Well, it happened, I ran out of time to put together a good post on the above mentioned subjects, so I went ahead and found some good bloggers and articles about them. Of course I will always leave my little comments!

The Captain retires
We all knew this day was coming and of course it’s a very sad day for Red Wings fans. The greatest Red Wing ever (I’m a child of the seventies) was fun to watch play and lead by his example. There would be no Hockeytown without Stevie Y.

Read Yzerman’s Backloaded Career Almost Happened In Ottawa at Out of Bounds

Big Ben signs with Bulls
I was 50/50 on whether I wanted him back or not, so it wasn’t a big surprise or a big letdown. I liked that Dumars wasn’t going to go overboard to keep him and thought he made a more than fair offer. I think Big Ben’s best days are behind him, so a 4-year deal was more than I wanted to see anyway. I will cheer him when he’s not playing the Pistons. Thanks for the memories Big Ben!

Read Big Ben’s gone, off to Chicago at Sweaty Men Endeavors

Another good article on both…

Read Double whammy in the Detroit News

Tigers still in 1st
Although listening to the “experts” on the radio, not many are giving them a chance to be in 1st at season’s end. It’s going to come down to the starting rotation if that can happen or not. I still believe it can. Regardless of what happens I think this season can be considered a success and a big building block for the future.

Read Tigers hope pitching rotation holds up during second half at MLive

Beach Bums win again!
So far the Traverse City Beach Bums are a perfect 3-0 when I am in attendance. Last night I honestly didn’t get to pay much attention to the 9-0 win as I was busy chasing a 3 year old and a 22 month old around in the lawn seats. The lawn by the way is a great place to watch from. The 4th of July fireworks were spectacular as well!

Read Casoli twirls third straight shutout in 9-0 Beach Bums win at TCBeachBums.com

Yahoo! Sports Dan Wetzel breaks down the winners and losers of last nights NBA Draft. It’s easy to pick the biggest loser, Isiah Thomas, but lots of winners from the draft as well.

I just love this…

The NBA draft is Christmas in June for Detroit Lions president Matt Millen, the day that Isiah Thomas reaffirms to everyone that it is he, and not Millen, who is the worst executive in professional sports. Called a “bum” by one Knicks fan in the crowd, Train Wreck Thomas used the 20th pick on an undersized forward out of South Carolina who never averaged double-figure points or rebounds, exasperating even the mild-mannered Bilas and prompting him to rip Isiah to shreds.

Hilarious!

Read Winners and losers in the Yahoo! Sports

Pistons Draft Update
The Pistons drafted point guard Will Blalock out of Iowa State with the 60th and final pick in the draft, and traded small forward Maurice Evans to the Lakers for 7-foot-1 center Cheick Samb from Senegal. Samb was the 51st pick.

Read Pistons grab Iowa St. point guard Blalock in the Freep

My View: Blalock could be a very solid player for the Pistons off the bench. He’s a natural point guard and might allow Chauncey some minutes at shooting guard. Samb is very tall, and very skinny, but is worth a shot after Evans disappointing season.

Michigan State Draft Update
All three Spartans were drafted and two made it in the first round. Shannon Brown was the 25th overall pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Maurice Ager the 28th overall pick to the Dallas Mavericks. Paul Davis went in the second round with the 34th overall pick to the L.A. Clippers.

Read Waiting game in the Freep

My View: Brown joins Lebron in Cleveland and that will make for a very exciting lineup when both are on the floor. Ager goes to a title contender that needs more shooters. Davis was disappointed by going in the second round, but I think he should consider himself lucky to be drafted at all. The Clippers should be a good fit and he should be able to get some minutes there, provided he makes the final roster.

Sorry it’s been slow around here, but haven’t had much of a chance to get to the blog. Here’s my thoughts on the latest from the world of sports…

Tigers continue winning streak
The bats are alive again, and combine that with the continued success of the starting pitching means another winning streak for our Tigers! I can’t even imagine how lame Detroit sports would be right now without the Tigers leading the majors. Getting anxious for my first trip to Comerica in a couple of years on Sunday to see the Tigers and Cardinals go at it. You know things are going well when rotation fill-ins (rookie Zach Miner) throw five-hitters.

Wings looking at Luongo?
Rumor has it that as early as this weekend Florida Panthers goalie Robert Luongo could be traded. The Wings, Vancouver and Los Angeles are the frontrunners. This would be a great deal for Detroit and would give them a star goalie they didn’t have last year.

NBA Champion Miami Heat, argh!
I will admit I was cheering for Dallas, which could explain why they lost, so it hurt when the Miami Heat finished them off with four consecutive wins last night to claim the NBA Title. Dwayne Wade, all I can say is “that guy is good!” I am laughing though at people comparing him to Jordan though. Jordan never had a 7′ 2″ center to help him drive to the basket and create space. I am guessing that without Shaq, the Heat wouldn’t have won the title. End of story.

I really think this Marinelli guy is going to be good
The attitude and the attention to detail he is demanding is exactly what the Lions franchise needed. I am still a little nervous about the quarterback position, but it can’t get any worse, so I guess that’s a positive.

My busy week continues as tonight is a trip to Wuerfel Park to see the Beach Bums tangle with the Evansville Otters!

Although the shooting percentage of everyone not named Antonio McDyess or Tayshaun Prince was still low(I mean very bad), the Pistons were able to stay alive after winning game 5, 91-78 and sending the series back to Miami. We should have come to expect that our Pistons would show up and win, they always do when their backs are against the wall.

Everyone is talking about the block as the big play of the evening and it would be hard to argue. Must find a TV to watch game 6! Go Pistons!

Read It’s not over! in the Detroit News

Sure we’ve been here before. Elimination game. Everyone writing them off. We’ve doubted them before and they have proven us wrong, do they have it in them to win three in a row against the Heat? My gut tells me no, but these still are the Pistons we are talking about. I think. They don’t resemble the team I am used to seeing, but they still are in there somewhere, hopefully ready to break out!

I don’t have a lot of time to analyze the game, plus I didn’t see it, so here’s the breakdown from my favorite bloggers…

Read The Pistons are broken. The question is, are they fixable? at The Wayne Fontes Experience

Read Is It Too Early? at KevinAntcliff.com

Read Tired? Bored? Pissed? Take your pick. at Luke Waltons Forehead

Read Daddy’s home, and he’s not happy at Sweaty Men Endeavors

I feel bad for ever doubting them now. We should have known they would comeback. All I want to say is - “Thanks Lindsey Hunter!”

Read Hunter, A Piston When It Wasn’t Chic, Provides Much-Needed Energy In Game 7 at Out of Bounds

Read HEAT’S ON! Pistons kick Cavs to curb, set sights on Shaq, Miami in the Detroit News

Ian at Sweaty Men Endeavors has an interesting post about the “scales of Sports Justice” and how maybe the Tigers are partially to blame for the Pistons being in trouble.

Read Detroit vs. The Gods of Sports Justice at Sweaty Men Endeavors

Here’s more on our Pistons troubles from the usual gang of suspects…

Read What the crap was that? at Luke Waltons Forehead

Read We have an elimination game. But it’s not the team we expected that’s on the brink at the Wayne Fontes Experience

Read Um … Yeah. at KevinAntcliff.com

Read WWLHA: What Would Larry Have Allowed? at Out of Bounds

Read NBA Comix Presents: Got Game? at Farlane.Blog

Seriously, after the season the Wings had and the one Pistons are still having (barely) who thought we might have to rely on the Tigers in mid-May?

First the Red Wings get knocked out in the first round. Now the Pistons can’t seem to stop Lebron and the Cavs. At least the Tigers continue to lead the AL Central (tied with the White Sox) and have now won their 6th straight.

As I was listening to the game last night, I could sense that they just weren’t going to be able to do it. They were never able to get even a 1 point lead late and Cleveland was able to hang on. The worst part was that the Cavs were giving the Pistons plenty of chances to grab the lead. Turnovers, missed free throws, bad decisions (yeah I’m talking about Detroit) proved too much for the Pistons to overcome. For every good play Chauncey made down the stretch, he made a bad one to cancel it. Big Ben had a couple of free throw attempts that could have given the Pistons the lead, but missed both.

The two bright spots in my opinion were Tayshaun and McDyess. Dice finally gave the Pistons something off the bench in this series which now shifts back to Cleveland for game 6. I still have confidence in the Pistons because of how good they looked in the first two games, but they need to find that level of play again.

Can ESPN be in anymore love with Lebron? It just makes me sick. Although they seem to be showing some love for the Tigers as well.

Here’s a neat little clip of the Top 10 Dunks of the 2005-06 NBA season!

Detroit Pistons blog Need4Sheed got a real nice writeup in the Detroit Free Press. If you are a Pistons fan check it out and congrats Natalie!

Read Her need is for ‘Sheed in the Freep

I am sure she loves the fact that Sheed guaranteed on Sunday that the Pistons will win game 4!

Plus another blog I frequent Detroit Bad Boys got a mention as well!

Ben Wallace has won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award for the fourth time in five seasons. It should have been five straight years. Seriously.

This season Wallace helped anchor the defense as the Pistons cruised to the best record in the NBA. Wallace finished fourth in rebounding, ninth in blocked shots and 10th in steals.

Read Secretary of defense in the Freep
Read Dumars: Re-signing Ben is top priority in the Detroit News

It must be rough being an NBA Superstar…

“In the next 15-to-20 years, I hope I’ll be the richest man in the world,” Lebron James said. “That’s one of my goals. I want to be a billionaire. I want to get to a position where generation on generation don’t have to worry about nothing. I don’t want family members from my kids to my son’s kids to ever have to worry. And I can’t do that now just playing basketball.”

Umm Lebron, yes you can!

Farlane pointed me to this article that pretty much sums up teams chances against the Pistons. Not Good.

Whatever style opponents want to play or adjustments they make during the games, the Pistons will just find another way to beat you. It’s a good read…

Read Going against Pistons an exercise in futility in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Kevin Antcliff posted his final regular season awards for the NBA season and I have to say I agree with them all. And that’s not easy with his MVP pick, but it sure is hard to argue…

Read KA.com’s NBA Awards at KevinAntcliff.com

And a hilarious nickname for Chris Shelton via Deadspin…

Read Hey! You Guys! at Deadspin

Obvioiusly it’s a no-brainer, but still, is any team sitting prettier than the Pistons right now? The answer is a big, loud, NO!

Check out Steve Kerr’s final rankings below…

Read The final analysis at Yahoo! Sports

For the Pistons and Red Wings playoffs are all that matter. Sure the regular season records are nice and you want to do well, but for both teams it’s all about championships. Mark Urban of the Record Eagle takes a look at both teams heading into the playoffs after both clinching their respective league best records.

Read The proof is in playoffs for Wings, Pistons in the Record Eagle

Not alot of time today but I had to post about our 3-0 Tigers! 7 Homeruns! Awesome. The Tigers topped the Rangers 10-6, how’s that for run support Nate?

Other notable Detroit sports news…

Pistons crush the Heat. I just don’t see how they are going to matchup with the Pistons in the playoffs. Wade and Shaq aren’t enough to beat the Detroit “team” in a seven game series.

The 2006 Lions Schedule is out, and it’s pretty tough. I hope Rod has the boys ready because Seattle will be here for Game 1 and a trip to Chicago looms for Game 2.

That’s it, gotta get back to work…