Mainliner's on Fire

Despite picking up a lose in what was most likely his final start of the season Justin Verlander showed why he is one of the most dominating pitchers in the Majors, and will be for many years to come. As far as giving up hits and runs it was an average outing for the Verve but in terms of the kind of stuff he had tonight, in a word it was electric. In the bottom of the 7th inning after loading up the bases and with one out Justin struck out his last two batters with six straight triple digit pitches 100, 100, 101, 102, 101, and 101. I mean seriously Justin cant you keep that kind of velocity up consistently, lol i kid i kid. When Verlander has a fast ball going like he did tonight and he has his knee buckling curve ball he makes opposing hitters look foolish in the batters box. He really was the Tigers ace this season winning 18 games , going 217 innings and striking out 209.

Goodnight from the greatest sports town in the world and you know who should win the AL MVP award all of you Sports News Writers out there...dont make me come after you

Drew in the D

Had to post this

I saw this video on SportsNation best aquarium show ever, i didn't know Charlie Weis could do sit ups lmao

Pheww!! that could have been bad

Looks like Cabrera will be just fine, his x-rays came back negative so no structural damage to his ankle. With some bed rest and a few ice packs i'm hoping he'll be back on the field before the end of the season so he can maybe finish with 40 HR and 130 RBI. Maybe i'm being too optimistic but hey i also thought the Lions would win against Minnesota yesterday so i guess thats just me.

Threw a Shoe

The Tigers dropped the first of a three game series in Cleveland tonight 6-3. Armando Galarraga took the lose in the game, he started off well enough but got touched up for three home runs in the 5th inning including Travis Hafners three run homerun making the score 5-2. The Indians and Tigers would each add another run to the score in the later innings. But what may end up being a much more devastating lose for the Tigs' would be the lose of AL MVP front runner Miguel "El Caballo" Cabrera. Cabrera twisted his ankle on the bag when he scrambled to get back to first in the bottom of the 7th inning. He immediately went to the ground grabbing his right ankle and was visibly limping as he left the field and slammed his helmet  in the dugout as he made his way down into the club house with help from Tigers head athletic trainer Kevin Rand. He under went some X-rays at a local hospital in Cleveland and i'm sure we will know more about his ankles condition tomorrow. Even if he has to shut it down for the remainder of the season he will be named the AL MVP, but the hope is that nothing is structurally wrong with his ankle that would mean he would have to have surgery on it which might affect him being able to be ready for the spring. As soon as i hear anything on his status ill post it on here because i'm sure all of you Tigers fans out there are just as worried about the big guy as i am.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world get some ice on the ankle Miggie.

Drew in the D

One Day Later Still Same Old Lions...When Will It End!?!

Well now that i have had 24 hours to digest what went on in the Lions game yesterday i have come up with the top three reasons that this team is not progressing the way i think many of its fans expected it to this season. 1: Their franchise quarterback will miss up to six games this season, and over a stretch of games that will be their most difficult all season with match ups with Minnesota, Green Bay, Chicago (Stafford missed the entire second half) and New York Giants all of which are on the road. 2: Their head coach Jim Schwartz still looks like a rookie coach, now i have wanted to go "all in" with the Schwartz as our head coach but i have to call into question the infatuation that the franchise has with these first time head coaches (shouldn't we have learned are lesson after Marinelli or Morningwheg?) I fully believe that before this team gets anywhere near the post season they have to hire a head coach that knows how to WIN and get to the playoffs not as a position coach or a coordinator but as a head coach. 3: And probably the most glaring and obvious problem is the lack of a team identity or team direction, over the first three games the lions have been more confused on what to do on the offensive side of the ball then Charlie Weis is when trying to choose between the double or triple Baconator. The unimaginative play calling, the lack of physical presence on the O line, and the complete misuse of who could be the most explosive reciever in the league in Calvin Johnson add to the ineptitude of the Lions offense. Megatron is 2nd in receiving on his team with 14 catches for 151 yards and 1* TD...ONE TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!! how can you let this happen? Jahvid Best has five times as many touchdowns as Calvin does this is simply unacceptable, and it further proves my claim of a lack of creative play calling by offensive coordinator Scott Linehan. Even though Sean Hill has been pretty much terrible as the replacement for Stafford i'm not gonna kill him for being exactly what he is, a back up QB. However having your starting quarterback put up a 58.9% completion percentage with 3 TD and 5 INT with the numbers Calvin is putting up so far can only result in one outcome 0-3. Things definitely need to change and change fast and there is no better time to make these change then this sunday against the Packers at Lambeau Field.

Dohh!!...Homer gets penalized for what he does Best AGAIN

The Red Wings moved to 2-2 in the preseason with a 5-3 win over the Rangers tonight. Dan Cleary started off the scoring putting the Wings up 1-0 just 1:47 into the 1st period, followed shortly by Zetterberg taking a feed from Tomas Holmstrom and putting it past Rangers Goalie Martin Biron to put the Wings up 2-0. Rafalski should have had two goals in the second period but his second was called off when Holmstrom "interfered" with Biron. I have to say that it seems, to me at least, that the refs are just waiting for the chance to call Homer on these calls just because he is the best at making it hard on the opposing goalies to make saves. And when the Rangers D-men started hammering on him after the call it just proves my point that everyone else besides the referee knew that it was a good goal. This goalie interference rule needs to be reviewed because i believe that the forward is just as entitled to the white ice in front of the goal crease and there has been many a call when Homer is clearly in the white or barely touching the red outline of the goal crease and no where near touching the goalie himself and he still gets called for goal tender interference. But karma would come back on the Rangers when Holmstrom opened up the scoring in the third period sneaking a wrist shot short side on Rangers relief goalie Chad "Viente Tres" Johnson, Patrick Eaves would cap off the scoring with a late 3rd period goal. It was an entertaining game to watch thats for sure with all of the scoring going on for both teams even though the Wings looked to get a little loose and sloppy at times which i guess is a good thing to get out of the way in preseason games. Jim Howard was dependable again in net for the Wings remaining unbeaten in the preseason and a 4th star of the night going to Justin Abdelkader for laying out anyone that was unlucky enough to be in his way.

Well it was a very busy weekend here in the D for sports fans but all in all a very entertaining one. But now its back to the real world and for me that means back to class tomorrow morning so until the next diary entry.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and make sure you stay off of that toe Jahvid we need you!!!

Drew in the D

Today they were the same old Lions

0-18 in the MetroDome and 0-21 on the road and once again they're just the same old Lions. With more of the same bone head penalties by the Lions and cautious non-original play calling on the offense, coupled with their most explosive offensive player going down in the second quarter with a toe injury the Lions had no shot at winning this game and the fans got more of the same old Lions. To be honest i was fully expecting to sit down here after the game and talk about how Jahvid Best was able to find room in the running game along with making his presence felt in the passing game opening up room out there for Calvin to make plays in the Vikings secondary but you know what that just isn't what happened. Once again Lions offensive drives stalled by stupid penalties a bad turnovers, QB Sean Hill threw 1 TD to go with his 2 INT both in the endzone at the end of the game. While the defense had some bright spots getting to Brett Favre on a number of occasions they forgot to keep tabs on Adrian Peterson who broke a big one for a TD to put the game out of reach in the 3rd quarter, Peterson finished with 160 yards on 26 carries and 2 TD. Over all it was 2 steps forward over the past two weeks and 5 steps back today with a very up and down performance for the Lions, and just not anywhere near good enough to win in the NFL.

On a brighter note the Tigers wrapped up their last series at home today with a 5-1 win over the post-season bound Twins. Slick Rick Porcello looks to have found his stride again at the end of the season not losing in his past 6 starts and going 8 innings giving up 1 run on 4 hits and striking out 5 while walking just 1 in his start today. Meanwhile El Caballo kept his march to the AL MVP going with another homerun that drove in two giving him 38 HR and 128 RBI as of today. It just frustrates me that the Tigers seem to not be able to handle the pressure that comes with holding onto the top spot in their division after the All-Star break, i will say that the injuries didn't help their cause this year though.  I just wish they could have played like this a few months ago and then maybe these games would have counted for something.

Beware of the Beast

And to think people were wondering why the Lions moved back up into the first round of the draft to pick him. All i have to say is 5 touchdowns in 2 games wow!!!!

Last Night At The CoPa This Season

I made it down to Comerica Park tonight for the second to last home game for the Tigers and i was happy i did. Not only did i get to see a great extra innings win, but i also saw why Miguel Cabrera is the AL MVP hands down and why Austin Jackson is the AL Rookie of the Year.

Miguel Cabrera aka El Caballo (yes i have a nickname for all my favorite sports players) hit a big single in the bottom of the 13th inning and also scored on Brandon Inges' walk off single. He also hit his 37th homerun driving in his 124th RBI on the blast to left field. These just add to the already stellar numbers he has put up in his MVP season this year. Since Josh Hamilton hasn't played in a game since Sept.4 against Minnesota and he is most likely gonna be out until Oct.6 that means he will miss the rest of the season with his 2 fractured ribs. Now i understand the argument about the MVP being on a team headed for the post season but i dont think you can really ignore the kind of season that Cabrera is having regardless of what his team is doing as far as records go. Compared side by side Cabrera is ahead of Hamilton in 3 out of the 5 major statistical areas 37 HRs to 31, 124 RBIs to 97, .420 on base percentage to .414. Hamilton does have the edge in batting average with a very impressive .361 to .329 and his slugging percentage of .635 is better then Cabbis' .619. But seeing as Cabrera has a few more games to better his numbers and hamilton is resting up his injured ribs its a pretty easy decision as to who has EARNED this years AL MVP and Cabreras performance tonight just reenforces my opinion of just how important (or valuable) he is to this Tigers team. I put a poll up on the blog to see who you all think should win the AL MVP award this year, vote and lets see who would win if we had our way.

Another Tiger that im sure has been a very pleasant surprise to the fans this year is Austin Jackson. I have to admit i was one of those fans this off season who was not a fan of the trade between the Yankees and the Tigers that saw a fan favorite in Curtis Granderson going to the evil empire for a young and not very well known outfielder. But i am happy to say that i was utterly and completely wrong about that trade because not only was Jackson able to step into the void in centerfield left by Granderson seamlessly,  but had one of the best seasons ever by a Tiger rookie. With the numbers he has put up this season and his always solid fielding in the outfield in spacious Comerica Park i believe he is a shoe in for the AL rookie of the year.

Even with all the excitement of the extra innings win and the monster game that Cabrera had i couldn't shake the feeling that this was going to be the last time that i would see some Tigers in the Detroit uniform in person. If this was Bondermans final start in front of the fans in Detroit it didn't start off at all as he would have liked with a grand slam in the top of the first inning. He settled down in the following innings but couldn't make up for that bad first inning. Another Tiger that may be on his way out after the season is fan favorite Brandon Inge. Despite being a leader in the club house and one of the more popular players on the team his consistant inconsistancy at the plate has hurt his performance the last few years. I personally would like to see him come back next season to hold down the hot corner like he has over the years.

The Tigers weren't the only Detroit teams that played today, the Red Wings and the Michigan State Spartans were also in action. The Wings wrapped up their back to back series with the wanna be wings in Chicago tonight losing 4-2. Chris Osgood got the start letting in 4 goals on 34 shots. Valtteri Filppula lit the lamp in the 2nd period for the Wings as well as Drew Miller in the 3rd. The Fighting Babcocks get back to action Sunday night against the New York Rangers down at the Joe. No coach D no problem for the Spartans today against Northern Colorado in East Lansing. The Spartans looked to be on a mission today in their game holding Northern Colorado to 7 points all day pitching a shut out until midway through the fourth quarter. The offense looked very good against the over matched Bear defense with Le'veon Bell going for 92 yards on 11 carries, 127 yards all together with 35 receiving and 3 td's on the ground giving him 396 yards and 7 td's though 4 games this year. Has anyone else noticed how dominant and imposing this guys looks when he's running through and over the opposition every week? Thats gonna do it for this Diary entry i hope you enjoyed my thoughts on the Al MVP and Rookie of the Year races, i'll be posting after what i hope will be a Lions victory over the Minnesota Brett Favres tomorrow afternoon

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and ice that knee Denard

(big ups to birchgate89 for the awesome pics)

Drew in the D

Ahh...hockey is back

Now i'm a big sports fan in general, everything from the all mighty NFL to MLS. But nothing and i mean nothing gets me going like the sound of skates on ice, vulcanized rubber panging off of steel or my personal favorite the Joe Louis Arena goal horn. Once again i was treated to that sound because tonight the Detroit Red Wings were able to hold on to a 3-2 victory over their long time divisional rival and defending Stanley Cup champ Chicago Blackhawks. It was good to see the top guys out on the ice putting things together like Holmstrom tipping in a Lidstrom point shot on a first period power play goal and Datsyuk aka Magic Man (more awesome Datsyuk nicknames to come in later posts) giving a no look drop pass to Zetterberg for a one timer in the second. Yes its only preseason but its good to see these kind of chemistry plays happening already this year. Jim Howard looked solid coming up with big saves when he needed to despite giving up a goal during a Chicago power play in the second period. All in all a pretty good game to watch both teams had good flow even if there were more than a few penalties in the game, which i guess is to be expected in this new age NHL. I will be posting my thoughts, opinions, and yes sometimes my crazy ramblings on all things sports in Detroit and Michigan State and feel free to leave me your comments on what i'm saying on here i love nothing more then to talk sports. That will do it for this post i figured i would keep it limited to the Wings game tonight even though the Tigers won against the Twins down at the CoPa tonight with Cabrera hitting his 36th homerun of the season and driving in his 122nd RBI with the long ball and Verlander pitching his 10th career complete game striking out 11 on his way to his 18th win this season and making opposing batters just look silly per usual. Its gonna be a crazy weekend with all of the sports events going on, i'm heading down to the Tigers game tomorrow night with the family and ill be watching the Wings game on my phone so ill put another post up after the games and ill talk a little MSU football after what im sure will be their beat down of 1AA Northern Colorado tomorrow afternoon.

Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and get well coach Dantonio

Drew in the D