NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 5

Week 5 is in the books, and this is usually the time of the year where the "recent success" attribute in the calculation starts to make a difference, as you will see. Dare I try to make playoff projections based on these ranks? Sure, I'll start them this week. You probably won't be browsing the bottom of the October archives come January if they are ridiculously wrong.

This week was interesting in that the 5 five mostly remained in tact. The #1 Lions, #2 Packers, and #4 Bills all won this week, while the #3 Ravens were idle. Even the former #5 Patriots won, but they were passed by yet another surprising team that hasn't made the playoffs in a while....the 49ers, who took over the #5 spot after beating Tampa in their biggest blowout win since the days of Montana and Rice, 1987.

The bottom 5 had a little bit of movement. The Vikings destroyed the Cardinals to get their first win of the year and move out of the bottom 5. Also, the Chiefs got their 2nd win of the year over the lowly Colts to move up. Replacing them are the awful Cardinals and the Jaguars, whose win over the Titans in week 1 looks like an anomaly.

The biggest gainer this week were the Vikings, who jumped 8 spots with a dominating first win. The Steelers jumped 7 spots for beating the Titans and getting back on track. The biggest losers were the Cardinals, for the reasons mentioned above, and the Texans, who lost to an emotional Raiders team playing for Al Davis.

Playoff Projections:
AFC
Byes:#3 Ravens, #4 Bills
#12 Bengals @ #9 Chargers
#6 Patriots @#10 Titans
Top 5 Out: #13 Texans, #14 Steelers, #15 Raiders, #19 Browns, #21 Jets

NFC
Byes: #1 Packers, #5 49ers
#11 Giants @ #7 Saints
#2 Lions @ #8 Redskins
Top 5 Out: #16 Buccaneers, #17 Cowboys, #18 Bears, #20 Vikings, #22 Falcons

Full Ranks:

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 3

Week 3 is in the books and only 3 3-0 teams are left standing. Those teams include the defending Super Bowl champs and 2 teams that haven't made the playoffs since the 90s. What's going on here? The Lions beat another admittedly bad team in the Vikings but the Bills knocked off New England for the first time in 8 years. Those 3 teams make up the top 3 again this week, with the Lions hanging onto 1st, the Packers 2nd (up from 4th), and the Bills 3rd (up from 6th). The Ravens and Giants also moved into the top 5 as the best 2-1 teams so far (with the 49ers at #6?!? ok...). The Redskins, Jets, and Patriots fell out of the top 5 after losses to the Cowboys, Raiders, and Bills.

In the bottom 5, the horrible, horrible Chiefs actually moved up to #31 this week after their close loss. Replacing them are the Rams, who got blown out by the Ravens, have a ton of injuries, are 0-3, and yet are still most people's favorites to win the NFC West. The Dolphins fell down to #30, while the Colts and Vikings also joined the bottom 5 for dropping to 0-3. The Seahawks and Panthers climbed out of the bottom 5 by getting their first wins of the season.

The biggest gainers this week were the Panthers, who got their first win and jumped over a bunch of bad teams, moving up 8 spots. The Browns and Chargers also moved up 7 spots for improving to 2-1. The biggest losers were the Bengals, who got shut down by the 49ers and fell 11 spots, and the Patriots, who dropped 10 spots after their loss to the Bills.

Here are the full ranks:
1. Lions - 86.86 - Even
2. Packers - 81.34 - +2
3. Bills - 78.28 - +3
4. Ravens - 68.44 - +4
5. Giants - 67.90 - +6
6. 49ers - 67.43 - +6
7. Redskins - 66.58 - -2
8. Texans - 64.20 - -1
9. Cowboys - 63.49 - +5
10. Raiders - 63.16 - +3
11. Jets - 61.81 - -9
12. Buccaneers - 61.54 - +3
13. Patriots - 60.84 - -10
14. Titans - 58.19 - +3
15. Saints - 55.86 - +3
16. Browns - 54.78 - +7
17. Chargers - 51.29 - +7
18. Steelers - 49.58 - +4
19. Bears - 44.69 - -9
20. Bengals - 43.90 - -11
21. Panthers - 38.78 - +8
22. Cardinals - 37.11 - -6
23. Eagles - 35.97 - -4
24. Falcons - 35.73 - -3
25. Broncos - 34.63 - -5
26. Seahawks - 32.73 - +5
27. Jaguars - 32.69 - -2
28. Vikings - 28.22 - -2
29. Colts - 20.42 - -2
30. Dolphins - 18.40 - -2
31. Chiefs - 13.28 - +1
32. Rams - 13.22 - -2

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 2

What exactly is going on this NFL season? After week 2, we have 2 teams that went the entire decade of the 2000s without making the playoffs, the Lions and Bills, that are both 2-0. It can be argued that so far the Lions actually look the most impressive these first 2 weeks, and the computerized power rankings agree. Yes, believe it or not, the Detroit Lions are the #1 ranked team this week Following the Lions are the Jets, who blew out feeble Jacksonville. #3 are the Patriots, who have also looked very impressive after the first 2 weeks, led by Tom Brady and his nearly 1000 passing yards. The defending champ Packers remained at #4, and the surprising 2-0 Redskins elevated to #5.

Falling out of the top 5 are the Bills, who improved to 2-0 but won a nail biter over the Raiders, and the Ravens, who inexplicably lost to Tennessee this week.

Four out of five of last week's bottom 5 turned it around by winning this week. However, the on team that remained, the Chiefs, looked about as awful as can be, and are deeply rooted already as #32. Joining the Chiefs in the bottom 5 are 3 other teams that have looked just awful so far (Seahawks, Rams, and Dolphins) and 1 team that has shown some promise in Cam Newton's early career play, but is being punished for last season's stats still (Panthers).

This week, the biggest gainers were the Giants and Falcons, who turned around bad week 1 losses and gained 11 spots. The Saints also jumped 10 spots by blowing out the Bears. The Chargers dropped 11 spots for losing to New England, and the Jaguars and Vikings each dropped 9 spots.

My 49ers only dropped 2 spots this week, but they still have me nervous. Only 1 of their remaining 14 games will be against Tarvaris Jackson or a QB with only 1 healthy lung. Imagine the kind of damage that a QB that isn't Jackson with 2 healthy lungs can do against them?

Here are the full ranks:
1. Lions - 88.10 - +2
2. Jets - 84.14 - +4
3. Patriots - 80.35 - +2
4. Packers - 79.72 - Even
5. Redskins - 76.99 - +6
6. Bills - 76.64 - -4
7. Texans - 74.19 - +5
8. Ravens - 58.87 - -7
9. Bengals - 57.26 - -1
10. Bears - 54.31 - -3
11. Giants - 52.80 - +11
12. 49ers - 52.39 - -2
13. Raiders - 52.28 - -4
14. Cowboys - 52.07 - +4
15. Buccaneers - 51.98 - +8
16. Cardinals - 50.05 - -2
17. Titans - 49.03 - +2
18. Saints - 47.06 - +10
19. Eagles - 45.94 - -4
20. Broncos - 44.62 - +4
21. Falcons - 44.07 - +11
22. Steelers - 42.82 - +7
23. Browns - 42.66 - +7
24. Chargers - 42.04 - -11
25. Jaguars - 40.89 - -9
26. Vikings - 29.48 - -9
27. Colts - 24.92 - -7
28. Dolphins - 24.14 - -7
29. Panthers - 19.31 - -2
30. Rams - 18.44 - -4
31. Seahawks - 16.18 - -6
32. Chiefs - 13.66 - -1

The real reason Titus Young was drafted

Yeah, that seems like a bad idea, Calvin Johnson. Doing commercials for a car company that isn't named Ford when you play in Ford Field doesn't seem like a good idea. Doing a car company owned by Honda seems like a worse idea for a guy playing in Detroit. My best bet is that Titus Young was drafted to the Lions in the event Calvin Johnson gets drawn and quartered, or at the very least traded to Cleveland.

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 16

After 6 consecutive weeks on top of the power ranks, the mighty Falcons have fallen to #2 after losing to the Saints on Monday night. Fortunately for them, they are still in the driver seat to clinch home field advantage in the NFC with a win over Carolina this Sunday. The Patriots have replaced the Falcons as #1, and have clinched home field in the AFC. It will be interesting to see how many starters they bench this week and how it could affect their rank heading into the playoffs with a loss. The Steelers remained #3 after dominating the now #32 Panthers on Thursday. The Eagles loss on Tuesday night to the Vikings knocked them back to #6. Moving up to replace them were the Ravens and the Bears, who clinched a 1st round bye thanks to that Eagles loss.

We had some more movement on the bottom side. The Cardinals got a dramatic win over the Cowboys on Christmas to move them up to #26, and the Bengals knocked the Chargers out of the playoffs to move up to #25. The Broncos also won, but only moved up 1 spot to #31, putting the Panthers rightfully back in last. The Seahawks moved even further down this week to #30, and the best part is, with a win this weekend, they are NFC West Champs and get a home playoff game. The Texans are brand new to the bottom 5. They have played horribly on defense and have combined them with losing a few close games over the past few weeks.

The biggest gainers this week were the Lions, who have won 3 in a row and are killing a potentially nice draft pick. They moved up 6 spots to jump all the way to #14. Can they make it 4 in a row to end the season? The biggest losers were the Lions' victims, the Dolphins, who fell 7 spots below a group of bunched up under .500 teams to fall to #24.

The playoffs are pretty much set, so a playoff projection doesn't make much sense, but here it is. Some of these scenarios are impossible so this more reflects who is playing best right now.
NFC
First Round Byes: #2 Falcons, #5 Bears
#9 Packers @ #6 Eagles
#8 Saints @ #17 Rams
Top 5 Out: #11 Buccaneers, #14 Lions, #15 Giants, #18 Cowboys, #22 Vikings

AFC
First Round Byes: #1 Patriots, #3 Steelers
#12 Chargers @ #7 Chiefs
#4 Ravens @ #10 Colts
Top 5 Out: #13 Jets, #16 Raiders, #19 Jaguars, #20 Titans, #21 Browns

Full ranks:
1. Patriots - 83.20 - +1
2. Falcons - 76.89 - -1
3. Steelers - 71.92 - Even
4. Ravens - 69.85 - +1
5. Bears - 67.47 - +1
6. Eagles - 66.87 - -2
7. Chiefs - 66.70 - +1
8. Saints - 66.24 - -1
9. Packers - 64.45 - +3
10. Colts - 58.43 - +3
11. Buccaneers - 57.01 - +3
12. Chargers - 54.49 - -1
13. Jets - 54.18 - -3
14. Lions - 53.59 - +6
15. Giants - 54.42 - -6
16. Raiders - 50.42 - -1
17. Rams - 47.50 - +2
18. Cowboys - 43.98 - Even
19. Jaguars - 42.50 - +3
20. Titans - 41.32 - +1
21. Browns - 40.41 - -5
22. Vikings - 39.90 - +4
23. Redskins - 39.32 - +4
24. Dolphins - 39.19 - -7
25. Bengals - 37.65 - +4
26. Cardinals - 36.30 - +4
27. 49ers - 33.92 - -4
28. Bills - 33.65 - -3
29. Texans - 32.65 - -5
30. Seahawks - 30.30 - -2
31. Broncos - 27.98 - +1
32. Panthers - 25.44 - -1

Position in the Spotlight: Detroit

If nothing else, we can certainly say that Detroit IS the PitS. It's a depressing city, from the faltering economy to some pretty atrocious teams, like the Lions of the early 2000s Tigers. Don't make any mistake about it, though, this isn't a depressing town like, say, Cleveland. Detroit has a history of success. A RECENT history of success by some standards. Sure the Lions are bad, but the Pistons were the dominant force between Bird's Celtics and Jordan's Bulls, and just won the title again in 2004. They have the Tigers who were in the World Series this decade and won a couple in the 80s. No team, however, has been as successful as the Detroit Red Wings.
The best part about the Red Wings is that they do things the way most fans want a team to do it: good coaching, and players that have come through Grand Rapids and stayed in the Red Wings system. If you think back to all the best players the Red Wings have had, it seems like they have all begun their career in Detroit. They aren't often of the same position, but they all came up with the team. And this is why the Detroit Position in the Spotlight is the Red Wings' Homegrown Talent.
It goes back as long 1946 when a young winger Gordie Howe took to the ice for the Red Wings. He was 19 years old at the time, and didn't leave the team until he was the leader in goals, points and assists, titles he still holds. It only took 25 years. He took a year off, and then went to play in the newly formed WHA, and ended up playing until he was 51. The Wings should have known he still had good years left in him. He scored 100 points at age 40. He played all but one of his years with the Wings. Definitely a quality home grown talent.
On his same line in 1968 when he was the 40 year old dynamo, he was often assisted by Alex Delvecchio. Delvecchio was 7 years younger than Howe and certainly took advantage of all the time that he played with him. He ended up with over 800 career assists, all with the Wings, and has his number in the rafters at Joe Louis arena.
One of the most beloved hockey players by a fan base in my lifetime is Steve Yzerman. Stevie Y joined the Wings in 1986 at age 21 and spent the entirety of his career in Detroit. Like Delvecchio and Howe, he had a long career with the Red Wings and is among the team's all time point leaders, coming in at #2 on the list (between Howe and Delvecchio). Not only that, he brought the team back to prominence, winning three Cups, the first in decades for Detroit.
Even today, the best players the Red Wings have have been their for their entire career. The triumvirate of the ageless defensive stalwart Niklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg have all come up with the Wings and are already on the all time lists for scoring, be it points (Lidstrom and Datsyuk) or  goals (Zetterberg and Datsyuk). They make the Wings a threat to win the title every season.
Now if only they could get a permanent goalie.

Honorable mention
Tigers outfielders: The outfield has a long, long history of talent, from the turn of the century on. How does Ty Cobb sound? Or Sam Crawford, Harry Heilman, Al Kaline or Heinie Manush, all outfielders wearing Tigers caps in the Hall of Fame. Of course, they haven't had a truly transcendental outfielder since Kaline who retired in 74. Bobby Higginson doesn't count.
Pistons bad boy: For whatever reason, the Pistons best players always have to be surly and/or arrogant. Bill Laimbeer, Isaiah Thomas, Dennis Rodman jsut to name a few. Even in their renaissance in the 2000s, they couldn't have done it without the ever charming Rasheed Wallace

It should be noted that the University of Michigan is near to Detroit, but it's very difficult to pick just one position there that can be spotlit. It's a very prestigious university with a prolific history.

Mere days to the draft

Now that Matt Millen is on board as an analyst for ESPN, I can't help but hope he works the draft. Can you imagine what he'll say after the Lions inevitably pick Matthew Stafford?
"Well, he's a quality QB, but I don't like him going to an environment where he's got nobody to throw to." Again, I will be liveblogging that, and if Steve can manage, he will be there as well. Wee! Draft!

Rod Marinelli also farts rainbows

This is Rod Marinelli. He is the head coach of the Detroit Lions. Pity Rod Marinelli if you must, but know, he doesn't need your pity. You see, he believes in his team. And he will not give up. His will is outstanding. Other fun facts about Marinelli:

- He voted for Mondale in 84

- Now that Allen Iverson is in town, calls daily and asks about practice

- Last year the Lions had a game in Green Bay against the Packers in December. He packed sunscreen

- Can't wait to see Dontrelle Willis pitch next season.

- This year, voted for Chuck Norris.

Brett Favre tomfoolery

Let's talk about Brett Favre. Hypothetically, let's talk about Brett Favre. Let's go ahead and say that the Packers cut him and he went out and signed with one of the NFC North teams. How would the fan base react? Let's poke around the division.

Minnesota: What? No! He's the most hated person in Minnesota sports! We're doing so good with our team, We have a great running game, and a pretty good defense, and an awesome running game! I'm sure Tarvaris will be fine this year. All he has to do is hand the ball off! We have a fantastic running game! I don't know that I would be able to sleep, knowing that my team's fate was being influenced by Brett Favre. Besides! We don't need him! Wonderful running game!

Chicago: I know that he's been such a mortal enemy for so many years, but Jesus, we were really beginning to think that Kyle Orton was the answer to our quarterback problems. Kyle Orton! I mean, we brought in Kordell Stewart for a year! Seriously, we've never had a quarterback. The best in our history was like, Jim McMahon. That's not very good. So yeah, Brett Favre. Whatever.

Detroit: We still have a football team?

Detroit Sports 101

Originally posted on "Is It Sports?" by Steve. I'm am so glad that I don't live in Detroit any more.

There are many reasons why this site had no new posts for almost a month. First, Ryan and I both graduated college, and we followed that up by spending the next few weeks at our homes in Minnesota and Chicago respectively. It’s not easy to update the site when we’re away from school because apparently Ryan uses a computer stolen from a Ukrainian submarine built in 1958 in his house, and I use my crappy old laptop that used to have FrontPage until the hard drive completely died on it….several times. I actually finally found the FrontPage installation disk for it while I was packing my stuff to move…which flows nicely into this post. The good old job market lured me east so now Is It Sports? is back up and running again from my new command center here just outside Detroit. Sadly, the biggest impact of this move for me is getting to know Detroit’s 4 major sports teams. So I figured I’d break it down here.

Baseball: Detroit Tigers
Founded: 1901
Home Field: Comerica Park
Division: AL Central
Division Titles: 3 (1972, 1984, 1987) (All of these were when they were in the AL East)
AL Pennants: 9 (1907, 1908, 1909, 1934, 1935, 1940, 1945, 1968, 1984)
Championships: 4 (1935, 1945, 1968, 1984)

As you can see above, when it comes to recent success, the Tigers don't have much, ok none. They have not had a winning season since 1993, had the 2nd worst season in MLB history in 2003 by finishing 43-119, and have the 4th longest playoff drought (1987) in baseball, only behind the juggernaut Expos/Nationals (1981), Brewers (1982), and Royals (1985). However this team still has the same amount of World Series titles as the White Sox and Cubs combined. Hey, they even won a World Series in my lifetime, in 1984, but at the same time, my friend that's a Royals fan likes to brag that his team won a World Series in his lifetime too....in 1985...when he was 2....I'm sure he has fond memories.

When baseball split into divisions in 1969, the White Sox went West and the Tigers went East, and the 1994 realignment also kept the Tigers in the East while placing the White Sox in the Central. However, the addition of the Devil Rays in 1998 landed Tampa in the East and moved Detroit to the Central while bumping Milwaukee to the National League. Fueled by Bears-Lions, Bulls-Pistons, and Blackhawks-Red Wings rivalries, the White Sox and Tigers (and their fans) soon hated each other just as much, eventually erupting in one of the biggest brawls baseball has seen in April of 2000. That fight meant a lot for the teams; Everyone in Detroit hated the Sox, and everyone in Chicago hated the Tigers, but that fight was also seen as the moment that the White Sox became a team, launching their run to the AL Central title.

So where are they now? Well the Tigers' expectations were a little too high coming into this year mostly because of the talking heads on TV expecting too much from the allegedly-roid-free Ivan Rodriguez, oft-injured Troy Percival, and still-injured Magglio Ordonez. Dmitri Young made a bold prediction early in the season that it was going to be a real tough fight between the Tigers and Indians this season, and he was definitely right. They are only separated by 1 game right now, 11 and 12 games behind the White Sox.

I think I still have a strong possibility of getting behind the Tigers, but they will NEVER become my favorite team. I've been to 5 games at Comerica and its a great place to see a game, and 12 years of solid losing makes for plenty of close seats. I'm looking forward to being here to see the Tigers finally turn things around, just as long as they are still always worse than the White Sox.

Football: Detroit Lions
Founded: 1930 (as Portsmouth Spartans, became Detroit Lions in 1934)
Home Field: Ford Field
Division: NFC North
Division Titles: 8 (1935, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1983, 1991, 1993)
Conference Titles: 5 (1935, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957)
Championships: 4 (1935, 1952, 1953, 1957)

The Lions resume above looks a lot more impressive than it actually is. They won their last championship 9 years before the beginning of the Super Bowl era, and the closest they've gotten since then is a loss in the 1991 NFC Championship game. I think their other 3 championships were won when leather helmets and sweaters were popular football gear, and their last playoff appearance came in 1999. Things are starting to look up for the Lions now though, especially in their own division. They have a decent coach in Steve Mariucci, a serviceable backup in Jeff Garcia for when Joey Harrington proves himself ineffective yet again, and 3 top WR prospects with Charles Rogers, Roy Williams, and Mike Williams. They have a chance of finally making the playoffs this year with a Moss-less and Tice lead Vikings team, an aging and decimated Packers team, and a usually crappy Bears team in their division.

So how do I feel about this team? Well I'm not sure if I mentioned before, but I grew up a 49ers fan and respecting my dad's Raiders, and I never enjoyed being surrounded by Bears fans every day living in Chicago. I also still dislike the Packers because first, they're from Wisconsin, and second, they ended too many 49ers playoff runs in recent years. So I used to love watching Barry Sanders cutting through the Bears or Packers defenses while I was cutting through my turkey each Thanksgiving. I can see myself definitely getting behind this team, especially in NFC Central games, but they'll always be a distant 3rd behind the Niners and Raiders to me.

Basketball: Detroit Pistons
Founded: 1949 (as Fort Wayne Pistons, moved to Detroit in 1958)
Home Court: Palace of Auburn Hills
Division: Eastern Central
Division Titles: 8 (1955, 1956, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2005)
Conference Titles: 7 (1955, 1956, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2004, 2005)
Championships: 3 (1989, 1990, 2004)

DEEE-TROIT BASKET-BALL! is synonymous with both of my moves to Detroit, last year as an intern, and this year for my full time job. Easily the talk of the town the past couple of years, especially considering the dismal decades of the two teams I listed above and the NHL lockout still keeping the Red Wings home. The excitement in the town about this team is fun to see and it reminds me of the excitement in Chicago about the Bulls in their heyday. I went for a haircut today and I saw 2 kids, maybe 8 and 10, wearing their Ben Wallace jerseys proudly, and I thought to myself....that was me about 13 years ago, but with my Jordan jersey. Last night they ousted the tough Miami Heat (who I was pulling for because of my fellow H.L. Richards High alum, Dwyane Wade) to advance to their 2nd consecutive NBA Finals, 5th in the past 17 years, and 7th overall. In just 2 weeks, I might have to update the fact list above and change that Championship number to 4, but they're going to have a very tough San Antonio Spurs team to contend with. So who do I root for in this one?

Well in my impressionable days as a sports fan in the late 80s and early 90s, the Pistons were by far the most hated team in Chicago. The "Bad Boys" beat the Bulls in the playoffs 3 years in a row and went on to advance to the finals each year, winning 2. The Bulls finally broke through in 1991 by sweeping them in the Eastern Finals and going on to win their first of 6 titles. These guys nowadays are different though. They are a hard-working team with no superstars that go out every night and get the job done, and I have a lot of respect for them for that. Throughout my life in basketball and hockey, I haven't been a diehard fan of either the Bulls or the Blackhawks, which is much different than my support for the White Sox and 49ers, but I've always considered them to be my favorite teams. This is mostly because I'm not as big of a fan of either sport as I am with baseball and football, so I tend to pull for the Chicago teams, but I'm not that intense of a fan so I can actually appreciate other teams. I pulled for the Celtics when they had Bird, the Magic with Shaq and Penny, the Hawks with Mutombo, the Spurs with Robinson and Duncan, and the Heat with Shaq and Wade all while still backing the Bulls, so there's no reason why I can't get behind the Pistons, because like the teams I mentioned before, they have a lot of talent that's fun to watch play together. So as long as any rioting stays away from my doorstep, I'll be pulling for the Pistons to take another title home.

Hockey: Detroit Red Wings
Founded: 1926
Home Ice: Joe Louis Arena
Division: Western Central
Division Titles: 24 (1934, 1936, 1937, 1943, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1965, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
Conference Titles: 21 (1934, 1937, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1945, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2002)
Stanley Cup Titles: 10 (1936, 1937, 1943, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1997, 1998, 2002)

Clearly Detroit's most successful franchise, and it shows. Just look at that list of titles above! I had to stretch the logo to make it fit next to all of them. Hopefully it shows up ok on your computer. This town is completely crazy for hockey, and they have a good reason to be. There are almost too many reasons to count, but I'll name as many as I can:
1. An Original 6 team
2. 10 Stanley Cup titles
3. 3 Stanley Cup titles in the past 8 years
4. The richest team in the league, so they can get any player (a result of being the most obsessed over team in America)
5. It's cold here
6. Detroit people like high speed violence
7. Joe Louis Arena is located right next to a river....what's on the other side? Let's see....oh I think it might be CANADA!

I don't really know what Red Wings excitement is like here, because last summer they were already eliminated when I moved here, and this year...well you know why...but I imagine it might even be more intense than the Pistons because this has got to be the furthest south city where hockey is still discussed on a daily basis. I swear that I heard 19 year old girls talking about the Wings' 3rd line while I was at the store the other day. I wonder what it would be like here if both teams were in the finals at the same time, since the 2 teams successful times don't seem to intersect often. I remember back in 1992 when both the Bulls and Blackhawks made the finals. I was 9 at the time, but I don't even know if I was aware of what the Blackhawks were doing with all of the Bulls repeat talk. The Bulls went on to beat the Blazers while the Hawks were swept by the Penguins so I guess all the attention for the Bulls was for the better.

Can I get behind the Wings? I think not. Even though I've been angry with the Blackhawks since they traded away my all-time favorite player, Jeremy Roenick, about 8 years ago, they still brainwashed me into hating the Detroit Red Wings. I remember going to a Red Wings-Blackhawks game at the United Center a few years ago that was loaded with fans that drove all the way from Detroit for the game (because good teams have tickets that are hard to get). I think the only time more electricity has been in the air at a game I attended was White Sox-Cubs in 2001 and Pistons-Pacers in game 3 of the Eastern Finals last year. Throughout the entire game, the scoreboard kept attacking the Detroit fans, showing pictures of decay and buildings collapsing in Detroit, while showing beautiful pictures of downtown Chicago. Between periods, they decided to honor the visiting fans by playing Motown, all the while showing brutal hits delivered by Blackhawk players to unsuspecting Red Wings. To top things off, for 3 periods straight, chants continued throughout the stadium. A "Lets-Go-Red-Wings!" coming from the upper deck, followed by a "De-troit-Sucks!" chant from the lower. Those kind of memories last a while. Plus, it's not like I'll ever get tickets to see the Wings anyways.

So that's my recap on Detroit sports. Don't be surprised if these teams get mentioned more often in my posts. I've already starting watching the Tigers on TV almost every night, mostly because I can only stand so many episodes of Battle of the Gridiron Stars or the most useless sport to televise on the planet, women's college softball that ESPN forces on us all. Or I always guess I can turn the TV off and actually post something on this site more often than once a month. - Steve