Not a good night to be a Michigan State fan. Down 10 or maybe even 15, I’d say they have a shot, but 30 down, Memphis isn’t going to miss that many free throws.
I missed it until reading about it in the Detroit News today. Check out this block by Detroit Pistons 3rd-year forward Jason Maxiell on the Charlotte Hornets Tyson Chandler…
I (like many others) have penciled in the Celtics and the Pistons playing in the Eastern Conference Finals. Fox Sports Randy Hill analyzes the other contenders to see if any can stop this from happening.
He mentions Toronto and Washington, the current 5th and 6th seeds, but his main focus is on the current 3rd and 4th seeds…
The first development is the current 9-3 run by the Orlando Magic. Included in this extremely modest string of triumph is a victory over a winning team from the West (Denver) and a breakthrough at Detroit.
The second development is the uprising in Cleveland, where LeBron James and a few new playmates are sitting pretty with five victories in their last six games.
The Northwest Conference and Lake Michigan Conference have completed a 2-year contract to square off in next year’s Lake Michigan Conference/Northwest Conference Challenge. Both Boys and Girls teams will be matched up according to how they finished in the conference the previous season, so we will see some very exciting matchups, and some we don’t see very often. The Girls games are scheduled for December 6th and the Boys games for December 13th. The games will tip-off the 2008-09 seasons.
Here’s the Boys Matchups…
Charlevoix, which won the Lake Michigan boys championship and advanced to the Class C regional, will take on Northwest co-champion Benzie Central. The Frankfort Panthers, who also earned a share of the crown, will draw St. Francis, the runner-up in the Lake Michigan. Other match-ups include: Leland vs. East Jordan, Kingsley vs. Boyne City, Suttons Bay vs. Grayling, Glen Lake vs. Elk Rapids, Mesick vs. Kalkaska and Buckley vs. Harbor Springs. The boys games will be hosted by the Lake Michigan Conference schools.
And the Girls…
Since Charlevoix and Kingsley won the Lake Michigan and Northwest girls titles, respectively, they’ll meet in the marquee game. Frankfort, which tied Benzie Central for second in the Northwest, will face East Jordan, which was second in the Lake Michigan. Benzie will take on Boyne City, the third-place finisher in the Lake Michigan.
Other match-ups include: Glen Lake vs. Kalkaska, Suttons Bay vs. Harbor Springs, Buckley vs. Elk Rapids, Leland vs. St. Francis and Mesick vs. Grayling. The girls games will be hosted by the Northwest Conference schools.
Muskegon West Michigan Christian was bigger, faster and stronger as they cruised to a 72-45 win over Leland in the Class D Quarterfinals at Traverse City West. After Leland started the game on a 9-0 run, it was all WMC after that as they advance to take on Cedarville in the Class D Semifinals at the Breslin Center. Marcus Whittaker led the way for the Comets with 22 points as they finished 21-5.
Photo: Leland’s Eric Larsen (10) hits the game winning shot over Bellaire’s Riku Lempio with seconds left. Photo by Jan-Michael Stump of the Record-Eagle
Leland used two clutch plays from junior Eric Larsen to capture the Class D Regional title at Traverse City Central with a 48-46 win over Bellaire. The Eagles had knocked the Comets out of the tournament in the regionals last year and had won 4 of the last 5 regionals. Larsen intercepted a Bellaire pass with under a minute to give the Comets a 1-point lead and then later hit the game-winner with seconds left.
“This feels great,” Larsen said. “Bellaire beat us in the first round (of the regionals) last year so it feels nice to come back and beat them. Bellaire played a great game. I tip my hat to them.”
Leland (21-4) now advances to Tuesday night’s Quarterfinal at Traverse City West to face Muskegon West Michigan Christian.
Traverse City Beach Bums pitcher Jared Locke has been signed by the Philadelphia Phillies. Locke joined the Beach Bums last summer and appeared in 21 games out of the bullpen and finished with a 1-1 record, a 3.42 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 23.2 innings. He also recorded 2 saves.
“We are very excited for Jared to have this opportunity,” said Jason Wuerfel, the Beach Bums’ Director of Baseball Operations. “He is a 6′6″ lefty, throws in the low 90s with great movement, and he is only 23 years old. The sky is the limit for Jared and I believe he will be successful anywhere the Phillies put him.”
Locke was originally signed out of college by the Texas Rangers.
I love The Onion and the made-up news stories, so it’s only fitting that I would love the fake sports stories as well. The editor from eTrueSports.com, sent me this little gem…
I usually keep the posts related to our great state of Michigan and this one is loosely, if I mention ex-Spartan Maurice Ager and ex-Piston Jerry Stackhouse were traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the New Jersey Nets for Jason Kidd. Ager and Stackhouse, along with Devin Harris, Devean George, Desagna Diop, $3 million, and TWO future 1st round draft picks now belong to the Nets. The Nets threw in Malik Allen for fun, but seriously this trade is very one-sided, and a big advantage to the Nets. Devin Harris is an up-and-coming star in this league and to get rid of the headache of Kidd (that’s not what I meant!) and get 4 players, cash and two 1st round picks, well, great job Rod Thorn!
Keith Langlois sat down with Joe Dumars recently and they covered lots of topics…
…a wide-ranging interview that touched on the All-Star selection of Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton, the state of the Pistons just past the season’s halfway point and the outlook for the season ahead as the playoffs approach.
The Traverse City Beach Bums have agreed to home and home exhibition games versus the Gary RailCats, champions of the Northern League in 2005 and 2007. The Beach Bums will travel to Gary, Indiana on Tuesday, May 13th for a 3:00 PM exhibition game at the U.S. Steel Yard. The RailCats will make the trip to Traverse City in 2009.
“This is a great opportunity and challenge for our 2008 team,” said Jason Wuerfel, the Beach Bums’ Director of Baseball Operations. “Gary has set the standard for good baseball in the Northern League and it will be a great test for our players and evaluation tool for our coaching staff.”
Former Beach Bum Mike Reese is on the RailCats roster. For more information on the RailCats and their very nice stadium, the U.S. Steel Yard, go to www.railcatsbaseball.com.
ESPN.com is reporting that Mike Martz has been fired by the Detroit Lions and that Jim Colleto will be promoted to offensive coordinator and Kippy Brown promoted to assistant head coach and passing game coordinator. None of this means a whole lot if the Lions don’t improve the offensive line or find a way for the defense to actually defend, but it is news.
After reading a couple of articles previewing this game, I had a feeling this might happen. The Detroit Pistons used the depth of their starting lineup to halt the Boston Celtics home winning streak with a 87-85 win. Chauncey Billups led the Pistons with 28 points including 12 in the 4th quarter. The Celtics are talented but beyond the Big 3, they are young and Billups made them pay with his strong finish. It’s only December, so I’m not going to get too excited, but the Pistons are deeper and match up particularly well against the Celtics.
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