Archive for January, 2009

WDFN cuts back

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

I was hoping my buddy Jeff Meade was wrong.

I was shocked to read his column in today’s Evening News (http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090120/MEADESPTSCOL/101209974) and discover that sports talk radio WDFN was planning to drop all of its local programming.

I’ve enjoyed having two sports talk stations in Detroit. When one got boring, you could switch to the other. I’ve always believed that WXYT was a poor imitation of WDFN. That said, some of the WDFN programming had gotten stale.

I wouldn’t have minded losing the other local shows, if the station had kept the “Stoney and Wojo” show in the afternoon. Those two had the most entertaining sports talk show in Detroit. Perhaps they will show up somewhere else.

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Lions’ new coach

Friday, January 16th, 2009

So the Detroit Lions have a new coach.

Will Jim Schwartz be a good coach? No one knows the answer to that question. Only time will tell.

I like what I have seen so far, but, then again, I liked my first impressions of R0d Marinelli and Steve Marinelli, too. I did have reservations about Marty Mornhinweg from the start.

Anyway, Schwartz seems to have a good resume. He has paid his dues as a defensive coordinator and has a record of success doing that. The people from the Tennessee organization that I’ve heard talk about him have lots of good things to say.

And I like that the Lions went for a defensive guy. Detroit’s offense was not all that bad last year. They have a dangerous receiver and a capable running back. The defense was the main reason they went 0-16. The Lions simply could not get stops at key times.

A lot has been made of the comment Schwartz made about the Lions needing to find a replacement for Bobby Layne. Everyone assumed he was talking about the draft.

What if that replacement is Vince Young? The Titans seem to have soured on Young and Schwartz might have some ties to him.

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Pistons take easy way out

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

I guess we should have expected it.

Detroit Pistons coach Michael Curry took the easy way out. There was a lot of speculation about what Curry would do when Richard Hamiliton returned from his injury.

Rodney Stuckey established himself as a rising star during Hamilton’s absence. There was no way to take him out of the starting lineup.

So, what would Curry do? Bring Hamillton off the bench? Or what about Allen Iverson?

In the end, Curry opted not to bruise any egos. He put all three guards in the starting lineup.

It may just be a coincidence, but the Pistons have lost both games since he did that.

If Hamilton and Iverson are true to their word and care about winning more than anything else, one of them will soon go to Curry and volunteer to come off the bench.

Personally, I still think Iverson would be the better choice as a sixth man. He would bring explosive energy to the second team. What back-up guard could stay with Iverson?

And on top of that, Hamilton’s game meshes better with Stuckey’s. Iverson and Stuckey both need the ball in their hands a lot to be effective. Hamilton is better simply coming off screens and shooting the ball.

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All-Star debacle

Monday, January 5th, 2009

The NHL can’t seem to get it right.

Coming off the triumph of the outdoor game on New Year’s Day, the league announces its All-Star Game starters a few days later. And it was a joke.

Montreal fans proved to be the best ballot-box stuffers, electing four Canadiens to the starting lineup. I guess that’s not as bad as it could have been. At one point in the voting, Montreal players led at all six positions. At least Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of Pittsburgh snuck in at the end. But Alex Ovechkin the reigning MVP and arguably the best player in the game was snubbed.

It wasn’t any better in the Western Conference where three Anaheim players and three from Chicago will start. I could understand having a few San Jose Sharks in there. They have the best record in hockey. And Calgary is having a fine year as well. Instead we get three players each from a pair of second-place teams.

And no one from the Stanley Cup champion Red Wings made it.

No Nicklas Lidstrom. No Pavel Datsyuk. No Henrik Zetterberg. No Marian Hossa.

That’s a farce.

The NHL needs to do something about the selection process. Perhaps take some of the power away from the fans and have the starters selected by a combination of fan, player and coach voting.

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Sensational Stuckey

Saturday, January 3rd, 2009

The Detroit Pistons have become Rodney Stuckey’s team.

The second-year guard quickly is blossoming into a star. He is fearless driving to the basket and is shooting the ball much better than last season.

He scored 40 points a few games ago and nearly reached that level again Friday night with 38 in a victory over Sacramento.

The Pistons are putting things together with a six-game winning streak. Allen Iverson seems to be getting more comfortable with his role.

It will be interesting to see how they are able to work Richard Hamilton back into the mix when he returns from his injury.

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Wings in the great outdoors

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

The National Hockey League has stumbled into something great with its annual outdoor game on New Year’s Day.

I surprised myself with how much of the Pittsburgh-Buffalo game I watched last year in the midst of my college football feast.

And hockey had the clear advantage over football on my television Thursday with the Red Wings playing Chicago at Wrigley Field.

I’m not sure if I’d actually like to attend one of the games. The fans seem like they are miles from the action and sitting outside in freezing temperatures with winds whipping up to 35 mph couldn’t be too much fun. But it makes for an incredible television event.

And on top of that, the Wings showed once again what a great team they are. They showed no signs of panic after falling behind 3-1 in the first period. They just kept constant pressure on Chicago until the Blackhawks finally cracked.

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