Leelanau Sports Guy’s World

Suttons Bay’s soccer run ended with a 2-1 loss to North Muskegon in the Division IV semifinals. Jesse Wright scored the lone goal on an assist from Mike Morrison. Suttons Bay finished with an 18-4-1 record in coach Thomas Singer’s first season. Congrats on a fine season Norsemen!

Read Sets sink Suttons Bay in the Record Eagle

Dan Wetzel is back with his 2005-06 college basketball preview. Day 1 gets ready to launch tomorrow as he previews Michigan State. Ride along with Dan as he visits Indiana, Louisville, Kentucky, West Virginia, Bucknell, Villanova, Connecticut, Texas Tech, and the Coaches vs. Cancer games.

Read On the road again at Yahoo! Sports

MSU is getting plenty of recognition after it’s run to the Final Four last season. In this poll, written by Scout.com’s Frank Burlison, they are rated behind only Duke and Connecticut. Frank says, “In a season in which Duke and Connecticut seem superior to the rest of the field, we’ll give the Spartans the nod at the moment as the ‘best of the rest.’“. A big key for the Spartans will be sophomore Drew Neitzel. If he can improve and keep his turnovers down this high-powered offense will be tough to stop. The depth at point guard is young and inexperienced, so Neitzel must stay healthy.

Paul Davis earned a preseason 2nd team All-American selection and Maurice Ager was a just miss. Davis is going to have a huge year, provided he plays like he did in the NCAA tourney. If he does the Spartans can be as good as anyone and will have a chance at coach Tom Izzo’s second NCAA title.

Read Unveiling our preseason Top 25 rankings at Fox Sports
Read Duke, UConn fill out All-America teams at Fox Sports

A preview of the game between Norsemen squads, Suttons Bay and North Muskegon. North Muskegon is ranked #11 and has a 19-4-2 record, while Suttons Bay comes in ranked #12 and 18-3-1. North Muskegon also eliminated the defending champion Muskegon West Michigan Christian in district play. The game is being played at Muskegon West Michigan Christian at 6 PM today.

Read Battle of Norsemen all set in Division 4 in the Record Eagle

Saw this over at Beyond Boxcores. ESPN has the Tigers at #18 and calls them a team to “keep your eye on”. Let’s hope they are right! They have the Indians at #1, White Sox at #2, Twins at #14, and Royals last at #30.

Read Early projection: Indians No. 1 in ‘06 at ESPN

Everyone’s talking about it. “What to do next?” “Where do we go from here?” All I know is it’s not the playoffs, that’s for sure. The remaining schedule is brutal and the Lions offense is, well offensive. Our top draft pick receivers aren’t contributing. The offensive line isn’t protecting. The quarterbacks don’t have time to look downfield, and when they are they aren’t finding open receivers. This mess is more than one player here or there is going to fix. The whole organization needs an attitude adjustment. This ship is sinking and very fast. They should beat Arizona on Sunday, but that might be it for a while. Games with Dallas, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Cincy make up the bulk of the remaining schedule and I can honestly say I don’t think the Lions will win any of those. They have to go to Green Bay and have a home visit with Minnesota. So that leaves this Sunday and their game at New Orleans as the two most winnable games. My best guess is they will finish with another 5-11 season. If that happens, here’s what the Lions need to do.

1. Fire Mooch. I like him, but he obviously isn’t going to cut it here. His offense is boring and doesn’t fit the personnel anyway.

2. Try to Hire Charlie Weis. I know Notre Dame just gave him a huge extension, but that’s not going to stop him from going to the NFL at some point. Sure he probably won’t leave after one season, but talk to him anyway and make him an offer that would be very hard to refuse.

3. Draft Leinart. Again whatever it takes to trade up and get him, although we will probably have a great shot at the top pick anyway. He is a winner and a future leader the likes of what the Lions need.

4. Draft offensive lineman. Lots of ‘em! Kevin Jones needs holes and Leinart is going to need time.

5. Cut Charles Rogers lose. As much as I hate to say it, it’s time. He is a bust and will never contribute in a Lions uniform. Unless he makes a huge improvement in his attitude I see no reason to keep him around.

That’s my two cents.

Chad Cooper, broadcaster for the Evansville Otters the last three seasons, has joined the staff of the Traverse City Beach Bums. He was the 2005 Frontier League Broadcaster of the Year, and has six years of professional sports broadcasting experience.

Read Traverse City Beach Bums hire broadcaster at OurSportsCentral.com

Alex Dingrando scored the only goal in the second half as Suttons Bay defeated Big Rapids Crossroads Academy 1-0 to claim the school’s first ever boys soccer regional title. They will now face North Muskegon in the state semifinals on Wednesday, November 9th at 6 PM. The other half of the semifinal features Allen Park Inter-City Baptist vs. Royal Oak Shrine.

Read One goal enough for Norse in the Record Eagle
View Soccer Results at MHSAA.com

Former Traverse City West hoops star Bryan Tibaldi has earned a spot on the Michigan State men’s basketball team. After starting out his career at U of M, he has found his way back to Michigan as a Spartan. Read about his struggles and battles with injury as he continues his basketball career. MSU coach Tom Izzo is putting together a team of players just like him, scrappy, never-quit attitude, and hustlers. Alot of those players are being found up here in northern Michigan!

Read Tibaldi’s journey takes him to MSU in the Record Eagle

The Pistons offense was in mid-season form as Rip Hamilton scored 37 points in leading the Pistons to a 108-88 win over Philadelphia. The Pistons shot 56% as a team, as Tayshaun Prince scored 16 and Chauncey Billups added 10 points and 10 assists. Every Pistons who played scored as the Pistons gave Flip Saunders a win in his Pistons coaching debut. Ben Wallace grabbed 10 boards. Allen Iverson led the Sixers with 31 points.

Darko Watch: 9 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 fouls, 1 block, and 1 steal.

Read Detroit 108, Philadelphia 88: Rip roaring in the Freep

It’s always fun to see someone from “Up North” do well in post-high school sports. The latest star from northern Michigan is Brandon Darnton, a junior at Michigan State, who earned a spot on Michigan State men’s basketball team. Darnton is one of 16 players on the Spartans roster. The article below talks about his journey through two years of walk-on tryouts and his never quit attitude.

Read Harbor grad makes Spartan basketball team in Harbor Light

In what could turn out to be the biggest thing to hit golf since, well Michelle Wie, the PGA Tour is announcing a playoff format that would culminate with the FedEx Cup at the end of the golf season. I love golf, but don’t pay that much attention to it, but a big playoff points chase and one winner declared at the end of the golf season would definitely add some excitement to the long season. Look what it’s done for NASCAR, arguably the sport with the most dedicated fan base around. Sorry NFL fans, I know also are devoted to your teams.

Read PGA Tour to redefine its season at Yahoo! Sports

Suttons Bay gave up an early goal, but bounced back behind 3 goals from junior Alex Dingrando, to earn a 5-1 victory over Big Bay de Noc to earn the school’s first ever regional soccer win. The Norsemen outshot the Black Bears 30-2. Suttons Bay now advances to Friday’s regional final against the winner of Harbor Light Christian and Big Rapids Crossroads Academy.

Read Suttons Bay earns first regional victory in the Record Eagle

The Free Press has their annual Pistons/NBA Preview online and in their print copy today. Lots of great stuff here, as we get ready for a new season of Pistons Basketball. Lots of familiar faces, all five starters return, but a new coach and a deep, improved bench should add some punch to the Pistons. Like I posted yesterday, alot of people aren’t giving them a chance to win it all, but I like their chances to recapture the NBA title.

These are my three favorite articles in the preview…

Read Mitch Albom: The Flip side in the Freep
Read Meet the 2005-06 Pistons in the Freep
Read For Pistons, reality arrives in opener in the Freep

In what has become a common preseason occurence, the Pistons aren’t being given much of a chance to win the NBA Title, Eastern Conference, or even the Central Division. Which suits them exactly fine. The Pistons strive off of hard work, defense and a balanced offense, all which should continue to gel under new head coach Flip Saunders. The Pistons will use a deep bench to help the starters stay fresh, something former coach Larry Brown didn’t like to do. Look for Carlos Arroyo, Carlos Delfino and Darko Milicic to contribute this year and provide big minutes for this team. Newcomer Maurice Evans was a steal as a restricted free agent from Sacramento. I think Detroit is better than last season, which isn’t good news for the rest of the NBA.

Read Pistons glad for low expectations from others at MLive.com
Read 2005-06 predictions at Yahoo! Sports
Read NBA 2005-06 at ESPN