Leelanau Sports Guy’s World

This past weekend was tied spent with family functions (church, brunch) and parties (class reunion) and kids (lots of playing, cleaning, diapers) so it wasn’t until Sunday night that I was able to figure out what the Lions, Tigers, Beach Bums, etc. had done. Needless to say I have lots of different feelings…

Nervousness
The White Sox swept the Tigers, made it look rather easy and now only trail by 5 1/2 games in the Central. The Tigers will get their chance at home vs. Chicago again next week, but they need to take at least 2 out of 3 in Boston to stop alot of naysayers from gaining momentum. I think they can and will do it. A strong start from Nate Robertson tonight will be the key to the series.

Excitement
Lions preseason football always brings out the worst in me. I start talking about how good they did this or that and then start getting excited for the regular season. I do like Marinelli and Martz and think they can turn the franchise around. I just don’t know if it will be this year or next. The schedule looks pretty tough to me. I think they will score some points, just not sure if they will stop anyone else from doing the same.

Sadness
As one of the readers of KA.com, I know I will miss the Detroit sports posts and all the non-sports stuff as well. Good luck Kevin in your Mile High endeavor! Here’s hoping you find some time for the occasional post…

Joy
The Beach Bums have turned it back around and have won 7 of their last 10 and moved into a virtual tie with Chilicothe for the East Division lead. I am happy because I have tickets to some upcoming games (Thanks Aunt Sue!) and hope to see some meaningful playoff-style baseball.

Happiness
Reading this post from Big Al!

I love my baseball cards. I don’t get a chance to pick up too many anymore, but I still have my old Tiger rookies and some of my favorites from over the years. Here’s a neat look down memory lane at some of ESPN’s page 2 columnists favorite baseball cards.

Read A pack of baseball memories at ESPN

My favorite card is pictured right, it’s my Alan Trammell rookie card. Tram is my favorite Tiger of all-time and the fact that its his rookie, but also Paul Molitor’s, makes this card real sweet.

Farlane pointed me to Jason Whitlock and his NFL Truths column. As I was reading the list, I was basically in agreement and just nodding along until I came to Number 5…

5. Joey Harrington is going to beat out Daunte Culpepper by midseason.

I’ve never been a Daunte fan. Never. I was irate when the Vikings drafted him just months after Jeff George had a great season. But it’s deeper than my allegiance to George.

Daunte is not a student of the game. He doesn’t read defenses. He’s going to get exposed in Miami because his mobility is gone and he’s going to be forced to stand in the pocket and make reads. It won’t be pretty.

Now I have always been a Joey supporter and think given the chance he can still be a solid NFL quarterback. But to beat out Daunte Culpepper? I don’t know about that. Although the Dolphins must have some Culpepper doubts to have wanted Joey as bad as they did. Maybe the Dolphins and Jason know more than we think…

Read Welcome back to the Truths at ESPN

I just got an invite an my email this morning to play the Detroit Lions Trivia Tower contest at CBS Sportsline at 3 PM.

I thought I would check it out and so I tried the British Open contest and got spanked in the 2nd round by the guy or gal with the all-time high score, Lrschill24. Good timing on my part. I was able to get 3 out of 10 questions right, but figure I should fair better in the Lions contest.

Come and see how you do, I will be there…

CBS Sportsline Trivia Tower

Update
Of course I got busy and then missed the start, so just watched a couple of questions in the consolation mode, man, I would have cleaned up!

Sweet! You just gotta love the name of this Red Wings hockey blog!

Read Michigan blog of the Week: Leelanau Sports Guy’s World at Abel to Yzerman

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

We had a great time as the Tigers finished off a sweep of the Cardinals with a 4-1 win. It was Kid’s Day so the nephews didn’t have much autograph luck, but they did get to run the bases afterwards. I didn’t though, the adults had to walk around the fence and meet the kid’s on the other side.

The game came down to one thing - pitching! Jeremy Bonderman was outstanding and Sidney Ponson was equally as good. It was a 1-1 duel until the eighth when the Tigers finally broke through on offense led by a Curtis Granderson double. Bonderman finished with 8 strikeouts and impressive back-to-back strikeouts of Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen in the 1st inning!

My favorite photo of the day!

The atmosphere was electric, the fans were pumped!

Brandon Inge made two great diving plays at third. On the first, he threw a guy out from his knees, and the second he robbed Pujols of extra bases and saved a run! He is fun to watch at third!

Joel Zumaya also had an impressive strikeout against Pujols, that was fun to watch. Todd Jones even managed to save the game.

All in all, it was a very fun day and it was fun to get back to the ballpark. I really think this Tigers team can contend and will be battling until the end. Never count them out!

Read Detroit 4, St. Louis 1 at Yahoo! Sports for a game recap.

Here’s some photos from the game, we sat behind the third base dugout (FREE tickets!) and the pictures are taken from my seat in section 122.

1st Place!

It was around 80° all game, luckily there was a nice little breeze.
The Sports Guy did get a little red!

Comerica was packed!

Bonderman pitched another great game!

Pudge played first and Polanco was at second.
It was Placido Bobblehead Day as well!

Pujols had a rough day, he was robbed of extra bases
by Inge and struck out against Bonderman and Zumaya.

Another crowd shot!

Curtis Granderson had another good day,
including the big hit in the eighth!

Pudge!

Maggs!

Zumaya “zooms” one in against Pujols!

GO TIGERS!

I didn’t see the video until this morning, and I was cracking up - ALOT!

Read Minor league manager loses cool, fined, suspended at ESPN.com [WITH VIDEO!]

Home field is becoming a big advantage to the Traverse City Beach Bums. The Beach Bums improved to 9-2 at home behind Shaun Parker’s 2-hit shutout as they defeated the Evansville Otters 6-0. Parker finished with 6 strikeouts and improved to 2-3 on the season.

Al Roach and Kevin White had two RBI’s each to lead the offense as the Beach Bums scored three first inning runs to help set the tone for the evening.

The Beach Bums improved to 16-9 overall and remain one game back in the East Division.

Read Bums Win behind Parker’s Two-Hitter at TCBeachBums.com

This was the first game we took the entire family and everyone had a blast. I hate to say it, but the kid’s play room might have been the biggest hit of the night!

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!

The Traverse Beach Bums defeated the Kalamazoo Kings 6-3 to even their record at 1-1 and earn their first ever franchise victory. We waited out a 47 minute rain delay, but it was well worth it as the nephews got to go on the field and play catch with the players after the game. They played catch with 3B Justin Meagher. It was part of the “Field of Dreams” promotional night which also included every kid getting a Beach Bums baseball glove.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional photographer!

Here’s some of my thoughts on the team, stadium and everything Beach Bums!

• Wuerfel Park is amazing! It’s a great place to watch a game, I came away very impressed. Lots of room and areas to explore in the ballpark. Not a bad seat in the house.
  

• Arrive early for great chances at autographs, we ended up with a bunch!
• Shaun Parker pitched tough. The lefthander earned the first ever win for the Beach Bums going six innings. His fastball was consistently in the high 80’s and touched 90 a couple of times. I look for him to have a big summer in TC.
  

• Mike Reese can just plain hit. His 2-run double down the left field line keyed the victory.
  

• Nathan Gravley also had a big night with two RBI singles to help the victory.
• Second baseman Stephen Young can play! He is solid defensively and gobbled everything up that came his way.
• Wuerfel Park is BIG! I don’t know how many homeruns will be hit there, but lots of runs should be scored.
  

• Hunter Davis threw two scoreless innings in relief and had the Kings baffled. His submarine style was fun to watch.
• Kids will love the mascots!
• The late inning rally!
  

• Food Report: Hot Dogs were good! Free Pop always tastes good (we carpooled and received free drink coupons) but the winner was the Mancino’s Cinnamon Ball Things with frosting, yum!
• Overall: Lots of fun and I can’t wait to go back. We kept thinking how great it was to have minor league baseball in Traverse City! Thanks Wuerfel Family!

Read Beach Bums earn franchise’s first victory in the Record Eagle

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!

I’ve been meaning to post about these for a while now, but better late than never. Any fan of the NBA will appreciate these…

Farlane’s NBA Comix

My two favorites so far are Ron Artest’s Choose Your Nightmare and Scott Skiles, Evil Overlord.

Born on April 19th, Mark was 8 pounds, 15 ounces and 22 inches tall.

Lots going on in the world of Detroit Sports and I hope to get back in on the posting action soon, just have to catch up all of my work first.

Oh yeah, the Wings are in trouble!