Official Blog | Tuesday | February 9th, 2010

Feb
08

The Saints’ Blueprint for the Lions

By Jeff Lutz

If you somehow do not know it by now, the New Orleans Saints have won Super Bowl XLIV by a 31-17 margin over the Indianapolis Colts. The Saints, playing in their first Super Bowl, did not disappoint, following one of the more unbelievable histories the league has ever seen. This history, has some things that Lions management and fans can learn from.

For fans that really know the history of the Saints, seeing Tom Benson celebrating with the trophy must be like seeing William Clay Ford holding the Lombardi Trophy aloft in front of a crowded stadium. It was Benson after all during Hurricane Katrina, that worked through his PR team to quickly move out of town with all operations to San Antonio. If not for some gaffes in his plans, the Super Bowl might have been between San Antonio and Indianapolis. Imagine Ford, due to the troubled economy, looking to take his team to Los Angeles or San Antonio.

Following Katrina, the team was able to eventually get back in a cleaned up Superdome and get a new coach (Sean Payton) that could change the nomadic culture that had been created the season before. Within a few months, Drew Brees had been added through free agency and some kid named Reggie Bush came in with the number two pick in the Draft. This 2006 NFL preseason and season represents the exact blueprint the Lions need to follow for the future.

The blueprint begins with a GM and coach who have 1) mutual respect and 2) a focus for what it takes to be a champion. While Jim Schwartz may have some of those abilities within, I find it hard to believe that Martin Mayhew is the answer. Next, the Lions need to build the team through free agency. Much like the Saints following Katrina, the Lions will need to overpay and convince players to make the trip north to play for this team. Combine this with successful draft picks in rounds 1-7, and this team might be back to respectability in the coming years.

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Feb
07

VIDEO: Gossage Tells The Story of Gibson’s 1984 World Series Homer

By Steve Thomas

We all know the story: Kirk Gibson was coming up to bat against ace closer Goose Gossage in the eighth inning in Game 5 of the 1984 World Series with runners on second and third and one out.  Gibby had already hit a home run in the early innings of the game and had been dominant throughout the post season.  The common sense thing to do would be to intentionally walk him.

The call came from the San Diego Padres dugout from manager Dick Williams as he held up four fingers to catcher Terry Kennedy.  As Kennedy gave the walk sign to to Gossage, the Goose defiantly shook his head.  Because of his prior success against Gibson, Gossage was convinced he could stike him out with ease.

A conference took place on the mound between Williams, Kennedy and Gossage.  Williams knew it was a huge risk to pitch to Gibson, but he gave his star reliever the benefit of the doubt.  Thanks to the managers on both teams being microphoned throughout the game, the drama of the moment has been captured in all its glory.  There is no way to rewrite this moment’s history. 

Two pitches later, Gossage’s fastball was in the rightfield upper deck — and Gibson was dancing around the bases in a warrior-like ritual.  In an instance, the World Series was over — at least psychologically.  There’s no way the Padres could recover from such a dramatic blow.

Below is video footage taken in February 2007 after Gossage’s acceptance into the National Baseball Hall of Fame had been formally announced.  During the interview, Gossage tells his side of the story about the famous showdown with Gibson.

 

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Feb
06

Former Lion Dick LeBeau Should Be Selected to the Hall of Fame Today

By Bill Dow

Sometime this afternoon we will find out whether former Lion cornerback and current Steeler defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau is selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

LeBeau needs to obtain 80 per cent of the vote from the 44 person Veterans Committee. (LeBeau’s number was also 44) Mike O’Hara of the News predicts LeBeau is headed to Canton.

From 1959 to 1972, Dick LeBeau played an NFL record 171 consecutive games at cornerback for Detroit and is third among NFL cornerbacks in career interceptions (62).

LeBeau was always a strong defensive back who was a ball hawk and a tough tackler back in the day when defense was truly the Lions’ pride.

In the early 1960s LeBeau was part of Detroit “4 Ls” secondary that also included Gary Lowe and Hall of Famers Dick “Night Train” Lane and Yale Lary. From 1967 to 1972 the Ohio State grad played alongside fellow cornerback and Hall of Famer Lem Barney.

Lion legend and Hall of Famer Joe Schmidt played with LeBeau from 1959 to 1965 and was his head coach from 1967 through 1972. Schmidt recently told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

“Down deep, he knows he should be there. But he’s not going to make a big fuss over it if he doesn’t get there. I know it means a lot to him and he should be there. He’s contributed a lot to the NFL and there’s not reason he shouldn’t enjoy the fruits at the end.”

Amazingly, this year marked LeBeau’s 51st consecutive year in the NFL.

After he retired from playing in 1972, LeBeau embarked on a celebrated coaching career in Philadelphia, Green Bay, Buffalo, and Cincinnati and two stints in Pittsburgh.

Considered an “innovator” and “defensive football genius”, he created the famous “zone blitz” when he was defensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals in the late 1980s. He would later also serve as head coach in Cincinnati.

Despite his great acclaim as a coach and his 14 year playing career in Detroit, it appears the Lions never offered him a coaching position. Joe Schmidt told me that he once tried to get an interview for LeBeau with the front office but the offer was declined.

I think we could have used him again.

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Feb
05

Gordie Howe Captivated Crowd at Detroit’s 1980 All-Star Game

By Bill Dow

Thirty years ago today hockey fans were treated to an unforgettable historic moment at the newly christened Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

Gordie Howe 1980 All Star Game DetroitReturning to the city where he starred for twenty five seasons, 51 year old Hartford Whaler right winger Gordie Howe, playing in his final season and last All Star game, faced 19 year old rookie sensation Wayne Gretzky, selected to his first NHL All Star contest.

On February 5, 1980, the crowd of 21,002 people that jammed into the Joe was, at the time, the largest ever to witness a hockey game anywhere.

After retiring from the Red Wings in 1971 followed by two frustrating years as a club executive, Howe starred in the WHA for six years with Houston and the Whalers playing along side sons Mark and Marty. In the 1978-1979 season, Wayne Gretzky’s only year in the WHA, the budding superstar played for Indianapolis and Edmonton. When the upstart league folded at season’s end, Howe’s Whalers and Gretzky’s Oilers (along with Quebec and Winnipeg) merged into the NHL.

Although it was the biggest stage that the sport’s two greatest players would ever share, the game will always be remembered for the thunderous standing ovation Detroit fans showered upon Howe, Gretzky’s childhood idol and one of the Motor City’s most fabled sports legends.

For the pre-game introduction, PA announcer John Bell wisely introduced Howe last, but not by name. It was hardly necessary.

“……And from the Hartford Whalers, representing all of hockey, the greatest statesman for five decades, number nine!”, Bell announced as the crowd quickly rose to their feet in unison.

Although witnesses said it felt like a twenty minute ovation, the Joe Louis Arena crowd stood and cheered chanting, “Gordie, Gordie, Gordie” for four minutes until Bell interrupted the deafening roar by introducing national anthem singers Roger Doucet and Roger Whitaker.

On the CBC telecast, play by play announcer Dan Kelly remarked to color sidekick Dick Irvin, “Well Mr. Irvin, I’d hate to see what happens if that number 9 for the Wales Conference would score a goal. Do you think we’d finish the game?”

For Mr. Hockey the Detroit ovation that night has been especially treasured and one he never expected to be so long and loud.

“I had the same feelings for the fans as they had towards me. I was very emotional and the fans were getting to me, so I skated over to Lefty Wilson (Wing’s trainer) on the bench and asked for help so I would be normal again. Lefty was bilingual, he spoke English and profanity. He said something to me I can’t repeat, and it worked” Howe says smiling.

But the man Howe is eternally grateful to is Scotty Bowman, who coached the 1980 Wales Conference All Star squad.

“When Scotty picked me to play he really stuck his nose out because I later learned there was opposition to me playing,” says Howe, who at the All Star break, had 11 goals. “I have so much respect for that man.”

Bowman insisted that the man he calls hockey’s greatest player play in the game.

I said if Gordie didn’t play I wouldn’t coach,” the Hall of Fame coach says. “It was a natural for him to play that game in Detroit. I didn’t care what anybody thought. I knew he could still play and it turned out perfect.”

During his record 23 rd NHL All Star game, every time Howe took a shift, the excited crowd cheered and chanted his name hoping to see number nine turn the red light on again in Detroit.

Near the end of the first period, Howe received the puck on a silver platter 30 feet at point blank range in front of Campbell Conference goalie Tony Esposito. He fired his patented “snapshot” right at Esposito who stopped the puck as the crowd let out a collective groan. The Blackhawk goalie promptly skated off the ice having been injured on Howe’s still vicious shot.

“I wanted to shoot it low on his stick side but I pulled it,” Howe says, still seemingly frustrated. “I was unhappy with my performance because I missed that goal. I was nervous because I didn’t want to make a fool of myself. Afterwards I wondered what the crowd would have done had I scored.”

But before the game ended, Howe’s name would be announced on the loudspeaker prompting a thunderous roar.

Just three minutes after Red Wing Reed Larson gave the Wales Conference a 5-3 lead, and with just 4 minutes remaining in the game, Howe stole the puck twice before threading the needle on his perfect pass from the boards behind the net to Real Cloutier who fired the puck past goalie Pete Peeters. Howe’s last assist in All Star competition capped off a magical evening for the packed crowd.

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Feb
04

A Rewritten History of the Super Bowl Champion Detroit Lions

By Tom DeLisle

(Continued from yesterday)

NFL History, the Rewrite:

The Detroit Lions, three-time Super Bowl winners and six-time Super Bowl participants, have been one of the most stable, exciting, and successful franchises in all of American sports.

The Lions first captured the adoration of their blue-collar Motor City sports enthusiasts in the 1950s, winning three pre-Super Bowl “World’s Championships” in that decade, and they have never relinguished their hold on the hearts of their fans at home and around the country. A consortium of local backers sold the team to millionaire businessman Ralph Wilson in 1960, and he has overseen a half-century extension of their gridiron excellence.

bobbylayne_featureHimself a young man as team owner at 42, Wilson ordered the hiring of Lions defensive coordinator, Don Shula, as Lions head coach in 1961, and Shula — at the tender age of only 32 — kept the team on the winning path. Shula and his staff coaxed two more championship seasons out of the sometimes ailing right arm of star ’50s quarterback Bobby Layne, bringing Western Division titles again to Detroit in 1961 and 1962, with another World’s Championship in ‘62. Overseeing an aggressive defense that dominated the NFL under the direction of linebacker and team captain Joe Schmidt, the Lions introduced the ferocious “Fearsome Foursome” front-line defense and employed an All-Pro defensive backfield that was to make League history, utilizing such Lions legends as Alex Karras, Sam Williams, Bill Glass, Roger Brown, Dick “Night Train” Lane, Yale Lary, Johnny Robinson, and Dick LeBeau.

Lions offensive coordinator Chuck Knox worked under Shula to keep the team abreast of the Green Bay Packers, the other super-team of that time, and the two squads fought epic battles throughout the 1960s. Wilson saw to it that Shula and Knox were supplied with the top college talent of the day, out-bidding their burgeoning rivals in the American Football League to sign such future Hall of Famers as quarterback John Hadl and receiver Fred Biletnikoff to keep the team’s attack among the highest-scoring and most dynamic in the league. Hadl took over signal caller duties from Layne following the legendary Texan’s retirement in 1964. The team scored another NFL championship in 1965, and it was Shula’s nationally recognized “Motown Magic” that saw the Lions land their first Super Bowl appearances in 1969 and 1971. Though they suffered the indignity of becoming the first NFL franchise to lose to an AFL team in the Super Bowl (falling to the New York Jets in 1969), Shula and then-defensive coordinator Joe Schmidt brought the world title back to the Motor City with a memorable comeback victory in 1971.

In 1974, Wilson elevated Shula to General Manager of the team, deflecting an offer that would have taken Shula to the foundering Miami franchise of the AFC by granting the “old coach” a hefty part interest in the Lions franchise. As his first act, Shula subsequently promoted Schmidt to the head coaching position, and the old linebacker directed the Lions to three more Super Bowl appearances — in 1976, 1979, and 1984 — coming away victorious in ‘79 and ‘84, the year that saw Detroit once again “The City of Champions,” as the city celebrated victories in both the Super Bowl and the ‘84 World Series.

The following year saw the massive renewal of Tiger Stadium, accomplished mainly under the financing, direction and leadership of Ralph Wilson. Maintaining always that football is “an outdoor sport meant to be played in a variety of conditions,” Wilson’s renovation of the old ballpark insured that the Lions and their baseball counterpart Tigers would continue to play in that “Shrine” of athletic competition. The historically unique ballpark at Michigan and Trumbull, renamed Kaline Stadium in 1986 via an agreement between the two professional franchises and a vote of Detroit sports fans, has been recognized as a “national treasure” around the country.

Through times difficult or celebratory, the Wilson-led Lions have maintained an aggressive approach to the pro game, changing with the times, and refusing to let onfield setbacks keep them down for long. The team’s trademark “Comeback” reputation, born in the 1950s, was never more in evidence than in 1995, when coach Dick LeBeau, former defensive coordinator who had acceded to the head post following Schmidt’s retirement three years earlier, utilized the running of back Barry Sanders to direct the Lions to their six Super Bowl appearance and third title of the modern age. Sanders’ performance in the famed “Snow Bowl” of that season is still counted among the NFL’s greatest single-game performances. (That game famously saw seven Lions fans, reported as “missing” following the NFC title game victory, still huddled under blankets in the centerfield bleachers, and down to their “last six pack,” when discovered eleven days before Tigers Opening Day in 1996.)

Though the team has not played its way to the ultimate game in the seasons since, the Lions have been regular participants in post-season play, maintaining the team’s historic aggessiveness and competitive edge. Tickets to Lions games have passed from family member to family member over the years, with the team playing to constant sellout conditions since the late 1950s. And owner Ralph Wilson, still active in directing the club, has vowed the team will not change its historically unique Honolulu Blue and Silver colors, with the Lions still sporting the exact uniform style that players wore when he purchased the club in 1960 ….. thus keeping “the good old days” as current and visible and exciting as ever in Detroit, the unofficial “Football Capital” of the pro football world ….

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Feb
04

Verlander Re-Ups with Tigers Through 2014

By Jeff Lutz

It took a few days, a number of unconfirmed reports and rumors, but the latest news connects Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander to the Tigers through the 2014 season. For Mike Ilitch, it took $80 million and five years for the defending Tiger of the Year to continue his role as the Tigers ace, while it took Dave Dombrowski a major gamble to lock up the team with another multi-year deal.

verlanderMuch like the ever dooming Dontrelle Willis deal, the first few years given to the Verlander were not mandatory as he had not reached eligibility for free agency. In order for Dombrowski to avoid his first arbitration, and any bad feelings with the Verlander family, this deal had to be done quickly and with the proper terms from the beginning. The Felix Hernandez deal set a high standard that the Tigers had to follow for their 65-game winner, as the final deal ended with $2 million more heading to the Virginian.

One other major factor in getting this deal done was due in part to Scott Boras not being part of the negotiations. Following his ridiculous news conference held about Johnny Damon’s interest in joining the Tigers, Boras goes beyond the proper channels to exploit the fans for personal gain. His pipe dream statements have worn thin for the fans and an increasingly larger number of players. With Richard Verlander at the helm, Ilitch and Dombrowski must feel more comfortable with the pitch man and his known entity.

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Feb
03

Super Bowl Week a Sad Reminder of What’s Missing in Detroit

By Tom DeLisle

It’s Super Bowl week again, a time when every red-blooded kid in America is reminded that:

1. He or she can grow up to be President should they so desire.  And…

2. Any football fan in the country might someday see the home team in the Super Bowl, unless you live in Detroit.

embarrassed-detroit-lions-fanI’ve suffered longer than most; my first Lions game happened to be on December 29, 1957, when I and my Dad saw the Lions claim their last NFL championship over Cleveland at the late and so-lamented Briggs Stadium, to the nifty tune of 59-14. Having just achieved the age of reason, I can recall the championships of 1952 and 1953, and the ‘almost’ seasons of ‘54 and ‘56. Following the ‘57 celebration, I had every reason to assume that I could grow into adulthood with Lions championships ’round nearly every corner.

But, alas, two major events occcurred shortly after the Browns blowout, which were to change football here for all our lifetimes. Just two regular season games into the ‘58 season, the Lions defied history and good sense and traded sparkplug quarterback Bobby Layne, author of those earlier triumphs. And after the 1963 season, the team — which had been run by a conglomerate of local business types –passed into the sole ownership of one William Clay Ford. Thus did the most successful and colorful NFL franchise of the historically crucial decade from ‘52 to ‘62 plunge into the valley of darkness where it wanders still.

Thus the crazos in New Orleans and Indianapolis (New Orleans? … India–friggin–APOLIS?, is this a joke of some kind?) … are escorted to Football Heaven while we once again — unless you are under 60, with no past to cling to — are left to recall the Good Old Days of the ’50s. Because for the majority of Lions fans, there literally ARE no good old days. 1957 was IT. The end of the line. Just incredible.

Even hairball franchises like the Washington Redskins, doormats of the NFL during the turnaround era of the ’50s and early ’60s, have experienced 5 … FIVE … Super Bowl visitations since the NFL and AFL inaugurated the Big One in 1967. The Redskins? With the dopey marching band and the whacked out owner and drunken businessman reeling on the sidelines in sleazy Indian head-dresses and moccasins? They were out of the running every year of the Golden Age of the ’50s. Yet they’ve made up lost time with those five appearances — and even three victories to boot, in ‘82, ‘87, and ‘91. There’s something said about blind squirrels and acorns. The Lions were NFL royalty when the ‘Skins were running around like drunken chipmunks all those years. But we’ve had nary a nut in all this time here in Detroit.

Okay. If it’s reality that’s holding us back, let’s suspend inconvenient history. Let’s alter a few facts. Tweak an event here and there, play with the fate that has befallen us, and rewrite the record book. I say we can do so by making two adjustments in local NFL lore. Let’s imagine an NFL franchise in Detroit that would benefit but from just a couple of key moves that might have kept the Lions around the top of the pro football pyramid:

1. If William Clay Ford had decided to pursue drinking as the major passion of his life and abandoned the sports world to more sober enthusiasts. Thus, the franchise could have been taken over by local businessman and minority owner Ralph Wilson, who was 42 in 1960. (And who subsequently took Buffalo to four Super Bowls under his direction, but in this scenario we keep old Ralphie — who also adored the Lions in his youth — right here.)

2. The Lions had treated Bobby Layne as the franchise player and athletic magician he clearly was, and held on to him for the duration of his career.

And thus, we might have had, as we enter on the path to yet another Lion-less Super Bowl, a real alternative….

(To Be Continued tomorrow)

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Feb
02

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY: BAT DAY AT TIGER STADIUM

By Bill Dow

In today’s baseball market, teams have gone overboard giving away free promotional items as an extra lure to try to fill the seats. Whether it’s a bobble head, calendar, or a refrigerator magnet, it almost seems like nearly every other game fans are given something as the go through the turnstile.

Bat Day at Tiger Stadium June 14, 1965.

Bat Day at Tiger Stadium June 14, 1965.

But as a kid growing up in the 1960s, one of the greatest thrills was going to the annual Bat Day at Tiger Stadium when kids 14 and under were given a free Louisville Slugger with the name of a Tiger player on each bat. That was our only freebie, but boy was it something special.

I remember going through the turnstile with my friend Dave Newberg and his Dad when a stadium employee gave me a Jake Wood bat while Dave got a Norm Cash model. Would he trade with me? Yeah right. However I am sure there was a lot of swapping going on, unless of course you were lucky enough to get an Al Kaline model.

It was quite a site when stadium announcer Joe Gentile in his distinctive voice said to the crowd in between one of the innings, “Now boys and girls, raise your bats in the air.” It was a forest of Louisville Sluggers in the beautiful green ballpark and a site I can still see.

When the Tigers came to bat, we invariably pounded the end of the barrel onto the concrete floor while yelling, “We want a hit, we want a hit, we want a hit.” The sounds of those crashing bats resonated throughout the stadium. According to author Richard Bak in his book, “A Place for Summer,” “The promotion was discontinued when structural engineers warned that the pounding of tens of thousands of bats on the concrete floors could damage the stadium.”

I don’t know what happened to my Jake Wood bat, but I probably cracked it on the sandlot and threw it out. Or maybe my mother got rid of it after I went off to college.
However a couple of years ago I did pick up on eBay a Willie Horton Bat Day bat for $10 and it sits in my home office today providing me with yet another wonderful memory of Tiger Stadium.

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Feb
01

Pistons Must Rebuild Now

By Jeff Lutz

Coach John Kuester has called the team out for its passion. The fans, once part of sellout after sellout, have decided that what extra personal money is available should not be spent on this team.

Joe_DumarsEven in a league where the 8th playoff seed is five games under .500, this team should pack it in now and look to rebuild through the draft and expiring contracts.

One could argue that the “packing it in” has already begun. Sixty-five points against the Miami Heat doesn’t necessarily signal championship basketball. On the positive side, these aren’t the 4-41 New Jersey Nets. This Pistons team will show up once in a while to produce a decent performance, and it happens to be the lower paid players like Jonas Jerebko leading the way. If this continues to be the case, players like Hamilton and Prince will be out of this town in a hurry.

Joe Dumars has two very distinct options that he can use to get this team going again in the near future. First, he will have likely a top six/seven draft pick at his disposal this summer. Players like Wes Johnson, Evan Turner and Patrick Patterson, would make a huge difference on a team with Rodney Stuckey and Jerebko. Second, he could give away an expiring contract to a team looking to make a splash on the free agent market.

Over the years, Dumars has made a major splash pillaging teams for talent when they least expect. A Ben Wallace here, a Will Bynum there, and all of a sudden the Pistons have talent that will make a major impact on the court and not to the salary cap numbers. It’s that major impact on the court that has been missing this season.

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Jan
30

Detroit Pistons Will NOT Leave Michigan

By Steve Thomas

Detroit Free Press sports columnist, Drew Sharp, published an article last week titled, The Pittsburgh Pistons?  It’s not that far fetched.  In it, Sharp speculated that the Detroit Pistons could end up not only being sold, but also relocated due to Michigan’s shrinking economy and a lack of corporate dollars needed to support the four major sports in a single market.

DetroitPistionsI’ve learned long ago that sports writers usually have an inside tip when penning such predictions.  But I have to disagree with Mr. Sharp on this one.

While the Pistons are undoubtedly for sale,  I believe they are not the type of franchise that would likely be relocated.  The fact is, there are several smaller market NBA teams for sale at the moment.  If someone from another city were interested in buying a team and moving it to their home town, why would they buy an expensive franchise like the Pistons?  They wouldn’t.  They would most likely buy the team they could acquire for the lowest price.  I highly doubt that the Pistons would be the lowest priced team on the market.

When a team leaves its established market, all existing value such as fan loyalty, good will, tradition, etc. is destroyed.    It is nearly impossible to transfer any of that value to the next market.  The Pistons are worth more in the Detroit market than they would be anywhere else. 

Given the fact that there are already too many NBA teams, I find it hard to believe that the Pistons could be worth more, long-term, in a city that doesn’t already have a franchise.

Times are tough in Michigan, that’s for sure.  But times are tough just about everywhere these days.  Leaving Michigan is not the answer for a team — and league – in transition. 

What’s the answer?  It’s time for player salaries, ticket prices, and advertising costs to readjust to the new economy.  That applies whether or not the Pistons remain in Auburn Hills or move to the Steel City.  My prediction: the Pistons will be sold and will remain at the Palace of Auburn Hills for many years to come.

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