Leelanau Sports Guy at sportspig.com

Some links and thoughts on some recent Michigan/Detroit sports news…

Frankfort’s Banktson named Miss Basketball
I love it when an athlete from a Class D school gets recognized, especially when they are from northern Michigan!

Read Brenna Banktson: 2006 Miss Basketball at Absolute Michigan

Dantonio to take over reins in East Lansing
I love this hire! He’s a no-nonsense coach, exactly what the Spartans need. He’s got a great coaching pedigree and should be able to recruit some better talent then MSU has signed the last couple of seasons. It might take him 2-3 years, but I have no doubt he is the right man for this job!

Read MSU hires Mark Dantonio as new football coach at Absolute Michigan

Lions will always stink
I don’t have TV, so I usually am disappointed by the Lions listening on the radio, but with Thanksgiving Football a big part of holiday tradition, I got to see some of the game at the mother-in-law’s house. Let’s just say it’s what I expected to happen. I did think Joey would have a great game, and I thought the Lions would get beat pretty bad, especially without Kevin Jones, but come on already! Do we have to endure this every year? When I looked at the 2006 schedule I didn’t think they would only have 2 wins at this point that’s for sure. Although I don’t remember how many I predicted, but I am sure my final record guess was 8-8.

Read Have the Lions hit rock bottom? at The Wayne Fontes Experience

If one of the greatest players in the history of the NFL has something to say, it might be worth reading. In this case it definitely is. Former Cleveland Browns star Jim Brown shares his opinions on the current state of the NFL and some of his ideas for making it better.

Read Q&A with Jim Brown at Yahoo! Sports

Despite everything else Brown is known for, I will always remember him as “Fireball” in The Running Man!

I know you’ve all been driving yourself crazy waiting for it, well here it is, the 2006 Detroit Independent Baseball Scribes (DIBS) Awards…

Guillen Named DIBS Player of the Year
Rogers and Verlander also garner hardware

Detroit, Mich. — The Detroit Independent Baseball Scribes announced Tuesday (Nov. 28) the winners of the 2006 DIBS Awards. Shortstop Carlos Guillen was named the DIBS Player of the Year as voted on by DIBS members. Pitcher Kenny Rogers earned pitcher of the year honors with fellow starter Justin Verlander being recognized for his breakout season. In addition to the three regular season award winners, DIBS named Rogers its Postseason Performer.

Guillen earned the top honors after hitting .320 with 41 doubles while cracking the century mark in runs. The Tiger shortstop earned 13 first place votes and two second place votes.

Rogers posted a 17-8 record with a paltry 3.84 ERA, but that was the least of his contributions. His ability to teach and work with the young pitching staff proved equally as valuable to the Tigers run to a Wild Card. Rogers put an exclamation point on his season with three postseason wins, all shutouts while striking out 19 batters in 23.0 innings.

Verlander went 17-9 and a 3.63 ERA in his rookie campaign, tying Rogers for team lead in wins. He finished seventh in the American League in wins and ERA while earning Major League Baseball’s nod as Rookie of the Year.

Staff from 14 Tiger fan sites participated in the second annual award voting. Last year’s winners included Placido Polanco (Player), Jeremy Bonderman(Pitcher) and Chris Shelton (Breakout).

DIBS (Detroit Independent Baseball Scribes) are a collection of independent websites that cover the Detroit Tigers. Formed by Brian Borawski, Bill Ferris and Ryan Sosin in 2005 with the idea of uniting a community of fans and writers, DIBS is focused on improving and promoting the quality sports coverage taking place on the internet.

Player of the Year (FP votes)
1. Carlos Gullen (14) – My Vote!
2. Magglio Ordonez (0)
3. Kenny Rogers (1)

Pitcher of the Year (FP votes)
1. Kenny Rogers (9)
2. Justin Verlander (6) – My Vote!
3. Joel Zumaya (1)

Breakout Player of the Year (FP votes)
1. Justin Verlander (9) – My Vote!
2. Joel Zumaya (5)
3. Curtis Granderson (2)

Postseason Performer (FP votes)
1. Kenny Rogers (11) – My Vote!
2. Carlos Guillen (0)
3. Sean Casey (1)

View a list of current DIBS members!

The Traverse City Beach Bums Baseball Academy is set to host two Northern Michigan Baseball Showcases at Wuerfel Park on Friday, June 22nd, 2007 and Saturday, June 23rd, 2007.

Here’s what the showcases are all about…

The Showcases will be an opportunity for the best high school baseball players in all of Northern Michigan to get in front of college coaches and professional scouts, who will be invited to the event from throughout the Midwest.

For more information Academy or Showcases, contact Director Jason Wuerfel at jason@tcbeachbums.com.

Read Northern Michigan Showcases Announced at the Beach Bums Academy’s Official Website

My thoughts and prayers go out to Bo and his family. He is one of the All-Time greats!

Read Reaction to former Michigan coach Bo Schembechler’s death at Yahoo! Sports

The Tigers have signed Sean Casey! Great move in my opinion. A solid .300 hitter who plays great ‘D’ at first base.

And no surprise here, Jim Leyland named AL Manager of the Year. This was a no-brainer. He brought winning baseball back to the Motor City and more importantly brought a city and state with him for the ride. I don’t know if I have ever seen more people excited about a single team then the 2006 Detroit Tigers!

Leland tops Northport, Eagles fall to Sabres
Erica Breen scored 21 points to lead Leland to a 55-30 win over Northport in the Class D District Semifinals at T.C. Christian. Christian eliminated Lake Leelanau St. Mary 68-33 to advance to the District Final. Sarah Schaub led the Eagles with 15 points.

The District Final is set for Thursday (11/16) at T.C. Christian. Tipoff is set for 7:00 PM.

Read Sabres, Comets advance to district final in the Record Eagle

Norsemen top Lakers to advance

From the Leelanau News Blog…

Glen Lake & Suttons Bay squared off in Class C action at Kalkaska Monday night, and the Lady Norseman emerged with a 46-32 victory. They will face Fife Lake-Forest Area tonight (Wednesday, Nov 15) at 8 PM in Kalkaska with the final Friday night at 7.

Read Kingsley topples Blazers in the Record Eagle
Read Girls Basketball District Tournaments in the Leelanau News Blog

When you have nothing to say, just post links to others who do…

Verlander wins AL Rookie of the Year
Not a big shocker here. He earned it and deserved it. I can’t wait for spring training to start after the successful season the Tigers had. Adding Sheffield makes it even harder to wait. It’s World Series or bust for Motown in 2007!

Read Tigers’ Verlander, Marlins’ Ramirez are top rookies at ESPN.com

Gerry Ahern states his case for a UM/OSU rematch in January
I have to say, I agree with him on all of it except the outcome of the big game! Seriously I think Michigan is going to win!

Read The Point After: Let’s play two at Yahoo! Sports

Here’s a neat bracket to determine the best Wolverine/Buckeye team of All-Time (My pick: 1968 Buckeyes)

Lions lose to 49ers
Is this some kind of sick joke? Nope, it’s just our beloved Lions giving away another game.

Read Lions drop back down to earth after last week’s win at the Freep

The Rest
I’ll be honest, I haven’t paid any attention to the Pistons yet, some to the Wings, and too much to the Spartans.

Norm the Detroit Insider just emailed me 20 minutes ago…

Sheffield for Humberto Sanchez and two pitching prospects. Tigers extend his contract.

Read Tigers deal three pitchers to Yankees for Sheffield at ESPN

My View: WOW! I thought this might be possible, just didn’t think it would happen. The Tigers basically are trading Sanchez straight up for Sheffield at the moment. You never know what the other two prospects Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett will do, but for now they are at AA and A. This will be a steal for the Tigers and it gives them the big bat they need in the middle of their lineup. Sheffield hits for average and power, drives in runs, and doesn’t strike out alot. Just what the doctor ordered!

As always with the Tigers big free agent signings lately, health, will be an issue. Before last season’s injuries, Sheffield had played in 154 games each of the previous two seasons. 140 games would be great.

Now we just have to wait and see which pitcher they end up with? Barry Zito perhaps?

The staff at Absolute Michigan has done all the work, I just have to link to it!

Absolute Michigan has put together tons of info on the big game including articles, links, photos and videos to help get everyone ready for the battle of #1 versus #2 in Columbus on November 18th (provided both teams can win tomorrow!).

Great stuff on the history of the rivalry, Woody vs. Bo, punt returns, the Dead Schembechlers, and much, much more!

Check it out, you’ll be happy you did.

Read University of Michigan Wolverines vs. Ohio State Buckeyes at Absolute Michigan

Graphic designed by Absolute Michigan

Boys Football: A preview of Suttons Bay’s matchup with Calumet
Mark Urban of the Record Eagle breaks down the matchup in the Division VI Regional Final between Suttons Bay and Calumet. Kickoff is set for 9pm on Friday at the Superior Dome in Marquette.

Read Defensive test for Norse in the Record Eagle

Boys Soccer: Suttons Bay’s Darling, Northport’s Brown named first team All-State
Suttons Bay defensemen Ben Darling and Nortport forward Cody Brown were named to the Division IV All-State first team in boys soccer. Leland’s Eric Larsen, and Suttons Bay’s Alex Dingrando earned third team honors. Honorable mention went to Leland’s Brad Dunklow, Northport’s Ryan Blessing, and Suttons Bay’s Jesse Wright, Kent Eikey and Matt Ness.

Congrats to all!

Read Townsend is the tops in the Record Eagle

I know, I know, it was only one game. Atlanta might be a bit overrated, some have said. The Lions always do this, I have read in numerous places. Still, there is something different about this Lions team and what they have been able to do under the leadership of Rod Marinelli.

I think Marinelli is a good coach, period. He stresses fundamentals and expects high levels of energy, in games and practice. I love what he says, and I love what the Lions did to Atlanta. They dominated.

Sure they won’t win every week, and might not even finish close to .500, but I think the building blocks are there for the Lions to turn into a playoff team, and shock the NFL along the way!

Here’s why Rod will succeed in Detroit…

“My thing was today, watch this film, accept the criticism of the film, how do you improve off of the film (and) let it go,” he said. “We’ve got to become a team; a franchise that’s consistent and expects to win. We’ve got to learn to accept (a win), not celebrate for two weeks. Just move on (and) learn from it. We’ve got a tremendous football game coming up this week. We’ve got to keep improving – it’s about us improving.”

He’s no nonsense, which is different from Matt Millen’s no sense. Despite Millen still having control of players, etc. I think Rod can get it done and take the Lions back to the playoffs!*

*Not predicting playoffs for this season, but next year the Lions will make the trip to the postseason!

Read Consistency Remains the Key at DetroitLions.com

PS: What a play by Roy! (RealPlayer)

The accolades keep coming in for Suttons Bay golfers. After helping the Norsemen capture the Division IV state golf title, senior Nate Kelly earned first team honors. Junior David Tropf and sophomore Charlie Olson were named honorable mentionn and coach Todd Hursey was named Division IV coach of the year.

Read Five area players earn All-State honors in the Record Eagle

Some very happy news about our beloved Detroit Tigers as Dave Dombrowski is going to stick around for a while…

Read Dombrowski agrees to lead Tigers through 2011 at FOXSports.com

Plenty of time to bring us some more World Series appearances. Love to see Illitch keep opening up the checkbook to keep this franchise at the top!

Just got this from Norm the Detroit Insider…

Press conference @1:30 in East Lansing to announce firing of John L. Smith. Just broke on WDFN.

Update at 12:55 pm
It’s not much more, but here’s the ESPN article…

Read Mich. St. news conference to discuss coach situation at ESPN

Update at 1:40 pm
John L. is saying bye, but not until after this season…

Read Michigan State coach Smith resigning after season at ESPN

My View: No surprise here. Everyone saw this coming. John L.’s biggest problem in my opinion was never being able to land the top-flight recruits. I always remember reading that players they were recruiting were always listing schools like Buffalo, Ball State, Idaho, Purdue, etc. instead of recruiting guys who the “big boys” wanted. Although hey do have a bunch of the top 30 prepsters from 2007 coming in (according to Rivals.com), they just didn’t seem to me to be bringing in legitimate Division I/Big Ten caliber players.

Granted, injuries haven’t helped, but stuff the coach can control and teach, like committing stupid penalties, was never really fixed in Smith’s tenure.

I will miss his crazy quotes, but MSU needs to ante up for a big-time coaching prospect, but I have a feeling the next coach might be Mooch.