Who won? The Tigers, again, since sweeping the A's in the ALCS.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Back to Oakland
The Tigers are back in town for the first time since sweeping the A's in the ALCS. This was also my first game back in the Coliseum since the Tigers were in town since sweeping the A's in the ALCS. 4 rows behind the Tigers dugout. How cool is that. NIce thing about Oakland being the bastard stepchild to the Giants across the bay is that tickets are much cheaper and easier to get. I love being the visiting team's fan - somehow it's even more fun than seeing them in Comerica Park.
Who won? The Tigers, again, since sweeping the A's in the ALCS.
Who won? The Tigers, again, since sweeping the A's in the ALCS.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Debbie Downer
This thing is 6 minutes long but stick with it. Funny. I saw this when it originally aired and have been hoping to see it in a rerun again. Decided to take the reins myself and was glad to see it on youtube. Funny. Funny.
Tigers over Mets
The only bet I haven't made this year (thankfully) was the Pistons over Cavs. I have a co-worker from Ohio who may have liked to take that action, but for some reason I just didn't pull the trigger. My co-worker from New York, however, did take the Tigers - Mets action. Who won? He'll tell you below.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Don't make bets you don't want to lose
As everyone, I'm sure already knows in Detroit, the city arguably rules the sports world right now. As of today, during the month of May the Pistons are 3-0, the Red Wings 3-0 and the Tigers 8-1. This coming one month after a national championship in hockey for MSU. Wow.
Below, whom none of you know, is a co-worker of mine who is a legitimate Sharks fan (I say legitimate because unlike most other Sharks fans, he actually knows a thing or two about the game). We made a bet and thankfully I did not lose, otherwise he would be sending out a picture of me with that ugly teal jersey. Go Wings, Pistons and Tigers!
Below, whom none of you know, is a co-worker of mine who is a legitimate Sharks fan (I say legitimate because unlike most other Sharks fans, he actually knows a thing or two about the game). We made a bet and thankfully I did not lose, otherwise he would be sending out a picture of me with that ugly teal jersey. Go Wings, Pistons and Tigers!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Why?
What is it with fatherhood that makes one so much more self reflective? Is it the domesticated lifestyle? No more late bar nights, Taco Bell at 3AM, then home with a nightcap watching highlight reels on Sportscenter til 4? Number 1 priority is no longer yourself? Or "ourselves" in the case of DINKs?
I used to watch school and workplace massacres (and how sad is it to even have to say that sentence) as a curious "bystander". Typically, I've been somewhat (but honestly, not overwhelmingly) affected by these incidents. Until Jeremy came along.
I've watched the inexplicable Virginia Tech massacre with a completely new eye and a very sad heart. My first thought when I heard about this lunatic was to leave work, pick up Jeremy from Rainbow Montessori, give him a big hug and make sure he never leaves my sight again until he marries. And then I thought - what's going to happen at a place with "rainbow" in the title? And then I thought that's what dozens of Amish folks thought in a community that barely interacts with the modern world.
I held my breath when the shooter was identified as Asian. I breathed a sigh of relief when I found out he wasn't Filipino or Chinese. I thought again as to "why does it matter which Asian descent he was"? Apparently, I wasn't the only one with these thoughts. The leader of South Korea has pleaded with our nation to not stereotype this behavior. Is this easy to do? Answer should be quick and simple. Yes it's easy to do, idiot! It's obvious that all of South Korean's aren't mass murderers, stupid!
Been on a plane lately with a Muslim wearing a turbine? I have. The question above is not so easy to answer.
Life seemed so much easier when the only wories were how much trans fat a Chalupa has and did MSU rise in the pre-season poll and A-rod is incredible but why do I still hate him and....and....
Of course, in that life, I don't have a 2 year old boy waiting for me at the end of the day not knowing and not caring what happened this morning. Only caring that dad is here to go home to mom and a loving family all around him. I'll take this life.
The new world of self reflection.
As Monk says, it's a gift.
And a curse.
I used to watch school and workplace massacres (and how sad is it to even have to say that sentence) as a curious "bystander". Typically, I've been somewhat (but honestly, not overwhelmingly) affected by these incidents. Until Jeremy came along.
I've watched the inexplicable Virginia Tech massacre with a completely new eye and a very sad heart. My first thought when I heard about this lunatic was to leave work, pick up Jeremy from Rainbow Montessori, give him a big hug and make sure he never leaves my sight again until he marries. And then I thought - what's going to happen at a place with "rainbow" in the title? And then I thought that's what dozens of Amish folks thought in a community that barely interacts with the modern world.
I held my breath when the shooter was identified as Asian. I breathed a sigh of relief when I found out he wasn't Filipino or Chinese. I thought again as to "why does it matter which Asian descent he was"? Apparently, I wasn't the only one with these thoughts. The leader of South Korea has pleaded with our nation to not stereotype this behavior. Is this easy to do? Answer should be quick and simple. Yes it's easy to do, idiot! It's obvious that all of South Korean's aren't mass murderers, stupid!
Been on a plane lately with a Muslim wearing a turbine? I have. The question above is not so easy to answer.
Life seemed so much easier when the only wories were how much trans fat a Chalupa has and did MSU rise in the pre-season poll and A-rod is incredible but why do I still hate him and....and....
Of course, in that life, I don't have a 2 year old boy waiting for me at the end of the day not knowing and not caring what happened this morning. Only caring that dad is here to go home to mom and a loving family all around him. I'll take this life.
The new world of self reflection.
As Monk says, it's a gift.
And a curse.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Good day in sports
Not a bad day's work today, eh? Tigers FINALLY pulled even to .500 - does anyone realize that this is the first time they've been at .500 or under since 2005? I'm hoping it only lasts 4 games.
The Wings, in typical fashion, have clinched the Western Conference - and damn they should have! An Original 6 team losing the conference to a hockey team based in Nashville should be embarrassed.
And although the Pistons have been struggling lately, they will win the Eastern Conference (again). You'll see. This season is very reminscent of the 2004 season when the Eastern Conference was supposed to be far inferior to the Western Conference. And guess who won that title?!?
But of course the big win today - Michigan State! Always nearest and dearest to my heart (until DeLaSalle wins a state football title that is). National Champs. So it's just hockey, but it still feels pretty cool. Especially when they were the "worst" team of the field. Yeah, choke on it Notre Dame, Maine and BC!! Much like the local San Jose Sharks - "there's always next year". Ha!
One other thing I saw and heard today I am in awe of. A-Rod, as you've seen if you've caught Sports Center for even only 6 seconds today, hit a walk off grand slam. I foung out today, that's the 3rd walk off grand slam of his career. Holy crap. He sure is an awesome regular season player!
The Wings, in typical fashion, have clinched the Western Conference - and damn they should have! An Original 6 team losing the conference to a hockey team based in Nashville should be embarrassed.
And although the Pistons have been struggling lately, they will win the Eastern Conference (again). You'll see. This season is very reminscent of the 2004 season when the Eastern Conference was supposed to be far inferior to the Western Conference. And guess who won that title?!?
But of course the big win today - Michigan State! Always nearest and dearest to my heart (until DeLaSalle wins a state football title that is). National Champs. So it's just hockey, but it still feels pretty cool. Especially when they were the "worst" team of the field. Yeah, choke on it Notre Dame, Maine and BC!! Much like the local San Jose Sharks - "there's always next year". Ha!
One other thing I saw and heard today I am in awe of. A-Rod, as you've seen if you've caught Sports Center for even only 6 seconds today, hit a walk off grand slam. I foung out today, that's the 3rd walk off grand slam of his career. Holy crap. He sure is an awesome regular season player!
Friday, April 06, 2007
National Championship game!
OK. So it's not basketball. And it's definitely not football. And a football title seems to be light years away (maybe basketball again soon? - especially since Florida just lost everyone to the NBA and I'm damn sure Greg Oden is going pro). I'll take what I can (hopefully) get. Like the use of my parenthetical phrases?
MSU is in the national championship hockey game vs. Boston College tomorrow! That's pretty cool regardless of what anybody says about college hockey (although I said the same thing about the women's basketball team when they were in the title game 2 years ago). Also said the same thing when MSU beat Emory for the debate national title years back. What do you expect? I'm a Spartan at heart. Go Green!
MSU is in the national championship hockey game vs. Boston College tomorrow! That's pretty cool regardless of what anybody says about college hockey (although I said the same thing about the women's basketball team when they were in the title game 2 years ago). Also said the same thing when MSU beat Emory for the debate national title years back. What do you expect? I'm a Spartan at heart. Go Green!
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Friday, November 03, 2006
Good sports year
Coming closer to the end of the year. And for sports fans, the World Series really is the end of the year. No more championships to be decided until next year (at least none that matter). There may be a NASCAR race or tennis thing going on (that's how much I know about that stuff) but who really cares? Stanley Cup, Lombardi trophy, NBA trophy (whatever that's called), 2 NCAA titles and the World Series. That's all there is. And with the Tigers ending both an exciting and disappointing season, it's time to focus back on the Wings and Pistons (forget the Lions and MSU). Let's hope best records in the league (for both of those teams) isn't the ultimate goal. As soon as Jeremy is old enough to be truly interested in sports, I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't let him be a 49ers, Raiders, A's, Giants, Sharks or Warriors fan (I'll let him be a Stanford or Cal fan since he'll be going to an in-state school). I'm going to have to get a dish to get Fox Sports Detroit when that happens I guess. The problems of fatherhood....
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
So close
A friend of mine, who's an across the board Detroit fan just like me, sent me an attachment yesterday which made me laugh and cry at the same time. Thought I'd post his attachment on this blog. Why did I cry? What could have been......attendance (possibly) to Game 7 in Detroit. Why did I laugh? Justin Verlander's throw to 3rd base. Fernando Rodney's throw to first base. Some other pitcher's throw to 3rd base. Another pitcher's throw to anywhere. Disappointing.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Poll
If anybody's out there reading this blog, help me out. Poll: What's your coolest sports event? Mine:
5. Last ever game in Olympia Stadium. I was a child (maybe 11 or 12?) circa 1980. Don't even remember who the Wings were playing. I do, however, remember that in the 3rd period, the Wings were losing by like 2 goals and my brother decided he had seen enough and started to take Sean and I home. As we were walking through the stadium, we heard an enormous roar from the crowd. It was obvious they scored, but they were still a goal down so we kept on walking. Must have been seconds later, we heard the same roar and the boys had tied it. This time we stopped at an aisle and watched the game from the top of the aisle. Homeboys scored AGAIN and I jumped so high with my arms in the air that I ended up accidentally punching my brother in the nose. Excellent memory!
4. Early November 1987, MSU beats Indiana to clinch the Rose Bowl. I rushed the field after the game. I was a freshman at the time thinking this was going to be a great 4 years. Little did I know it would be the last Rose Bowl appearance in 20 years and now I'm pushing 40 years of age!!.
3. March 2000: MSU B-ball vs. Iowa State at the Palace in the Elite eight. A win takes them to the Final Four. Behind by 7 with less than 6 minutes left, an alley oop play to Mo Pete changes the game completely. Unlike the football team, MSU goes on to win the NCAA title.
2. June 1998: Red Wings - Capitals Game 2 Stanley Cup Finals. Wings down 3-1 in the second period. Bla, bla, bla 3rd period Wings down 4-2. Wings end up coming back down from 2 goals TWICE to win in OT 5-4 on a Kris Draper goal.
1. October 2002: Not even a Michigan related sports event. Not even a win for the time I was rooting for! San Francisco Giants at Anaheim Angels in Game 6 of the World Series in Orange County. Giants up 3-2 when Barry Bonds was fun to watch. This was the clincher. Anaheim had the thunderstix and the rally monkey. They end up winning that game in the late innings and going on to win the World Series.
Why is this the number 1 coolest event? Because it's the World Series.
5. Last ever game in Olympia Stadium. I was a child (maybe 11 or 12?) circa 1980. Don't even remember who the Wings were playing. I do, however, remember that in the 3rd period, the Wings were losing by like 2 goals and my brother decided he had seen enough and started to take Sean and I home. As we were walking through the stadium, we heard an enormous roar from the crowd. It was obvious they scored, but they were still a goal down so we kept on walking. Must have been seconds later, we heard the same roar and the boys had tied it. This time we stopped at an aisle and watched the game from the top of the aisle. Homeboys scored AGAIN and I jumped so high with my arms in the air that I ended up accidentally punching my brother in the nose. Excellent memory!
4. Early November 1987, MSU beats Indiana to clinch the Rose Bowl. I rushed the field after the game. I was a freshman at the time thinking this was going to be a great 4 years. Little did I know it would be the last Rose Bowl appearance in 20 years and now I'm pushing 40 years of age!!.
3. March 2000: MSU B-ball vs. Iowa State at the Palace in the Elite eight. A win takes them to the Final Four. Behind by 7 with less than 6 minutes left, an alley oop play to Mo Pete changes the game completely. Unlike the football team, MSU goes on to win the NCAA title.
2. June 1998: Red Wings - Capitals Game 2 Stanley Cup Finals. Wings down 3-1 in the second period. Bla, bla, bla 3rd period Wings down 4-2. Wings end up coming back down from 2 goals TWICE to win in OT 5-4 on a Kris Draper goal.
1. October 2002: Not even a Michigan related sports event. Not even a win for the time I was rooting for! San Francisco Giants at Anaheim Angels in Game 6 of the World Series in Orange County. Giants up 3-2 when Barry Bonds was fun to watch. This was the clincher. Anaheim had the thunderstix and the rally monkey. They end up winning that game in the late innings and going on to win the World Series.
Why is this the number 1 coolest event? Because it's the World Series.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Going up to Oaktown
Scored 3 seats to ALCS game two on Wednesday! Dan, Andrew and I (all Michiganders) have field level seats down the 1st base line. If this thing goes past 4 games, planning on hitting Game 6 or 7 as well. Look for pics after the game. Justin Verlander starting this one.
PS - MSU sucks.
PS - MSU sucks.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Bless you boys
A former high school classmate of mine, Steve "Scoop" Karageanes, once gave me some advice when I was struggling in Mrs. Grangers' AP English class. He said I would write better papers if I wrote about subject matter I cared about, as opposed for instance, the history of flight (which was in fact one of my term papers). I took this advice into my MBA program where I was required to write about the fudiciary responsibility a corporation has to its stockholders. Quite a bore right? Know how I wrote mine? It so happened at the time, the Red Wings were in their first cup year (of our generation) and I made an analogy to the ticket price of playoff games to a stock price. As the product of Detroit Red Wings corporation kept improving, the ticket (stock) price rose. The stockholders felt a tremendous value in the product and the corporation invested more in the product (this was the year they signed Brendan Shanahan). Much more interesting than the current HP scandal, eh?
So what?
So nothing really. I often like writing just for the sake of writing so I started yet ANOTHER blog near and dear to my heart. My family is my biggest joy, and therefore the main blog. I've got a blog for mom. I've got a blog for wine. This one is for everything else (and probably mainly sports) but not always. That's why I've called this random thoughts. I was thinking about calling it 'Deep Thoughts' by Jack Handey, but my guess is only a few people would get that. I'm hoping to make this much more interactive. Leave comments. Start a discussion. I'll give you a topic. No big woop.
First topic - THE DETROIT TIGERS. They just made a $175 million dollar payroll look like a bunch of junior varsities. 19 long years for starved baseball fans. Michiganders have actually been spoiled since the last baseball title. 3 NBA titles. 3 Stanley Cups. 1 NCAA football title (albeit SHARED). 2 NCAA basketball titles (for you MSU fans, yes I am including UM accomplishments here - of course you probably figured that out when you saw 1 NCAA football title). 1 (maybe even 2?) WNBA titles (but who cares, right?). Throw in a Rose Bowl or two and a few Final Four appearances and it hasn't been a bad couple of decades.
So why does this one feel so different? Why do we like these guys better than the Bad Boys? Why is Pudge a better captain than Mateen? Why do we think Kenny Rogers shows more swagger than Chris Webber? Because it's baseball. Pure and simple. The boys of summer. America's pastime. Hot dogs. Applie pie. Chevrolet. And what better way to do it than beat the friggin' New York Yankees! America's team. They're laughing in Boston. I'll venture to say that Texas and Seattle fans are smug about Alex. As for me - well I'd believe this group beating the Yankees would have as much chance as adding Rasheed Wallace would allow the 'stons to beat the Phil-Kobe-Shaq-Mailman-Payton-and what the hell Magic-Jordan-Bird and whatever other big name you can think of Lakers. But as the native Michigander, Derek Jeter says: "That's why you play the game".
So Bless You Boys because We Are Family. Another One Bites the Dust and now The Final Countdown begins. Thanks to Alan, Kirk and Lance for trying. Kudos to Higginson for the stamina to endure what is likely the most frustrating career in all of sports. On to Oakland.
Let's go to work Detroit.
So what?
So nothing really. I often like writing just for the sake of writing so I started yet ANOTHER blog near and dear to my heart. My family is my biggest joy, and therefore the main blog. I've got a blog for mom. I've got a blog for wine. This one is for everything else (and probably mainly sports) but not always. That's why I've called this random thoughts. I was thinking about calling it 'Deep Thoughts' by Jack Handey, but my guess is only a few people would get that. I'm hoping to make this much more interactive. Leave comments. Start a discussion. I'll give you a topic. No big woop.
First topic - THE DETROIT TIGERS. They just made a $175 million dollar payroll look like a bunch of junior varsities. 19 long years for starved baseball fans. Michiganders have actually been spoiled since the last baseball title. 3 NBA titles. 3 Stanley Cups. 1 NCAA football title (albeit SHARED). 2 NCAA basketball titles (for you MSU fans, yes I am including UM accomplishments here - of course you probably figured that out when you saw 1 NCAA football title). 1 (maybe even 2?) WNBA titles (but who cares, right?). Throw in a Rose Bowl or two and a few Final Four appearances and it hasn't been a bad couple of decades.
So why does this one feel so different? Why do we like these guys better than the Bad Boys? Why is Pudge a better captain than Mateen? Why do we think Kenny Rogers shows more swagger than Chris Webber? Because it's baseball. Pure and simple. The boys of summer. America's pastime. Hot dogs. Applie pie. Chevrolet. And what better way to do it than beat the friggin' New York Yankees! America's team. They're laughing in Boston. I'll venture to say that Texas and Seattle fans are smug about Alex. As for me - well I'd believe this group beating the Yankees would have as much chance as adding Rasheed Wallace would allow the 'stons to beat the Phil-Kobe-Shaq-Mailman-Payton-and what the hell Magic-Jordan-Bird and whatever other big name you can think of Lakers. But as the native Michigander, Derek Jeter says: "That's why you play the game".
So Bless You Boys because We Are Family. Another One Bites the Dust and now The Final Countdown begins. Thanks to Alan, Kirk and Lance for trying. Kudos to Higginson for the stamina to endure what is likely the most frustrating career in all of sports. On to Oakland.
Let's go to work Detroit.
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