Leelanau Sports Guy's World (aka Northern Michigan Detroit Sports Blog) at sportspig.com

When it’s good to not have TV

Leelanau Sports Guy — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 02:56:15 +0000

When you see this on ESPN.com…

Not a good night to be a Michigan State fan. Down 10 or maybe even 15, I’d say they have a shot, but 30 down, Memphis isn’t going to miss that many free throws.

Just in case you missed this…

Leelanau Sports Guy — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:45:25 +0000

I missed it until reading about it in the Detroit News today. Check out this block by Detroit Pistons 3rd-year forward Jason Maxiell on the Charlotte Hornets Tyson Chandler…

A look at the challengers in the fight for the Eastern Conference

Leelanau Sports Guy — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:52:15 +0000

I (like many others) have penciled in the Celtics and the Pistons playing in the Eastern Conference Finals. Fox Sports Randy Hill analyzes the other contenders to see if any can stop this from happening.

He mentions Toronto and Washington, the current 5th and 6th seeds, but his main focus is on the current 3rd and 4th seeds…

The first development is the current 9-3 run by the Orlando Magic. Included in this extremely modest string of triumph is a victory over a winning team from the West (Denver) and a breakthrough at Detroit.

The second development is the uprising in Cleveland, where LeBron James and a few new playmates are sitting pretty with five victories in their last six games.

Read Can anyone stop Celts-Pistons collision course? at Fox Sports

Norsemen, Lakers and Comets to be part of “Challenge” next season

Leelanau Sports Guy — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:51:15 +0000

The Northwest Conference and Lake Michigan Conference have completed a 2-year contract to square off in next year’s Lake Michigan Conference/Northwest Conference Challenge. Both Boys and Girls teams will be matched up according to how they finished in the conference the previous season, so we will see some very exciting matchups, and some we don’t see very often. The Girls games are scheduled for December 6th and the Boys games for December 13th. The games will tip-off the 2008-09 seasons.

Here’s the Boys Matchups…

Charlevoix, which won the Lake Michigan boys championship and advanced to the Class C regional, will take on Northwest co-champion Benzie Central. The Frankfort Panthers, who also earned a share of the crown, will draw St. Francis, the runner-up in the Lake Michigan. Other match-ups include: Leland vs. East Jordan, Kingsley vs. Boyne City, Suttons Bay vs. Grayling, Glen Lake vs. Elk Rapids, Mesick vs. Kalkaska and Buckley vs. Harbor Springs. The boys games will be hosted by the Lake Michigan Conference schools.

And the Girls…

Since Charlevoix and Kingsley won the Lake Michigan and Northwest girls titles, respectively, they’ll meet in the marquee game. Frankfort, which tied Benzie Central for second in the Northwest, will face East Jordan, which was second in the Lake Michigan. Benzie will take on Boyne City, the third-place finisher in the Lake Michigan.

Other match-ups include: Glen Lake vs. Kalkaska, Suttons Bay vs. Harbor Springs, Buckley vs. Elk Rapids, Leland vs. St. Francis and Mesick vs. Grayling. The girls games will be hosted by the Northwest Conference schools.

Sounds like a whole lot of fun!

Read Basketball challenge set to tip off in the Record Eagle

Leland falls in Quarters

Leelanau Sports Guy — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:17:24 +0000

Muskegon West Michigan Christian was bigger, faster and stronger as they cruised to a 72-45 win over Leland in the Class D Quarterfinals at Traverse City West. After Leland started the game on a 9-0 run, it was all WMC after that as they advance to take on Cedarville in the Class D Semifinals at the Breslin Center. Marcus Whittaker led the way for the Comets with 22 points as they finished 21-5.

Read WMC swarms Leland in the Record Eagle
Read Warriors roll on to Breslin at MLive.com

Leland earns 48-46 win in Regional Final

Leelanau Sports Guy — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:28:25 +0000

Photo: Leland’s Eric Larsen (10) hits the game winning shot over Bellaire’s Riku Lempio with seconds left. Photo by Jan-Michael Stump of the Record-Eagle

Leland used two clutch plays from junior Eric Larsen to capture the Class D Regional title at Traverse City Central with a 48-46 win over Bellaire. The Eagles had knocked the Comets out of the tournament in the regionals last year and had won 4 of the last 5 regionals. Larsen intercepted a Bellaire pass with under a minute to give the Comets a 1-point lead and then later hit the game-winner with seconds left.

“This feels great,” Larsen said. “Bellaire beat us in the first round (of the regionals) last year so it feels nice to come back and beat them. Bellaire played a great game. I tip my hat to them.”

Leland (21-4) now advances to Tuesday night’s Quarterfinal at Traverse City West to face Muskegon West Michigan Christian.

Read Larsen lifts Leland to regional title at the Record Eagle

Detroit Sports Legends Online Photo Archive

Leelanau Sports Guy — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:33:29 +0000

The Detroit Free Press has organized some of their best photos of our favorite Detroit Sports Legends and Moments. Very cool! You can check out many photos including Justin Verlander’s No-Hitter, the Fab Five, the Best of Pistons-Bulls Rivalry, and even Joey Harrington (for lots of great sack photos!).

Visit freep.com/sportsphotos to check them out!

Above photo by the Detroit Free Press

Beach Bums pitcher Locke signed by Phillies

Leelanau Sports Guy — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 03:28:09 +0000

Traverse City Beach Bums pitcher Jared Locke has been signed by the Philadelphia Phillies. Locke joined the Beach Bums last summer and appeared in 21 games out of the bullpen and finished with a 1-1 record, a 3.42 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 23.2 innings. He also recorded 2 saves.

“We are very excited for Jared to have this opportunity,” said Jason Wuerfel, the Beach Bums’ Director of Baseball Operations. “He is a 6′6″ lefty, throws in the low 90s with great movement, and he is only 23 years old. The sky is the limit for Jared and I believe he will be successful anywhere the Phillies put him.”

Locke was originally signed out of college by the Texas Rangers.

Read Phillies sign Beach Bums lefty Jared Locke at TCBeachBums.com

This smells fishy to me…

Leelanau Sports Guy — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:36:28 +0000

I love The Onion and the made-up news stories, so it’s only fitting that I would love the fake sports stories as well. The editor from eTrueSports.com, sent me this little gem…

Read Sheffield Wins $5,000 A Month Sweepstakes Prize at eTrueSports.com

My View: Great stuff, very funny! I liked this one, too!

Nets get great deal, trade Kidd to Dallas

Leelanau Sports Guy — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 20:34:59 +0000

I usually keep the posts related to our great state of Michigan and this one is loosely, if I mention ex-Spartan Maurice Ager and ex-Piston Jerry Stackhouse were traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the New Jersey Nets for Jason Kidd. Ager and Stackhouse, along with Devin Harris, Devean George, Desagna Diop, $3 million, and TWO future 1st round draft picks now belong to the Nets. The Nets threw in Malik Allen for fun, but seriously this trade is very one-sided, and a big advantage to the Nets. Devin Harris is an up-and-coming star in this league and to get rid of the headache of Kidd (that’s not what I meant!) and get 4 players, cash and two 1st round picks, well, great job Rod Thorn!

Read Kidd traded to Dallas in latest blockbuster deal at Yahoo! Sports

UPDATE
Apparently Devean George has blocked the trade for the short-term. Jerry Stackhouse’s mouth might have blocked it for the long-term!

Read League to look at Stackhouse’s comments at Yahoo! Sports