Leelanau Sports Guy’s World at sportspig.com

to be a sports fan. Here’s a list of the highlights:

Pistons even series with Celtics
Chauncey Billups looked like himself and the rest of the Pistons fell into their normal roles and it all added up to a 103-97 win over Boston to even the Eastern Conference Finals at 1 game each. The best part for me was that Boston’s “Big 3″ had great games, but no one else stepped up. The Pistons balance and depth showed it’s strengths and it was too much for the Celtics role players to handle.

Tigers sweep Mariners
It’s not exactly sweeping Boston or the Chisox, but it’s a start. Good pitching and clutch hitting with runners in scoring position has been a rare sight this year, so I’ll take it!

Marinelli likes his team
Killer Kowalski has this story about Lions head coach Rod Marinelli and his improvements to the roster. One word he uses alot is “speed”.

Beach Bums improve to 2-0
Yours truly was in attendance and we saw a great pitching performance by Ryan Gehring as the Traverse City Beach Bums defeated the Midwest Sliders 4-2. It was cold, but alot of fun. I highly recommend a “Bum Burger” – delicious!

The Traverse City Beach Bums begin year 2 of the Jon Cahill era tonight as they host the Midwest Sliders at Wuerfel Park at 7:05 pm. Here’s a quick look from the Record Eagle at what Cahill learned in his first year at the helm. Yours truly will be in attendance for Game 2, so expect a full report on Friday!

Read Bums kick off season tonight in the Record Eagle

After losses in Games 4 & 5, the Detroit Red Wings started fast and cruised to a 4-1 win over the Dallas Stars to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals versus Pittsburgh Penguins. Game 1 is Saturday at Joe Louis Arena. Of all the people to step it up for the Wings tonight, it was Dallas Drake who led the way with a goal and an assist. He’s taken his share of hits from the fans and media all year, but tonight he was the one delivering them.

Read Red Wings headed back to Stanley Cup finals at Yahoo! Sports

My Pick: Wings win the Cup in 5 games!

Yahoo! Sports Dan Wetzel writes about the Pistons impressive run and the man responsible for it.

Read Pistons’ brightest star might be their GM at Yahoo! Sports

The Traverse City Beach Bums split a pair of exhibition games in Gary, Indiana yesterday as they ready for their May 21st season opener. The Beach Bums lost to the Gary Railcats 6-4 and defeated Windy City 3-2. Jared Locke picked up the win.

Read Beach Bums split exhibitions in the Record Eagle

No Chauncey Billups. No problem. Rip Hamilton (31 points) and Rodney Stuckey (15 points, 6 assists) helped the Pistons earn another trip to the Eastern Conference Finals with a 91-86 victory over Orlando. The Pistons won the series 4-1 and now await the winner of Boston and Cleveland, who are currently tied at 2-2 in their semifinal. it’s Detroit’s 6th straight trip to the Eastern Conference Final.

The Pistons couldn’t be sitting much prettier right now, besides the Billups injury that is. Rip has found his rhythm and Stuckey has shown how much he’s learned this year and played perhaps his best game as a pro in the series clincher. I like the Pistons chances against either team for the Eastern Title add to that a healthy and rested Billups and the Pistons backcourt will be a tough matchup.

Read Hamilton-led Pistons eliminate Magic in Game 5 at Yahoo! Sports

The family and the day job has taken up all of my time as of late, but I plan on posting regularly (or at least as regular as I ever post) soon. That doesn’t mean I haven’t paid any attention to the ups and downs of our trusty Detroit teams…

Detroit Pistons
That was a big win in Game 4 without Chauncey Billups, and I thought it had basically clinched the series, then Orlando point guard Jameer Nelson went and guaranteed a victory. I believe that will wrap it up as all of us know only one person does guarantees around here! Now about the MVP of Game 4, Antonio McDyess, I’ll let Greg Eno tell you about that!

Detroit Red Wings
Chris Osgood and Johan Franzen have been the two great stories of this year’s playoffs, and it’s been fun so far for the Wings. It looks like Pavel Datsyuk is trying to join the party with a hat trick to lead the Wings to a 5-2 win in Game 3 and a 3-0 series lead. I’ve been listening to the Wings when I can (remember no TV here!) and I have to say I am more and more impressed with Mike Babcock every game. The guy is a terrific coach and gets everything he can out of everyone on the roster.

Detroit Tigers
Ugly. That’s the word we’ve used to describe the Tigers play after most of their games this season. It hasn’t been pretty, but it is showing signs of turning around. Luckily for the Tigers everyone else in the A.L. Central has been almost as inconsistent as them, so they are right in the thick of things. If Justin Verlander and the rest of the starters can figure out how to make it through 6 innings anytime soon, then the Tigers will be in great shape. The offense is picking up and some players (like Gary Sheffield) are finally swinging the bats better. It’s still going to be a fun summer at Comerica!

Detroit Lions
Nothing too exciting about the draft and that’s probably one of the best things for the Lions. They drafted Rod Marinelli-type guys and should be faster and hopefully tougher next season. A more dangerous than it looks schedule doesn’t do them any favors, but I do an improvement on the 7-9 record of a year ago. Will it be enough to make the playoffs? In the NFC you just never know.

Well that’s it for now, I’ll be bringing you Traverse City Beach Bums updates as they begin their 3rd summer in TC. I was just told my Aunt will have her company tickets in hand this week, so I’m looking forward to picking out my games. I hope to make the All-Star Game and skills challenge, I think that will be fun!