Trying Times are Ahead...

Unless you have been living in solitude, you know about the great start that the Detroit Tigers are having this year. The Tigers are off to their 5th best start in franchise history, but their true test lies ahead. The Tigers are in the middle of a series with one of the perennial favorites, the New York Yankees.
After this series, the Tigers face Boston, Chicago, and Toronto. All of these teams are formidable and will show exactly where the Tigers are at this point in the season. I feel if they can come out of this "test" with an above .500 record it will fare well for the rest of the season. The recently took a three game series against the Cleveland Indians. The major concern is that the Tigers have lost the last two games via shutout. One asterisk to consider is the last shutout was due to the arm of Randy Johnson. This portion of the schedule should provide a good litmus test of the state of the Tigers.

Why are the Tigers doing so well this season? Their lineup has not changed dramatically since last year. Their pitching staff is about 75% percent the same. So why the dramatic jump in performance?

-First of all, let's give some credit to ole Jimmy Leyland. This guy has been around the majors for some time and has a pretty impressive track record. The last time he and Tigers' President Dave Dombrowski hooked up on a team they won the World Series, see 1995 Florida Marlins. And in case you forgot, remember what happened the last time the Tigers hired a manger that won the World Series with a National League Team prior to coming to this organization. (See Sparky Anderson)

-Secondly, the pitching staff seems to have come of age. I feel that the addition of the crafty veteran, Kenny Rogers, has added to the confidence level of this pitching staff. It's like having another coach in the dugout and bullpen.

-Finally, the hot start of Chris Shelton and others. He was the first American League player to hit nine homeruns in the first 13 games. Can they keep up the pace? It doesn't appear to be the case, but some of the players are stepping up when needed. See Curtis Granderson in the ninth with two outs against the Indians.

For what it is worth, the Tigers are fun to watch and I actually care about how they are doing. I just hope they can substain and make the playoffs. They have the players and the staff to compete, but may need to make a trade to strengthen the roster. Maybe another relief pitcher, or a another strong bat in the lineup. I guess we can only watch and wait.

Kenny Bloggins is a freelance writer for the Michigan Sports Blog and can be reached for comment @ kenny@michigansportsblog.com.

Last A Little Longer With "Big Red"??

Last week Tiger's first baseman Chris Shelton was named AL player of the week. I'll admit I was skeptical if "Big Red" could keep this pace up for the season. I mean who was the last Tigers hitter that had this much potential at such a young age, Matt Nokes?
Well Chris did not disappoint this week and as Nagle MD mentioned is an actual threat to win the Triple Crown. At the end of today, he led in batting average(.514), Home Runs(7), and RBIs(14). The Tigers did lose, but this kid could be the star in the making that they need to build on. As Coach says, let's not start tugging each others bananas quite yet. I'm just glad the Tigers are actually fun again to watch and follow. Talk to me in another month or two and let's see if I feel the same.

Take ME out to the ballgame.

KB

Joe Dumars Gets What He Deserves

Earlier this week Joe Dumars was elected into the basketball hall of fame. For Joe Dumars this caps off a great career and puts him where he belongs. Joe is the consummate Piston and excelled on the court and in the front office. There is not a more deserving individual because Joe was the ultimate sportsman and an upstanding citizen.

Along with Dumars, Connecticut women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma and Atlanta Hawks stand out Dominique Wilkins were also inducted.

Dumars is a three time champ, twice on the court and once as the president. He was named the 1989 NBA Finals MVP. He finished his career with 16,401 points.

Here are some career highlights:

-Received the first-ever 1996-97 NBA Sportsmanship Award, given to the player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court. This award was later change to the "Joe Dumars Sportsmanship Award"
-Won the Walter J. Kennedy Citizenship Award for the 1993-94 season
-Named to the 1992-93 All-NBA Second Team and to the 1989-90 and 1990-91 All-NBA Third Team
-Named to the 1988-89, 1989-90, 1991-92 and 1992-93 NBA All-Defensive First Team and to the 1990-91 NBA All-Defensive Second Team

-A member of the Detroit Pistons' 1988-89 and 1989-90 back-to-back NBA championship teams
-Named the Most Valuable Player of the 1989 NBA Finals, averaging 27.3 ppg during a four-game sweep of the Lakers
-Tied the Pistons' franchise record for most points in a quarter with 24 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on 4/12/89
-Named to the 1985-86 NBA All-Rookie Team after averaging 9.4 ppg and 4.8 rpg

Updated MSB Podcast Intro......

Take a look at our new intro for the weekly podcast. Please let us know your thoughts, but only if they are positive. I recently updated this video on 4-9-2006.

Western Michigan Just Got Kool!

The 26th annual Hal Schram Mr. Basketball award was recently announced and the winner was David Kool of Grand Rapids South Christian. David won it by a landslide, beating second-place finisher Tom Herzog of Flint Powers by nearly 600 points. Mr. Kool, as I call him, averaged 30.1 points and nine rebounds this season. He led his team to two Class B State Championships during his Freshman and Junior seasons.

The most interesting fact is that the majority of past Mr. Michigan winners have attended either Michigan State University or The University Of Michigan. David will be attending neither. He will be a Bronco of Western Michigan. Kool is the first player signing with a Mid-American Conference to be named Mr. Basketball.

Kool was recruited by both UM and MSU, but they stopped their efforts when he suffered an a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last May. Actually all schools stopped their recruiting efforts when David suffered this injury, except one, WMU. Steve Hawkins, WMU Head Coach, never gave up on him, even after the injury.

Normally this injury takes at least eight months to recover from. Three days after the surgery, he was on the court shooting free throws. He shot 50 and made every single shot. After four months, Kool was back on the court to join his team. And ten months after the injury, he was named Mr. Basketball. David was driven to prove something to the schools that believed that this injury would effect his future play. He worked out 5 days a week eight hours a day to get back to playing status. This is a testament to his will and drive to succeed. “It definitely didn't feel very good," Kool said. "It just motivated me more to work harder and prove them wrong, and when I did this it definitely feels very good."

The addition of Kool to the Broncos roster should elevate them to a formidable force in the Mid-American conference. The team finished third in the MAC West standings. The Broncos will also return their leading scorer next season, Joe Reitz.

The top five vote getters were announced in the Mr Basketball award presentation. Kool was first followed by Tom Herzog, then DeShawn Sims. Herzog will attend MSU and Sims will attend the U of M. The complete list is as follows:

David Kool - Grand Rapids South Christian
931 Points
Tom Herzog - Flint Powers
360 Points
DeShawn Sims - Detroit Pershing
329 Points
Johnathon Jones - Okemos
207 Points
Leon Freeman - Belleville
186 Points

Here are the past 25 Winners of the Hal Schram Mr. Basketball award

2005: Wilson Chandler, Benton Harbor (DePaul)

2004: Drew Neitzel, Wyoming Park (Michigan State)

2003: Dion Harris, Detroit Redford (Michigan)

2002: Paul Davis, Rochester (Michigan State)

2001: Kelvin Torbert, Flint Northwestern (Michigan State)

2000: Marcus Taylor, Lansing Waverly (Michigan State)

1999: Jason Richardson, Saginaw Arthur Hill (Michigan State)

1998: Dane Fife, Clarkston (Indiana)

1997: Shane Battier, Birmingham Detroit Country Day (Duke)

1996: Winfred Walton, Detroit Pershing (Syracuse, Fresno State)

1995: Robert Traylor, Detroit Murray-Wright (Michigan)

1994: Willie Mitchell, Detroit Pershing (Michigan, Alabama-Birmingham)

1993: Jon Garavaglia, Southgate Aquinas (Michigan State)

1992: Kenyon Murray, Battle Creek Central (Iowa)

1991: Chris Webber, Birmingham Detroit Country Day (Michigan)

1990: Anthony Miller, Benton Harbor (Michigan State)

1989: Michael Talley, Detroit Cooley (Michigan)

1988: Matt Steigenga, Grand Rapids South Christian (Michigan State)

1987: Mark Macon, Saginaw Buena Vista (Temple)

1986: Terry Mills, Romulus (Michigan)

1985: Glen Rice, Flint Northwestern (Michigan)

1984: Demetreus Gore, Detroit Chadsey (Pittsburgh)

1983: Antoine Joubert, Detroit Southwestern (Michigan)

1982: Robert Henderson, Lansing Eastern (Michigan)

1981: Sam Vincent, Lansing Eastern (Michigan State)

KB Out

A Farewell To The Sparty.........

On Friday Michigan State lost a hard fought game to George Mason ending their season. It was a decent season for the Spartans, but I sure some will say that they were underachievers. (i.e. Red Auerblog)

Michigan State's season has ended, and with that brings the end of the career of some of the greatest players to wear the Green and White. I wanted to take a moment to pay tribute to one of the best. Here's to you PD. You were the man.

Happy Birthday Coach.........

For all of the fans of the Michigan Sports Blog, please take a moment to wish the coach a happy 30th birthday.

The coach has been a great friend of mine since 6th grade. He was my first friend when I moved to Lincoln. He has always made me laugh and I'm honored to call him a friend. Coach as I told you if you would have asked me 10 years ago where I thought you and I'd be at this point, I would of never guessed you would be a married with kids. I actually was concerned that you would reproduce. Congrats on 30 years and here's to 30 more!