Completely Random Lookalike Epiphany

I'm watching the Red Wings/Ducks game tonight (with Detroit currently winning 2-1 ... thank you Marian Hossa). Johan Franzen scores a goal on a beautiful tip-in of a Nick Lidstrom shot. FSN subsequently zooms in on Franzen. I have a moment of clarity that makes me realize I watch too much TV:

Johan Franzen, Right Wing, Detroit Red Wings

Toby Flenderson, Human Resources, Dunder Mifflin Paper Co.

And yes, I Googled "Johan Franzen Toby Office" to make sure I didn't steal this from somebody else.

More Glass-Shattering Action, This Time Actually Related to a Team I Write About

Tomas Kopecky on Denis Gauthier, from Monday night's shootout win over the Kings (no sound on video, which comes via Yahoo!'s Puck Daddy):

They sure don't make glass like they used to...that hit wasn't even that hard.

That's Not Right

Joe Elliot, lead singer of Def Leppard, has an issue with placing things right side up:

You'd think when booking a band for "Face Off Rocks", the NHL would have found someone who actually, you know, knew something about hockey. Honestly, that was worse than seeing the Wings fall to the Leafs in the opener.

Why the Red Wings Will Win the Stanley Cup

Newly acquired Red Wings Marian Hossa (left) and Ty Conklin should be laughing all the way to the Cup (photo courtesy of the Detroit News)

I know, I'm really going out on a limb here. With the Wings opening their season next Thursday against the Maple Leafs, I was going to do a detailed preview of Detroit's team. However, I'm sure Christy at BTJ and Dave at Gorilla Crouch will have me covered on that one, and probably do it way better than I could. Plus, you can sum up this Detroit team in a couple of sentences: They're the same team that coasted through the regular season and playoffs en route to a Stanley Cup. Oh, and they added Marian Hossa. There, Red Wings covered.

With that done, I decided to take a look at the other contenders in the West, to see if anyone has a shot at knocking off Detroit.

Anaheim Ducks: Yes, the Ducks are very solid defensively. Chris Pronger may be everybody's least favorite NHL player, but he's still a very solid presense on the blue line and an underrated offensive threat. Jean-Sebastian Giguere is one of the better goaltenders in the league. Scott Niedermeyer came back. However, they had the 28th best offense in the NHL last season, and only had one player score more than 54 points (C Ryan Getzlaf). Even with the addition of Brendan Morrison, that's not going to cut it. For the Ducks to beat the Wings in the playoffs, they'd need Osgood to turn in a subpar series while Giguere plays out of his mind. Next.

San Jose Sharks: I find this team to be quite similar to the Ducks. Solid defense and goaltending (3rd in the NHL in goals against last season, behind Detroit and Anaheim) with a subpar offense (19th in the league in goals for). Like Anaheim, San Jose relied heavily on one player to carry the scoring load. Joe Thornton had 29 goals and 96 points, and the Sharks next leading scorer, Milan Michalek, had 24 goals and 55 points. If a team can shut down Thornton's line, they'll beat the Sharks. Detroit can do that. Let's move on.

The San Jose offense, aka Joe Thornton

Edmonton Oilers: This is a team that a lot of people expect to make a run in the West after disappointing the last two seasons. They have a lot of young talent up front, led by forward Ales Hemsky. However, their goalies are Matieu Garon and Dwayne Roloson. I don't see this team advancing much further than the second round, if they even get that far.

Chicago Blackhawks: Here's another team being mentioned as a potential sleeper in the West. They have a ton of young talent, with second-year forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews leading the charge. Even with all that talent, however, the 'Hawks mustered only the NHL's 24th best power play. Also, goaltenders Cristobal Huet and Nikolai Khabibulin both consider themselves deserving of the starting spot, which could prove to be an unneeded distraction on a young team. Chicago will be a team to watch down the road, but this won't be their year.

Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews give Chicago one of the league's most exciting young duos (Getty Images)

Dallas Stars: The Red Wings' foe in the 2008 Western Conference Finals look poised to return to the same position in 2009. The Stars are definitely the most likely team in the West to knock off Detroit. They added Brad Richards and Sean Avery to an already potent offensive attack, which features Mike Modano, Mike Ribiero, and Brendan Morrow. However, the concerns for the Stars start on the blue line. Sergei Zubov, who has been a mainstay on the Dallas D since the mid-nineties, is out for at least a month with a hip injury, and at 38 years old, who knows if he'll be the same player when he returns. Marty Turco has always been a great regular season goaltender, but he's been inconsistent in the playoffs (although he has greatly improved in that respect in the last two postseasons). I'll admit that Dallas scares me a bit, but when stacked up against the ridiculous Red Wings lineup, my fears are quelled for the time being.

Marty Turco could stand between Detroit and a second consecutive finals appearance

The Flames, Predators and Wild probably also deserve mention as potential contenders, but let's be honest: if those teams beat Detroit, we've either fallen victim to devastating injuries or a Tim Donaghy-style officiating conspiracy.

As for the East, we beat Pittsburgh last season and then stole one of their top forwards, Montreal starts a 21-year old in net, and nobody else is worth talking about. What does it all add up to? A second straight visit from Stanley.

Claude Lemieux May Return to NHL

From Yahoo!'s Greg Wyshynski comes the news that 43-year old Claude Lemieux is contemplating a comeback attempt. As long as he returns with a Western Conference team, please, please, please let this happen. Darren McCarty is probably salivating at the mere thought of facing off against Lemieux one more time.

I dislike Claude Lemieux more than any other sports figure since I've followed sports (around 1994). March 26, 1997 (and no, I didn't have to look that up) was one of the greatest sports nights of my life, because I got to see him pounded mercilessly. Seeing that happen in 2008-09 would not be nearly as sweet, but it still would add some needed spice to a regular season slate that is devoid of the classic Red Wing rivalries of the nineties. If the Turtle gets signed to the Colorado, every Detroit sports fan will have the first Wings/Avs tilt on "save until I delete" status on their DVR.

C'mon Claude. If you come back, it'll be the first thing you ever did that I'll support, even if I absolutely do not have your best interests in mind.

Quick Link Drop: Mac Back in the Fold

Sorry for the lack of content today ... got a test tomorrow. Hate it when real life gets in the way of the important stuff. Here's some links to hold you over:

• Slightly old news, but Darren McCarty agreed to a one-year, two-way deal to remain a Red Wing. I personally hope the guy retires a Wing, and I'm sure practically every Detroit fan feels the same. The only issue will be whether he can crack the regular lineup.
• Michigan just picked up another big commit in Arizona DE Craig Roh, who committed on ESPNU tonight. Roh is a Rivals250 player who fills a huge need for the Wolverines.
• The Pistons will look to bring Antonio McDyess off the bench this season, meaning Jason Maxiell, Amir Johnson, and Kwame Brown are competing for a starting role this season. The favorite has got to be Maxiell, but I'd love to see Amir step up and allow Mad Max to continue to bring his energy off the bench.
  

Detroit Athlete of the Decade Tournament: The Finals

POLLS CLOSED: Lidstrom wins 73% to 28%

In what should come as a surprise to no one, Chauncey Billups and Nicklas Lidstrom have advanced to the finals of the Detroit Athlete of the Decade Tournament. Billups advanced to the finals with a resounding 82%-18% victory over Lions kicker Jason Hanson, while Lidstrom took down Tigers outfielder Magglio Ordonez, 84%-16%. Who will be crowned the king of the D? That's up to you. Polls will stay open through the rest of the week, with final results posted on Sunday.

Final Round: Billups vs. Lidstrom

Chauncey Billups (Sam Weiss, The Ace of Sports)

If Ben was the heart, Rip was the legs, Tay was the arms, Sheed was the soul and Darko was the appendix, then Chauncey Billups was the head of the 2003-2004 World Champion Detroit Pistons. David Thorpe, Executive Director of the Pro Training Center at IMG Academies, called Chauncey arguably the smartest player in basketball and most Pistons fans would probably agree. In addition to Basketball IQ, Chauncey brought good defense, unselfish play and a cool head to the world champions. One can use descriptions ranging from the vague terms of amateur sportscasters to numbers that only a stat-geek could appreciate. (Examples: unlike most players given the label from nimrod Sportscenter analysts, Chauncey is ‘clutch’. Also, a stat-geek might point out that his Free Throws Attempted per Turnover Committed is outrageously high, tops in the NBA year after year, demonstrating the ability to operate in traffic without losing the ball).

For the last 30 years, the team with the best individual player has always won the NBA finals. Except for the 2003-2004 Pistons. Because of their unique accomplishment, it is difficult to pick any one of them as most responsible. Any one of the starting five could have won the Finals MVP. Were someone to argue that Tayshaun, Rasheed or Ben was more deserving of this honor, his or her argument would certainly have merit, so I’ll keep mine very simple:

A. No sports accomplishment of the last decade meant more to the people of Detroit than the 2003-2004 NBA Championship.
B. By almost any statistical measure, Chauncey was the best player on that team and has been the best player on the Pistons ever since.
C. As a fanatic who has watched the team play (and who loved/loves all Stones equally, even Carlos Delfino and Ronald Dupree), I agree. Chauncey was the most valuable player.

Chauncey doesn’t need to become a symbol of the entire Piston’s team or the city of Detroit itself; he’s got a ring and a Finals MVP Trophy.

(Of course, he could go out and win another championship next year just to make my argument a little bit better. Just a thought.)

Nicklas Lidstrom (Dave, Gorilla Crouch)

Nick Lidstrom is widely considered to be one of the top 2 or 3 defensemen to ever play the game. He has been awarded the Norris trophy as the league's best defenseman six of the last seven seasons. He trails only Bobby Orr and Doug Harvey for most Norris trophies awarded to an NHL defenseman. This would be comparable to a pitcher winning 6 out of 7 Cy Young awards or an NBA player winning Defensive Player of the year award that often. It's an incredible feat that has been accomplished by a remarkable and rare talent.

While awards help to make the point, statistics show what a player actually did on the playing surface against his competition. Over the past 10 regular seasons, Nick Lidstrom has averaged playing in 80 of his team's 82 games, and averaged 14 goals and 49 assists per year. That comes out to 63 points per season with an average plus/minus rating of +24. Night in and night out he's faced the absolute best talent in the league and the Red Wings have outscored the opposition by 24 even-strength goals on average every year for the past 10 years.

Regular Season:

Lidstrom's 142 goals is the 3rd most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's 489 assists are the most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's +237 rating is the best by a defenseman over the past 10 seaons.
Won 6 of the last 7 Norris trophy awards.

Playoffs:
Lidstrom's 26 goals is the most by a defensemen over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's 76 assists is the most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's +20 rating is the 4th best by a defensemen over the past 10 seaons.
3-time Stanley Cup champion over the past 10 seasons.
He was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP in the 2002 playoffs.

Olympics:

Lidstrom has averaged just under a point a game in Olympic competition over the past three winter competitions and scored the gold-medal winning goal for Sweden in the 2006 winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Nick Lidstrom is the best athlete in Detroit over the past ten seasons. He's been acknowledged as one of the best defensemen in the history of hockey and his regular season and playoff stats bear that out. He's also a three-time world champion over the past 10 seasons, once winning the playoff MVP award in addition to an Olympic gold medal.

Bullet Points Are Handy: Kenny on the Move?

Today's batch of links include Tigers trade rumors, a look ahead to Michigan's 2010 recruiting class, and more.

• The Detroit Free Press is reporting that Tigers pitcher Kenny Rogers has been placed on waivers and could be traded any day now. At this point, if Detroit can get anything (and I mean anything) of value for the 37-year old Gambler, I hope they pull the trigger.
• Varsity Blue takes a look at potential targets for the Wolverines' 2010 recruiting class. Definitely worth a look, and props should be given for simply taking the effort to look up all these guys. Well done.
• ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert quotes Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson talking about their excitement that the Lions are finally trying to establish a running game. You know, when the quarterback hands off to the guy who stands a few yards behind him. Yeah, that's called a "run". Wild, right?
• Yahoo!'s Puck Daddy blog discusses the likelihood of NHL players jumping to Russia's KHL, and focuses on Pavel Datsyuk. Don't panic, Wings fans. He's not going anywhere for a while.
  

Detroit Athlete of the Decade Tournament: Round Two

POLLS ARE CLOSED: Chauncey Billups and Nicklas Lidstrom advance to the finals.

Round One is complete, with your winners from each team being Jason Hanson, Chauncey Billups, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Magglio Ordonez. Let the festivities continue!

Semifinal #1: Jason Hanson vs. Chauncey Billups

Jason Hanson (Big Al, SideLion Report)

When [Ace] asked me to pick the Detroit Lions player of the decade as part of his "Detroit Athlete of the Decade" project, I knew it would be a tough assignment. Pro football is a meat grinder, where short careers are the norm. The Lions grind up players like cheap hamburger. The Lions are in the midst of their worst decade ever, with players and coaches coming and going through Matt Millen's fast spinning revolving door. Players come and players go, most of whom make little impression.

But there's one player who's been a Lion seemingly forever, and is likely to retire with the same team who drafted him, an exception to the NFL rule. Even today, after 16 NFL seasons, he is still at the top of his game. This Lion has survived several regime changes, playing for 7 coaches, and has had countless teammates. Despite the constant adversity, he's persevered to become one of the franchise's All-Time greats.

I'm sure you've figured out by now who is my nominee for Detroit Lions player of the decade. Kicker Jason Hanson. Yes, a placekicker. But one of the best placekickers ever.

The stats speak for themselves. Hanson is in elite NFL company: 10th overall in scoring NFL history, 6th overall in field goals made, 16th overall in field goal percentage, along with playing in a pair of Pro Bowls (1997, 1999). Hanson has missed only 12 kicks inside the 40 in those 16 seasons. 12!

In many ways, the Lions' elder statesman is the face of the franchise. Hanson is one of the few players fans can point to with pride. In what's been a decade of disappointment, and full of more ugliness than we care to remember, Hanson has never wavered. The man is money, a big time player on what's been a penny ante franchise.

I've often jokingly called Hanson the Detroit Lions' Most Valuable Player. Thinking about it, it's no joke. As bad as the Lions have been over the past 10 years, it would have been much, much worse without Jason Hanson wearing the Honolulu blue and silver.

Chauncey Billups (Sam Weiss, The Ace of Sports)

If Ben was the heart, Rip was the legs, Tay was the arms, Sheed was the soul and Darko was the appendix, then Chauncey Billups was the head of the 2003-2004 World Champion Detroit Pistons. David Thorpe, Executive Director of the Pro Training Center at IMG Academies, called Chauncey arguably the smartest player in basketball and most Pistons fans would probably agree. In addition to Basketball IQ, Chauncey brought good defense, unselfish play and a cool head to the world champions. One can use descriptions ranging from the vague terms of amateur sportscasters to numbers that only a stat-geek could appreciate. (Examples: unlike most players given the label from nimrod Sportscenter analysts, Chauncey is ‘clutch’. Also, a stat-geek might point out that his Free Throws Attempted per Turnover Committed is outrageously high, tops in the NBA year after year, demonstrating the ability to operate in traffic without losing the ball).

For the last 30 years, the team with the best individual player has always won the NBA finals. Except for the 2003-2004 Pistons. Because of their unique accomplishment, it is difficult to pick any one of them as most responsible. Any one of the starting five could have won the Finals MVP. Were someone to argue that Tayshaun, Rasheed or Ben was more deserving of this honor, his or her argument would certainly have merit, so I’ll keep mine very simple:

A. No sports accomplishment of the last decade meant more to the people of Detroit than the 2003-2004 NBA Championship.
B. By almost any statistical measure, Chauncey was the best player on that team and has been the best player on the Pistons ever since.
C. As a fanatic who has watched the team play (and who loved/loves all Stones equally, even Carlos Delfino and Ronald Dupree), I agree. Chauncey was the most valuable player.

Chauncey doesn’t need to become a symbol of the entire Piston’s team or the city of Detroit itself; he’s got a ring and a Finals MVP Trophy.

(Of course, he could go out and win another championship next year just to make my argument a ittle bit better. Just a thought.)

POLLS ARE CLOSED

Semifinal #2: Nicklas Lidstrom vs. Magglio Ordonez

Nicklas Listrom (Dave, Gorilla Crouch)

Nick Lidstrom is widely considered to be one of the top 2 or 3 defensemen to ever play the game. He has been awarded the Norris trophy as the league's best defenseman six of the last seven seasons. He trails only Bobby Orr and Doug Harvey for most Norris trophies awarded to an NHL defenseman. This would be comparable to a pitcher winning 6 out of 7 Cy Young awards or an NBA player winning Defensive Player of the year award that often. It's an incredible feat that has been accomplished by a remarkable and rare talent.

While awards help to make the point, statistics show what a player actually did on the playing surface against his competition. Over the past 10 regular seasons, Nick Lidstrom has averaged playing in 80 of his team's 82 games, and averaged 14 goals and 49 assists per year. That comes out to 63 points per season with an average plus/minus rating of +24. Night in and night out he's faced the absolute best talent in the league and the Red Wings have outscored the opposition by 24 even-strength goals on average every year for the past 10 years.

Regular Season:

Lidstrom's 142 goals is the 3rd most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's 489 assists are the most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's +237 rating is the best by a defenseman over the past 10 seaons.
Won 6 of the last 7 Norris trophy awards.

Playoffs:
Lidstrom's 26 goals is the most by a defensemen over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's 76 assists is the most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's +20 rating is the 4th best by a defensemen over the past 10 seaons.
3-time Stanley Cup champion over the past 10 seasons.
He was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP in the 2002 playoffs.

Olympics:

Lidstrom has averaged just under a point a game in Olympic competition over the past three winter competitions and scored the gold-medal winning goal for Sweden in the 2006 winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Nick Lidstrom is the best athlete in Detroit over the past ten seasons. He's been acknowledged as one of the best defensemen in the history of hockey and his regular season and playoff stats bear that out. He's also a three-time world champion over the past 10 seasons, once winning the playoff MVP award in addition to an Olympic gold medal.

Magglio Ordonez (Blake, Spot Starters)

I've heard the argument that the Pudge Rodriguez signing back in February on 2004 was the turning point for the Tigers over the past decade. I think there's some truth to that, but I think there was an even bigger signing and turning point than Pudge's arrival.

The Tigers were hardly contenders in Rodriguez's first season with the team, they went 72-90. They were way better than the year before when they lost 119 games, but still a long ways off. In February of 2005 the Tigers made another free agent splash with the signing of Magglio Ordonez. Ordonez was a four time All Star with the White Sox. While Magglio was coming off of some injuries, he still could have signed with most teams as a free agent. He decided (with some help from a huge contract offer) to sign with the Tigers.

Since joining the Tigers, Magglio has been an absolute beast. He hit the biggest home run by a Tiger since Gibby went yard back in 1984 in the World Series. Magglio's home run off of Huston Street in the 2006 ALCS still gives me goose bumps when I see it. I have a beer cozy (I got it as a wedding gift) that plays the audio of Dan Dickerson's call of the home run, it's seriously chilling stuff.

On top of the big home run, Magglio has a chance to become the first Tiger to win back-to-back batting titles since Ty Cobb won three straight from 1917-1919, not bad company. His .363 mark from 2007 is the best average by a Tiger since Charlie Gehringer hit .371 in 1937. Again, pretty impressive company.

Above all, Magglio helped bring respectability to Detroit Tigers baseball again. The Tigers picked Pudge up at the tail end of his career, they nabbed Magglio in his prime. Just watching him take a change up to the opposite field makes a guy feel lucky to have him on his team.

Whenever you doubt how much this guy has meant to the Tigers, try to remember exactly how you felt when you saw him rounding the bases with his fist raised high as he sent the Tigers to their first World Series in 22 years. Feel those goose bumps?

POLLS ARE CLOSED

Bullet Points Are Handy: Tatum Bell, STFU

Today's batch of links features Tatum Bell being a crybaby, the impact of Kevin Newsome's decommitment, what's wrong with Justin Verlander, and more:

• ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert breaks down an interview with Lions running back Tatum Bell from Wednesday's Detroit News, in which he blames Mike Martz and the offensive line for many of his struggles last season. Hey Tatum: you're not very good. Get over it.
• Varsity Blue looks at the impact of Kevin Newsome opening up his recruitment. Hooray for Tate Forcier's unwavering love of Michigan!
• The Immaculate Inning breaks down in wonderful sabermetric detail what exactly is wrong with Justin Verlander this season. Meanwhile, Blake at the Spot Starters compares Matt Joyce's rookie season to Curtis Granderson's first year.
• The Wings re-signed scrappy right winger Aaron Downey to a one-year deal. Glad to have a young tough guy back in the fold, although I hope this still leaves room for Darren McCarty to make the team.
  

Interview with Alex Delvecchio (audio)

For those of you who missed the earlier post, I interviewed Red Wings Hall-of-Famer Alex Delvecchio at his Birmingham-based business on Monday. I must first say that he was one of the nicest, most accommodating people I have ever met, and it was an amazing experience getting to interview him.

Between work, interviewing for an internship, getting ready for school, preparing to move in to a new apartment, and trying to find some time to relax, I haven't had the chance to transcribe the audio from my interview. However, I figured I'd put up the mp3 file for anyone that is interested in hearing the interview in its entirety. He said some very interesting things, from how he thinks the teams of the 50's compare to today's teams to what he thought of the nickname 'Fats'. Delvecchio is a legend and a true gentleman, and still is an avid Wings fan, so if you can get over my bumbling interview style, I highly recommend listening to what he has to say.

UPDATE: Now with streaming audio. Hooray.

Powered by Podbean.com

Download the file at:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/173103565e3b0735/ or
http://www.mediafire.com/?oltnarcdmrc

Detroit Athlete of the Decade Tournament: Round One

UPDATE: Polls are closed on round one

The results:

LIONS: Jason Hanson wins 79% to 21%

PISTONS: Billups wins 67% to 33%

RED WINGS: Lidstrom wins 60% to 40%

TIGERS: Ordonez wins 67% to 33%

Round Two can be found here.

For some reason, blogger is flipping out, so some of the post below may not display correctly. I hate blogger sometimes.

Detroit has become known as one of the best sports cities in the country, supporting four major franchises (three of which have been very successful recently). In the past decade, the city has brought home two Stanley Cups, and NBA Title, an out-of-nowhere AL Pennant, and, well, a lot of top-10 NFL Draft picks.

My question is, who is the best Detroit athlete from this prosperous decade? Several Detroit sports bloggers have graced the site with their answers, and now it is up to you to decide who you think is worthy of the title of Detroit Athlete of the Decade. In the first round, each team will be given two nominees, who will face off for the title of their franchise's athlete of the decade:

Lions: Hanson vs. Williams

Jason Hanson (Big Al, SideLion Report)

When [Ace] asked me to pick the Detroit Lions player of the decade as part of his "Detroit Athlete of the Decade" project, I knew it would be a tough assignment. Pro football is a meat grinder, where short careers are the norm. The Lions grind up players like cheap hamburger. The Lions are in the midst of their worst decade ever, with players and coaches coming and going through Matt Millen's fast spinning revolving door. Players come and players go, most of whom make little impression.

But there's one player who's been a Lion seemingly forever, and is likely to retire with the same team who drafted him, an exception to the NFL rule. Even today, after 16 NFL seasons, he is still at the top of his game. This Lion has survived several regime changes, playing for 7 coaches, and has had countless teammates. Despite the constant adversity, he's persevered to become one of the franchise's All-Time greats.

I'm sure you've figured out by now who is my nominee for Detroit Lions player of the decade. Kicker Jason Hanson. Yes, a placekicker. But one of the best placekickers ever.

The stats speak for themselves. Hanson is in elite NFL company: 10th overall in scoring NFL history, 6th overall in field goals made, 16th overall in field goal percentage, along with playing in a pair of Pro Bowls (1997, 1999). Hanson has missed only 12 kicks inside the 40 in those 16 seasons. 12!

In many ways, the Lions' elder statesman is the face of the franchise. Hanson is one of the few players fans can point to with pride. In what's been a decade of disappointment, and full of more ugliness than we care to remember, Hanson has never wavered. The man is money, a big time player on what's been a penny ante franchise.

I've often jokingly called Hanson the Detroit Lions' Most Valuable Player. Thinking about it, it's no joke. As bad as the Lions have been over the past 10 years, it would have been much, much worse without Jason Hanson wearing the Honolulu blue and silver.

Roy Williams (Ace)

Will someone please give this man a decent quarterback? The Lions grabbed Roy Williams with the 7th pick in the 2004 draft, and all the man has done since then is catch 245 passes, find the end zone 28 times, and become the first Lions wideout to make the Pro Bowl since Herman Moore in 1998.

On a team with few spectaular (or even half-decent) players, Roy Williams has been a standout since joining the Lions four seasons ago, and has been a consistent weapon on a team that goes through running backs and wideouts like Matt Millen goes through coloring books. He has a knack for making the ridiculous catch, gets open more than any other Lion (though Calvin Johnson will certainly rival his skill in the near future), and even finds time to deliver a pizza or two.

Besides the ageless Jason Hanson, Roy has been Detroit's only reliable source of offense these past four years, and in a decade this miserable, that earns him my nomination for Lions Athlete of the Decade.

POLLS ARE CLOSED: Jason Hanson wins 79% to 21%



Pistons: Wallace vs. Billups

Ben Wallace (Natalie Sitto, Need4Sheed)

Talk about making a team relevant, Ben Wallace brought his hard nosed work ethic and attitude to a Pistons team that at the time was simply dreadful.

The undersized, un-drafted, center from Alabama landed in Detroit in 2000 via a sign and trade for the then face of the franchise Grant Hill. While plenty of Pistons fans scoffed at the deal Big Ben proved his worth and importance.

Ben racked up NBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards in 02, 03, 05, and 06 the seasons, and was selected to six All-Defensive teams. In the 02 and 03 seasons, he led the league in both rebounds and blocked shots. And don't forget about the All Star appearances. Starting in 03, Ben was voted by fans to the first of his four NBA All-Star Game appearances as the starting center for the Eastern Conference.

If that's not enough to convince you that Ben is The Pistons player of the decade let's talk about how he helped add another NBA Championship to Detroit's trophy case in 2004.

Chauncey Billups (Sam Weiss)

If Ben was the heart, Rip was the legs, Tay was the arms, Sheed was the soul and Darko was the appendix, then Chauncey Billups was the head of the 2003-2004 World Champion Detroit Pistons. David Thorpe, Executive Director of the Pro Training Center at IMG Academies, called Chauncey arguably the smartest player in basketball and most Pistons fans would probably agree. In addition to Basketball IQ, Chauncey brought good defense, unselfish play and a cool head to the world champions. One can use descriptions ranging from the vague terms of amateur sportscasters to numbers that only a stat-geek could appreciate. (Examples: unlike most players given the label from nimrod Sportscenter analysts, Chauncey is ‘clutch’. Also, a stat-geek might point out that his Free Throws Attempted per Turnover Committed is outrageously high, tops in the NBA year after year, demonstrating the ability to operate in traffic without losing the ball).

For the last 30 years, the team with the best individual player has always won the NBA finals. Except for the 2003-2004 Pistons. Because of their unique accomplishment, it is difficult to pick any one of them as most responsible. Any one of the starting five could have won the Finals MVP. Were someone to argue that Tayshaun, Rasheed or Ben was more deserving of this honor, his or her argument would certainly have merit, so I’ll keep mine very simple:

A. No sports accomplishment of the last decade meant more to the people of Detroit than the 2003-2004 NBA Championship.
B. By almost any statistical measure, Chauncey was the best player on that team and has been the best player on the Pistons ever since.
C. As a fanatic who has watched the team play (and who loved/loves all Stones equally, even Carlos Delfino and Ronald Dupree), I agree. Chauncey was the most valuable player.

Chauncey doesn’t need to become a symbol of the entire Piston’s team or the city of Detroit itself; he’s got a ring and a Finals MVP Trophy.

(Of course, he could go out and win another championship next year just to make my argument a little bit better. Just a thought.)

POLLS ARE CLOSED: Billups wins 67% to 33%


Red Wings: Lidstrom vs. Yzerman

Nicklas Lidstrom (Dave, Gorilla Crouch)

Nick Lidstrom is widely considered to be one of the top 2 or 3 defensemen to ever play the game. He has been awarded the Norris trophy as the league's best defenseman six of the last seven seasons. He trails only Bobby Orr and Doug Harvey for most Norris trophies awarded to an NHL defenseman. This would be comparable to a pitcher winning 6 out of 7 Cy Young awards or an NBA player winning Defensive Player of the year award that often. It's an incredible feat that has been accomplished by a remarkable and rare talent.

While awards help to make the point, statistics show what a player actually did on the playing surface against his competition. Over the past 10 regular seasons, Nick Lidstrom has averaged playing in 80 of his team's 82 games, and averaged 14 goals and 49 assists per year. That comes out to 63 points per season with an average plus/minus rating of +24. Night in and night out he's faced the absolute best talent in the league and the Red Wings have outscored the opposition by 24 even-strength goals on average every year for the past 10 years.

Regular Season:

Lidstrom's 142 goals is the 3rd most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's 489 assists are the most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's +237 rating is the best by a defenseman over the past 10 seaons.
Won 6 of the last 7 Norris trophy awards.

Playoffs:

Lidstrom's 26 goals is the most by a defensemen over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstroms's 76 assists is the most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's +20 rating is the 4th best by a defensemen over the past 10 seaons.
3-time Stanley Cup champion over the past 10 seasons.
He was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP in the 2002 playoffs.

Olympics:

Lidstrom has averaged just under a point a game in Olympic competition over the past three winter competitions and scored the gold-medal winning goal for Sweden in the 2006 winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Nick Lidstrom is the best athlete in Detroit over the past ten seasons. He's been acknowledged as one of the best defensemen in the history of hockey and his regular season and playoff stats bear that out. He's also a three-time world champion over the past 10 seasons, once winning the playoff MVP award in addition to an Olympic gold medal.

Steve Yzerman (Christy Hammond, Behind the Jersey)

After 22 seasons in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings, Steve Yzerman epitomizes the definition of a world class athlete. Not only does he have impressive statistics like 692 career goals or the most playoff points in the franchise history (185), but he was also the heart and soul of Hockeytown leading the team to three Stanley Cup titles in five seasons. If you were going to pick the Detroit Athlete of the Decade based purely on statistics, Yzerman might not be your guy. If you were to base your decision on the player's leadership, character, skill, and what they did for their city, Yzerman should be the easy winner. He became captain shortly into his career and eventually became simply known as The Captain. Under the eye of Scotty Bowman, Yzerman transformed into one of the best two-way forwards to play the game. By sacrificing the big numbers, Yzerman demonstrated that he bought into the system and that helped transform the team from being known as the Dead Wings into a dynasty. His willingness to not only sacrifice statistically speaking, but in terms of his knee was incredible as well. Yzerman played during the 2001-2002 postseason essentially on one leg. His courage and perseverance was inspiring to his teammates. What amazed fans even more was that they saw him struggling to get up after being checked to the ice, yet he led the team in offensive points (23) that postseason and averaged over 21 minutes of ice time each game. The glory that he brought to the city of Detroit without demanding much in return combined with his sparkling statistics and incredible leadership and perseverance should make Yzerman the Detroit Athlete of the Decade.

POLLS ARE CLOSED: Lidstrom wins 60% to 40%

Tigers: Ordonez vs. Guillen

Magglio Ordonez (Blake, Spot Starters)

I've heard the argument that the Pudge Rodriguez signing back in February on 2004 was the turning point for the Tigers over the past decade. I think there's some truth to that, but I think there was an even bigger signing and turning point than Pudge's arrival.

The Tigers were hardly contenders in Rodriguez's first season with the team, they went 72-90. They were way better than the year before when they lost 119 games, but still a long ways off. In February of 2005 the Tigers made another free agent splash with the signing of Magglio Ordonez. Ordonez was a four time All Star with the White Sox. While Magglio was coming off of some injuries, he still could have signed with most teams as a free agent. He decided (with some help from a huge contract offer) to sign with the Tigers.

Since joining the Tigers, Magglio has been an absolute beast. He hit the biggest home run by a Tiger since Gibby went yard back in 1984 in the World Series. Magglio's home run off of Huston Street in the 2006 ALCS still gives me goose bumps when I see it. I have a beer cozy (I got it as a wedding gift) that plays the audio of Dan Dickerson's call of the home run, it's seriously chilling stuff.

On top of the big home run, Magglio has a chance to become the first Tiger to win back-to-back batting titles since Ty Cobb won three straight from 1917-1919, not bad company. His .363 mark from 2007 is the best average by a Tiger since Charlie Gehringer hit .371 in 1937. Again, pretty impressive company.

Above all, Magglio helped bring respectability to Detroit Tigers baseball again. The Tigers picked Pudge up at the tail end of his career, they nabbed Magglio in his prime. Just watching him take a change up to the opposite field makes a guy feel lucky to have him on his team.

Whenever you doubt how much this guy has meant to the Tigers, try to remember exactly how you felt when you saw him rounding the bases with his fist raised high as he sent the Tigers to their first World Series in 22 years. Feel those goose bumps?

Carlos Guillen (Ace)

Guillen is the forgotten Tiger. He goes out there every year, hits .300, cranks 20 homers, and still gets overshadowed by the bigger name hitters on the team.

When the Tigers acquired Guillen from Seattle before the 2004 season (in exchange for Ramon Santiago and Juan Gonzalez...pretty good deal if you ask me), Detroit was a moribund franchise coming off a 119-loss season. We all know about the Tigers' meteoric rise to the AL Pennant in 2006, but few give Carlos Guillen the credit he deserves for that rise. Yes, Pudge Rodiguez was a huge pickup, but he was on the downslope of his career when we signed him. Guillen, on the other hand, was 28, just entering his prime, when Detroit traded for him in 2004. In that magical 2006 season, Guillen was the Tigers' best player, finishing 10th in MVP voting and batting .320 with a .400 OBP and 19 homers. He led all major league shortstops that season with a .919 OPS. Nobody remembers this, including me (thank you baseball-reference.com).

Even this year, in a down year for the Tigers, Guillen is hitting .284 with 9 homers while playing a new defensive position (third base). He was the Tigers lone All-Star this year, and deserved the honor (especially after being robbed of that distinction in 2006).

Why is Carlos Guillen the Detroit Player of the Decade? Because he just does his job, with no fanfare, and does it extremely well. In a blue-collar city like Detroit, there is no player more blue-collar than Guillen.

POLLS ARE CLOSED: Ordonez wins 67% to 33%

Bullet Points Are Handy: Zumaya's Exploding Arm

Today's links discuss Joel Zumaya's arm injury, another Lions training camp fight, RichRod doing pushups, and more.

• After Joel Zumaya was lifted from Tuesday's game against the Blue Jays with an apparent injury, he was placed on the DL for a "sore arm". His MRI came out fine, but the Free Press reports that Zumaya was worried his career was over.
• ESPN's Kevin Seifert gives us the full story of Jon Kitna's confrontation with linebacker Buster Davis at Lions training camp yesterday.
• Two more articles on Michigan football: The Ann Arbor News' John Heuser details Rich Rodriguez's plan to revamp the walk-on system, while the Free Press' Mark Snyder reports on yesterday's practices, including RichRod losing a bet and having to do pushups.
• Dave at Gorilla Crouch looks at how the top two scoring lines could shake out for the Red Wings next season.
• Detroit Bad Boys takes SI's Marty Burns to task for losing all semblance of logic and sense in his preseason NBA rankings.
  

Red Wings NHL 09 Ratings

While many of you out there are still celebrating the recent Maddenoliday (myself included), new information is coming out on EA Sports' latest in their NHL series, which is arguably the best sports video game on the market. Unfortunately, most of my friends and co-writers completely ignore the remarkable beauty and skill of hockey, and therefore will miss out on this year's iteration of the 2007 Sports Game of the Year.

IGN just got their hands on the player ratings for this year. Here's the full list of teams, as well as a glossary so you know what the hell the ratings mean. This link will take you to the ratings for the Red Wings players. Although EA is still tweaking their system, and therefore doesn't provide overall rankings, we can take a look at the specific ratings that make up each player. Some jump out:

• Nick Lidstrom, deservedly, is an absolute animal. He's got a 96 rating for offensive awareness, passing, puck control, and defensive awareness. Norris, indeed.
• Pavel Datsyuk has a 98 deke rating and 95 puck control. Enjoy making the defense look silly.
• Datsyuk is better across the board (albeit barely) in almost every category than Henrik Zetterberg. While I don't necessarily disagree, I'm somewhat surprised.
• Tomas Holmstrom has a 97 deflection rating. That sounds about right, and I'm sure Western Conference goalies would agree (begrudgingly, if I had to guess). He also has 96 balance, which is useful for not toppling over when defensemen and goalies tomahawk chop you in the calves all game.
  
• Darren McCarty has a miserable 53 offensive awareness rating, a full 17 points below anyone else on the roster. What the hell?
• Chris Osgood has around 80-84 abilities almost completely across the board. His best rating? Poise, at 90. Those of you who remember him giving up three center-ice goals in the 1998 playoffs would never have seen that coming ten years ago.

If you're a video game fan, I highly recommend you check out the details of NHL 09. They've got some groundbreaking stuff going (including 6-0n-6 online games, where everyone is locked on to one player on the ice), and since EA doesn't have the exclusive rights to the NHL (2K Sports has also put out quality NHL games in recent years) they usually step up and put out a great game every year.

The game drops September 9th, and no, EA did not pay me to write this.

Questions for a Red Wings Legend

Thanks to a family connection, I will be interviewing Red Wings Hall-of-Famer Alex Delvecchio next Monday. I have come up with a list of questions to ask him, but I also wanted to see if any of my readers (all 15 of you) had anything they wanted me to ask. Please leave any suggestions in the comments, and I will do my best to include your questions in my interview. I'll post up the audio of the interview Monday, and hopefully by the middle of the week I'll have the good stuff (if not the whole thing) transcribed.

If you want a little background on Alex Delvecchio, check out:
Detroit Red Wings Bio
Legends of Hockey Bio
Wikipedia Entry
Career Stats

Bullet Points Are Handy: Tom Brady is Surprisingly Grounded

Photo from Esquire, via The Sports Point

Today's links include Tom Brady talking about God and football (not in the way you think), Jason Maxiell still burning up the Floor Burn Tournament, and more.

• The Sports Point has the highlights from Tom Brady's article in Esquire. They are surprisingly awesome:
• "Look at the attention I get: It's because I throw a football. But that's what society values. That's not what God values. God could give a shit, as far as I'm concerned. He didn't invent the game. We did. I have some eye-hand coordination, and I can throw the ball. I don't think that matters to God."
• "What the hell you gonna do about it? Sit there and bitch and complain and ruin the next two months of your life because something didn't go right for you? Or do you say, you know, Fuck it, let's learn from it, let's accept it, understand that it didn't happen and move on?"
• (Ed. Yes, Tom Brady just cemented his place in the pantheon of my favorite athletes. It's a personal pet peeve of mine when players always thank God for their performance in a game. Brady clearly feels the same way, and isn't afraid to take some heat for saying some inflammatory shit. Fuck. Bitch. TOM BRADY!)
• Jason Maxiell continues to dominate Hoops Addict's Floor Burn Tournament. Mad Max is currently leading his second round matchup with Indiana's Jeff Foster by a count of 151-10. Get out there and vote!
• DBB's Matt Watson wrote a piece on former Pistons' first-round pick Rodney White for AOL's Fanhouse. Not surprisingly, the article was part of their countdown of the biggest draft busts of the 2000's. White clocks in at #3, after being drafted ninth overall in 2001 ahead of Joe Johnson, Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Arenas, Tony Parker, and several other players who panned out much, much better. Yikes.
• Dave at Gorilla Crouch has put together a breakdown of the Red Wings minor league prospects, and which players have the best shot of contributing in the near future.
• Gary Sheffield said some things to the Boston Globe. Gary Sheffield does this kind of stuff all the time.
  
• Not Detroit-related, but I saw this headline on SI, and couldn't help but think of this. My mind remains firmly in the gutter.
• Varsity Blue gives us the Barwis for President campaign commercial. Its beauty brought a single, solitary tear to drop from my eye. The movement grows...
  

Scotty Stolen!

Well, this adds some intrigue to the Winter Classic. Scotty Bowman is leaving the Red Wings and joining the Chicago Blackhawks as their "Senior Advisor, Hockey Operations".

Although Scotty has said he was content staying in the Detroit organization, his son Stan is an assistant GM in Chicago, and it is quite possible that he will have a greater role with the Blackhawks than he has had in Detroit.

We'll miss you, Scotty. Good luck in Chicago. Just don't beat us.

(Image from Detroit News)

Wings Sign Valtteri Filppula

MLive has the full story: 5 years, $15 million, which could be a huge bargain if Filppula blossoms into a solid second-line scoring threat. He netted 19 goals in 78 games last year, is a solid defensive forward, and showed flashes of brilliance in the playoffs last season.

Filppula's signing leaves the Red Wings with only Kyle Quincey and two of the Chris Chelios/Darren McCarty/Aaron Downey trio to re-sign. You can never say it too many times: Ken Holland is one of the best GM's in sports, period.

Chicago Politician Forgets Blackhawks Still Largely Irrelevant

Commission Quigley: Unaware Chicago still sucks

As we all know by now, the Chicago Blackhawks will play the Detroit Red Wings at Wrigley Field on January 1st, in the most recent iteration of the NHL's "Winter Classic" series. I love the concept, with two Original Six teams battling it out in a chilly outdoor setting in a game that showcases the defending Stanley Cup champs in what will be the most-watched regular season game of the year.

However, can we not pretend that there is any sort of current rivalry between the 'Hawks and the Wings? Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley seems to have other ideas:

When Quigley put together an official resolution Tuesday celebrating the Hawks' outdoor showdown against the Red Wings on New Year's Day at Wrigley Field, he included a secret message to the reigning Stanley Cup champions and their fans.

He used red capital letters in the last line of his resolution to spell out a favorite chant he learned while growing up a Hawks fan ''in the second balcony in Chicago Stadium.'' The letters spelled out, "DETROIT SUCKS."

Besides declaring Jan. 1 will be "Chicago Blackhawks Day" in Cook County, Quigley's resolution designates Wrigley Field and the surrounding area an "Octopus Free Zone" -- a dig at Red Wings fans' tradition of throwing octopi on the ice after their team scores.

I can't blame the man for trying to fuel the hype for the Winter Classic, and I have no problem with him celebrating the Blackhawks on New Year's Day. But, Commissioner Quigley, taking childish potshots at Detroit is not recommended. We all know how tremendous Detroit hockey has been in the last decade-plus. Shall we, for a second, go over Chicago's recent hockey history?

• The Blackhawks have not made the playoffs since the 2001-2002 season.
• The last time Chicago made it past the first round was 1996. I was eight at the time.
• Chicago's last Stanley Cup? 1961. Guess the Cubs aren't the only team in Chicago in a bit of a championship drought.
• In 2004, ESPN named the Blackhawks the worst franchise in all of sports.
  
• In April of this year, the Blackhawks announced that for the first time in team history, all of their games would be televised. Welcome to the late-20th century, Chicago.
• Late owned Bill "Dollar Bill" Wirtz instituted many fan-unfriendly policies before his death in 2007. He raised ticket prices to over $50 on average, and blacked out Blackhawks home games in the Chicago area.

I realize the Blackhawks are on the rise, and the young duo of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane should bring Chicago back into the Western Conference playoff picture. However, as Yahoo!'s Greg Wyshynski suggested, the best hope for Chicago to win on January 1st is for Quigley to ban Swedes from Wrigley Field.

Chicago Blackhawks seasons (Wikipedia)
Blackhawks Announce All Games to Be Televised (Chicago Blackhawks)

Bullet Points Are Handy: July 22

As you may be able to tell from the "Your Humble Bloggers" section on the left sidebar, The Ace of Sports is expanding. Please join me in welcoming Joe, a fellow Ann Arborite, Michigan student, and Michigan Daily contributor. He'll be bringing you longer opinion pieces, and we also plan on having some PTI-style throwdowns for your reading pleasure.

As for your Detroit sports updates, bring on the bullets...

• The Sacramento Bee is reporting that the Pistons are intersted in acquiring Ron Artest. If character, team chemistry, and past life-altering brawls were not a factor, Artest would be a great addition to Detroit. However, I doubt Piston fans, players, and ownership will ever forget the "Malice in the Palace". I really don't see this trade happening, barring a complete loss of sanity by Joe Dumars and Bill Davidson.
• In other Pistons news, Detroit signed rookie Walter Sharpe, as well as Summer League standout Will Bynum.
  
• The Red Wings are very close to adding a new assistant coach, ex-Wings defenseman Brad McCrimmon.
• Ken Holland was named the Hockey News Executive of the Year. Duh.
• The Tigers, riding a red-hot offense, is now only 5.5 games back of the White Sox in the AL Central after absolutely obliterating the Royals last night, 19-4. Matt Joyce and Miguel Cabera combined for 11 RBIs, and Zach Miner pitched six scoreless innings for the win.