DY

Its nice to see Dmitri Young back swinging a good bat again and seemingly with his career back on track for the Nationals. For awhile he was one of the best things the Tigers had going and valuable to the community until all the incidents from last year.
Anyway Tim Kurkjian had a good story about him on ESPN.com

Its too bad he won't be a National long because I'm sure a contending team could use him around the time of the trade deadline next month.

Here is part of Kurkijian's article

Tigers manager Jim Leyland sought out Dmitri Young recently, shook his hand and congratulated him on the way he was playing and, more important, the way he was living his life. It was Leyland's Tigers who released Young last year. It was not something Leyland wanted to do, but he told Young last week, "It was the best thing that's ever happened to you."

Leyland was right.

"Jim told me there were issues that I had to deal with," Young said. "Now I'm having the time of my life. Believe me, I know, after what I've been through on and off the field."

In straightening out his life, Young has resurrected his baseball career that began with such promise 11 years ago in St. Louis. He is hitting .338 -- third-best in the National League -- with seven home runs and 36 RBIs, batting in the middle of the order for the Washington Nationals. Since May 17, he has hit .431, the best batting average in baseball in that time. He has a chance to make the All-Star team. And, chances are, around the trading deadline, contending teams will want a veteran switch-hitter who can really hit.

Read the rest of the article here

Small World

Today I spent part of the day in Ann Arbor to go to my cousin's graduation party. My cousin just graduated from Ann Arbor Community High and is continuing his football career at Western Michigan in the fall.

At his party in addition to most of my family being there, I ran into Melissa Gordon, a girl I know from college. Melissa lived above me my senior year in the Village. When she wasn't busy with golf practice she sometimes would come down and hang out and we'd play Donkey Konga. Plus she was also a part of the First Year Mentor Program with me.

It was good to run into her and see the family.



The family




The cousins




Melissa and I

Stadium tunes

In my mind one of the best things about attending a sporting event is the music you hear when there is a break in the action. If I wasn't a journalist, I definitely think being a stadium DJ would be one of the coolest jobs to have.

It seems like it could also get you in trouble based on the PA announcer. Well only if your that PA announcer from that minor league team that was ejected from the game for playing the sound byte of Bob Uecker saying "Personally I think we got hosed on that call"

Here are some links to the story about the announcer being thrown out and then having to serve as a third base umpire as punishment.
Las Vegas Sun
Reno Gazette-Journal

Despite that the job would still definitely be cool. And that kind of inspired me to take note of different players songs I've heard at my adventures to sporting events.

Going to baseball games is seemingly the best place for the tunes, since every hitter from the home team has their own song that plays when they walk up to the plate or come in to pitch. Here is entrance music for players from the Tigers



Curtis Granderson - Ain't Nothing but a G Thang (Snoop Dogg/Dr. Dre) / 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted (2Pac) / Dre Day (Dr. Dre)
Placido Polanco - Lamento Boliviano (Amarfis y La Banda de Atake)
Gary Sheffield - This is Why I'm Hot (Mims) / We fly High (Jim Jones) / Lets Ride (Game)
Magglio Ordonez - Out of all the starters, I have no clue what his song is
Carlos Guillen - U Don't Know Me (TI)
Pudge Rodriguez - Latino Heat (Eddie Guerrero)
Sean Casey - Even Flow (Pearl Jam)
Craig Monroe - Break em Off (Paul Wall/Lil Keke) / You Ain't Know (Birdman/Lil Wayne)
Brandon Inge - Coming Undone (Korn)
Omar Infante - Alegria (Merengue)
Marcus Thames - Walk It Out (DJ Unk) / Shoulder Lean (Young Dro)
Fernando Rodney - Ven Bailalo (Kriz y Angel)
Joel Zumaya - Voodoo chile (Jimi Hendrix)

Songs heard at The Palace for the Pistons in addition to the trademark Dee-troit basketball include:
Tayshaun Prince - My name is Prince (prince)
Chauncey Billups - Big Shot (Elton John)
Rip Hamilton - yes sirrr clip

Other Pistons audio clips

Eat em up

A cool link I came across in my web searches. This site profiles the guy who started the "Eat 'em up Tigers" chant around the Comerica Park area.

http://www.eatemupdetroit.com/

Halfway there

How bout the Pistons.
After looking shaky for a second straight game, they found a way to pull out another win to take a 2-0 series lead over the Cavaliers. Two more victories to go to reach the NBA Finals.

And how about the finish to the game. An amazing shot by Sheed off the baseline and great defense by Rip on LeBron. And no it definitely wasn't a foul. Even if it might have been, Cleveland can't say that cost them the game because Larry Hughes had a wide open short shot that he missed following that. The Cavs had their chances but the Pistons were able to get it done. Now lets hope for at least a split at the Q.



Ooooooo ee o Magglio
I don't know what has gotten into Magglio but I'm loving his production this season. He has been nothing short of amazing and is producing like he did in his days on the South side of Chicago. From 1999-2003, Ordonez hit 29 or more home runs, drove in at least 99 runs and hit better than .300 every year for the White Sox. His best season came in 2002 when he batted .320 and had 47 doubles, 38 home runs and 135 RBIs.





This season he has been tearing it up and is leading the American League in RBIs (45), runs (42) and doubles (23). He is hitting .361 and is on pace to drive in 161 runs. I wish I had him on my fantasy baseball team. Hopefully he can keep this production up for the entire season.



Michigan is No. 1

And what is up with Michigan being the state with the highest gas price. Michigan has an average of 3.53 which is just higher than Illinois (3.52) and even more than California (3.43) and Hawaii (3.40). Shouldn't Michigan get a break with the gas prices considering we are the automobile capital (well used to be).

Flip's poster dunk

Despite the Pistons losing and being unable to complete the sweep of the Bulls, Flip Murray's dunk on Kirk Hinrich had to be the best play of the day.





Hope the Pistons can close them out tomorrow at home and reach the Eastern Conference finals again

what a shot!!

The unbelievable shot Rasheed Wallace made to help the Pistons force overtime and then beat the Nuggets.





Nothing short of amazing and I've loved seeing this play over and over again on all the highlight shows today.

When do NIT tickets go on sale?

After seeing Michigan falter down the stretch and Obio State steal a victory from the Wolverines on Saturday I'm bound to wonder when can I get my NIT tickets. It appears that is where Michigan basketball will once again be headed for ANOTHER year which is another negative. The only positive about the situation is a chance to attend a game since I'm sure Michigan will have a least two home games - barring they win. The only way it seems if the Wolverines can reach the Big Dance is if they win the Big Ten Tournament this weekend.

###

The other day I was watching tv and saw my former college neighbor Brian Bixler playing on ESPN. I remember living next to him and a few other baseball players my sophomore year at Eastern and now he appears to be making his way up the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system. He had a good game against the Braves last Friday, hitting a home run and reaching base a couple other times.

A historic Super Bowl

Over the past few days, so much has been made about this years Super Bowl matchup between the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts. Besides Peyton Manning finally reaching the big game attention has been brought because of the coaches.

Chicago coach Lovie Smith and Indy coach and Jackson native Tony Dungy became the first two African-American coaches to reach the Super Bowl. I'm impressed with the duo making history and being a part of what is being called the "All-Black Super Bowl" I think its great for football and also believe it will open more doors for deserving coaches that aren't your stereotypical football coach.

Smith and Dungy have both experienced a tremendous amount of success with their coaching careers. Dungy helped turnaround the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and has won four division titles in his six seasons with Indy. Smith has won back-to-back NFC North division titles with the Bears and helped them have the best record in the NFC. Other black coaches have had success in the NFL, like Marvin Lewis, Dennis Green and Art Shell.

While the race of the coaches in the Super Bowl has drawn most of the attention, it would be kind of nice if it wasn't necessarily a big deal that they were black coaches and that the focus was more on their accomplishments and teams. In other sports whenever a coach that is non-white makes the championship series/game it isn't a big deal at all and that shows football has a ways to go still when it comes to dealing with race.

For now though I'm impressed with the job Smith and Dungy have done and think they are both class acts and are nothing but great for the NFL.

Damn Delfino

Freakin Carlos Delfino had to ruin it for the Pistons last night. I was at the edge of my seat in the final seconds at the game is Chauncey Billups hit a big shot to make the game close. The Pistons ended up tying in the game and the contest was poised to go into overtime when Delfino fouled Darrell Armstong with less than three seconds left in the game. Armstrong missed the first free throw but made the second as the Pacers got the win.

That was probably the first time I've been to the Palace when the Pistons have lost. It was still a great game though and the Pistons should have won - they were up by 15 in the first half but let things slip away. Besides the Pistons losing the other bad thing about the game was that Billups was hurt and looks like he could miss some time

Before the game my sister danced on the court with her dance troupe so i got to see that. I also had a good time at the game with Sarah, Nat, my sister's boyfriend and her brother. It was kinda hard b/c my sister's man is a Pacers fan but it was all good.

At the game I did get a Nazr Mohammed bobblehead which was the giveaway that night. I also got a Pistons fleece blanket.

A trip to the zoo

Pics from a trip to Toledo to see the lights before Christmas

new game

Other than today being a typical Tuesday meaning that i want to Frickers for 25 cent wings with sarah and sean, i also hooped at Siena for a couple of hours and purchased a new video game that should keep me occupied throughout the winter months

i got the new College Hoops 2k7 and so far it seems pretty cool. It is the first game that I've ever purchased that actually has Eastern Michigan's real fight song in it. The game seems to have pinned their talent level well as i can't make a basket for the life of me. Tonight i started to update some of the rosters with the actual name of players and then began a dynasty which i will play with Michigan and EMU.

For anyone looking for a college hoops game I definitely recommend it.

gobble, gobble

last night i bowled my first turkey in eons and was one pin away from getting a fourth straight strike. regardless it was a pretty decent way to end the night bowling and helped me beat lance and JJ. I bowled a strike in the ninth and w/ my first two roles in the 10th and then finished the game by hitting nine pins. the night started out shitty as i rolled 100 my first two games before getting a 120 in the third game.

After bowling with the fellas I played a few games of euchre w/ sarah, tina and nat before calling it a night.

yesterday afternoon i also went to the siena hoops game to see lieto aka baby iverson play.

not too much happened the rest of the weekend. I did pages on Saturday and friday morning and covered a hoops game on Friday night.

my day

Today ive just been enjoying a day off. I played a little bit of basketball at Siena with a few people from work and a couple of Sarah's teammates. After that I took csre of some bills and did a little grocery shopping. Nothing too thrilling.

Other than that I surfed the net and saw that a former EMU baseball player (Ryan Goleski) was the top pick in the MLB Rule 5 draft. And the other thing I saw EMU related was that ESPN.com had their football team rated as the sixth-worst in the nation in their bottom 10. Way to go Eagles! but i guess thats what a 1-11 season does to you.

my fantasy football week begins this week because of the Cleveland-Pittsburgh game starts Week 14 of NFL action. The week beginning means the playoffs start in my two ESPN leagues. In the telegram league i finished 7-5-1 and had the No. 4 seed for the playoffs and play Sean who is the top seed. In my other league I went 12-1 and have the top seed.


In other things:
- I got two Christmas cards in the mail yesterday. makes me realize Christmas is closer than I think it is.
- The Adrian-Siena game went down to the wire with Siena winning the cross-town battle by three in last night's game.

My bowl picks

Tuesday, Dec. 19
Poinsetta Bowl
TCU (10-2) vs. Northern Illinois (7-5) - NIU

Thursday, Dec. 21
Las Vegas Bowl
BYU (10-2) vs. Oregon (7-5) - Oregon

Friday, Dec. 22
New Orleans Bowl
Troy (7-5) vs. Rice (7-5) - Rice

Saturday, Dec. 23
PapaJohn's Bowl
South Florida (8-4) vs. East Carolina (7-5) - South Florida

New Mexico Bowl
New Mexico (6-6) vs. San Jose State (8-4) - San Jose State

Armed Forces Bowl
Tulsa (8-4) vs. Utah (7-5), 8 p.m. - Utah

Sunday, Dec. 24
Hawaii Bowl
Arizona State (7-5) vs. Hawaii (10-3) - Hawaii

Tuesday, Dec. 26
Motor City Bowl
Central Michigan (9-4) vs. Middle Tennessee (7-5) - Central Michigan


Wednesday, Dec. 27
Emerald Bowl
Florida State (6-6) vs. UCLA (7-5) - UCLA

Thursday, Dec. 28
Independence Bowl
Oklahoma State (6-6) vs. Alabama (6-6) - Alabama

Holiday Bowl
California (9-3) vs. Texas A&M (9-3) - California


Texas Bowl
Rutgers (10-2) vs. Kansas State (7-5) - Rutgers


Friday, Dec. 29
Music City Bowl
Clemson (8-4) vs. Kentucky (7-5) - Clemson


Sun Bowl
Missouri (8-4) vs. Oregon State (9-4) - Oregon State

Liberty Bowl
South Carolina (7-5) vs. Houston (10-3) - South Carolina

Insight Bowl
Minnesota (6-6) vs. Texas Tech (7-5) - Minnesota

Champs Sports Bowl
Maryland (8-4) vs. Purdue (8-5) - Purdue

Saturday, Dec. 30
Meineke Bowl
Navy (9-3) vs. Boston College (9-3) - Navy

Alamo Bowl
Iowa (6-6) vs. Texas (9-3) - Texas

Chick-fil-A Bowl
Virginia Tech (10-2) vs. Georgia (8-4) - Virginia Tech


Sunday, Dec. 31
MPC Computers Bowl
Nevada (8-4) vs. Miami (6-6) - Nevada

Monday, Jan. 1
Outback Bowl
Penn State (8-4) vs. Tennessee (9-3) - Penn State

Cotton Bowl
Auburn (10-2) vs. Nebraska (9-4) - Auburn

Capital One Bowl
Wisconsin (11-1) vs. Arkansas (10-3) - Wisconsin

Gator Bowl
Georgia Tech (9-4) vs. West Virginia - West Virginia

Rose Bowl
Southern Cal (10-2) vs. Michigan (11-1) - Michigan

Fiesta Bowl
Boise State (12-0) vs. Oklahoma (11-2) - Oklahoma


Tuesday, Jan. 2
Orange Bowl
Wake Forest (11-2) vs. Louisville (11-1)- Louisville

Wednesday, Jan. 3
Sugar Bowl
LSU (10-2) vs. Notre Dame (10-2) - Notre Dame

Saturday, Jan. 6
International Bowl
Cincinnati (7-5) vs. Western Michigan (8-4) - Cincinnati

Sunday, Jan. 7
GMAC Bowl
Southern Miss (8-5) vs. Ohio (9-4) - Ohio

Monday, Jan. 8
BCS National Championship
Ohio State (12-0) vs. Florida (12-1) - Ohio State

an update

Yesterday was the opening night of the high school boys basketball season for most teams and two of the games we ended up covering were drastic blow outs decided by 40 points or more including the game I covered. looks like it could be a long season for some teams in the county.

other than that not much is going on. tonight is the big Adrian College-Siena Heights men's hoops game in the battle for the milk jug. Three of the last four meetings have been decided by three points or less so that should be interesting.



Went bowling on Sunday and had a decent night rolling a 154, 122 and 146. Didn't lose a game at all to anyone I bowled against. Been balling a lot the last week and actually getting in some kind of shape which has been good for me. Hopefully I'll return to the court tomorrow and rediscover my jump shot so i don't have to constantly drive to the basket. although i couldn't have shot worst than what the University of Michigan men's hoop team did when they lost to NC State in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge last week. It seemed like they couldn't hit any kind of jump shot whatsoever.

Anyways thats all I've got for now

Snubbed

I was hoping Michigan would get a rematch with Ohio State after USC's loss but after Florida defeated Arkansas in the SEC championship game I figured they were screwed and I was correct. But it was unfortunate because I would have liked to see how that game would have been played on a neutral setting.

ESPN.com's Gene Wojciechowski had a good column in support of Michigan. His column was trying to figure out how the Wolverines got snubbed.

Here are some points from the column:
• It didn't win its conference.

No, it didn't. But did you see who did? Team by the name of Ohio State. Maybe you've heard of the Buckeyes? Undefeated. Ranked first in the country. Beat Michigan in Columbus by the grand total of three whole points.

And feel free to show me in the BCS handbook where it says you've got to win your conference to play in the championship game.

• Nobody wants to see a rematch.

Just asking, but how did Ali-Frazier II and III work out? Or that Georgetown-Villanova Final Four?

I know Florida's Urban Meyer doesn't want to see a rematch, but he's not exactly an impartial observer, is he? And if Meyer were in Carr's Nikes, I guarantee you his objections to a second Ohio State-Michigan game would have disappeared.

A rematch, this time on a neutral field, would have been a game for the ages. And if you threatened to take away his precious sweater-vest if he didn't tell the truth, I bet you Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel would rather play Florida than have to face the Wolverines again (Tressel declined to vote in the final coaches' poll).

• Florida played a tougher schedule.

Agreed. But strength of schedule is part of the equation, nothing more. Tuberville's 2004 team had the strongest strength of schedule, but didn't make it.

You want to give the Gators the edge based on scheduling? Fair enough, though you could argue that Florida didn't exactly beat vintage Alabama, Georgia and Florida State teams this year, and Central Florida and Division I-AA Western Carolina were dreadful.

And look at the one loss each suffered by Florida and Michigan on their schedules. You tell me which defeat was more impressive: the Gators' 10-point road loss to an Auburn team that finished the season No. 9 in the BCS standings? Or the Wolverines' three-point road loss to an Ohio State team now favored to win the national championship?


• The BCS system rewarded Florida for finishing its season with wins at FSU and against Arkansas at the SEC championship in Atlanta.

And the BCS penalized Michigan twice for being on the wrong end of the calendar: once when USC moved to No. 2 after beating Notre Dame (even though Michigan beat the Irish worse), and now, when Florida overtook the Wolverines (even though U of M's season ended two weeks ago).

How can you call this a "system" when Florida belongs to a league that plays a conference championship, and Michigan doesn't? How can you call it a quasi-playoff when Michigan drops twice in the standings without losing a game?

• Florida has earned the right to play Ohio State.

Absolutely true. But so has Michigan.

Ask the coaches at Vanderbilt (the Commodores played both Michigan and Florida this season) who is the better team, and the consensus pick -- privately, of course -- is the Wolverines. Florida has more speed and a handful of players to die for, they say, but Michigan is more physical, would control both sides of the line of scrimmage, has wonderful wide receivers, and is led by a quarterback who doesn't make many mistakes.

Ask them who would give Ohio State the better game, and you'll get the same answer.

Tuberville voted Ohio State, Florida and then Michigan on his final ballot.

"But I watched Michigan this year," he said. "Heck, I think they could beat anybody. But that's the way the system is. It's a screwed-up system."

But none of that matters now. Instead, Carr is taking his Wolverines to the Rose Bowl presented by Citi to face a USC team that had one loss on Saturday -- and controlled its own BCS destiny -- but two losses by Saturday night.

Michigan never had that chance. It was 11-1 on Nov. 18. It was 11-1 on Dec. 3. But between then and now, the Wolverines apparently became the cellulite queens and somehow lost the swimsuit portion of this ridiculous BCS beauty pageant.

Strahan's rant

man Michael Strahan needs to keep his mouth shut considering he said these comments on his own radio show

Good for Joey and my poor car

This Lions team is clearly not the ones of old that were led by Wayne Fontes. I remember them always having a losing record heading into November but getting hot and finding some way to make the playoffs. Now a days there seems to be no hope especially after yet another loss on Thanksgiving to the Dolphins.

I was glad to see Joey Harrington do so well against his former team. I actually liked Harrington and purchased his jersey during his rookie year. I thought he was wronged in Detroit and the evidence has shown up in the standing.Harrington is on a four-game win streak with the Dolphins while the Lions only have two wins.

Other than my rant about the Lions a few other things over the past few days
- I was home for Thanksgiving which wasnt bad. Arrived home on Wednesday and got to eat some chinese and chill at home with my grandpa, sister and mom. Seemed my grandpa spent most the time taking cat naps during his visit over the few days
- My car got hit on Wednesday as i was leaving the gas station. I pulled up waiting my turn to pull out of Speedway when a guy driving a van with Ohio plates backed into my car and put a dent into my fender. Argh!

Crossing enemy lines

Besides The Ohio State University, there is no school I like to hate more than Notre Dame - although I was hoping Notre Dame would come back to beat Michigan State earlier this season which they did.

But thats beside the point, because this weekend I will be rooting for the Fighting Irish when they take on USC. Why? A win makes a rematch with Ohio State more likely for the maize and blue. And I would love to see Michigan get another chance to knock off the Buckeyes and shut their fans up. More so, I would just like to see who would win that game on a neutral setting since this weekend's game was so entertaining and lived up to the hype.

Other than disappointed about another Michigan loss to Ohio State, I've been doing pretty good lately.
Last week I was out in Jonesville twice covering the opening round and semifinals of a Class C girls basketball district. Also did a reaction piece for the paper on
Bo Schembechler's death since a few local residents actually played for him.

Today as I was going into work to do pages I was playing with my phone and hit the web button on it and a screen popped up where I could get ringtones and stuff for my phone. It was weird that happened since my mom and i were just talking about internet for our cells. Anyways I decided to purchase a ring tone since I lost all my ring tones when I got a new phone last month.

Also I've had two fantasy basketball drafts recently. When the season began I had no intent of playing fantasy hoops but now I'm fully involved in it. Now I have a lot of lineups to change, especially on the weekends now since I have four fantasy football teams.

Fantasy football seems to be going all right as of now. In two of my leagues I entered this past weekends games in first place. In one of my ESPN leagues I had a 9-1 record and in one of my yahoo leagues I am first with a 6-3 record. In the league I'm in with people from work I'm 4th out of eight teams with a record of 5-4-1