http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/Homemade apple pie is pretty good, but this is really about sports in general and baseball in particular.hourly12000-01-01T12:00+00:00http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/636878It's an NFL tradition that was once just a Motor City tradition for Detroit Lions faithful. The Lions have played on Thanksgiving Day for as far back as I can remember, and years before I was old enough to even have an interest in the game. The tradition, and the NFL, has changed over the years....http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/636479It wasn't one of the nationally televised games featuring one or two of the NFL's powerhouse teams. Nor was it a featured regional interest game showcasing possible playoff contenders. It was the 1-8 Cleveland Browns at the 1-9 Detroit Lions, two of the lowliest of the lowly in the NFL. And it...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/634315and the defending champ Phillies are a gutsy team that plays well on the road. But I still think the Yankees, whether I want them to or not, are going to win World Series title number 27. If not tonight, the Yanks will finish it off Thursday when Philadelphia runs out of reliable pitching. Six...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/633856The outcome of Halloween night's rain delayed game three of the World Series, an 8-5 win by the Yankees over the Phils that carried into the wee hours of November first, would seem to indicate this would be the likely outcome. But once again I have to say, “maybe yes, maybe no.” Everything hinges...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/632439Maybe yes, maybe no. Let me clarify. The Philadelphia Phillies, an excellent road team, became an odds on favorite to defend their World Series title when they split the first two games of the NLCS on the Dodgers home field. Add the two home wins and the Phils now own a nearly insurmountable...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/628502The Detroit Lions will attempt to stop the bleeding at 18 straight losses over three seasons, including all 16 starts last year, in their 2009 home opener versus the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. The signs are not encouraging for the Lions' faithful despite the home field advantage. Matt...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/622831Bare in mind that my favorite team set a record for futility in 2008 and has given me very little to cheer about, except for Barry Sanders, for half my adult life. As a result I don't follow the NFL nearly as closely as in my younger and more optimistic days. The Detroit Lions will not win the...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/619751In recent years I've only paid casual attention to the annual MLB All-Star game. It is, after all, an artificially created contest that had no real significance until it was decided that the league that wins also gains home field advantage for its representative in the World Series. And it wasn't...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/618940Placido Polanco may be hitting only.259 for the season, including the three hits collected in Detroit's 11-9, 16 inning marathon win at Minnesota last night. But he demonstrated why he still owns the number two spot in the Tigers' uncharacteristicly anemic batting order by producing the go-ahead...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/618127I was disappointed that forward Danny Green, who I thought had a shot at being a first round selection, wasn't drafted till the middle of the second round by Cleveland at #46 overall. I was also surprised that point guard Ty Lawson didn't go higher than #18 (by Minnesota). It seems the pros were...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/617804Normally I don't get terribly excited about draft days in professional sports. This year has been a little different. It started with the NFL draft. My favorite pro football team, the lowly 0-16 Detroit Lions, had the first pick, multiple early picks, and 10 total picks. I wasn't particularly...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/617559and no possibility of being knocked out before Saturday even if they were to lose a season high five straight (and the Minnesota Twins won five in a row), tied for the third best record in MLB (and second best in the AL), and the Detroit Tigers still don't get the respect they deserve. At least...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/615418By this I mean funny as in strange rather than funny haha, though the game has plenty of this in its history as well. Wednesday Randy Johnson was scheduled to make his first attempt at entering the fabled 300-win club as the 24 th member. But things took a nasty turn early Wednesday when the...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/612804…Dontrelle Willis? Yup, it caught me completely by surprise. Considering that the opponent was the red hot, heavy hitting Texas Rangers, and that the best previous performances by Willis as a Tiger graded out as pretty damned poor, there was no way I expected a 4-0 shutout win. I’d hoped Willis...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/60976813 pitchers on a 25-man roster? Come on, now.!2 pitchers are already overkill. 11 pitchers seems like at least one more than is necessary. As recently as the sixties and early seventies most teams carried just nine or ten pitchers on the active 25-man roster. Four starters, a couple of long...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/608875Finally, a stellar effort by Justin Verlander to go along with the fine efforts of Galarraga and Jackson, and Detroit sits atop the AL Central. Icing on the cake was holding sole possession of first because Verlander’s first good start of the season was against the Yankees. The Tigers need only a...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/607912Fast starts, early flops, and the mixed fortunes of large market media darlings have captured most of the press attention through the first two and a half weeks of the Major League Baseball season. Overlooked in all of the hype, the AL Central has quietly produced the tightest race of any...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/605213The University of North Carolina played a nearly perfect first half and then coasted to an 89-72 win over Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament Championship game. The win was vindication for Tyler Hansbrough, last seasons Player of the Year who did not go pro early, and for Coach Roy Williams who...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/604660At least that is the way it shapes up in the USA Today MLB preseason power ranking. The newspaper’s 12-person panel tells us that Philadelphia should win the NL East, the Chicago Cubs will top the Central Division, the LA Dodgers ought to prevail in the West, and that the New York Mets are the...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/notapoet6591/603783I picked ‘em before the season started, and I’ve stuck by my guns all the way. Today the Tarheels depth and defensive intensity against Oklahoma made me look good, as did Michigan State’s big win over Louisville. You’ll have to take my word for the latter, though. My antique computer crapped out...