Smith right away, but he was great.

'Transformers' - Freakin Awesome. Loved the cartoon, the movie was better. The only complaint that I had was that the tank guy (Destroyer, I think), was supposed to be the byproduct of 5 decepticons forming one big robot (Constructicons). But, there's room for a sequal, so I imagine they can work it into the story if they really want to.

Ok, that's about 2 weeks worth of blogging. Please post comments, let me know you're out there!!!

Cartoons kick ass!

2007-08-23T22:35:00.001-04:00

Finally working correctly!! Here it is, the much anticipated YouTube clip of the month. Don't ya miss the good ole' cartoons?

New POST!!!!!!

2007-08-23T21:25:00.000-04:00

Yay, new post!!

I don't have much to say. The Tigers are in a tailspin. Arsenal have started the season off strong, with two wins and a draw, but the goalkeeping play from Jens Lehmann has been shaky at best. Lions are 2-0, and will look to best Indianapolis on Saturday, maybe without starting QB Jon Kitna, backup Dan Orlovsky, and rookie Drew Stanton (out for season). This should be fun. I guess we can get a better grasp on how the defense will be, you know, going up against Peyton Manning and Co.

Next weekend is the opening weekend for College Football!!!!! U-M v Appalachian St. Baby!!! Crappy game, I know, but I'll be there, so it makes it less crappy :-D

There will be a YouTube clip of the week as soon as you tube stops being stupid
Later!

Lions comeback win!!!!

2007-08-14T22:40:00.000-04:00

First off, I watched the entire game, start to finish. I know that it's just pre-season, has no implications on the regular season, and there is not much you can take away from preseason games, let alone the very first one. That being said, here are a couple impressions that I got.

A) Teams already respect Calvin Johnson, before he's played a down in this league.

Detroit's first touchdown in the 2nd quarter was evidence of that. Johnson, this year's number 2 overall pick, ran a deep out route to the sidelines. The Bengals were in a zone, and both safeties bit on the deep out, leaving Shaun McDonald wide open for the TD. This tells me that teams are already concerned about this kid, and that can only help starting WR's Roy Williams and Mike Furrey even more this season.

2) This team is going to fight.

This is a Rod Marinelli team now, and they have been trained to give 100% and not quit. In past years, the team would lie down when they knew they were defeated. But this year, it seems different already. The Lions had to come from 16 down to win in the 4th quarter, and even though they won because of a missed field goal, I still think that this shows heart that the Lions don't usually show.

3) Mental mistakes are minimal.

This first game, this is when you should see loads of penalties, and mostly for dumb stuff like illegal formation, and procedure, and what not. But the Lions only had 2 dumb penalties that I saw - a running into the kicker on 4th and 7 (thankfully not a first down), and an Illegal formation, due to Calvin Johnson not knowing where to be on the line of scrimmage (hey, they guy held out for 8 days of training camp, he's not going to have the plays memorized quite yet). This is quite an improvement. And although there are still some holding calls and what not, that's not bad for the 1st pre-season game.

and finally 4) The starting defensive line better get to the opposing team's QB

Our pass defense looked horrible. And even though it was preseason game #1, and 3/4 of our starting D-line were not playing, it was bad. The secondary got shredded, and unless there is pressure on the QB, we are going to give up a crap load of points. Luckily, I think we can score a lot as well, but that's not the point. The point is we need to play better defense. Quickly. We'll see if we can improve Thursday vs. the Browns.

That's all for now, Arsenal update in the near future. And for my facebook friends, my NYC pictures are now posted on face book. For everyone else, I will try and get my pics onto my blog here.

Later!

Back from the Big Apple!

2007-08-11T17:05:00.001-04:00

Well, I just got back from a quick 5 day trip to NYC, and it was freakin' AWESOME!!! After arriving in town late saturday night, I immediately went to sleep. I was tired! Sunday morning, I went to the NY Yankees game against the Kansas City Royals. Yankee Stadium is a very cool place, and I was able to get lots of pictures of the game, and Monument park, which is a little park behind the left field wall that honors past greats that played for the Yankees. After the game, we took the subway to Central park, and proceeded to walk from there, down 5th avenue, and around Times square. On Monday, I went to the Empire State building, the NBC studios at Rockefeller Plaza (tried to sign up for a tour, but they said that the tour wouldn't be the full one, that we should come back tomorrow. More on that later), Madison Square Garden, Wall Street, and Ground Zero. And on the last day of my trip, Tuesday, I went back to NBC to their studio tour, which was great! I got to see Conan O'Brien's studio, Saturday Night Live's studio, and a replica studio of NBC news. It was all very fun. Finally, I went to the NY Mets game Tuesday night, which was fun as well, except for the two hecklers sitting behind us. One was an Atlanta Braves fan (whom the Mets were playing), and the other was a Philidelphia Phillies fan (complete with Phillies jersey). They would've been alright, except philly fan kept screaming everytime his team scored a run (watching the out-of-town scoreboard), then going on about how 'J-Roll' (phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins) was so great... annoying. But I had a pretty good trip all in all.

Another update will be coming this week about my thoughts on the Lions first pre season game.

Cheers!

(Dan, Simpsonized)

Training camp opens, Johnson still unsigned

2007-07-30T19:43:00.000-04:00

Well, another season of Lions football has opened for business, with everybody in the organization drinking the corporate kool-aid. Many Lions have come out publically to tell people that they are going to win 'at least 10 games' this year (quote courtesy of Jon Kitna). Now, I'm not sure whether that's true or not, but our offense looks a lot better this year, with upgrades at offensive line and obviously the unsigned, but extremely talented, Calvin Johnson (memo to Lions: Sign this guy!!! back up the brinks truck to his house, I don't care. He is pretty important to this season). Defense is still a question mark, especially at corner with the untested Stanley Wilson, and the oft-injured Fernando Bryant are penciled in as the starters. The linebackers should be solid, though, and the front four should be a force if Shawn Rogers decides he wants to play every down, for every game. Hopefully this is the beginning of a long streak of not-crappiness for the Lions.

The Tigers are in the process of taking a big dump on the field, and cannot buy a win at the moment. Part of it is due to the bullpen not doing its job, but the current 4 game losing streak is the whole team's fault. And with the trade deadline approaching, I'm not sure if anything can be done to fix this. Hopefully the Tigers figure it out soon, and get this ship heading in the right direction, I would hate for the Yankees for slip into the playoffs b/c we faded down the stretch.

Well, that's all for now, I may throw another post in towards the end of the week, before I take off to NEW YORK CITY!!!!!! Thanks for reading.

Family Guy A-Team

2007-07-10T22:52:00.001-04:00

Youtube clip of the month #2

Gotta love family guy...

I was tagged...again...

2007-07-02T16:54:00.000-04:00

INSTRUCTIONS:
Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so:

1. The Buzz Queen
2. I Was Born2Cree8
3. Skittles
4. Tiggerbob's Temporal Typings
5.Detroit Sports and stuff

Next select five people to tag: I'm not tagging anybody

Then answer the following questions:

What were you doing 10 years ago?
10 years ago this month, I had just finished 11th grade, so I was probably working at Meijer cashiering, and hanging out with my friends

What were you doing 1 year ago?
One year ago, I was working in store support for Meijer, and hanging out with my friends.

Five snacks you enjoy:
1. Shelled, salted peanuts
2. chips and salsa
3. wheat thins
4. oreo's
5. pretzels

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics: (I know more than 5, but here is a short list)
1. Outkast - hey ya
2. Fuel - Hemmorage (in my hands)
3. DMB - What would you say
4. Counting Crows - Mr. Jones
5. Will Smith - MIB

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1. Buy an Astin Martin Vanquish
2. Buy a house
3. Help friends and family
4. Donate to charaties
5. Save/Invest

Five things you like doing:
1. Spending time with Ilea
2. Spending time with my friends/family
3. Watching/playing sports
4. Watching movies
5. Traveling around the world

Five things you would never wear again:
1. A red and white checked shirt (it looks pink!)
2. my old meijer store uniform
3. flannel shirts
4. my bobby higginson jersey (last time i wore it to a tigers game, i got heckled mercilessly)
5. lions gear until they start winning again (except my hat on game days)

Five favorite toys:
1. My computer
2. My tv
3. My ipod
4. My dvd player
5. My cell phone

Au Revoir, Thierry!

2007-07-01T23:06:00.000-04:00

This past week was a sad week for Arsenal fans everywhere, as our club's leading scorer and captain was transferred to FC Barcelona. Thierry Henry, who has been the face of Arsenal almost since he first stepped on the Highbury pitch in 1999, along with the Arsenal front office, has decided that he needed to go in a new direction, and Barca is now his new home. Known for his lighning-fast pace, and his clinical finishing, Henry will be sorely missed at Ashburton Grove. My only trip to London to see Arsenal play, and Henry ended up with all 4 goals that Arsenal scored in the two games I saw (a hat-trick v. Portsmouth, and the lone goal in a CL game against Bayern Munich). The last 2 years may have been a little disappointing for Thierry, with no trophies won for the Arsenal, and that may have aided in his decision to leave the club at this point in his career, even though he signed a contract last season and declared "If an opportunity like Barcelona comes again, with all my respect for such a club, I will refuse" . Apparently an untrue statement. But even though he leaves the Arsenal behind, he will still be remembered as a great footballer for the club, and will be missed.

Buena Suerte, Thierry!!

Gir - The Doom Song

2007-06-18T19:13:00.001-04:00

I finally figured this out. Here is You Tube clip of the week #1.

Pistons withdrawel

2007-06-09T11:56:00.000-04:00

So, yeah, I probably should've had a post like a week or so ago about the demise of the Pistons to the fighting LeBrons, but I really don't want to talk about how they took a 2 games to 0 lead, and then pissed it away. Instead, I'm gonna pretend that I've already written that article, and will now focus on what the Pistons need to do in the off-season.

Step 1 - Trade Rasheed Wallace

I know this step may cause a stir with some people, but he has to go, for a couple of reasons. First, his attitude has gotten us in a lot of trouble this year, taking ill-timed technicals, and more importantly, bringing a whining attitude to the team that we did not have a couple of years ago. We complain over every call, and I think that a) it's Rasheed's fault, leading by example, and b) it's bullsh*t. Refs are human, just like everyone else, they will make mistakes. That doesn't give you the right to complain about it. Shut up and play. Secondly, he's getting older, making him a step slower on defense, and he's losing some accuracy on his shot. Now, his ability to can the 3-pointer is really what makes our offense run, and the need for a 3-pt shooting big man would be a huge hole. But we need to start looking, because I think that PF is a position that we need to get younger at.

Step 2 - Kick ass on draft day

We have 3 picks coming up on draft day, 2 first rounders and a 2nd rounder. Does 'kick ass on draft day' mean to take 3 good players? Not necessarily. If we could parlay those draft picks into a great player, then that's what I expect (Pistons GM) Joe D. to do. After all, he built this team the first time, it looks like it's time to start rebuilding this team, so we can keep up with the Baby Bulls and the Fighting LeBrons for seasons to come. Those teams are not gonna get any worse, but we may if we stand pat.

Finally, Step 3 - Resign Chauncey

Although I do feel we need to get younger in some positions, PG is one that needs to stay the same. Chauncey Billups is the heart of this team, and unlike Ben Wallace of a year ago, he feels loyalty to the team. And as long as he doesn't get overwhelmed with another offer, I do not feel that we will low-ball him with a bad contract, and he will resign, and lead this team for a couple of more years. I believe we will let Lindsey Hunter go, and I think that Will Blaylock will have to step up to become a good backup PG next season, but there is no way we should let Chauncey leave. If he chooses to leave, then we'll have to take a look around, and see what we can do about the PG situation, even if it's renting a player for the year, or having 'Flip' Murray run the point, like he did in Chauncey's injury absence earlier in the year.

Anyways, those are my 3 off-season steps. But I trust Joe D. completely, and I know this off-season will be a good one.

What does your accent sound like?

2007-06-02T14:26:00.000-04:00

I was at my friend Robert's blog, and he had an interesting survey about what your accent sounds like, so I thought I'd post it here, in case anybody cared...

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The Inland North
The West
The Northeast
Philadelphia
Boston
North Central
The South
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Eastern Conference Finals: Detroit 1, the Fighting LeBrons, 0

2007-05-22T17:34:00.000-04:00

Well, that was certainly an...er...interesting game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. In a game where Detroit did not deserve to win (At ALL), they played enough defense, and hit just enough shots to come away with a 79-76 victory of the Cleveland Cavaliers (aka the Fighting LeBron's, named so because of their superstar, LeBron James). The big talking point of this game is LeBron had the ball, down 2, and instead of trying to force up a wild shot in triple coverage, he passed to an open teammate who missed a potential winning 3 pointer. Apparently, everyone and their grandmother thinks that in order to be a superstar in this league, you have to pull a Kobe/AI/Carmelo/D-Wade/insert generic shooting guard here, and jack up 40 shots a night. This is why I like LeBron better than all those other characters. He makes his team better, because he is a team player. They don't all stand around and watch as he throws up shot after shot. Most of the media think this is a crime, and that he should keep shooting til his arms fall off. Well, 'most of the media' is the problem with the NBA. Why don't they just make it a 1 v 1 league, and have 1 guy represent each of the 28 cities, and just play a bunch of 1 on 1 games. This is the reason why TEAMS have been the most successful the past 7 years. The Pistons are playing in their 5th consecutive conference finals. The Spurs have been one of the most consistant teams since the beginning of the Millenium. The baby Bulls knocked off the defending champs, with TEAMWORK, not jacking up 40 + shots a game. As soon as the NBA realizes that this is how they should market their franchise, by what's on the front of the jersey, not what's on the back, then this league will be much, much better. Until then, let's all watch in awe as Kobe Bryant scores 60 + points on 13-45 shooting, with a zillion trips to the free-throw line. OOOOOhhhhhh.....

Done being Bull-ied

2007-05-18T20:09:00.000-04:00

Well, the Pistons finally ended their 2nd round series against the Chicago Bulls, with a solid 95-85 win at the United Center last night. With the defense again coming though, putting the clamps on Ben Gordon, Kirk Heinrich, and Luol Deng, the Pistons led for most of the game, and await the winner of the Cleveland-New Jersey series. 4 of 5 Piston starters scored in double figures, and the defense came up huge, especially in the 2nd half, and allowed the Pistons to finish the series.

It wasn't all good news for Detroit teams, though, as the Wings fell 5-3 to the Ducks, and the Tigers lost both games of a day-night Double header against the Boston Red Sox. But the most important game was won, and I guess that's all that counts. The Wings resume their series Sunday afternoon, looking to be on the right side of a 3-2 series count.

Yeah, I would post more, but I got nothin, except for this awesome YouTube clip: Homer Simpson vs. Peter Griffin - the video game. Check it out.

Sunday Bloody Sunday

2007-05-15T20:41:00.000-04:00

Well, as good of a day May 5th was for Michigan Sports (Tigers, Pistons, Red Wings, Rampage, Whitecaps, and Floyd Mayweather jr. all won), Sunday was just as bad.

The Tigers started rookie RHP Virgil Vasquez against the Twins on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, and he promptly gave up 4 1st inning runs, on the way to a 16-4 defeat. Torii Hunter was the big culprit, hitting 2 home runs, and driving in 7 in the victory. Vasquez only lasted 2 2/3 innings in his debut, and all the Tiger pitchers seemed to have a problem with keeping the ball down in the strike zone. All elevated pitches thown by the Tiger hurlers ended up evading fielders, and creating lots of runs.

It didn't get any better for the Tigers last night, as they fell 7-1 to the Boston Red Sox. Japanese pitching sensation Daisuke Matsuzaka (pronounced Di-su-k, not "dice-k" as everyone insists on pronouncing it in the baseball world) pitched a complete game, with his one run against being a home run by Curtis Granderson, and Bobby Seay gave up 4 runs in relief of Nate Robertson, as the Tigers' bullpen struggles with inconsistancy early on in the season. But there's another chance tonight, and with the season not quite 1/4th of the way through, the Tigers are still in first place, and look to maintain their 1 game lead over 2nd place Cleveland.

The 'Stones were up next, looking to close out the Bulls in 4 games, and instead found themselves on the wrong side of a 102-87 scoreline. You knew the game was not boding well for the Pistons when Tayshaun Prince missed 2 consecutive free throws in the 1st quarter. Detroit never really seemed into this game, and only a late comeback prevented the score from being worse than it was. Detroit looks to close out the Bulls again tonight, at the Palace, and avoid going back to the United Center for a game 6.

And finally, the Red Wings took one on the chin as well, falling to the Anaheim Ducks, 4-3 in OT. With all the injuries the Red Wings have accrued to their Defenseman, it's no wonder they struggled in this game. And though the Wings won game 1 against the Ducks due in large part to a couple of fluky bounces that went their way, this time the Ducks were the beneficiaries of the flukey bounces, as their 2nd goal barely squeezed by Dominick Hasek and the post, and their 3rd goal was because the puck got stuck in Dom's leg pads. Game 3 of this series takes place tonight at the Pond in Anaheim, and the Wings need to win this one, just to guarantee the split in Anaheim.

So, hopefully Tuesday will be better to Detroit fans than Sunday was, and hopefully we'll have some time off from 1 series. We shall see.

Movie Time!!!!!

2007-05-11T20:57:00.000-04:00

Ok, there are 6 movies that I have seen recently, and so I've decided to tell y'all what I thought of them...

1) 300 - 300 is the store of the ancient Spartans trying to prevent the Persians from taking over their country, making their women and children slaves, and killing the men (I'm sure everybody has seen at least 1 preview for this movie, since it was severly overhyped through the media). This movie was actually really good. It was an action movie that was funny at parts, and it had a pretty good story. The one bad point about this movie is the overuse of the slow motion effect. Every five seconds, it seems that some event has to occur in slow-motion, otherwise a trivial event may be overlooked. Instead, we get to see said trivial event for way longer than necessary. Thanks for that one, Zack Snyder! (director, fyi). But overall, I give it a 2 thumbs up for being a very good action movie, with a pretty decent story, good acting, and decent cinemaphotography.

2)Meet the Robinsons - This Disney story is like most Disney stories, except it's in the future. OOOOHHHHH. But it is still a very good story, albiet I don't think I'm in the target audience for this film. From IMDb (see link on left hand column), here's the synopsis (I tried to write my own without giving anything away, but I'm lazy, so :-P)

'Lewis is a brilliant inventor who meets mysterious stranger named Wilbur Robinson, whisking Lewis away in a time machine and together they team up to track down Bowler Hat Guy in a showdown that ends with an unexpected twist of fate.'

This movie was definately worth seeing, with some very good writing, and the voice actors played their parts well. It was entertaining throughout, and pretty funny, and although not the best Disney film I've seen, it's closer to the top than it is the bottom. 1 thumb up, 1 thumb neutral.

3)Grindhouse - This Tarantino/Rodriguez double feature was freakin' awesome. Not for the feint of heart, this film is very, very gory. But it also has some great humor, and Kurt Russell/Bruce Willis as the main characters was a stroke of genious. They were really good. Of course, Tarantino had to find a role for himself in his flick, but he did pretty good, too. Since these are two seperate stories, it's kind of pointless to give the synopsis for each, but what I will say is that it was fantastic all the way around, and if you get a chance to see it, and can stand a little (ok, a lot) of violence, I highly reccommend it. 2 thumbs up.

4)Hot Fuzz - Hot Fuzz is a comedy about a London police officer being transferred to a small town police station, where his collegues are convinced that no crime ever happens. This movie was slow moving at first, but once it got going, it was really funny. It's supposed to be a spoof of the action cop film genre (SWAT, Bad Boys, Die Hard, etc.) The same guys who made 'Shaun of the Dead' are responsible for this masterpiece (haven't seen Shaun of the Dead? I highly reccommend it, it's a good spoof of zombie flicks), and they are just as good in this as they were in their previous film. 2 thumbs up (I thought I had some more to say about this film, but really, you just need to see it. Really).

5)Smokin' Aces - This was a mob movie with a twist. A magician/part mob boss, Buddy 'Aces' Israel, has agreed to turn State's evidence against the mob's kingpin, Primo Sparazza. The FBI is trying to keep him alive. And everybody else is trying to kill him. This movie was really good, action-packed, and fairly unpredictable. The bad part is that it has Ben Affleck in it. But I enjoyed this movie, and if blow-em-up movies are your cup of tea, you'll like this film as well. 2 thumbs up.

And finally, 6)Spiderman 3 - The latest installment of Spiderman. I'm not gonna say much about this movie, but it's good. How good? Umm....Probably the best of the franchise. Go see it. 2 thumbs up.

Well, that's it for today...I was gonna do a 'Stones update, but ran out of time. I'm not sure when my next update will be, but when I come back I'll have probably 2 Pistons updates, and 2 Red Wings updates, and maybe a Tigers update as well (oooohhhh).... let me know what you thought of my movie review segment, maybe I'll break it out every once in a while!

quick update

2007-05-10T22:04:00.000-04:00

I know all of you were waiting for my movie review with much anticipation, but I'm afraid I'll have to hold off for another day, as I just do not have time to give that post the attention that it needs at the moment. But tomorrow, if all things go well, there will be a movie review (and maybe a Pistons recap to boot! We'll see how ambitious I feel). Again, sorry for the inconvienence :-P

Umm, Chicago, you realize the series started on SATURDAY, right...

2007-05-08T20:27:00.000-04:00

Well, this is the most lopsided 2 games to open a playoff series that I have ever seen. On Saturday night, the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls started what many had predicted to be an epic 2nd round affair between 2 of the better teams in the East. Well, many had predicted wrong, at least so far... Detroit is heading to Chicago with a 2 games to 0 lead, after totally and utterly dismantling the Bulls in both games at the Palace. On Saturday night, it was the Chauncey and Rip show, with the Pistons backcourt duo dropping in 20 points apiece to lead the Pistons to a 95-69 victory. 5 Pistons had double digit points, and did not allow Chicago's 2 big scorers (Luol Deng and Ben Gordon) to beat them (Deng led all Bulls scorers with 18; Gordon had 7; only 2 Bulls recorded double digit points). After the game, everybody thought the Bulls would come out with more passion, and if they were to lose, they would make it a close game, because of their horrendous game 1. WRONG!!! Game 2 final, 108-87, with the Bulls not doing anything to make their fans forget about game 1. This time, it was Pistons forwards Chris Webber and Tayshaun Prince doing all the damage, with Prince going for 25 points, and Webber contributing 22 of his own. So the 'series' moves to Chicago for Thursday and Saturday night games, with the question of 'Will Chicago make it a series?' I personally would rather see the Pistons sweep aside the Bulls, and prepare for the winner of the Cleveland/New Jersey series, but I can't imagine the Bulls playing as bad as they did in Detroit. But I couldn't imagine it before the series started either, so we'll just have to see if the 'Stones get a vacation, or if they may actually have to work before the conference finals.

In other sports news, the Red Wings are moving onto the conference finals themselves, taking care of the San Jose sharks last night, 2-0, and now will meet Anaheim on Friday. Mikael Samuelsson scored both goals in the 1st period, and Dominick Hasek became 'the Dominator' once again in net for the Wings, stopping all 20 shots that he faced in the shutout victory. With the Wings Defense ailing due to all the injuries sustained, it will be nice to have this 3 day break in between series, and this Ducks series should be just as good as the one we just finished with the Sharks. And hopefully, we'll get the same result out of this one as well.

I'm thinking about doing a movie review segment either tomorrow or Thursday, of recent films I've seen in the theater...stay tuned!

7 random things about me

2007-05-06T15:03:00.000-04:00

I have been tagged by Robert, and in accordance with the rules, I will post this on my blog...

Here are the rules as passed on - Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about the seven things and the rules. (You need to choose seven people to tag and list their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment that they have been tagged and to read your blog!) *added* this part optional.

Seven Random Things About Me

1) If there is a song from mid '90's or later, in the genre of pop/rock/rap, I probably know who sang it, and what it's called. There is also a 60% chance I know the lyrics of said song, and can sing it if persuaded or if I've been drinking.

2) If there is a football or basketball athlete from the past 10 years, I probably know what college he played for. If it is from the turn of the century, I probably know who drafted him. I don't know why this is, but it's true.

3) Comedy movies, same as above. I have a high amount of useless information stored in my brain. If I've seen the movie, I can probably quote it fairly accurately.

4) I hate chocolate ice cream. I'm not a huge fan of chocolate to begin with, but I don't eat chocolate ice cream. I rarely eat candy. I've thrown away so much candy as a kid from halloween/christmas/easter (that didn't get stolen from my mom/sister), it's ridiculous. (exception - reese's peanut butter cups - love 'em)

5) I am very uncomfortable talking to people I don't know UNLESS they talk to me first. I don't know why, I talked to everybody when I was a little kid, regardless if I knew them or not.

6) I don't like Coke or Pepsi coolers in Europe. They keep the pop just cold enough so that it feels like it's cold, until you pull your hand out of the cooler...and the pop only stays cold long enough for you to pay for it. I like my pop ice cold.

7) I love to travel. LOVE to travel. I would like to visit as many countries as possible before I die. So far I have US, Canada, the Bahamas, Germany, Austria, Italy, England, and (airport only) the Netherlands. I've also visited 18 of the states in the US, and if you include airports, and driving through other states, that number is over 30.

Welcome back!

2007-05-03T17:43:00.000-04:00

That's right loyal reader(s, perhaps, but not with my weird posting schedule), I'm back to give you more sports goodness, and maybe more (as per a request I had to write more about me, and less about sports....we'll see what I can do).

First of all, the most wonderful time of the year is upon us (and a month into the season already, where does the time go)....it's BASEBALL SEASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the Tigers, while not exactly blowing people away yet, are playing some decent baseball, even though they are not hitting very well. But that can be said for all of baseball, as it seems that the bats are just now breaking out of their respective winter slumbers. So we'll see if the Tiger bats can help out the pitchers, and bring home a World Series this time....

The Wings and the 'Stones both steamrolled through the 1st round of their playoffs, with the Wings taking care of Calgary in 6 games, and Orlando was dispatched in 4 by the Pistons. While the Pistons wait almost a week to play game 1 of the second round against Chicago, the Wings are tied 2 games apiece with San Jose, with game 5 to be played at the Joe Louis Arena. This series has been grueling so far, and it probably will go 7 games, and the winners will have to face a well rested Anaheim (unless Vancouver can somehow make a series out of it, but it's not looking good). So, good luck to the stones and wings, and hopefully we can celebrate another couple championships this summer.

The Lions just got done with what one analyst described as "the nfl's annual pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey competition" (hilarious, and true), the NFL Draft. And they defied all the experts by taking, and not trading, the best player in the draft, WR Calvin Johnson, from Georgia Tech. And even though this is the 4th receiver in 5 years that the lions have taken, I LOVE this pick. It means that Millen didn't settle for the garbage people were trying to give him to trade up to the 2nd pick, and that he didn't settle for a player that would've fit a need, but wouldn't have fit the value of being 2nd overall. Kudos to Millen for being smart for once. The rest of the draft is interesting, a lot of promising talent, and all of the picks are guys who love to play football, and they will fit Rod Marinelli's scheme pretty well. Hopefully that translates to more wins (I'm hoping for 8, but we'll see). As of right now, I think we look a ton better than where we were at the end of last season, but things change quickly in the NFL, so we'll see if we changed for the good, or for the bad.

And finally, after U-M hired it's new head basketball coach, 2 of the 3 recruits held their commitments, with the lone exception being Alex Legion, whom many consider to be the best of the class. This kind of thing happens all the time, and Legion had already decommitted once before the coaching change, so it's not really suprising, but rather unfortunate for Mr. Beilein. So, we'll see how that plays out next season, and hopefully John Beilein can bring a winning attitude to the Wolverines, and make Ann Arbor 'more than just a football school'...

That's it for now, I promise the next post will be inside a week, and not a month later...maybe a personal story, haven't decided yet...

Beilein's the man...

2007-04-03T18:55:00.000-04:00

According to several sources, and as reported by both Detroit papers, it appears that West Virginia's coach, John Beilein will be named the next head coach for the U-M Men's basketball team. Beilein, 54, has been coaching for 29 years, and has a winning record in 26 of the 29. His Mountaineer basketball team was just crowned the NIT champions. And his offensive gameplanning is unique, and will fit well in Ann Arbor. But for him to be a successful coach, and to succeed where Tommy Amaker has failed, he will need to a) recruit well in Detroit and Flint, as we need to keep some of our state talent in-state; b) keep the recruits that Amaker had coming in for next year (all 3 are undecided at this point); and c) make it to the NCAA tournament...no more NIT. Although he wasn't my first choice for head coach (I would've preferred SIU's Chris Lowery), I think that he can be an effective coach. That being said, we still need to get the money together to upgrade Crisler Arena, or else Coach K could come into Michigan, and it wouldn't make a lick of difference. But at least this looks like a step in the right direction...

Bye, Bye Tommy!

2007-03-22T22:59:00.000-04:00

Well, the other shoe has dropped. Michigan announced on Saturday that they were parting ways with Tommy Amaker, who led the Wolverine basketball team for the last 6 years. There were a lot of excuses for why he might have gotten fired, but the bottom line was that his in-game coaching costed U-M numerous games, and AD Bill Martin didn't think that it was going to get any better (which I agree with). Now, the question becomes 'who will be the next basketball coach at U-M?' I would've liked to see us go after Tubby Smith, but apparently he will be in Minnesota next year, which sucks. So, who else is left? Well, if you look through all the rubbish, it appears that Michigan will go after a mid-major coach, one who has had some success the past couple of years. Names escape me right now, but here are a couple of mid-major schools that have had some success the past couple years, and that I would like to see us talk to. Butler has been doing well recently, as well as Creighton, Mark Few from Gonzaga, Nevada, and Southern Illinois all have coaches that I feel we should be talking to. It would be hard to hire a big-name coach, due to our lack of Basketball facilities, and the general consensus that we don't give a crap about basketball, and we need someone with a good record to make sure our recruits do not change their mind and head to a different school. So we shall see awfully soon if we will get a quality coach, or turn our program back 5 more years...hopefully, the boosters will open their wallet for the b-ball team, and get some new facilities asap. But probably not till after the football stadium renovation....damn...

Whispering Millen might actually be having a good offseason (so far)

2007-03-13T21:06:00.000-04:00

Shhhhh......

As of right now, Matt Millen is having the best off-season of his tenure. Why might I say such blasphemy? Well, for starters, he has been able to sign some free agents, without horrendously overpaying them. The deals I've seen for RB TJ Duckett, WR Shaun McDonald, DE Dewayne White, and newly signed CB Travis Fisher all look like reasonable deals. Not to mention trading parts that do not fit the Lions' defensive scheme for personnel/picks of value. The Dre' Bly trade for OT George Foster and RB Tatum Bell plus a draft pick was great, and getting another draft pick for DE James Hall was also good. We now have 10 draft picks, which we can use to trade up/down, or just try to get 10 good players for the picks. Now if Millen's scouting is as good as his wheeling and dealing has been thus far this off-season, maybe Lions fans can step away from the ledge, or at the very least, stop wearing paper bags as hats to the Lions games. One can only hope...

Singing the U-M go Blues

2007-03-10T17:11:00.000-05:00

Well, U-M wanted to go to the Big Dance, but once again, looks like they will not be invited. After winning their first round matchup against Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament (albeit in sloppy fashion), Michigan fell in the second round to Ohio St., for the 3rd time this year. And it seems that we are destined for another trip to the NIT. Blah. Which all leads to the big question: Will Tommy Amaker be around next year? He's a really 'nice' guy, he cleaned the program up while we were on probation, he's an ok recruiter (2 big names coming in for next year, Alex Legion and 'Manny' Harris). However, all of his teams have underachieved in his 6 years at Michigan, and there is a distinct lack of finishing from his teams. There is no way we should blow big leads against NC State and Iowa, we should've finished off Ohio St. at home, and we needed to make closer games out of UCLA and Georgetown (getting blown out by 40+, reguardless of location, is unacceptable). The problem with firing Amaker is finding someone better to replace him. I'm not sure even where to start. Maybe if Tubby Smith was let go at Kentucky, but other than that, I'm not sure. But one thing is certain - we need to change the culture at Michigan, before it starts getting labeled as a 'football school', and all the best basketball recruits avoid it like the plague, and pull a Greg Oden and go to OSU...we can't let that happen. We demand excellence in our students, we should also demand excellence in our athletic programs. And if Tommy Amaker cannot deliver that excellence, then a change has to be made.

Kenny Holland doin' some winged-wheel-ing and dealing

2007-02-27T20:57:00.000-05:00

Well, I never felt the Wings were in position to be a big player in the trading frenzy this year, after Peter Forsburg went off the market (to rivals Nashville), but I am wrong. And in a big way. After Wings GM Ken Holland started us off with an appetizer, trading Jason Williams in a 3-way deal to acquire Kyle Calder from Philadelphia, he hit us with the big one today. Former nemesis Todd Bertuzzi was acquired from Florida, in exchange for a prospect, and possibly 3 draft picks, depending on Bertuzzi's impact, and the Wings ability to sign him to a long term deal. The reason why the Wings got such a great deal is that Bertuzzi has been hurt for most of the season, and that's why we got a bargain. But it's really a win-win situation for Detroit. Because even if Bertuzzi doesn't play a single minute for us, all we are out is one prospect. If he returns to form, and helps us throughout the playoffs, we could be hoisting Lord Stanley's cup, and then he's worth the draft picks. Ken Holland works his magic once again, and it doesn't cost his current team a penny. Reminds me a bit of Dave Dombrowski, getting Sean Casey at baseball's trading deadline last season. Hopefully the end result is just slightly different, with a championship instead of a runner-up.

Let's go Red Wings!!

Why can't U-M basketball be more like U-M football?

2007-02-24T17:17:00.000-05:00

The inconsistency of the Michigan Men's basketball program will keep them out of the NCAA tournament - again. That, and lack of talent and the fact that COURTNEY SIMS KEEPS DISAPPEARING IN THE BIG GAMES!!!!! The only exception to that was the Indiana game, when he didn't start, he came in off the bench, and was huge for us down the stretch (offensively, at least, and did ok against DJ White, but disappeared when Michael White was tearing us apart, but I digress...). I don't understand this team. No, we don't have the most talent in the Big 10, but how do we lose games which we have big leads, against teams that have less or as much talent as we do (NC State, Iowa, I'm looking in your direction). And how do we play Ohio State oh so close, yet get blown out by UCLA and Georgetown, both of whom I would consider inferior to OSU?? How does this happen? And don't even get me started on the way we played against MSU, including the fact that we refused to go down low with the ball. One of Courtney Sims, Epke Udoh, and Brent Petway should've touched the ball EVERY time we had the ball. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Now, after today's win at Minnesota (more convincing than the home win (by 1) aganst them earlier in the season), we're 1 win shy of 20, with Games v MSU and @ OSU, and to get into the tournament, we need to beat State, at least, and win 2 games in the tournament. If we don't win either of our two remaining games (and I'm assuming that the OSU game is a loss), then we won't make it, barring a tournament championship (which would be a miracle in it's own right). Consistancy. That's all I ask for (and not being consistanly terrible, that's not an option). The only way this gets better, in my opinion, is if we start treating basketball like a football equal (which hasn't happened so far - just take a look at Crisler Arena for proof), and get a basketball coach who only cares about winning. Someone like Tom Izzo, who ALWAYS gets the best out of his players (like this season) instead of Amaker, who I really do like, but it seems like his teams always underachieve (1 NCAA appearance out of 9 (or 10) seasons).

Well, here's hoping for the best, and getting to see U-M (finally) back in the Tournament.

GO BLUE!!!

Arsenal FC, the Rocky Mountains, and Fidel Castro

2007-02-10T22:01:00.000-05:00

That's right, I said Fidel freakin' Castro.

Yesterday, the Colorado Rapids announced that they have teamed with Arsenal FC in a player development deal, which will include the "Arsenal Center of Excellence" for youth academy training in Denver, the exchange of training, coaching, and marketing information, and the introduction of a youth tournament, dubbed the 'Arsenal Cup'. This deal is massive for MLS, and for Arsenal FC, as they try to spread their 'brand name' around the world. And with a world class training facility setup in Denver, it can only help the development of the players in this country, hopefully leading to more situations like this, and creating a stronger foothold in this country for the World's game. And, if a certain north London squad were to travel to this country (which manager Arsene Wenger really does not want to do) to play a friendly against the Rapids, that would be fantastic.

Now, about the Fidel Castro part...
According to Arsenal's official encyclopedia, the Gunners fan base has now grown to 27 Million fans around the world. This unofficially makes Arsenal FC the third most popular club in the world (from 2006), and this number continues to grow. Case in point: Arsenal offers many different types of membership programs, and all together, they have 171,000 registered members. This number is greater than the World record for club members held by Benfica (which was 161,000), and is enough to fill the Emirates Stadium almost 3 times. This report, which is reported here, also states that the club has been followed by many famous people, including one Fidel Castro. So, apparently that makes me a card-carrying communist as well (just kidding, but I did buy a red membership from my favorite footballing side).

Just kind of thought this was interesting (and btw, 3 posts in a week *shock*).

2 posts in a week - gasp

2007-02-07T22:15:00.000-05:00

Well, this Chris Webber thing seems to be working out better than I thought. Last night was a good example of that, as he had 17 points, 6 boards, 6 assists, and 4 steals, as Detroit rolled over hapless Boston, 109-102 (the 'Stones got bored after 3 quarters, and that's why the score was as close as it was). The Pistons are now 8-3 with Webber on board, and he is consistantly around 15 points, and 5-10 boards a night. And, he wanders into the low post area, which I thought that he had gotten away from to focus on his jump shooting. So it's like we got the old Chris Webber, and Philly got stuck with the crappy one for 2 years. Sucks to be them!! Well, I still think we need one more piece of this puzzle to win it all this year (another C probably), but I think we will be more than just competitive in the lEast this year, and who knows? Maybe another championship is in the works...

Peyton's no Marino

2007-02-05T18:23:00.000-05:00

Well, we can stop all of the 'what happens if Peyton doesn't win a Super Bowl' crap right now...

Last night, the Indianapolis Colts took care of the Chicago Bears, 29-17, and MVP Peyton Manning had a pretty good night, going 25-38 for 247 yards and a touchdown. It really was a remarkable game for the Colts, because on a night where the crowd was 75% against them, the weather was against them (supposedly, as the rain was supposed to make this passing attack non-effective), and on top of all that, the opening kick-off was returned for a touchdown by Chicago. But Manning used the passing game as effectively as possible, and Indy's two-headed rushing attack of Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes slashed through the excellent Chicago defense all day, and with Chicago QB Rex Grossman being his usual crappy self, all Indy had to do was play OK defense, and let Peyton take care of the rest. And that he did.

Ok, onto the best part of any Super Bowl - the Commercials. There were two commercials that had me rolling on the ground. First was the Rock - Paper - Bud Light:
Rock, Paper, Bud Light

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and second, the Kevin Federline commercial - mostly because it's probably the truth.
K-Fed's Front

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Enjoy.

Young Gun(ner)s, my thoughts on C-Webb

2007-01-25T22:09:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay in posts, lots of work + no 'real' sports topics = no news. Anyhow, on with the show.

Mostly when I talk of the Arsenal football team, I usually speak of their senior team (as they get the most matches, it only makes sense), but today I will be speaking of their 'B' team if you will. Many of these players only see spot action during Premiership and Champions' League matches (if their lucky), but for the two domestic cups (Carling Cup and FA Cup), Manager Arsene Wenger likes to play the kids, to get them experience, and see how far they can take Arsenal in the cup. In years past, the semi-finals of said competitions would see the senior team re-take the pitch, to see if they could bring home the hardware. But for this year's Carling Cup Semi-Final 1st leg, against hated rival T*ttenham H*tspurs, Wenger let the kids continue on this amazing run, to see if they could keep the match close (at least), and give the 1st teamers a chance to win at Ashburton Grove. Well, the game didn't start off pretty, as Arsenal were quickly down 2-0 at White Hart Lane, in front of a very hostile crowd, but they didn't let up. As a result, Arsenal will head home even at 2 goals apiece, with a very good chance to come away with the victory in the tie, and face Chelsea in the finals. And the man doing most of the damage is Julio Baptista (center of picture). Although he has taken a bit to get acclimated to the game in England (he just was transferred in from Spain this season), he has started to heat up, scoring 6 goals in the last two cup games. The 25-year old has started to show why he is so valuable, doing most of his damage from close range, but also showing that he is not afraid to fire from 20+ yards away, which is something that Arsenal really could use. His contribution highlights the entire 2nd team, who have really stepped up to play some beautiful football, and give the senior members some time to rest in between their busy schedule of Prem and CL football. And in the last 3 matches (one FA cup tie and 2 Carling Cup ties, 2 wins and a draw) the talent level of our reserves are really showing, as all 3 results came against Premiership teams, pretty much fielding their 1st teams. It really does appear that the future is looking bright, especially with Arsene Wenger's eye for talent.

Now onto part 2 of my post, the Chris Webber to Detroit experiment. My initial thought of this signing was 'Great, another jump shooting PF who doesn't play defense, in place of a pretty physical center (Nazi Mohammed) who can't stay out of foul trouble'. In retrospect, this may be the kind of deal that sparks this team. But it won't help us give up less Offensive rebounds, so it may be all for naught (plus I think the west is a better conference this year anyways. Won't stop me from rooting for my 'Stones, but I'm just saying...). Also, I think that this move maybe just the beginning of trades from GM Joe Dumars, as this team has been pretty complacent the last couple of years, and I think a major trade or two may go a long ways in helping this team succeed in the playoffs. Now if Dumars can actually get Webber to play 'D', then this column is null and void, and the Pistons' chance of winning the championship increase dramatically. But after watching his performances the last couple years in Philadelphia, I highly doubt it.

The Galaxy land one of football's biggest stars

2007-01-11T23:57:00.000-05:00

Today, the Los Angeles Galaxy announced the biggest signing in Major League Soccer history, announcing that they had agreed to a 5 year deal with David Beckham, arguably the most known name in football in the United States. Beckham, a 15 year pro, has spent most of his career playing for Manchester United in England, and played the last 4 years for Real Madrid in Spain. But Beckham, who said he was looking for a new challenge, certainly will have his work cut out for him, as he tries to not only get his playing swagger back, but also try to push forward a sport that is currently on the back burner, due to the plethora of other sports that Americans have to choose from. I think this is a great deal for both parties. MLS has been looking for that well-known European (well, as well known as you can get for football in the states) to carry their brand to the next level, and David Beckham loves to be in the spotlight, and was looking for a long term deal to prolong his playing career, and perhaps put himself back in the running for the England squad as they try to qualify for Euro 2008.

Now the next big question is "will other older, but not past their prime players follow in Beckham's footsteps, and test the waters here on the other side of the pond?" Well, we could have our answer shortly, as FC Dallas is currently in talks with English Premier side T*ttham H*tspurs to secure the transfer of Holland international MF Edgar Davids. Davids, 33, not exactly a spring chicken either, would start to give more credibility to the league, and may continue the "David Beckham snowball effect". Now, don't get me wrong, this league is nowhere near challanging for the services of today's best young players, like Cesc Fabrigas, Cristiano Ronaldo, or Lional Messi. And they may not be close to older stars such as Ronaldo, either. But you gotta start somewhere, and you could do a lot worse than Beckham and Davids. But only time will tell if this is a good investment, or a great investment. And if I were a betting man, I think that this will be closer to the 'great' side. I hope I'm right.

Thanks, Stevie!

2007-01-03T17:15:00.000-05:00

Last night, in a sold-out Joe Louis Arena, the number 19 was properly put away for the last time. Steve Yzerman's jersey will now hang from the rafters at the Joe Louis Arena, never to be worn again. The way it should be. This man embodied everything you wanted your superstar athletes to be. He was humble, trying never to be "The Captain" with his voice, but with the way he played on the ice. When he spoke, it was never an 'in your face' yelling way, but quietly, and to the point. And he played the sport like it was meant to be played. 100% at all time, doing whatever the team needed to win. Personal accolades were not meaningful, just championships. And money was really not that important. I'm not sure if there will ever be another player, in any sport, like Steve Yzerman, but the fact that I was able to witness first hand one of the best athletes in Detroit sports history means a lot to me. And I just want to say 'thanks'. Thanks for playing the game the right way, for giving joy to people everywhere (mostly in Detroit), and for being 'The Captain', for sticking around when maybe you could've cashed in elsewhere. And thanks to the Red Wings for recognizing that, and recoginizing you one last time.

Good news all around

2006-12-29T23:13:00.000-05:00

Well, a couple of good pieces of information have come along the past couple of days...

University of Michigan junior RB Mike Hart has announced that he will also return for his senior season, joining QB Chad Henne, and OL Jake Long in the 'stay in school' club. Hopefully junior LB Shawn Crable thinks it's a noble cause, and will join in the crusade as well, especially with all the good talent that will be leaving the defense due to graduation ( ie Leon Hall, Lamarr Woodley, David Harris, Alan Branch etc). Amazing that kids will stick around four years, eh? Well, that's the future, but we still would like to take care of USC in the present. Hopefully we will be fired up for this game, and pretend that the Trojans voted in both polls to keep us out of the title game. Then we'll see what tune the so-called experts are singing afterwards.

And I said 'a couple of good pieces of info' so here's the second one. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger announced today that he's gonna start Julio Baptista in tomorrow's game against Sheffield United, marking only the third time the Brazilian will be starting for the Gunners. I say this is a good thing because he is the kind of presence that Arsenal has been lacking in the attacking third of the pitch. He's very strong in the air, he plays a much more physical game than any other striker that we have, and he's not afraid to shoot from distance, and won't always look to make the perfect pass into the 6 yard box. This is something that Arsenal has been lacking, we tend to try and 'walk the ball into the net', instead of having a go from the 16-25 yard range. So, hopefully we will get to see some of that skill come out tomorrow, and bring home a 'W' from Bramall Lane, and edge closer to Cheatski/ManUre. Well, that's all for now. Enjoy your New Years Weekend!

I'm Baaaaaaccccckkkkkk!

2006-12-26T18:42:00.000-05:00

I think I'm gonna change my blogging format a bit, talking only about news worthy articles, instead of the scores from the past night. Also, it probably won't be a daily blog anymore, but maybe more entertaining/informative. With that in mind...

How bad will the so-called 'National Championship' game be? According to Brad Gerick of 'The Mountain Echo', "Troy Smith and Teddy Ginn Jr. are going to stomp on Florida like King Kong on the purple Teletubby", and I completely agree with this sentiment. Read his entire article about the joke of Florida as "number 2" here

That's really all I got. Glad to be out of Colorado (the airport situation was a mess, but they did the best job they could getting people out of there), and hoping everyone's Christmas went well.

a pretty bland midweek

2006-12-14T21:36:00.000-05:00

Well three games, 1 good result, but all three games played poorly. That is pretty much the status of the week so far.

Arsenal was the one good result, taking care of Wigan Athletic at the JJB stadium, 1-0 on another late Emmanual Adebayor goal. But the game, from all accounts I've read, was a crapfest from beginning to end, and it appeared that we were going to get another poor result away from home. But all it takes in football is one moment of magic, and it's "one-nil to the Arsenal". So, we'll take the 3 points, and await the arrival of Portsmouth to the lovely Ashburton Grove, and try to inch closer to the top two.

As for the poor results, Tuesday saw the Red Wings fall to the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, in which Dominick Hasek was outstanding except for a 5 minute stretch in the 2nd period, when Ottawa scored all three of their goals. Detroit clawed their way back into the game, but could not find the equalizer to steal a couple of points. Their in the Windy City tonight, playing a Blackhawks team that we should beat easily, but we all know how that usually goes....just ask the Pistons.

...who should've beaten the Pacers in Indiana on Wednesday, but instead took a 101-90 defeat. The difference in the game was Jermaine O'Neal, who ripped the Pistons for 26 pts and 14 boards. Chauncey had 22 pts in the game, and tried to keep the Pistons in it, but everytime they got close, the Pacers would have a little hot streak, and pull back away. Why do we lose the "easy" games, but can go down and beat Dallas and Orlando, at their places, on back to back nights? Flip Saunders must be pulling his hair out over this very same question. Oh, well, long season, still doing well, will be in the playoffs. I guess that's really all that matters.

One final note, Michigan QB Chad Henne, and OT Jake Long both announced today that they will be sticking around for their senior seasons, to try and lead the Maize and Blue to a National Championship, and RB Mike Hart said he was '99%' sure that he would be back for his senior year as well. I was just hoping that we could convince one of those three to stay another year, but all three coming back? Awesome.

Well, That's it for now, till tomorrow.

A great game, a craptacular game

2006-12-11T00:05:00.000-05:00

Well, the day started off well in the Land of Dan, with the Arsenal Football team holding Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge today. Mathieu Flamini, who I had been complaining about him being even on the field, opened the scoring for Arsenal in the 78th minute, on a shot that might have been saved by another keeper, but with Chelsea down to their 3rd string goalkeeper, it found its way to the back of the net. They couldn't hold onto the lead, however, as Michael Essien had a super strike to equalize in the 84th minute, and Arsenal had the goal posts help out twice in the dying minutes to hold onto the draw. It was a great game from both sides, however, well contested and hard fought throughout, and a tie was deserving for both parties. (Will try to find the goals for tomorrow, can only find bad quality videos right now).

However, the good feeling from the Arsenal match was quickly erased, and then some, as the Lions, as usual, found a way to lose a game that they probably could've won, 30-20. Detroit spotted the Vikings 21 points before putting together any threat of offense, and actually scored their first points on an interception return from Jamar Fletcher, and they found a way to turn the ball over 5 times en route to the loss. Former Lions running back Artose Pinner came back to haunt his old team in a big way, scoring 3 times in the 10 point victory for Minnesota. That sucks, especially the way we've been losing our running backs, and Kevin Jones went down with an injury today, we could've really used a back like Pinner. Well, it looks like another top 10 draft pick year for the Lions, and with 3 games remaining (@ Green Bay, v Chicago, @ Dallas), 2-14 is not out of the realm of possibility.

That's all for today. Weekly update: Arsenal @ Wigan Athletic Wednesday, v Portsmouth on Saturday; Lions @ Green Bay Sunday; 'Stones @ Indiana Wednesday, @ New Jersey Saturday; Wings v Ottawa Tuesday, @ Chicago Thursday, @ New Jersey Saturday; and U-M B-ball v Northern Illinois on Saturday. No update till Thursday (unless i'm bored).

Deeee-troooiiiit Baskettttt-ballllll

2006-12-09T22:14:00.000-05:00

Take that, Carlos and Darko!

Well, right on cue, the Pistons took care of two good opponents in two nights. First, they took care of the Dallas Mavericks, 92-82 in Dallas on Thursday night. Then, they flew to Orlando, and edged by the Orlando Magic on Friday, 87-83. Both wins were fueled by good shooting, and great rebounding, and the last one was on the strength of a 31 point effort by Chauncey Billups. So, after 2 sub par performances, the 'Stones put together two great ones, and now lead the division by 1/2 a game, and trail Orlando by 1 game for the conference lead.

The Wings have put together two more wins of their own, edging St. Louis at home on Thursday, 4-3 in overtime, after falling behind 3-0 in that game. Then they beat down the Toronto Maple Leafs today, 5-1. The turnaround in the last couple of days has been the improvement of both the powerplay and penalty kill units. Finally, the Wings are starting to play like the Wings of old, getting contributions from all 4 lines, and starting to click as a team.

Finally, Michigan also have won twice in the last 3 days, taking care of Miami(OH) in Miami, 62-56 on Thursday, and finishing off Delaware St., 70-43 today. And while Courtney Sims still is MIA from before the NC State game, the team in general keeps playing good defense, and they may be competitive in the Big 10 this year.

Well, that's it. I wish I had more to report, but it's mostly the same stuff, different day anyway. Arsenal v Chelsea @ Stamford Bridge tomorrow in a HUUUUGE match, and the Lions v Minnesota in a WHOOOOOO cares match. More tomorrow.

Quick Update

2006-12-07T23:06:00.000-05:00

Well, the 'Stones dropped another winnable game, losing to the Portland Jailblazers, 87-85. Former Spartan Zach Randolph was the main culprit, going for 31 points, 13 boards. We lost this game because we lost the battle of the boards, overall by 11 rebounds, but we also had 6 less offensive rebounds than the Blazers. You can't give teams extra possessions in this league, or you will lose. And that's what happened on Tuesday. We play the Mavericks tonight in Dallas, and after losing two cupcakes, we'll probably beat them by double digits. 'Cause that's the kind of team we are.

The Wings, however, took care of business Tuesday in St. Louis, during Brett Hull night, beating the Blues 5-1. The Wings used 5 different goal scorers to take care of St. Louis, who got a late goal from Eric Brewer to avoid being shutout. The rematch is tonight at the Joe, and hopefully we can notch another victory at their expense.

And finally, Arsenal will move ahead to the knock-out phase of the Champions' League, as group winners, with a 0-0 draw at Porto on Wednesday. And although it got the job done, it was the most boring, uninspired game I have ever seen the Gunners play. Of course, it didn't help that Porto made it through as runners up in the group, and from the start it didn't seem that either team was going to be real interested in making this a game. In fact, the lineup that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger put out there was a weak, non-offensive team, and although he said otherwise before the game, seemed to be playing for the 0-0 draw, and getting through to the next round was all that was important. Well, mission accomplished. The draw to see who we play will be held next Friday, so we'll see if it was worth it or not. Hopefully we draw Lille or Celtic, and not Barcelona.

Ok, that's catchup from Monday. 'stones, wings, u-m men's b-ball, and a tigers trade to talk about tomorrow.

Streak snapped

2006-12-04T20:00:00.000-05:00

The look from Pistons head coach 'Flip' Saunders says it all. The Pistons' 8-game winning streak was snapped last night, as Charlotte got the better of the 'Stones, 97-89. Why did we lose this game you ask? Well, it's partially the fault of Matt freaking Carroll (16 points), just like last time. Although this time he had some help from bench mates Sean May and Derek Anderson (17 and 11 points, respectively). The Pistons had little bench scoring to speak of, and did not share the ball enough, as we finished with 18 assists (Brevin Knight, the starting PG for Charlotte, had 14 by himself). Well, the streak couldn't last forever, and we have Portland in town on Tuesday, so I guess we'll just have to start a new streak....

As I feared, Michigan gets hosed

2006-12-03T20:31:00.000-05:00

Well, apparently the rest of the nation thinks that Ohio St. should play Florida for the national championship, and the computer polls apparently agreed. So Michigan is stuck in the Rose Bowl against USC, and Ohio State gets handed the championship early - err, I mean gets to play Florida for the National Championship. This sucks big time. I don't think the game will be nearly as exciting as a rematch with Michigan, but that's what everyone else wants (apparently), that's what they get. After OSU blows out Florida, and Michigan takes care of USC, everyone will know what the National Championship game should've been.

Some things never change...

2006-12-03T17:22:00.000-05:00

Arsenal took care of business on Saturday, taking care of the hated T*****ham Hotsp*r 3-0. Emmanual Adebayor scores another big goal, followed up by two penalties from acting captain Gilberto (pictured, middle), and Arsenal walk away with all three points, against a hated rival. All this accomplished without the services of captain Thierry Henry, who is out for an unknown period of time with a neck injury. This was a great result, and going into the game at Porto on Tuesday, for a match that we need a result to move into the Champions League knockout stage, it was a good warm up for the game.

The Pistons keep rolling on, winning at Miami on Thursday, 87-85, and at home against New York, 108-100. After struggling to beat the Heat Thursday, even with Dwayne Wade having a terrible shooting night. Rip Hamilton poured in 24 points, and Tayshaun Prince added 12 for the Pistons, who did just enough to upend the Heat. On Friday night, it was the Tay and Chauncey show, as Prince had 31 points, and Chauncey had 22 and 16 assists in the 8 point victory over the Knicks. Rip Hamilton added 26, and the Piston machine keeps chugging along with their 8th consecutive victory. They go for number 9 tonight, as they face the Bobcats in Charlotte.

On Friday, the Red Wings defeated the Minnesota wild, 3-0 in Minnesota, but then dropped a result to San Jose, 3-2 on Saturday night at the JLA. Against the Wild, the Wings only took 1 penalty, and scored a pp goal of their own, which made it a lot easier for them to get the victory. Against San Jose, they lost a lead with 3:31 remaining, and lost the game with 6 seconds remaining, a heartbreaking way to lose. They get to try again Tuesday @ St. Louis, to try and gain some ground on first place Nashville.

The Lions put on a good show today, but could not keep it up for 60 minutes, and fell to New England 28-21. Detroit had leads of 10-3, and 18-13, but could not make either of them last, and a late Cory Dillon touchdown sealed the Lions' fate. I wish it were a different story, but until the Lions can keep players healthy, and have a consistent offensive line, it will continue to be difficult for this franchise to win games. However, I do see some (baby) steps in the right direction, but we need a pretty big personnel overhaul for this team to be competitive.

Finally, the Michigan B-Ball team got back to its winning ways, beating Wofford 83-49. Captain 'can't show up in big games' Courtney Sims led the way for the Wolverines, with 19 points, 7 boards, and Dion Harris had 14 pts, 10 Assists. A good bounce-back game after the defeat at NC State. They will be at Miami(OH) for their next game on Thursday, where they will try and make a pretty good start to their season even better with another win.

B(S).C.S. final polls will come out later tonight, and barring a miracle, it seems like Florida will jump the U-M Football team, and play Ohio State for the National Championship, even though we got the UCLA win against USC that I personally thought would be enough for us to get a rematch. Seperate post for that to follow.

Arsenal @ FC Porto on Tuesday, @ Chelsea on Sunday; U-M B-ball @ Miami (OH) on Thursday, v Delaware St. on Saturday; Wings @ St. Louis Tuesday, v St. Louis Thursday, v Toronto on Saturday; 'Stones @ Charlotte today, v Portland Tuesday, @ Dallas on Thursday, and @ Orlando on Friday; Lions v Minnesota on Sunday

What a boring week

2006-11-30T22:26:00.000-05:00

Wow, when there is nothing happening, there is really nothing happening...

Michigan's basketball team took it's first loss of the season against NC State, a 74-67 deficit. Michigan took a 16-4 lead early on, but then fell behind by 20 with about 12 minutes to play, and that proved to be too big of a hole to climb out of. I did not know how this game would turn out, but it seems to me that the bigger the game, the smaller the performance from Courtney Sims. Sims, who had feasted on the lesser teams, was invisible during the game against the Wolfpack. He had 7 points, on 7 shot attempts, and 8 total boards. If the Wolverines are going to do anything on the hardwood, they will need C.Sims to step up big against the big opponents. G Dion Harris will do his bit, but we really need Sims to be the beast in the middle. Well, another cupcake coming on Saturday (Wofford), so we won't know much about this team until the UCLA game on Dec. 23.

The Wings finally got back into the 'W' column with a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars, but it came at a price, as F Jason Williams had to leave the game with a thigh injury, which will keep him out of at least Friday's game against Minnesota. But the pain is temporary, the win is the important thing, as the Wings stayed out of the penalty box for the most part, and while they were shorthanded, that's when they got their two goals. Kris Draper, who loves nothing better than to score shorthanded, and Mathieu Schneider (odd for a D man to get a shorty) were the goal scorers, as the Wings only took 5 penalties, and gave up 0 goals off of them. 2 tough games to end the week, @ Minnesota tomorrow, home to San Jose on Saturday. We'll see if we can get another 9 game win streak going.

And finally, the Gunners are not firing on all cylindars, if you will,as they fell victim to Fulham @ Craven Cottege, 2-1. They were down 2-0 before 20 minutes, as goals from American Brian McBride, and Canadian Tomasz Radzinski basically sealed the 3 points for the Cottagers. Holland's Robin van Persie got Arsenal on the board before 1/2 time, but the Gunners could not get the equalizer they wanted, and worse off Swiss CB Philippe Senderos was sent off in the 66th minute, pretty much dooming the Gunners from that point on. Arsenal will face hated rivals T*****ham Hotspur on Saturday, and nothing less than a victory will suffice for Arsenal fans worldwide (I really, really, really, don't like spurs).

That's all for now, 'Stones update tomorrow.

One team soaring, one slumping

2006-11-26T20:45:00.000-05:00

Saturday night continued two different trends for two different teams.

The Pistons just keep winning, this time with a thrilling 115-111 victory over the Washington Wizards. And although the 'D's for both teams seem to have been MIA last night, the 'Stones were able to get the job done, lead by Chauncey Billups' 29 pts, 7 assists. Tayshaun Prince chipped in 21, and 'Rip' Hamilton added 18 for Detroit, who have won their 6th game in a row. Detroit gets a much-needed break after 4 games in 5 nights, and they return to action on Thursday, when they will face the Miami Heat in South Florida.

The Wings, who were soring, are now slumping, after getting throttled 6-2 by Nashville last night. The death knell for the Wings were the 5 second period goals given up by the Wings, which gave them no chance to win. The loss drops Detroit to 0-2-3 in the last 5 games, and has them searching for their special teams units (both power play and penalty kill), which seem to be gone. 3 of the 6 goals scored by Nashville were on the power play, while neither of the Detroit goals were on their own man-advantage, with the Wings going 0-3 on the night with said advantage. They get to try again tomorrow, as they welcome the Dallas Stars to the Joe Louis Arena.

One other note, with USC's 20 point victory over Notre Dame last night, they have leapt past Michigan in both the AP and the BCS polls, and barring a loss next week to UCLA, will play Ohio St. for the National Championship, and not Michigan. While I find this disheartening, because Michigan is the only team in the Country who will give Ohio State a run for its money, the only thing that's left to do is become the biggest UCLA fan for the next 6 days, and hope for the best. And I *GUESS* the Rose Bowl will have to do in that case.

No games of note today, and not a busy week in general. Michigan BBall @ NC State Monday, v Wofford on Saturday. Wings v Dallas on Monday, @ Minnesota on Friday, v San Jose on Saturday. Stones @ Miami on Thursday, v New York on Friday. Next update maybe Tuesday, but probably (as it's been going lately) will be Thursday.

On a roll

2006-11-25T21:11:00.000-05:00

Well, win number 5 was the order of the night last night for the Pistons, as they took care of the Charlotte Bobcats, 104-95. It wasn't all that easy, though, as it was a close game throughout, with the 'Stones pulling ahead for good towards the end of the game. Why was the game so close, you ask? Matt freaking Carroll, that's why. Who's that, you ask? Good question, I'm sure the Pistons were asking the same thing after he dropped 18 on them last night. And with Chauncey Billups mis-firing for most of the night, winning was a chore instead of a breeze. But, nonetheless, mission accomplished, and the Pistons can look forward to tonights game at Washington, as they go for win #6 in a row.

The Wings were not so lucky last night, however, falling to the St. Louis Blues in a shootout, 3-2. The Wings fought back to even tie the game last night, with D Nicklas Lidstrom blasting a power play talley 1/2 way through the 3rd period, but it was not to be. Ex-Wings G Manny Legace stopped shots from Pavel Datsyuk and Jason Williams in the shootout to secure the win for the Blues. The Wings are now 0-1-3 in their last 4 games (after their 9 game winning streak), and hope to turn it around against Nashville tonight.

The basketball Wolverines kept their streak going this afternoon, winning their 7th in a row, 66-52 against Maryland-Baltimore County. C Courtney Sims led the way for the Wolverines, going for 18pts, 12 boards against the Retrievers. Not a huge win against UMBC, but after shooting 9-24 in the 1st half, it was lucky we escaped with a win at all, but Michigan is starting to be known for its stout defense, and got the key stops when needed to come away with the victory. However, the first test of the season comes up on Monday, when Michigan goes on its first road trip to NC State to take on the Wolfpack in the ACC/Big 10 challenge. The Big 10 has never won the challenge, and hopefully they can change that this year, and also hopefully the Wolverines can do their part.

And finally, Arsenal cannot win at the Reebok, falling to Bolton Wanderers 3-1 this afternoon. Former gunner Nicolas Anelka struck twice for the Wanderers, who in the past 3 years in all competitions have won 1-0, 1-0, this 3-1 victory, and drew 2-2 back in 2003 against Arsenal. Gilberto had a thunderous header before the half to see the Gunners just down 1, but Arsenal could not make up the difference, and Anelka added to the misery in the 76th minute, sealing the points for Bolton. Arsenal always seemed short of scoring options without the services of Thierry Henry, Tomas Rosicky (both to injury), and Robin van Persie (suspension). Lots of passes, no shots, and it seems to be a pattern (well that, and falling behind 1-nil early on and having to claw back into matches, also a disheartening fact). Arsenal will try to change all of that on Wednesday, when they face inter-city rivals Fulham at Craven Cottege, usually a place of good luck for the Gunners, unlike the hell-hole that the Reebok stadium seems to be.

Wings, Stones, and more tomorrow

Boy, am I lazy

2006-11-24T12:37:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the long absence, but I've had some sleep to catch up on (and some work, and other events as well, but sleep was the most important). Here comes the weekly recap, hold on to you hats!

We'll start off with Michigan, who came up on the short end of the stick against the hated Ohio State Buckeyes, 42-39. The game was a fairly even one, and it was hard fought throughout, but two long runs by Buckeye tailbacks sealed the Wolverines' fate. 'Beanie' Wells had a 52 yard run, and Antonio Pittman had a 56 yarder, and a late 15 yard personal foul on Shawn Crable for a helmet-to-helmit hit on OSU QB Troy Smith, which sustained a late drive for the deciding touchdown, were the differences in the game. That being said, I think that Michigan played a pretty darn good game, and they may get a DESERVED rematch in the BCS title game, pending the result of the ND-USC game tomorrow (Notre Dame wins, I believe that Michigan will get the rematch). But, until that time, we will have to see.

Michigan's basketball team kept their perfect record intact with at 65-56 win over Youngstown State. Courtney Sims had 18 points to lead the way, and Brent Petway had 13 and 10 boards for the Wolverines, who will face the powerhouse that is Maryland-Baltimore County on Saturday. Oooohhh.

The Lions suck. I mean they are just terrible at this point, and they have losing down to an artform. First of all, they go to Arizona on Sunday, and decide not to score any points until the 2nd half, almost ensuring the 17-10 win that Arizona got, then we decide not to score any points for the last 3 quarters, and end up losing 27-10 to the Miami Dolphins, after we had taken a 10-0 lead in that game. If the offense plays well, the defense doesn't show up, if the defense plays well, the offense doesn't show up. Sickening. Now we have to try really really hard not to end up with the 1st pick in the draft because A)we don't NEED Troy Smith, who in my opinion will be the No. 1 draft pick B)I don't see Matt Millen being suave enough to trade the pick for multiple good offensive linemen (or 1 good o-lineman even) and C) we can't afford another top 10 pick salary on our roster. So, here's hoping on that front...

The Red Wings have had a tough time of things, losing their last three games, including the loss to Calgary on Friday. On Saturday night, they lost to Edmonton in a shoot-out, 4-3; and on Wednesday night, they fell to Vancouver, 4-3 in overtime. In addition to both of those losses, the Wings have been hit by the injury bug as of late, as well, losing backup G Chris Osgood for a month, Johan Franzen is out with a concussion, and Nik Cronwall pulled his groin, and is out. Hopefully the Wings can get back to their winning ways, starting tonight against the Blues of St. Louis.

The Pistons, however, have been on a winning streak as of late, taking care of Washington, Houston, Philly (sans Iverson, but a win is a win) and Atlanta in the past week. Finally the Pistons are flexing a bit of their muscle, and it's paying off in some big wins. Detroit is now in 2nd place in the central, just one game short of Cleveland, and I think that when it's all said and done, the 'Stones will be right near the top of the Conference again. Tonight they host the Charlotte Bobcats, and it should be a doozy.

And finally, the Arsenal drew with Newcastle 1-1 on Saturday, which is a horrible home result, as we still are 12 points adrift of the leaders Manchester United (with a game in hand). The magpies took a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute off of a counter from an Arsenal corner, and Newcastle M Kieren Dyer was not closed out in time, beating Arsenal G Jens Lehmann. Thierry Henry answered for Arsenal in the 70th minute with a beautiful free kick, but Arsenal could do no more, and the game ended in a draw. On Tuesday, Arsenal welcomed Hamburg SV into the Emirates Stadium, and sent them home with 3-1 defeat. It never looked to be easy, though, as the visitors once again took the lead. This time it was the wonderful strike from Rafael van der Vaart, curling it in off the upright, and beyond the outstretched hands of Jens Lehmann, to give Hamburg the very early 1-0 lead. Robin van Persie equalized in the 52nd minute off a great feed from Cesc Fabregas. RB Emmanual Eboue put the Gunners in the lead in the 82nd, and Julio Baptista scored his first goal for Arsenal in the 88th minute, to secure all three points for the Gunners. Arsenal face Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok stadium on saturday, a place where 1-0 defeats are traditionally in order. Hopefully Arsenal can break this current streak of tragedy, and escape with a 'W'.

And you're up to date. Sorry for the delay.

2 out of 3 ain't bad

2006-11-18T07:36:00.000-05:00

Last night wasn't a great night to host sporting events in Michigan, but 'the show must go on'.

The Pistons were able to take a step in the right direction, taking care of the Washington Wizards 100-91. Rebounding still seems to be a problem, as we gave up 12 more offensive rebounds, but we got 16 of our own, and turned the ball over 7 less times, to help our cause. Rip Hamilton had 27 for the 'Stones, and Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince both poured in 20 points to lead the way for us. The 4-5 'Stones will welcome the 6-3 Houston Rockets tonight at the Palace, and we will probably need to play our best game of the season to come away with the victory.

As expected the Michigan Men's Basketball team took care of Harvard last night, 82-50. F Ron Coleman led 5 Wolverines with 20 points, and C Courtney Sims added 12 for the 5-0 Wolverines. Freshman C Ekpe Udoh had 11 points off the bench, including 5-5 from the field, and G Lester Abram and G Dion Harris each added 10. The Wolverines get a nice 4-day break before taking on another huge collegiate powerhouse, Youngstown St. Should be a barn burner.

And finally, the win streak is over for the Red Wings, who fell to the Calgary Flames 4-1 last night. Calgary tallied 3 times on the power play, which still seems to be the Wings' shortcoming this season. Daniel Cleary netted a powerplay goal of his own with 41 seconds remaining in the game. Here's hoping a new win streak starts tonight against the Edmonton Oilers.

That's the news! Arsenal, U-M football, Wings, 'Stones tonight, Lions tomorrow.

"Those who stay will be Champions"

2006-11-17T18:18:00.000-05:00

Today, the University of Michigan, and the entire college football world, lost one of the best coaches to ever teach the game. Glen E. "Bo" Schembechler passed away this morning at the age of 77. Bo was probably known best for his intense rivalry with then Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes, and the "10-year war" between the two schools when they coached their respective teams. I never met the man, but according to all of the stories that I've heard today, Bo was an inspiration to a lot of people, and a friend to a lot more people. He genuinely cared for people, and he had a passion for the game he taught for so many years. It is one of the reasons that his legacy in the sport, and the shadow he casted at the University of Michigan, will never be forgotten. Best wishes to the Schembechler family.

Wanted: Tough, physical rebounder

2006-11-16T22:43:00.000-05:00

The Pistons took another game on the chin, this time falling 100-99 to the New Orleans/Oklahoma City/Tulsa/Topeka Hornets of Louisiana. The problem the Pistons seem to be having this season is rebounding. It wouldn't seem like there would be that big of a drop off in rebounding, even with Ben Wallace in Chicago, but it seems that every loss is due to either a huge post game explosion of points, or a huge advantage in rebounding (especially offensive rebounding). Case in point: I watched about 10 minutes of this game, towards the latter stages, and I was watching Bobby Jackson grab MULTIPLE offensive rebounds (had 5 total in the game). Yup, all of 6'1" Bobby Jackson. And it wasn't 'long carom' offensive rebounds, it was 'in the land of the trees' offensive rebounds. And being 'vertically challenged' myself, that's what you try and do, go in there grab some boards, and frustrate the other team. But if you're the 'Stones, you cannot let point guards grab O-rebounds. It just kills the team, and it gives up too many 2nd chance points. By the way, the Hornets ended up with 19 offensive rebounds, compared to 8 for the Pistons. That, folks was the difference in the game. Next up for the 3-5 'Stones is a struggling Washington team that we need to come out aggresive, and get the 'W'

Speaking of 'W''s, there was a lot of that going on this week. First off, rookie RHP Justin Verlander won the AP Rookie of the Year on Tuesday, by gaining a staggering 28 of 30 first place votes. That was followed up by Manager Jim Leyland winning the AP manager of the year. Congratulations to both of them, as they definately were deserving (especially Leyland, who changed the entire thinking of the club, and made them contenders almost through mindset alone. Also, the Tigers resigned their MVP of the World Series, Sean Casey to a 1-year deal. This was a great move, in my opinion, because he's a Lefty, plays 1st base, and came at a reasonable price, as opposed to other 1st basemen on the market. The only negative going on as far as the Tigers are concerned is that we look to be losing LHP Jamie Walker, who is on the verge of signing a 3-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles. That kinda sucks, but the Tigers were not willing to give Walker a 3-year deal, so hopefully Dombrowski has a replacement lined up.

In other news, the Wings will not lose, defeating the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2 for their ninth win in a row. Zetterberg, Franzen, and rookie Valtteri Filppula all netted for the Wings, who tied a franchise record for consecutive victories. This is great news from a team that was looking for an identity early on, and hopefully they can keep this fantastic record going.

And finally, the U-M basketball team kept on its hot streak to begin the season, beating Wisconsin-Milwaukee 66-59 at Crisler Arena yesterday to complete the John Thompson challenge. Courtney Sims was the man of the night, as he poured in 26 points on 10-13 shooting (of course, UW-M's tallest guy was 6'7, and Sims is 6'11, but that's besides the point). G Dion Harris chipped in 17 points, and F Brent Petway added 13 for the 4-0 Wolverines, who welcome the Ivy League powerhouse Harvard to Ann Arbor tomorrow. Of course, it's nice to have your first 7 games at home against cupcake opponents. The first real test for Michigan (on Mon., 11/27), will be when they play at NC State as part of the Big 10/ACC challenge. Until then, I'm gonna take a nap through the rest of these games, which also include Youngstown St., U-Maryland-Baltimore County, and Wofford. *yawn*

No games today, Friday brings the above mentioned U-M v Harvard game, 'Stones v Wizards, and Wings v Flames; Saturday brings such games as 'Stones v Rockets, Wings v Oilers and Arsenal v Newcastle United. Oh, and there's some other game...something about greatest college football rivalry in all the land, national title hopes at stake, something something...oh, well, I'm sure it's not that important.

GO BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And its Aaarrrseeeenaaal...

2006-11-12T21:13:00.000-05:00

*singing*
...Arsenal FC
and we'll always be
the world's most famous team
*singing*

Today Arsenal took care of Liverpool, 3-0 on the strength of three very unlikely goal scorers, Mathieu Flamini, Kolo Toure, and William Gallas (pictured). This is a huge lift for the Arsenal, as they had dominated games, but gotten nothing out of it, and now they get a big break with goals from three players who don't usually score goals. With Newcastle United on Saturday, and Hamburg next Tuesday, this was a game that Arsenal needed to dominate, which they did. They now sit 3rd in the table, with 20+ games remaining, and 10 points shy of 1st place Manchester United, so there is still plenty of time to overtake ManUre, and win us a championship.

The U-M baskeball team stayed undefeated in the "John Thompson challenge" with a 3rd consecutive win, a 80-51 victory over Eastern Michigan. Courtney Sims led the way for the Wolverines with 17 points, and Junior Bret Petway had 10. Michigan played 14 players, and 12 of them had at least 2 points, as it was a very well rounded attack for the Wolverines. Dion Harris, named the 'John Thompson challange MVP', had 5 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals and a block in 18 minutes, before letting the reserves takeover. Freshman F Deshawn Sims led the reserves with 9 points in 14 minutes. Next up for the 3-0 Wolverines is University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Wednesday, the 4th of 7 straight home games to begin the season.

and now for the bad news of the weekend...

Yesterday, the Pistons showed how much they missed Rip Hamilton, getting a beat-down at the hands of Golden State, 111-79. How bad was it, you ask? Our leading scorer was Lindsey Hunter, with 14. Fourteen fricken points. I could eat 14 points worth of toast. Anyway, it was bad. The 'Stones will be back to work on Wednesday, as they welcome in the New Orleans Hornets to the Palace, hopefully with a healthy Rip Hamilton to boot.

And, of course, those lovable losers, the Detroit Lions, leaving another steaming pile on the field. This time, it was the San Francisco 49ers that were the benefactors of the Detroit Lions charities, winning 19-13. San Francisco got it's lone touchdown on a 61 yard run by Frank Gore, which should've been a 12 yard gain and a punting situation, but sloppy tackling found Mr. Gore in the endzone celebrating instead. The Lions tried to comeback and snatch the 'W', but, as usual, fell just short. Next week has the Arizona Cardinals coming to town, and hopefully the ball bounces our way.

No games 'til Tuesday, so next update may be Wednesday, but probably Thursday (unless something major happens). Until then...

Daily updates

2006-11-11T23:00:00.000-05:00

We'll start off with yesterday's games...

The Red Wings have won their 8th straight game, defeating Nashville 3-0. The Wings, it seems, have finally settled into a groove, taking less penalties, converting more on the power play, and getting better goaltending from The Dominator. They don't have 1 guy dominating on offense, but they seem to be getting contributions from everyone, and that has been the Wings' story when they go far into the playoffs. We still need to get more from Pavel Datsyuk, though, as he has been kind of quiet so far this year, but the rest of the team is picking up the slack, and I'm sure he'll come around.

The Pistons were able to defeat the LA Lakers last night, 97-83. Tayshaun Prince was on fire, going for 31 points, which was what the Pistons needed, as they were without the services of Richard 'Rip' Haaaaaaaamiltonnnnnnnn. And it seems Prince did a fine job on defense as well, holding Kobe Bryant to 19 points, and having his own fans boo him around halftime. We'll see if we can finally start a win streak, and get out of this yo-yo season we've started out to, as we play at Golden State tonight (again, minus Hamilton).

And The U-M basketball team started off the season on a good note on Friday, beating Central Connecticut 60-40 at Crisler Arena. Michgan started off cold, and had some turnovers, but were able to overcome their early mistakes, and take care of business. On Saturday, it was seniors Dion Harris and Courtney Sims making the difference, as Michigan defeated Davidson 78-68. Harris had 23 points, and Sims chipped in 21 of his own to help the Wolverines stay undefeated in the early goings. Tomorrow will see the hoopsters going up against Eastern Michigan. Should be a win, but that's why the game isn't played on paper. More on that tomorrow.

Speaking of undefeated, the Wolverines' football team's record stayed unblemished, as they beat Indiana 34-3. This game was a rout from the word go, and it enabled the Wolverines to rest some players late in the game, and keep them healthy for next week's battle at #1 Ohio State. Should be a great one, and I cannot wait.

Well, that's all for now, 'Stones update, Arsenal update, Lions update, U-M hoops update coming tomorrow...

"Why, hello there children"

2006-11-10T17:39:00.000-05:00

And the Tigers respond with "Hey, Sheff"...

Today Detroit has officially traded for Gary Sheffield, the power hitting outfielder (and a bit of a headcase as well). In exchange for him, the Tigers have dealt minor league pitchers Humberto Sanchez, Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett to the New York Yankees. Personally, I am not a huge fan of this trade, as A) I think that Humberto Sanchez will probably be an excellent pitcher, B) I think Sheff may hurt the clubhouse morale, and C) The numbers on the other two pitchers that we gave up were pretty good, though they were still in the low minors, so it's hard to say how they would pan out. I guess only time will tell if this is the trade that takes us to the playoffs, or sets us back a couple of years. The only thing to look for now is how soon we trade Craig Monroe/Marcus Thames, and what to do about our lack of a 1st baseman (unless we move Sheff to 1st base....hmmm....kind of intriguing), and finding another bullpen arm. Plus, we should probably start looking for replacements at SS and C in the near future. Oh, well, hope Sheff can cook us up a winner come next October.

I'm lazy....sue me

2006-11-09T23:02:00.000-05:00

Yeah, Yeah, I know 'you should post more often' blah blah blah....I was busy this week, and by busy, I mean lazy, but let me catch you up to speed real quick...

Tigers: Hitting coach Don Slaught retired to spend more time with his kids in California. His position was filled by last years bullpen coach Lloyd McClendon, who's position was filled by AAA Toledo's pitching coach, Jeff Jones. Everybody in the Detroit organization seems to be getting promotions, which is a good thing. A West Michigan manager Matt Walbeck is now AA Erie manager Matt Walbeck, and Tom Brookens gets a bump from A Lakeland to A West Michigan, as manager. And finally, RHP Justin Verlander was voted in as the AL rookie of the year by his peers. Hopefully MLB will recognize him in the same fashion in a couple of weeks.

Wings: Cannot stop winning (which is a good thing). First, they take care of Chicago, 2-1, last Thursday; next was Columbus, going down 4-1 to the Wings on Saturday; and finally it was Edmonton, the last team to beat the Wings, but not this time as they got shut out 3-0. I'm not exactly sure why the Wings are starting to dominate again, but I really don't care, as long as they keep churning out the 'W''s.

Pistons: Have not had the greatest of starts. They beat Boston on Friday, 101-88 and then took care of Memphis 95-86, but then they ran into the Utah buzz saw (103-101), and also have fallen to Sacramento (99-86). Part of the early season problems with the Pistons have been the new techincal foul rules for arguing with officials (although it is a bit ridiculous when Rasheed gets teed up for making the 'and 1' gesture), but that will change. The bench has played very well to start the season, but the starting frontcourt has been off and on (case in point: Prince, Mohammed and Wallace combined for 8 points in the loss to Sacramento). At this point, it's difficult seeing the Pistons as anything but a middle of the road team, but as we've seen with the Wings, there's plenty of season left, and you can always get hot and string together a bunch of wins.

Lions: Won AGAIN! Defeating Atlanta 30-14. And they actually looked like a complete football team, even though they had a bunch of starters out with Injuries/suspension. Jon Kitna looks like the best signing in the history of the Lions (if you don't count signing Barry Sanders shortly after drafting him). Roy Williams is starting to play like the star everyone thought he would be, and Kevin Jones just ate up yards on the ground. There is still plenty of room for improvement on this team, but with the next three games being San Francisco, Arizona, and Miami, we could be looking at a 5-6 record going to New England (yikes). But, one game at a time (fingers crossed)...

Michigan hung onto its undefeated season (barely) beating Ball State 34-26, having to do so by stopping Ball State 7 times inside the 10 yardline, and surviving a last-gasp hail mary. Ugly, ugly, fugly game. But a win is a win, and they are still on a collision course with Ohio State at the end of the season. Hopefully we put in a better effort against Indiana this weekend.

(James can stop reading here---------------------------------------------------)

And finally, Arsenal have had a mixed bag of a week, losing to West Ham United 1-0 on Sunday (a game they fully should've won, or at least drew) and beating Everton in the Carling Cup 1-0 on a very late goal from Emmanual Adebayor (just like the Man U. game - apparently this guy can only score late on). With a big clash this Sunday vs. Liverpool, we'll see if we can move up the table, and contend for the Premiership title (currently 5th).

I'm really trying to do this more often...no, really, I am...

Flying High

2006-11-02T19:29:00.000-05:00

Well, the Red Wings are starting to act like the Red Wings again, defeating the Blues 3-2 on Saturday night, and then taking care of Calgary last night, 3-2. All of a sudden, we are not wearing a path to the penalty box, and we are starting to win games...wow, what a coincidence... Anyway, we go up against Chicago tonight, and look to make it 5 wins in a row. We still have tons of room for improvement, as we are currently ranked 27th in both power play and penalty kill categories, when we are usually in the top 5 for both, but as long as we keep improving throughout the year, we will be in good shape.

The Pistons opened up their season last night with a 105-97 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks at home. This loss included giving up 70 points in the paint, which is a ridiculous amount. I guess we may miss Ben Wallace a little bit this year, eh? (just in case you haven't been keeping up, Big Ben now chimes for the Chicago Bulls. Well, we were not about to pay him 60 mil for 5 years. That's ludicrous.)

Arsenal drew 0-0 with CSKA Moskva yesterday in the Champions' League. How did they draw? By missing loads of chances to put the ball in the net, that's how. A terrible shooting display. We were missing the ocean from the dock. Absolutely horrible. Ugh. And we were lucky not to lose this one on one of the fluke forays that CSKA had into Arsenal territory. But as it stands, we win out, we will still make it into the last 16 of the Champions' League, and then the fun REALLY begins.

And finally, we end with the Tigers. President andGM Dave Dombrowski has just agreed to a 4-year extension on his contract, which will see him in those roles until 2011 for the team. This had to be done, and ASAP, and I'm glad that Dombrowski and Tigers owner Mike Ilitch could work this out.

Also, the gold gloves were handed out today, marking the best fielders in their position for the American League, and two Tigers have won the prestigious award. C Ivan Rodriguez has won his 12 gold glove, setting a record for most gold gloves won by an individual. He was joined by P Kenny Rogers, who won his 5th. I personally think that 3B Brandon Inge should've won a gold glove as well, but there are some people who disagree with me (mainly because of his 20+ errors, but the way I look at it is if you have the most attempts, you will have the most errors, but whatever). Eric Chavez of the Oakland A's won the award for 3rd basemen. And that's it.

Red Card-ed

2006-10-28T19:22:00.000-04:00

Well, the Tigers were "sent off", if you will, losing game 5 to St. Louis, 4-2, to become the runners up. And I can't say that we didn't deserve it, as we didn't hit all series, and if you can't hit, you don't deserve to win. But this team is only going to get better in the next couple of years. The young players now understand what they need to do to win. As much as I wanted them to win, I think that getting this far was just as valuable. Now comes the always turbulent off-season, and hopefully it will be productive for the Tigers, without being too disruptive (and although I like Mark Teixiera, I do NOT want to trade Jeremy Bonderman to get him, which is what some rumors have us doing).

Remember: 2006 was a celebration for the Tigers, from start to finish.

Michigan remains unbeaten in football, defeating northwestern, 17-3. Not an eye-popping score by any means, but the defense still looked liked the best in all land. Just a walk-through for the Ohio St. game Nov. 17.

The Red Wings are back on the + side of .500 with a 4-3 win over the Dallas Stars. We still didn't do very good on the power play (1-4) or the penalty kill (Dallas was 3-4), but the 'W' is the only thing that counts. Tonight, the Wings are playing the St. Louis Blues, and hopefully the Wings can extract a little revenge for the Tigers tonight. Currently, they are up 2-0 in the first inning (recap when game is over).

And finally, Arsenal were fit to be tied, drawing with Everton 1-1 at Ashburton Grove. Robin vanPersie's 71st minute strike made sure the home side got at least a point, having to cancel out an 11th minute goal from Tim Cahill.

Lions can't lose this week, and that's always a bonus.

slipping away

2006-10-27T20:27:00.000-04:00

Well, the Tigers are certainly in a big hole, being down 3 games to 1, with game 5 tonight. Jeff Weaver, who got the loss for the Cards in game 2, goes against Justin Verlander, who got the loss for the Tigers in Game 1. As for last nights game, we gave up 3 unearned runs, and lost by 1 run. The unearned runs were scored by Granderson slipping in Center field, followed by a throwing error by Rodney, which scored a run, and set up a second run. The final run came due to a runner advancing to 2nd on a passed ball, and a hit that was off the webbing of OF Craig Monroe's glove scored the guy from second. Oh, well, good luck to the Tigs tonight.

Carp-et bombed

2006-10-26T18:58:00.000-04:00

Well, the Tigers got hammered on Tuesday night, losing to the Cardinals 5-0. Chris Carpenter, the Cards' starting pitcher, threw a gem of a game, giving up 3 hits in the victory. The Tigers did not do horribly, but they gave up 2 on a throwing error by P Joel Zumaya, and another one on a wild pitch by Zach Miner. But, if you can't string hits together, it's hard to win ball games. Last night's game was rained out, so the Tigers will try tonight (weather permitting) and see if they can even this thing up, and guarentee a return trip to Detroit. If they lose tonight, it's going to be very difficult to come back to win the series, so hopefully, we can get the bats going.

The Red Wings came from behind to win last night, 2-1 against the Sharks. And they also scored a powerplay goal *GASP*. D Mathieu Schneider got the powerplay goal, and C Robert Lang scored the game-winner with 9 minutes to go. The Wings are now 4-4-1 in the season, which isn't very good, but there's a lot of hockey left to be played, and hopefully, they can turn this around.

And finally, Arsenal, or rather their 'B' team, beat West Bromwich-Albion on Tuesday night, 2-0, in the Carling cup, and moved to the next round of the competition. Jeremie Aliadiere scored both goals (one from the penalty spot), and saw the Gunners go through with relative ease. They will meet Everton on Saturday (and coincidentally enough, will also face the Toffees in the next round of the Carling Cup) before welcoming CSKA Moskva to Ashburton Grove on Wednesday.

Go Get 'Em, Tigers!!

Hand of Go...umm...Mud

2006-10-24T16:36:00.000-04:00

The Tigers took care of business on Sunday night, beating the Cardinals 3-1 to even the World Series at 1 game apiece. It wasn't, however, without some controversy, as the Fox television cameras spotted a "dark spot" on the palm of Kenny Rogers' pitching hand, and from that point on (early in the first inning), the speculations ran wild. Rogers ended up washing the 'mystery spot' off of his hand (he claims it was dirt, most people think it was pine tar (which would be illegal); I currently am sporting my Navy and white sunglasses, so I have no idea :-) ) after the first inning, when it was brought to his attention, but the media has harped on this issue for the last day and a half, and it's really quite annoying. Fact is, he threw 7 innings of shutout ball AFTER the hand was washed, so obviously it wasn't making that big of a difference on his pitches, and he now has a streak of 24 consecutive innings in the post-season without allowing a run, 3 innings shy of the 27 that Christy Mathewson threw for the New York Giants in 1905. Anyway, series resumes tonight, Chris Carpenter pitching for the Red Birds against Nate Robertson, and we'll just have to see what kind of 'dirt' gets dug up.

U-M football team took care business on Saturday, beating Iowa 20-3, remaining perfect, and moving up to 2nd in the BCS standings, and in most major polls (except the coaches poll). Mike Hart made the difference, once again running for over 100 yards and scoring 2 touchdowns, while the Michigan defense was solid again, allowing 41 yards rushing all day. The road is relatively clear for Michigan to take an undefeted record with them down to Columbus to face a possibly undefeted Ohio State team, but we have Northwestern, Ball State, and Indiana to play still, and must not look ahead to that large Nov 17 game...but it may be a clash for the ages.

The Lions..........same results, different days it seems like, as they took another loss, 31-24 to the New York Jets. It's not that they're getting blown out of any of these games (except for the Chicago game), but they just cannot make that crucial stop when they need it, or get the crucial first down, and just snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. This week, the Lions have a bye, and they may be able to beat that bye team, but who knows.

And finally Arsenal took care of business this weekend, beating Reading 4-0 on the strength of a Thierry Henry brace (meaning=2 goals), and additional goals by Alieksandr Hleb (who played one hell of a game, and is looking better and better this season, much much better than last season) and Robin van Persie. And they probably could've scored more goals, but they kinda shut it down in the 2nd half, happy with their victory. Their passing was excellent, and this is probably the best Arsenal match I have witnessed in the 4+ years I have been following them (goals here, here, here and here - commentary in french - best I could do).

Quick preview, game 1 recap

2006-10-22T14:41:00.000-04:00

Well, for my World Series preview, I was going to state that the Tigers should win this series in either 4 or 5 games, because I felt that they had much better starting pitching, much better relievers, and aside from Albert Pujols, a better lineup than the Cardinals...

Then game 1 happened...

The Tigers took a 1-0 first inning lead, but after that inning, Cardinals rookie pitcher Anthony Reyes retired the next 16 batters that he faced. And unfortunately for the Tigers, Justin Verlander couldn't follow suit. Cardinals 3B Scott Rolen tied the game with a homerun to left center field in the 2nd inning, and in the 3rd, Albert Pujols added to the pain with a 2-run shot, making the Cardinal lead 4-1 at the time, en route to a 7-2 butt kicking of the Tigers. It was just ugly from start to finish, as the Tigers had 5 errors, including 3 in the Cardinals 3-run 6th inning that really put the game away. We get to try again tonight, as cult-playoff hero Kenny Rogers will take his turn, and the Cards turn to RHP and ex-Tiger Jeff Weaver. Here's hoping for a split.

The Red Wings still cannot buy any luck, nor a power play goal, as they fell again to the Oilers last night 3-1. Pavel Datsyuk scored for the 1st time in 5 games, but the Wings were 0-fer again on the power play, and couldn't overcome the 2 late Oiler goals. I don't know if Shanahan took the power play to New York with him when he left, but I hope we can find it in a box or something, because at this point we need all the help scoring goals that we can get. Well, till tomorrow, where I'll have a game 2 recap, a Lions recap (sorry), and an Arsenal recap.

You know what they say about bad weekdays...

2006-10-19T22:21:00.000-04:00

...they usually follow good weekends.

The Red Wings still cannot figure out how to score goals on the power play. However, they do continue to find ways to win the odd game here or there. Monday was such an occasion, as they downed the LA Kings 3-1 with the help of 2 Robert Lang goals. But Wednesday, they were back to struggling, falling to Anaheim 4-1. Tomas Kopecky broke the goalless drought for the Wings, scoring his first career NHL goal. But the Wings are now 3-35 on the power outage, umm, I mean power play, and if they are going to make the playoffs, that has to change. Detroit is usually one of the league's best with the man-advantage, not in the basement.

Arsenal took their first defeat in the Champions' League on Tuesday, falling to CSKA Moskva 1-0 in the Russian capital. The home side took the lead on a superb Daniel Carvalho free kick, and almost doubled their lead minutes later, only to have a Wagner Love strike disallowed for offsides. The Gunners had their own bit of misfortune, however, and were unlucky not to have drawn level in the 85th minute, however, as a Thierry Henry goal was disallowed for 'handball', when, the ball in actuality bounced off of his stomach. Still, 6 points after 3 games is good enough for second in the group, 1 point behind the Russians, and the tie in 2 weeks time which see CSKA visit Ashburton Grove will tell me if were good enough to win the group, or if we will have a tense final 2 matches of group play.

That's all for now, World Series Preview tomorrow.

The Best Weekend ever!!!!

2006-10-15T19:53:00.000-04:00

Well, it all starts with the Tigers... Last night, they came from 3 down to defeat the Oakland Athletics, 6-3, to complete the 4 game sweep of the A's and move onto the WORLD SERIES. World Series. World Series. Sorry, I have to keep repeating myself to make sure it sinks in, which it hasn't yet, but it will. World Series. Sorry. Anyway, the hero of the game was Magglio Ordonez, doing what your cleanup hitter is paid to do. In the bottom of the 6th inning, he tied the game at 3-3 with a missle down the left field line into the front row of seats. But that was just the warm up, as in the bottom of the ninth, 2 on, 2 out, he hit a titanic blast to lef that still has not landed yet (not the best video, but relieve the moment here). Which set off a huge celebration in Detroit. But, the next party, if it occurs, might be slightly bigger. Placido Polanco, who has done nothing but get clutch-hit after clutch-hit so far this post-season, was awarded the ALCS most valuable player award. He hit 9-17, and was a general threat everytime he came to the plate. Next up, the winner of the St. Louis Cardinals-New York Mets series, which the Cards lead currently, 2 games to 1. Game 1 of the World Series will be Saturday, in Detroit, and I think it may just sink in by then.

The University of Michigan continued their unbeaten run on Saturday, taking care of Penn State 17-10. It was a defensive struggle for most of the evening, but Michigan capitalized when they could, and continued to flex their defensive dominance against the Nittany Lions. With Florida's loss this weekend, Michigan moved up to #2 in the AP poll, and #3 in both the coaches poll and the BCS poll, released for the first time this season.

The Lions finally got on the right track today, defeating the Buffalo Bills 20-17. Roy Williams had a great day, catching 10 balls for 167 yards, and a touchdown, and the defense did just enough to prevent Buffalo from winning. The Lions try to start a winning streak next week against the New York Jets, and move away from the top 10 lotto picks (= good season).

Arsenal continued their winning ways, defeating premiership newcomers Watford, 3-0 at Ashburton Grove (Arsenal's stadium). Watford contributed to their own demise, scoring an own goal early in the first half. Thierry Henry and Emmanual Adebayor contributed with goals of their own, and Arsenal cruised to their 6th consecutive victory in all competitions, and moved up to 5th in the premiership standings(own goal here, Henry's here, and Adebayor's here).

Here's to more weekends like this one!!!

YYYYYEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-10-14T22:35:00.000-04:00

3-0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-10-13T19:45:00.000-04:00

Quick recap from the last two games...

Game 2 was the 'Alexis Gomez' show, as the seldom-used outfielder had his way with Oakland pitching, going 2-4 with a home run and 4 RBI as the Tigers defeated the A's, 8-5. Gomez, who only had 1 home run and 6 RBI in THE ENTIRE REGULAR SEASON, almost matched those totals in one game (although, to be fair, he did spend at least 1/2 of his time in Triple A Toledo). However, this game wasn't exactly for the feint of heart, as Todd Jones loaded the bases with 2 outs, and Frank Thomas, Oakland's most meanicing hitter was at the plate. But, it was all for naught, as Thomas popped up to center field to end the game. Justin Verlander pitched an ok game, not excellent, but good enough, and Detroit's relievers (Wilfredo Ledezma, Jason Grilli, Fernando Rodney, and Jones (until the last out)) did a wonderful job of shutting down the A's.

In game 3, the wonderful pitching of Kenny Rogers was the story. Rogers went 7 1\3 innings, and surrendered 0 runs AGAIN, and the Tigers again beat the Athletics 3-0. Craig Monroe had a homerun, and scored twice, and the Tigers did just enough against A's starter Rich Harden to get the victory. Game 4 is tomorrow at 4:30pm, and we'll see how that story will unfold.

In other news... The Wings have started off the season 2-1, as they took a 3-1 loss opening night to the Vancouver Canucks. Newly acquired G Roberto Luongo helped the Canucks fend off Detroit in the opening game, and left the Wings wondering what happened to their power play, and the wonders continued in the next game. Although Detroit beat Pittsburgh, 2-0, the power play was still non-existant, with the wings going 0-11 in those two games. But a solid performance in net by Dominick Hasek made sure that the two even-strength goals were enough. However, the power play finally paid off in the third game, a 9-2 crushing of the Phoenix Coyotes. The power play unit was 2-4, and D Matthieu Schnieder had a hat-trick and an assist to lead the way for the Wings. Currently, they are beating the Buffalo Sabers 2-1, at the end of one (complete update later).

*UPDATE: The Wings just lost, 3-2. It started well, anyway... PS - The power play was 0-fer again. I guess it's back to the ole' drawing board...

The poor Lions...cannot win a game to save their lives, and they keep getting hit with injuries to boot. Week 4 saw them go down in flames to the St. Louis Rams, 41-34, and last week saw another heartbreaking loss to the Minnesota Vikings, 26-17, after having a 17-3 lead after 3 quarters. To make matters worse, the Lions have lost All-Pro G Damien Woody for the season with a left leg injury, and a shoddy Lions offensive line has just gotten worse.

Arsenal, however, just keep continuing to win, registering a 2-1 over Charlton Athletic at The Valley (Charlton's stadium). Robin van Persie scored twice, including the wonder-strike of the season(view goal here), with a volley from the edge of the 18-yard box, to give Arsenal the lead for good. This week pits Arsenal against Watford at home, and away to CSKA Moskova in the Champions League, and they will have to do this without the services of 3 first-teamers, as they have come down with injuries after this past week of International games. Julio Baptista, Emmanual Eboue, and Freddie Ljungberg will all miss at least the next two games due to injuries sustained in the last week, and will test this Arsenal squad to see if they can get the necessary results (read: wins) without them.

Sorry for the long update, haven't kept up very well, will try to do better in the future...

Baked Zito, anybody?

2006-10-11T00:24:00.000-04:00

Well, in case you haven't heard (and my last post did not tip you off of the result), the Tigers defeated the Yankees in game 4 of the ALDS, 8-3, and moved to the American League Championship Series (ALCS) against the Oakland Atheletics.

Game one was tonight, and once again, the story was the Tiger's pitching. It wasn't out-and-out shut 'em down pitching, like Kenny Rogers and Jeremy Bonderman put together the last two outings, but Nate Robertson did just enough to keep himself out of trouble, and get the victory, as the Tigers beat the A's 5-1. Oakland was 0-11 with runners in scoring postion, and they pushed a run across via a groundout to short, and Detroit's offense jumped on Oakland starting pitcher Barry Zito early, amassing all 5 runs in the 3 2/3 innings that Zito was around for. The star of the show was Brandon Inge, who was 3-for-3 with 2 runs, 2 RBI, and a walk. Plus, his trademark excellent defense. Game 2 is tomorrow night, and hopefully we can keep the motown show going...

BELIEVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-10-07T20:54:00.000-04:00

Wow.....wow wow wow wow wow

2006-10-06T23:24:00.000-04:00

Well, it is fair to say that the Tigers have found their pitchers again. Detroit just beat the Yankees 6-0, on the strength of 7.2 innings of GREAT pitching by Kenny Rogers. The 'chicken man' was dealing some heat tonight, tossing 8 strikeouts, and reaching 91 on the radar gun (which is a lot to ask of the 41 year old). Detroit now has a 2-1 series lead on the Yanks, with tomorrow afternoon's game looming large, and the importance will not be lost on either team. I believe the best shot Detroit has to make it to the next round is to win tomorrow. If they have to go back to the Bronx for game 5, all bets are off. Nonetheless, this will be an exciting 48 hours. The hero of the game was obviously Rogers, who scattered 5 hits across his 7 innings. However, this game marked the return of the Ivan Rodriguez offense that had been missing for the first couple games, and the 5-6-7 combo of Guillen-Rodriguez-Casey combined to go 6-for-ll, with 4 runs, 3 RBI, and a walk. Wow...wowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowowow. I'm still pumped.

*we're all behind our baseball team....go get 'em, Tigers....*

Wating in the Wings

2006-10-05T21:37:00.000-04:00

Well, for the first time in a loooooooooooong time, the Red Wings will take to the ice without No. 19 steering the ship. The retirement of Steve Yzerman, though not a surprise, is the start to a different kind of Wings team. Following him out the door is Brendan Shanahan, though not to the front office (where 'The Captain' currently is), but to the bright lights of Broadway, as he will be suiting up for the NY Rangers this year. So it is up to Nik Lidstrom to lead the way, with some help from the 'kids', Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. There could be worse situations. I think overall the Wings will be in a good situation for years to come, but for this season, there is two words that will make or break the Wings' season:

Dominick. Hasek.

The 90-year old goaltender (ok, he's not that old) is back for another stint in Detroit, and how he goes is how the Wings will go. If he has a good, injury free year, the Wings will be ok, and will finish in the top 2 of the Central. If he's hurt a lot, or is not effective, it will be a long hockey year.

I think the Wings will finish with about 45 wins, and get into the playoffs, but I don't think they will make it past the 2nd round. Although Hasek is very capable of stealing a game come playoff time (unlike Legacy, whom I did like, but I don't think we could keep him as our starter), he cannot steal 16, and I don't think we have the firepower to hoist the cup this year. But Kenny Holland (Wings GM) is very capable of pulling the perverbial 'rabbit' out of his hat (much like DD (Tigers GM)), so all this could change in an instant.

They're Grrrrrreat!!

2006-10-05T18:40:00.000-04:00

Well, the Tigers bounced back in a big way this afternoon, beating the Yankees 4-3, and sending the series back to Detroit knotted up at 1 game apiece. The Tigers had taken an early lead, with Craig Monroe doubling, and coming home on a Marcus Thames single. The Yankees, as they always seem to do, responded with a 3-run homerun by Johnny Damon. But those pesky Tigers would not go away, and after a Curtis Granderson sacrifice fly, and a Carlos Guillen home run, the game was tied 3-3. Then, in the top of the 7th, Thames led off with a single, moved over to 2nd on a passed ball, was bunted to 3rd by Brandon Inge, and sent home with a Granderson triple, which proved to be the winning run. Jamie Walker, Joel Zumaya, and Todd Jones combined for 3 2/3 innings of 1-hit baseball, and gives life to the Tigers. Now onto tomorrow and Saturday's games at Comerica, where hopefully we can take advantage of our home field.

Wings post to follow

GO TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Early Playoff Jeter-s

2006-10-04T17:51:00.000-04:00

Well, the Tigers started out their post-season with a thud, losing 8-4 to the Yankees at Yankee stadium. And the star, of course, was Derek Jeter, who went 5-5 with 2 singles, 2 doubles, and a home run. Nate Robertson, Detroit's starting pitcher, did not look too bad for most of the game, but the Yankees had the first 6 guys reach base in the bottom of the 3rd, putting up 5 runs, and never looking back from that point on. Detroit tried to respond, and got 3 runs in the top of the 5th, but the Yankees added two killer runs in the bottom of the 7th, and that was pretty much it. Granderson added a home run in the top of the 7th, Jeter responded with one of his own in the bottom of the 8th. The good news for the Tigers is that they actually pushed some runs across against Chien-Ming Wang, as last time the Tigers faced him, he went 8 innings of 2 hit, shutout ball. Tonight, they were able to get 12 hits, but couldn't get the big hit when they needed it the most. They left runners on base in scoring position in the 2nd, 3rd, and 7th. And in that 7th inning, the tying run was at the plate, our cleanup hitter Magglio Ordonez, and he promptly popped out to - no shock here - Derek Jeter (man, I hate that guy). Game 2 is tonight, and hopefully Justin Verlander can tame the Yankees offense (and that Jeter guy) and the Tigers offense can push some runs across against another pitcher who we don't fare well against, Mike Mussina.

That's it for now, tomorrow's update to include game 2, and a Red Wings preview...

What a rush!!!!

2006-09-26T19:52:00.000-04:00

For the first time in 19 years, the Detroit Tigers have clinched a playoff spot by beating the Kansas City Royals on Sunday, 11-4, capping a ten-game stretch where the Tigers have turned back into the Tigers, going 7-3 in that stretch. The Tigers scored 9 runs in the 2nd inning, one day after scoring 10 runs in the first inning against the Royals, and from that point on, there was never any doubt about the result. PLAYOFFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Tigers have 6 games to go, and are trying to hold onto their central division lead, with Minnesota still just 1 game back in the standing. The Tigers also have vaulted back into the best record in baseball, tied with the Yankees at 94-62. So 6 games until the post-season, which will be the best thing ever!!

In other news over the past week, The Michigan Wolverines took care of the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday, 27-13. Mario Manningham continues his dominance, catching another pair of touchdowns, and the Wolverine defense held the Badgers to just 12 yards rushing, to continue their defensive dominance. The next game on the 'Wolverine revenge tour' is to Minnesota, which will be the 3rd team in a row that beat Michigan last year. And here's hoping for the 3rd straight turn of fortune for this year's Wolverines.

Arsenal have won 4 consecutive games now, beating Sheffield United in the league, 3-0, and taking care of FC Porto in the Champions' League, 2-0. Thierry Henry had a goal in each contest, heading in a cross from Emmanual Eboue in both instances (a rarity for Henry to use his head - Literally). In the Saturday matinee against Sheffield United, Arsenal got an own goal from Jagielka, and William Gallas opened up his account for the Arsenal, scoring a beautifully setup goal, with the help of Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas. Aleksandr Hleb scored the second against FC Porto, again on an assist from Thierry Henry. It looks like the Arsenal have finally settled into their new stadium, and their rise to the top of the Premiership table is sure to follow.

And finally the Lions...I wish there was something that could be said to the Fords to help try and turn this team around, but I don't know what it would be. The Lions dropped their third of the season, losing to Green Bay at home, 31-24. The offense looked the best I've seen it, as QB John Kitna threw for over 300 yards, but the defense looked atrocious. Hopefully this can be remedied by the end of the season, but it's starting to look like the Lions should start planning for their draft - again - before we close the books on September. One day, we'll win....one day...

Till we meet again...

1-Nil to the ARSENAL!!!!!!!

2006-09-17T20:05:00.000-04:00

And suddenly, 1st place doesn't seem quite as far away...

In dramatic fashion, Arsenal get their 1st victory of the season, a 1-Nil victory over Manchester United. Emmanual Adebayor (L) scored in the 86th minute, and GK Jens Lehmann made a spectacular save just minutes later to deny Manchester United F Ole Gunner Solskjaer, to secure all 3 points for the visitors. Arsenal, playing without their first choice strike partnership of Thierry Henry and Robin Van Persie, controlled most of the game. The attacking midfield of Cesc Fabregas, Tomas Rosicky, Aleksander Hleb, and Freddie Ljungberg made this possible, as they were running at the United back four all day. Adebayor, acting as the lone striker, also worried the defense, and was unlucky not to open the scoring earlier than he did. But the result is what was important, and with our next 4 games agains Sheffield United, Watford, Charlton Athletic, and Reading (all winnable games), the climb to the top of the table isn't as steep as it was 24 hrs ago.

However, my bid for 'best weekend ever' fell short of the mark, as both the Lions and Tigers lost today.

The Lions got killed 34-7 against Chicago, and they actually killed themselves in the first quarter, as 11 penalties and 2 turnovers will do against a very good defensive team. We did manage to find the endzone, however, but consolation scores are not good enough. After playing so well last weekend, and were unlucky to lose, we took multiple steps backwards this week. All correctable, and the offense showed marked improvement, but not good enough. Here's hoping that next week vs Green Bay, we show the league (and our own fans) a better performance.

The Tigers ended up on the losing end of their finale today, losing in 10 innings to Baltimore, 12-8. Detroit had to fight back twice to tie the score, but each time, it was Baltimore who would grab the lead back. Which leads to a big series for the Tigers, against the White Sox, with Minnesota once again 1 game back in the central.

So close to the playoffs, yet so far away...

Irish Cream-ed

2006-09-16T21:44:00.000-04:00

The University of Michigan football team took care of business today in a resounding way, beating Notre Dame 47-21 in South Bend, Indiana. U-M QB Chad Henne threw 3 touchdown passes, all of them to Sophmore WR Mario Manningham, and the defense chipped in with 5 turnovers (2 directly resulted in touchdowns). Notre Dame was held to just 4 yards rushing, and their star QB Brady Quinn turned the ball over 4 times by himself (3 int's, 1 fumble). U-M RB Mike Hart rushed for 124 yards, and U-M moves to 12-1 when Hart passes the century mark. This victory was exactly what the doctor ordered for the Wolverines, who had not won a road opener since 1999.

Speaking of what the doctor ordered, A Rx of Baltimore Orioles is exactly what the Detroit Tigers needed to find their hitting, and get a winning streak started. Last night, the Tigers poured in the runs, beating Baltimore 17-2. Detroit scored 8 runs in one inning (which equaled the total amount of runs from the last 4 games combined, and the 17 runs is 6 games of work in total). We continued our good luck today, beating the O's 2-0, with Nate Robertson finally picking up just enough offense to get him a win. The series finally is tomorrow afternoon (sadly), but our magic number has been reduced to 13 with the win, meaning a combination of 13 wins/2nd place team losses (most likely the Twins, who won today and stay 2 games back of us) will see us as division champs, and into the (insert p-word here).

So the weekend is off to a good start, but the Lions play the Bears at Chicago tomorrow, and Arsenal is at Old Trafford to take on Manchester United, so hopefully 3 more wins tomorrow (with the Tigers completing the sweep of the Orioles) will make this weekend Faaaaaaaantastic.

But we'll have to wait 'til tomorrow for the exciting conclusion of 'Best Weekend Ever (!)(?)'...

The week in review

2006-09-14T20:32:00.001-04:00

Well, since I've been lazy, and haven't posted in a while, I have plenty to catch up on, so here we go...

U-M improved their record to 2-0 with a convincing win over Central Michigan, 41-17. We didn't show any improvements through the air (although we caught the ball better), but we continued our ground dominance. I would like to believe (looking at the world through my maize n' blue sunglasses) that we were not showing Notre Dame (our next opponent) anything, but I guess time will tell on that one. Our defense looked outstanding again, and I think that this Saturday's matchup will be a good one. Hopefully, we'll come out on top, but it will be close.

The Lions took to the field for their season opener on Sunday, and lost a close one, 9-6, to the defending NFC champion Seattle Seahawks. Our defense looked pretty good, but our offense was out of sync for most of the afternoon. I think that there is real potential there, but it may take a few games to realize it. One thing I do know, however, is that we must run the ball better if we want to see any improvement from the 5-11 team of last year.

Arsenal drew at home against Middlesborough, 1-1, and although it's very frustrating to have 2 points from 9, it is good to know that we dominated this game from start to finish, and just lacked the quality on the final ball, that would've seen us secure all 3 points. James Morrison opened the scoring when William Gallas/Johan Djourou failed to keep tabs on the midfielder's run on the give and go, and a reply from the spot by Thierry Henry saved the day. Although we should've found a winner, since 'Boro were down to 10 men for the last 1/2 hour.

Midweek produced a better result, as we opened up the Champions League group stages with a 2-1 win over 10-man Hamburg SV. Van Persie won a controversial penalty in the 10th minute, which saw Hamburg's starting keeper sent off, and Gilberto converted the proceding penalty, to give the Gunners the early lead. New summer signee Tomas Rosicky added a 2nd with a wonderful strike from 30 yards out early in the 2nd half (see goal here), to insure full points would be awarded to the visitors. Sonogo grabbed a consolation goal for Hamburg in stoppage time, but the Gunners are top of Group G, as CSKA Moscow and FC Porto drew 0-0 from the other tie in the group. If Arsenal can beat Porto at home in a fortnight, they will almost certainly advance to the knockout round.

And last but not least, my Tigers....*sigh* if we could only hit the ball, we would be in much better shape. Unfortunately, we have been hitting like crap, and our 3-7 record over the past 10 games, and our horrible August/September record (right about the time that Polanco went down with an injury) will attest to that. The good thing is that we still have a 1 1/2 game lead in the Central division, and 3 games over the White Sox in 3rd place. 16 games to go. I think we'll make it, but we may be crawling across that finish line. Oh well *we're all behind our baseball team...*

To be the best, you must beat the weak

2006-09-04T22:38:00.000-04:00

Ahh, back to the weak part of the AL schedule...

The Tigers took game one of their series against Seattle, 6-2, and continued their trend of beating the teams that they should beat. So far this year, Detroit is 11-1 against Kansas City, 5-1 against Seattle, and 5-3 against Tampa Bay, the 3 last place teams in their respective divisions. The teams that we should be beating are the teams we are beating, which is a different trend from seasons past (in fact, we were the teams that other teams should be beating).

This doesn't change the fact, however, that we lost the last two games against the Angels, both of which we probably should've won. But as long as we win 10 of the next 24 games, I believe we will keep our AL best lead, and I know that we will make the playoffs. And that includes 6 more games against KC and 2 against Seattle.

In other sporting news, the US mens basketball team won the Bronze metal during the World Basketball Championships, losing to Greece in the semi-final(a team that has no NBA'ers), but beating Argentina in the consolation game. This result does not come as a surprise to me, as the World game is different than the NBA game (mainly, they actually call traveling during the worlds *gasp*). However, I think having a pool of players go through training camp, and trying to keep the same core group of people for the WBC's/Olympics is a step in the right direction, and may allow us to stay competitive as the rest of the world gets better in the sport.

Finally, I would just like to say R.I.P., Steve Irwin. The 'Crocodile Hunter' has been bested by a sting ray while filming a documentary off the coast of Australia (and I figured it would've been a crocodile that would take him out). It's weird knowing that one of the funniest (and smartest) animal trainer/enthusiast has passed away. Best wishes to the Irwin family.

That's it! Enjoy...

Not 'Vandy'lized

2006-09-02T20:52:00.000-04:00

Well, the University of Michigan's football team kicked off it's 2006/07 football season in solid fashion, with a 27-7 win over the Commodores of Vanderbilt. Michael Hart went over the century mark in rushing yards, and our defense was outstanding from about the middle of the 2nd quarter on. We did not take any shots downfield, however, and let Vandy hang around for longer than I would've liked. But, we got the 'W', are defense looked fast and mean, and our secondary didn't resemble swiss cheese. So bring on CMU next week, where I hope we show improvement from today's game.

Arsenal wave goodbye to Cole, Reyes...

2006-08-31T21:50:00.000-04:00

... but aren't you supposed to wave with all 5 fingers?

On the eve of the transfer window closing, the Arsenal get rid of two players who did not want to be in North London anyway. First, they send Reyes packing to Real Madrid in exchange for Baptista, which is a great deal, as Baptista brings us a little more muscle for Midfield/Striker support, and they were also able to finally send the little A.-Cole to Chelsea for Central Defender William Gallas and cash. That was unfortunate, because Cole is a class player, but it had to be done, with his mouth punching his ticket out of town (when you say lots of bad things about your employer, usually they don't stay "your employer" for much longer). Also, the Arsenal picked up young Defensive Midfielder Denilson, which will be a good signing, just a little further down the road.

Tigers lost another one today, 6-4 to the Yankees. When you can only muster 2 hits and 3 baserunners over 8 innings against a very solid Yankee ball club, that will usually end in tears. Ah, well, we're still in decent shape (AL best record only now, the Mets have a better record, percentage wise), we just need to pick it up to the finish line.

That's the news...

TONY KORNHEISER IS FUNNY!!

2006-08-30T19:04:00.000-04:00

Eat that one, Mike!

Anyway, the Tigers have had a horrible August to date, and it didn't help out today, as the Tigers lost the 1st game of the doubleheader against the Yankees, 2-0. In another "Nate Robertson special" (so dubbed because this is a typical Tigers performance when LHP Nate Robertson is pitching for them) we allow 2 runs, which should be enough to win, and all we get offensively are two lousy hits (insert "Major League" quote here). I just hope we can take the night cap, and tomorrow's game against the Yanks, otherwise our MLB lead will be down to 2 games.

The Lions stink. Just plain stink. And tomorrow maybe the last time that Charles Rogers and Mike Williams get to stink in the infamous honalulu blue and silver. I just want to see improvement, that's all. I know it's still pre-season, but I really want to see improvement. Tackle. Gain yards, score points offensively. Don't do an impression of a sieve on special teams. Is that really too much to ask?? (Probably, but what can you do...)

And finally (in news that James doesn't care about) Arsenal may be set to send F/M Jose Antonio Reyes to Real Madrid afterall, in exchange for F/M Julio "the Beast" Baptista and 3M£. Well if he doesn't want to play in England anymore, I guess that's ok, but he was a terrific winger, and it's too bad he couldn't settle in away from home. Unlike Ass-shley Cole, who looks like he will stay a Gunner after all. Oh, well, he is a good left back and all, I GUESS we can find room for him on our squad, especially since we've taken 1 point from 6 (horrible).

Ok, enough from me. Thanks for reading!

***UPDATE***
The Tigers have just taken game 2 from the Yankees, thanks to the dramatic 3-run homerun in the top of the 9th by Craig Monroe!!!!! 5-3 Tigers. I'm pretty excited. "we're all behind our baseball team..."

Well, ya win 2, ya lose 2...

2006-08-24T22:56:00.000-04:00

The Tigers played two 2-game series against the White Sox. What? That doesn't make sense? Well, that can be the only explanation, as they looked dominant in the first two games of the series, and looked pitiful in the last two. I mean, 10-0 shutout at home? Hello, offense, are you around here somewhere? The good news is that there was no real damage, as the White Sox came in 5 1/2 games out of first, and that's where they are leaving town. But we had a real chance to send a message to them, and we let them off the hook (ok, not "LET" them, but you get the idea).

Arsenal won the home leg of their Champions' League qualifier, 2-1 to move into the group stage of the tournament, where they will be matched up with CSKA Moscow, FC Porto, and Hamburg SV. This is a decent group, not the weakest, but certainly not the strongest, and I think that we are still in good shape to get into the knockout phase of the tournament. But there is a loooooong road ahead before we get to that bridge...

The Lions are set to play their third pre-season game tomorrow against Oakland. I'm not looking for any miracles from this game, nor am I looking for a 60-3 beatdown of the Raiders. I'm only looking for a couple of things - namely crisp tackling (last week, we looked like we were trying to catch a greased pig or something, our tackling was horrible), better against the run defensively - and better running the ball offensively (both OL and DL looked terrible), and better special teams play (the only thing we've been good at in recent years, was absolutely horrible against the Browns last week). And we cannot take a step back in any other area. Oh, and if Charles Rogers doesn't play this week, I think he'll be cut at the end of training camp. Just my prediction.

Finally, the Red Wings are going to announce that D Nicklas Lidstrom will be the next Captain of the team (but make no mistake, he will never be "THE Captain"). Wow, I am shocked about that...umm...maybe not. They really didn't have anyone that they could name captain other than Lidstrom, but I think it's a good move anyway. A lot of the old guard of the Red Wings have departed, and it's up to Lidstrom to keep the ship righted in the next couple years of transition the Wings will probably endure (Ok, Mike Babcock may have a little to do about it as well).

Until next time...

Not the greatest weekend...

2006-08-20T21:02:00.000-04:00

Well, if I was rooting for a sports team this weekend, chances are they did badly. The Tigers, after winning the opening series against the Rangers, dropped the final 3 games of the series by 1 run, 2 runs, and 1 run. Worse yet, they couldn't score more than 1 run Friday and Saturday, then take a 6-run lead today, and still end up losing. Blah.

Arsenal could do no better than a draw against Aston Villa on Saturday, 1-1 at full time. Worse yet, they were down for a good portion of the second half, with Olof Mellburg's header puting the visitors in front. It took a wonderful service from 18-year old Theo Walcott, to Gilberto, who knocked home the equalizer 8 minutes from time.

Tigers have acquired 2B Neifi Perez to help fill in for the injured Placido Polanco, and provide some defense for the home stretch (since his bat will not help at all). I guess at this point (3-7 in the last 10 games) we can use all the help we can get.

And finally, if you want to go to a horror movie that makes you laugh, you should go see 'Snakes on a Plane!' It's not a good movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it was humerous at parts, and it wasn't a complete waste of 2hrs. More like an hour and change...

Peace...

Premiership Season Preview

2006-08-18T17:52:00.000-04:00

Well, here we are on the eve of the 2006/07 season, and what better way to celebrate than to give my season preview for the Arsenal, and how I think the table (standings) will look at season's end, including who stays in the Premiership, and who gets relegated to the Coca-Cola Championship.

Lets start with....the Arsenal. Last season saw the Arsenal hit their stride in the Champion's League, going all the way to the finals, where G Jens Lehmann gets sent off early in the match, and 10-man Arsenal ends up losing 2-1 to FC Barcelona. The league did not go quite as well, as the Arsenal took their time getting into stride, before finally clicking on all cylinders late in the season, and snatching 4th place (and the final Champion's League position) from hated rivels T*****ham H***pur (their name is so evil I cannot even type it. For more info on "the scum", follow the sky sports link on the left hand column).

This season, the Arsenal seem to be in better shape. Captain Thierry Henry signed a new 4-year deal that will keep him in North London for the near future. And Cesc Fabregas, the talented 19-year old midfielder is already in fine form, after scoring twice in the Champions League qualifyer against Dinamo Zagreb. They do have some key losses, the retirement of Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires transferring to Spain, and Sol Campbell transferring to Portsmouth, and with only midfielder Tomas Rosicky transferring in, the Gunners have not bolstered their depth at all. But it was unnecessary, as we have plenty of talented youngsters waiting in the wings, meaning that more than likely Gael Clichy and Robin van Persie will have breakout years. I think that the Arsenal will challenge Chelsea for the top spot in the league, but we do not have the rubles to compete with Cheatski on a game in/game out basis. So here it is, my final table for the 2006/07 Premiership campaign:

1. Cheatski
2. Arsenal
3. Liverpool
4. Manchester United
(Note: the top four places are automatically placed in the Champion's league; the first two teams bypass the qualifiers and are placed in the group stages, the last 2 have to qualify for the group stage).
5. T*****ham H***pur
6. West Ham United
7. Bolton Wanderers
(Note: places 5-6 are automatically placed in the UEFA cup competition. A third spot is given to the FA cup winner unless the winner is one of the top 6 teams. Then it goes to the 7th place team).
8. Blackburn Rovers
9. Wigan Athletic
10. Everton
11. Reading (pronounced "redding")
12. Manchester City
13. Charlton Athletic
14. Middlesbrough
15. Newcastle United
16. Portsmouth
17. Aston Villa
18. Sheffield United
19. Fulham
20. Watford
(Note: 18-20 automatically get relegated into the Coca-cola Championship, aka 'Triple-A' of English football).

Night and Day

2006-08-16T19:54:00.000-04:00

2 games against Boston, 2 victories. It's like we were never in a slump at all. The only bad news is that 2B Placido Polanco will be heading to the DL after making a spectacular catch to preserve the 3-2 win last night. But we've survived injuries to Dmitri Young and (so far) Mike Maroth, so hopefully he'll be back before the p-word that I'm not allowed to say until we get closer to October (rhymes with 'layoffs'). And special thanks to the White Sox, for giving us a game back, and taking one on the chin against the Royals. It's very nice of them to lose to the WORST TEAM IN BASEBALL. Anywho, nothing else really going on, just the Tigers. And nothing is cooler to see than Comerica Park packed to the rafters, in mid August. Freakin' Awesome!!

Later...

Ughhhh.....

2006-08-14T19:42:00.000-04:00

Now is not a good time to be slumping. Unfortunately, the Tigers find themselves saddled with a 5 game losing streak, with a 3 game series with the Red Sox coming up. The good news is that they still have a 5 1/2 game lead in the central division, and they still have the best record in all of baseball. The bad news is that they just got swept by the Chicago White Sox, who are now 9-3 this year against them, and it's beginning to be a mental road block. Hopefully Nate Robertson can get us back on track, and the AWOL offense turns up in someone's duffel bag. I think how we respond to this losing streak (longest of the season) will tell how we will finish the year.

Red Wings have signed C Greg Johnson, formerly of Nashville, and among other places...Detroit. He's more of a grinder than a scorer, and while our 4th line was not outperforming the other teams' 4th lines, like they have in the past, I think we really could use another scorer instead. But, what can you do, eh?

The Lions had their first pre-season game on Friday night, and took a 20-13 victory from the Denver Broncos. Detroit's offense looked as good as I have seen it in a long time (not since Barry, Johnnie Morton, Herman Moore, and Germaine Crowell were in our skill positions have we looked this good). The defense was stout against the run, and full of holes against the pass. I know we were missing 3 of our top 6 CB's, but it didn't look good. The good news is that we get to try again next week against Cleveland. I can't wait until the regular season starts, as this pre-season crap sucks.

And Ashley Cole is still a wanker (and being paid by Arsenal still). Till the next update...

And by tomorrow, I meant Thursday

2006-08-10T20:09:00.000-04:00

Ahh, who can keep track of time these days...

The Tigers lost their first series in a month to the Twins. After taking the opener (and sending P Francisco Liriano to the disabled list in the process), Detroit dropped the next two games, including a heartbreaker last night, 4-3. They have today off, to prepare for the White Sox, who come to town tomorrow (after finishing their series with the Yankees tonight). They still have a sizable lead in the AL central, and in MLB, so no worries.

Arsenal took care of business on Tuesday in the away leg of their Champions League qualifier, taking a 3-0 lead back to North London. Cesc Fabregas had 2 goals, and Robin Van Persie added 1 as well for the visitors, who now look to be a lock for the Group Stages. And all this damage done without starting goal keeper Jens Lehmann, and dynamic striker Thierry Henry. It doesn't appear that they would have to take part in the home leg for the Gunners to go through, but they probably will feature in the Aug. 23 return.

And that's about it...

The Life and Times of Fausto Carmona

2006-08-05T22:11:00.000-04:00

Aww, poor Fausto Carmona. The Cleveland Indians closer has not had a good string of games the past two weeks, as his last 4 appearances have all ended in losses, including tonights game with the Tigers.

I'm sure Cleveland was not overly confident of their victory, but they probably thought that it was more than likely. However, 'Pudge' Rodriguez had other plans, as he sent Carmona's first offering into the Detroit sky. His 2-out home run scored Placido Polanco from first base, and probably had Cleveland's manager Eric Wedge reaching for his bottle of Maalox. So Detroit wraps up another series (with Sunday's game remaining) and awaits a visit from the Twins on Monday. Should be another good series.

Meanwhile...

Floyd Landis' 'B' sample also had traces of synthetic Testosterone in it, and he has been fired from his cycling team, and stripped of his Tour de France victory. Ouch town: population you, bro...

Arsenal have drawn Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) for their first Champions' League opponent, with the away leg to be played on Aug. 8th, and the return leg is slated for Aug. 23rd. Because Arsenal finished 4th in the table last year, this is the qualifying leg of the tournament, and they need to win this home and home to get into the group stages of the Champions' league. It should be a good tie, but Arsenal should come out of this unscathed (of course!). I see the away leg as a 0-1 to the Arsenal, and then a 2-0 return will see us through with 3-0 aggregate score line (combined score, away goals are the tiebreaker. If score is still tied after 90 minutes of the 2nd leg, 2-15 minute overtimes will be played, and a shootout will result if still tied after 120 minutes). And that's all I got...till tomorrow!

Aww, Split!

2006-08-04T23:47:00.000-04:00

Well, the Tigers dropped a heartbreaker yesterday, 2-1 to Tampa Bay, as Nate Robertson continues to have trouble getting run support from his teammates. We gave it a good effort, but 2 runs in the 8th were enough to see the Devil Rays through, and get a split in the 4 game series.

However, the Tigers were the ones erasing a deficit this evening, as we stole one from Cleveland, 7-6. Craig Monroe hit a game winning 2 run home run in the bottom of the 8th inning, and Todd Jones (I hate to say it, but he is actually becoming consistant....scary) picked up his 30th save of the season. I've always loved my Tigers, but everything is so much more fun when we're winning... (Best in baseball, best in baseball, best in baseball...)

In other news that I care about, the Wolverines have inked their first OL for the 2007 class, David Molk from Illinois. Well, I always thought we would get about 5 OL's for each recruiting class, so 1 down, 4 to go.

The Red Wings made another signing yesterday, signing former Griffin/Ottawa prospect Josh Langfeld to a contract. Langfeld is a physical forward, and could be a good candidate for a Grind Line-type position (4th line, high energy), although from what I'm hearing, he may be back in GR when the season starts.

Well, that's all I have...
(Best in baseball, best in baseball, best in baseball...)

Clevlen Rocks!

2006-08-03T20:32:00.000-04:00

I've been a bit busy in the last two days, so here's what I missed...

Brent Clevlen (Pronounced "Cleveland" - the d) hit his first two major league home runs of his career (amazing, since he was a .224 hitter in Double-A Erie), yet was overshadowed by Carlos Guillen (who hit for the cycle) in the Tiger's 10-4 win over Tampa Bay on Tuesday. Sean Casey, playing in his first game as a Tiger, hit his first home run for the club as well. Justin Verlander pitched a good game, and picked up his AL leading 13th Victory.

Wednesday night, it took a come from behind effort, but Magglio Ordonez' 2-run double, and the following 2 run home run from Craig Monroe saw the Tigers take care of the Devil Rays again, this time by the score of 8-3. Zach Miner pitched well again (after dueling sucessfully with Francisco Liriano of the Twins almost a week ago), and clutch hitting saw the Tigers inprove to 72-35, which is the best record in baseball. It seems that no matter what the situation is, the Tigers don't seem to have any doubt that they can still win the ball game. It doesn't always work out, but they always seem to make the game interesting, and I think that's what I like most about this season (ok, the "best record in baseball" is awesome as well).

In other news, Charles Rogers didn't get any reps in training camp today for the Lions. Boo Hoo. Obviously, this is what the new regime thinks of Rogers' attitude and hustling. He better stop crying and get with the playing hard, or he'll be out on his butt, and the world will keep spinning.

Till Tomorrow...

Hey Pittsburgh, look over there! YOINK

2006-07-31T19:47:00.000-04:00

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.