Author Archive
Miguel Cabrera’s Shoulders Getting Narrow at the Wrong Time
Posted: 19th September 2009 by Greg Eno in MLB
It was in a fit of frustration, earlier in this unusual baseball season, when Tigers manager Jim Leyland tried his hardest to inflict a scolding on his star first baseman without naming him.
“It’s time,” Leyland said, while the Tigers were again laboring so hard to score some runs, “for the big boys to be the big boys.”
You can lose the “s” and thus the plural version of that phrase, for ...
“See you at the cemetery.”
Sadly, those words are no longer simply metaphorical.
Monte Clark is gone—dead at 72 after a long illness—and this has been a ghastly year for sports deaths, if you’re a follower of the teams in Detroit.
The following list is only partial: George Kell; Bill Davidson; Chuck Daly; Mark Fidrych; Brad Van Pelt; John Gordy. And Ernie Harwell is likely dying.
Most tributes to Clark, the former Lions coach ...
Time for Chris Osgood To Make Good on Yet Another Promise
Posted: 16th September 2009 by Greg Eno in NHL
Ty Conklin did everything the Red Wings wanted him to—and more—and now he’s gone, bugging out of town after just one season in Detroit.
Conklin, the Red Wings’ ace in the hole last season in net, is the typical vagabond goalie on tour—taking his act from city to city on a yearly basis, almost.
It began in Edmonton, and then moved to Pittsburgh. Last season, Conklin performed in Detroit to rave reviews. ...
The More Things Change…Lions Defense Inept Against Saints
Posted: 14th September 2009 by Greg Eno in NFL
It was a storied line, uttered by the most powerful man in the world, once upon a time.
The quote is attributed to President John Kennedy, in 1961, recently installed into the Oval Office after a bitterly contested election against Dick Nixon.
“What we found out,” JFK said, “was that things were just as bad as we said they were. Maybe worse.”
My thoughts turned to that quote whenever the FOX Sports people ...
Monday Morning Manager: My Weekly Take on the Detroit Tigers
Posted: 14th September 2009 by Greg Eno in MLB
My weekly take on the Tigers, also known simply and affectionately as “MMM.”
Week of 9/7-13: 1-5
This week: 9/14: TOR; 9/15-17: KC; 9/18-20: at Min
Goat of the Week
The bullpen sprang its first major leak of the season.
The Tigers are still 64-0 when leading after eight innings, but on Saturday, Fernando Rodney surrendered a tie-breaking two-run home run to Aaron Hill as the Tigers lost their season-high fifth straight ...
My weekly take on the Tigers, also known simply and affectionately as “MMM.”
Week of 9/7-13: 1-5
This week: 9/14: TOR; 9/15-17: KC; 9/18-20: at Min
Goat of the Week
The bullpen sprang its first major leak of the season.
The Tigers are still 64-0 when leading after eight innings, but on Saturday, Fernando Rodney surrendered a tie-breaking two-run home run to Aaron Hill as the Tigers lost their season-high fifth straight ...
20 Years Ago, Barry Sanders Turned Lions Fans On From Carry No. 1
Posted: 12th September 2009 by Greg Eno in NFL
The rigors of another NFL training camp were past. The meaningless dress rehearsals known as exhibition games, all four of them, had been played. The fates of certain pro football players—the fringe guys on that imaginary “bubble”—were now hanging in the balance.
And the fate of a franchise tilted and swayed.
Would he, or wouldn’t he?
The Detroit Lions, 20 years ago last spring, became the beneficiaries of one of the most boneheaded, ...
Tigers: Like Sparky in ’84, Leyland Likely Worried About Blowing Division Lead
Posted: 11th September 2009 by Greg Eno in MLB
Sparky Anderson was miserable.
Sleepless nights. Constant worry. Fear of being strung up on the center field flagpole at Tiger Stadium (no joke). Ghoulish thoughts of bitter disappointment.
Yep, the Tigers’ 1984 World Championship season almost wrecked the team’s manager.
The ‘89 season of 103 losses almost wrecked him too. When Sparky took a few weeks off during the season due to mental exhaustion he said: “I ain’t never lost no 100 games ...