livediehockey80

I hate the official MLB boards because there is no "Troll Control". There's so much garbage posted by immature 12 year old kids and brain dead old farts.

Too bad Datsyuk will be playing in another uniform by next September.

The Penguins should beat certain teams like Ottawa and Atlanta. But they will struggle against Buffalo and New Jersey.

NO SOUTHERN CITIES!!!! My preference falls with: Winnipeg Milwaukee Seattle

Can you understand the skepticism from the media about the Wings playoff chances: 2003...Defending champs swept by Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the first round. 2004...Struggled to beat the 8th seed Predators in the 1st round and then we were smacked around by the Calgary Flames in the next round. 2005...HEY, THE WINGS MADE IT OUT OF THE FIRST TWO ROUNDS!!!! Oh crap...that was the lockout year, my bad. 2006...President's Cup NHL Champions crumble to the hard-charging Edmonton Oilers in the first round. 2007...Who knows. Any team can represent the Western Conference in the finals. I wouldn't call Detroit the favorite though; that distinction goes to the Nashville Predators. As the last Stanley Cup Championship in 2002 becomes more of a distant memory...the Wings are becoming the Atlanta Braves Joke of the post-season NHL.

I remember when I lived in the Detroit area many years ago, I used to get the CBC signal from Windsor. I love watching hockey on CBC.

After what he did to Draper many, many years ago... I still think Claude Lemieux is a piece of s***!

Bitter. I have a feeling that the Tigers will have more post-season chances down the road.

Awesome Regular Seasons. Rosters are Loaded with Superstars. Fat Payrolls. Fans with Bloated Expectations of Greatness. Swagger. Arrogance. Tradition. Championships. First Round Playoff Choking Dogs. Clueless Coaching. Play With No Fire or Passion. Red Wings and Yankees are the most loved and hated franchises in their respective sport leagues. Every Non-Red Wings hockey fan smiles when the Wings lose in the playoffs. Baseball fans rejoice when the Yankees lose. Local Media Rips the Organization to Shreds After a Playoff Defeat. The Detroit Tigers are the Edmonton Oilers. The Yankees are the Red Wings. Because of the Tigers...I know what it feels like to be an Edmonton fan. A Calgary Flames fan. An Anaheim Mighty Ducks fan. It feels wonderful to be cheering for a young team that has no egos, no billion dollar salaries, and plays with such passion. The Tigers have it: The Yankees don't. If anything Red Wings fans have a stronger connection with Yankees fans. We should console them as Red Wings fans instead of as Tigers fans. Give them a pat on the back and say, "Trust me, I know what you are going through. We just feel it in April instead of October."

All in all, a decent World Cup. I have a few gripes though: 1. The diving/acting is out of control. Beckenbauer is right; the refs need to do a better job of enforcing the flops. I have watched too many players flail and grimace on the pitch when no one has so much touched them. The Portuguese, Dutch, and Italians take this level to a new art form. 2. Teams are way too conservative with the attacking. Granted, I know one mistake in the back field could cost a goal...perhaps the only goal in the game and a one-way ticket home. The team coaches are so concerned about technical defensive mistakes that the game remains stuck in the mid-field. I haven't seen many corner kicks or shots on goal during this tournament. Most teams average maybe 3 or 4 shots on goal for the entire game. The goal keepers should bring their own chair, a newspaper, and a cup of coffee when play in net. They see no action whatsoever. 3. I agree with commentators that the refs are too quick with the cards. There were some talented star players who were disqualified for certain matches because of referees would card anyone who so much as touches an opposing player. 4. The obnoxious World Cup fans. Nothing shows stereotypical nationalistic behavior like World Cup soccer fans. All of the costumes, funky hats, and face paints is an over-zealous display of nationalistic pride. You could love your country and your soccer team without showing all of that crap. Although, I will admit that I enjoy photos of Brazilian female soccer fans in their very, very skimpy outfits. There were many ethnic and nationalistic slurs published by newspapers in countries like England and Germany. I think some German tabloid papers had offensive headlines about stereotyping Italians as "greasy" and "spaghetti eaters" before the semi-final match. The hooligan soccer fans feed off that stuff. There's no need for that crap. No nation or ethnic people is superior to another.

The NY Knicks have become the "Freak Show" of the NBA. First of all, in defense of Larry Brown, he was handed a crappy Knicks team. Second, Isiah Thomas is a TERRIBLE front office leader. He will make a worse head coach. What was the Knicks owner thinking????? Oh yeah...if we still had Larry Brown instead of the Flipper, the Pistons would have earned their 4th NBA title this month.

The latest drubbing in the opening match of the World Cup is the perfect capstone. The capstone of American team athletic futility. When it comes to international tournaments, US teams have underachieved time and time again. Baseball: You would think in a country that invented the game of baseball, that we would win the inaugeral World Baseball Classic? Nope. We didn't even make the semi-finals. Countries like Japan, Dominican Republic, Cuba, and even Puerto Rico are better at baseball than the US. The WBC should have been won by the Americans. Basketball: You would think in a country that has the most talented basketball players in the world, that we would win another Olympic Gold medal? Nope, we really choked in Athens and we ended up with a bronze medal. We were pwn3d by teams like Argentina and Serbia-Montenegro. Hockey: Our efforts in the Turin Winter Olympics were simply pathetic. Clearly, there were several teams who played with better skill, game preparation, and PASSION than the Team USA hockey players. Team USA didn't come close to sniffing a medal in the 2006 games. Oh...and let's not forget the ladies for their pathetic showing too. One American hockey player shoots her mouth off and we get embarrassed by Sweden. Good job. World Cup: OK...soccer is not an American sporting tradition. I know that there are several European and Latin American teams that put out more talented teams. The 2002 World Cup run was the exception. In 1998, the US Soccer team finished 32 out of 32 teams ranked in the tournament...not one point. In 2006, we begin with a 3-0 pasting by the Czech Republic in the World Cup. This will assure another disappointing Cup result. American athletes care more about individual stats and money. The American sports fans follow along with their stupid fantasy leagues and hero worship of big $$$$ players. In this country, we celebrate individual achievement and selfishness. Forget about the team culture. We Americans can't seem to keep our greedy wants and ego in check anymore. How about sacrificing your ego for the good of the team? Something that our American sports players in baseball, hockey, soccer, and basketball seem to forget.

Assuming the Pistons will go down in Game 6 in Cleveland (which is very likely), how would you rate the Pistons playoff meltdown versus the Red Wings debacle? Both teams were the number 1 seeds in their respective playoff brackets. Both teams were favorites to reach the Finals in their respective leagues. The expectations from the media and the fans were sky-high for the Wings and Pistons. The Red Wings and Pistons have brought nothing but disappointment. I can't believe I am writing this: Thank God for the Tigers! I hope the Cats can bail the Detroit sports fan out of the doldrums. GO TIGERS!

Too bad Detroit could care less about the Tigers. The attendance at Comerica Park has been pathetic regardless of Piston and Red Wings playoffs games. The state of Michigan is really turned off with the Tigers. That's OK...when the Tigers start having winning seasons, the bandwagoners will come out the woodwork. Just like with the Red Wings in the 1990s.

I live in Silver Spring, MD but I am helping a friend move to Philly on Saturday. This sucks because a.) I am missing Game 5 of the Wings-Oilers games and b.) I can't watch the NFL draft.

Yeah, yeah I know we should be focusing on Edmonton. However, in the "what if" world of future playoff scenarios, we would probably face Colorado after Edmonton. I think the Wings match up real well against Colorado. We could take that series. I am assuming Calgary beats Anaheim and San Jose defeats Nashville. Calgary versus San Jose in the conference semi-finals. If I were the Wings, I would rather play against the Sharks than Calgary. The Flames scare the hell out of me this time of year. San Jose vs. Detroit in the Conference Finals. I like the Wings in Six. Calgary vs. Detroit in the Conference Finals. We are totally screwed. Calgary in six games. If we get to the Stanley Cup Finals, I think the Wings can beat almost any Eastern Conference team. They would struggle against the NJ Devils and the Buffalo Sabres though. We can take Ottawa. Enough of the fantasy...back to reality...we are down 2-1 against the Oilers and we need to win the next 3 out of 4 games.

I think the Detroit uniforms could use an updated look. I think the Wings would look awesome with silver and black trim with Winged Wheel and the numbers. I mean c'mon, the Wings needs to update their jerseys for the 21st century.

What a bummer about the American women falling to Sweden in OT. That's all right girls...we will get gold in 2010. I visited some Canadian chat boards. Let's just say that the Canadian hockey fans were thrilled that Sweden beat the USA. Not just because USA would be more challenging competition; they just plain hate USA hockey teams. That's all right...you Canadian USA-Taters. I will cheer like crazy for the Finnish women. The Finns are a looooong shot to upset the mighty Canadians. But OMG...if the Finns somehow win...I will be popping champagne tonight! GO FINLAND!

The Detroit Red Wings are having a very good season. They have already earned 53 points while they remain the number 1 team in the Western Conference. The Wings are clearly on the road to the NHL playoffs in April. Stanley Cup fever remains alive in Motown. I have noticed that the Detroit media is going nuts over the Pistons. Rightfully so. The Pistons are a spectacular 24-3 so far in the NBA season. They have creamed the world champion Spurs and they recently defeated the Miami Heat. Detroit sports fans should enjoy this moment. Imagine the Red Wings in the Stanley Cups finals and the Pistons playing in the NBA finals in June? The Palace and The Joe will be rocking this season. However, I think Wings fans (who don't follow basketball) shouldn't be hostile about sharing the limelight with Pistons fans. During the late 1990s, the Lions, Tigers, and Pistons stunk! The Red Wings were the only championship ticket in town. Fast forward to today and you will find that the Tigers and Lions still stink. But Deeeeeeeeeeetroit Baaaaaaaaaaasketball is the bomb right now. The Pistons were winners in 2004 and runner-ups in 2005. I bet the Pistons will go deep into the playoffs again in 2006. In other words, we have a dynasty. In a perfect world, it would be great if the Pistons and Wings fan bases were closer. Let's face it...an overwhelming number of passionate Pistons fans are African-American and live in the city of Detroit. True, you will see more white faces at Pistons games; that's because white people have a socio-economic advantage over Detroit blacks. NBA tickets don't come cheap for working people. Putting a basketball arena in mostly-white Oakland County doesn't help increase black family attendance at Pistons games either. Meanwhile, Red Wings fans are almost entirely cacuasian with a stronger fan base out in the suburbs. Wings fans are spending money in Detroit. Red Wings fans commute into Detroit to watch hockey; some Pistons fans commute OUT of Detroit to Auburn Hills to watch NBA games. It's like two ships passing each other in the night.

We need some good football from the Great Lakes State. The Michigan Wolverines had a lousy year. Losing to the dreaded rival OSU and then completely bomb against Nebraska in the Alamo Bowl. Michigan State stunk up the joint too. I was never a Lions fan growing up in Michigan ironically. The Lions had some decent seasons with guys like Billy Sims and Gary Danielson (that's going way back).

I think Detroit is the best sports town in America. This is the ONLY good thing that Detroit has going. The job market stinks. The weather stinks. People are still leaving Michigan in droves...that stinks. I would argue that Detroit was really TigerTown from the WW II era through the 1980s. The local sports universe revolved around the Tigers baseball season. Before the big franchise implosion in the early 1990s, the Detroit Tigers had a successful legacy in MLB. There were many seasons when the Tigers competed with such heavyweights as the Yankees, Orioles, A's, and Red Sox. Then again, baseball was more popular nationally back in the day than the current era.

I read on the ESPN.com web site that they Red Wings fans were chanting "Matt Millen sucks!" during the final period of the NJ-Detroit game. Did that really happen? Man, it's so bad for the Lions that fans have to vent against Ford, Millen and Joey Harrington at Red Wings games. I bet guys like Yzerman, Shanny, Drapes et al are glad they don't wear football pads and Honolulu Blue uniforms.

I love the Red Wings I love the Tigers I like the Pistons AND I always hated the Lions. Out of all the Detroit sports teams, I cared for the Lions the least. I don't know why. I could never identify with that team. I couldn't root for them when Mel Farr, Billy Sims or Barry Sanders was in the back field. I am became a Philadelphia Eagles fan a long time ago. I was so thrilled when Philly pummeled the Lions 58-7 in that wild card game back in 1995. Watching Wayne Fontes with a stone look on his face was priceless. I think if the Ford family released control of that franchise, the Lions might have a real owner who gives a damn.