By George B. Eichorn

Of The Detroit Monitor

To Everything A Season;

Turn, Turn, Turn

            The Detroit Lions are mired in a slump. At 0-3 the club is spiraling fast and in need of a win desperately. It won’t happen this weekend as you know because the bye week has saved the Lions from yet another loss. The natives are restless and no one can blame them with what they’ve witnessed in losses to Atlanta, Green Bay and San Francisco. Getting behind 21-0 is no way to start a game – in the NFL or any level of football.

            Michigan Wolverine fans find themselves in the inevitable position of also needing a win. Sitting at 1-2 is not sitting well with the millions of Michigan legions across the state. Coach Rich Rodriguez is facing a daunting task this young season and he knows it. This Saturday’s game is huge. Going 1-3 is not an option for the Wolverines. A win would make it to .500 which is about the best you could hope for with a new coach, new offensive scheme and new quarterback.

            The Michigan State Spartans are just the opposite, sitting pretty at 3-1 following their big win over Notre Dame last Saturday at Spartan Stadium. Coach Mark Dantonio will not gloat over the start, however, as he maintains a workmanlike attitude on the banks of the Red Cedar River in East Lansing. The game this Saturday at Indiana could propel the Spartans towards a run for the Big Ten title, or perhaps make reality set in, should MSU lose.

            Detroit Tigers fans are struggling with the knowledge that they were sold a bill of goods this season. As the final weekend of the 2008 mercifully comes to a close, the Tigers are closer to last place than first in the American League Central Division. What shame. This team had so much promise and hype and again proves that you cannot buy a pennant. The Yankees learned that as did the Rangers, Angels, Mets and others through the years. Now, the Tigers are members of the infamous “can’t miss yet did” club!

            The Red Wings are back at work at Joe Louis Arena this week, following training camp in Traverse City. Once again, the club is picked to make it to the Stanley Cup finals by most national pundits yet we’ll save our prediction until the Monitor’s hockey season preview issue of October 9. Coach Mike Babcock is making room for powerful scorer Marian Hossa and that seems like any easy task. Putting him next to Pavel Datsyuk on a line sounds like a great move to me.

            Ready to start training camp next week are the beloved Detroit Pistons. Even without a major trade or signing, the Pistons return a strong contending team with the likes of Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. The battle for the other starting position will be new coach Michael Curry’s most crucial decision heading into the regular season. The Pistons did make one roster change this off-season, signing 6-foot-11 center Kwame Brown.  I should have stated that he is one of those in contention for that fifth starter role.

The Shock are battling the New York Liberty at presstime in the second round of the WNBA playoffs. Anything short of a return trip to the Finals and a win this time around by coach Bill Laimbeer’s team would be characterized by a disappointment by the fans. It won’t be easy for the Shock without one of their top players – Cheryl Ford – who was injured in BasketBrawl II at the Palace just before the Summer Olympics break.

            Congratulations to Prince of the Pistons and Katie Smith of the Shock for already achieving something that few NBA and WNBA players will ever do – winning an Olympic gold medal.

I was pleased to hear that Matt Shepard has finally landed his own radio show on WDFN. He’s a hard worker, toiling through the years at WDFN, WWJ, Fox Sports Net, calling U-M basketball, Detroit Shock and Eastern Michigan University football. “Shep”  will keep of these assignments while hosting his 6-9 a.m. call-in show on The Fan.

            The one man I would not want to be this fall and winter is Tigers chief executive Dave Dombrowski. He and his staff have a lot of decisions to make as they shape the 2009 team roster. There are question marks surrounding any number of players – Jeremy Bonderman, Kenny Rogers, Gary Sheffield, Edgar Renteria, Todd Jones, Joel Zumaya, Dontrelle Willis, Fernando Rodney.  You get he picture!

            Look for the Javon Ringer for Heisman Trophy campaign to ratchet up this fall as the Spartans’ leading ground gainer continues his assault. He keeps winning the Big Ten offensive player of the week honors and that alone gains him a lot of press. Back-to-back 200 yards rushing games are impressive yet let’s see what he does against Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State this season.

The Tigers are finally packing a powerful 1-2 punch in their lineup with the seasons that Miguel Cabrera and Magglio Ordonez are putting together. Cabrera was hitting .295 with 36 home runs and 125 RBI at press time and a lock to be Tiger of the Year. With Maggs on track for 100 RBI, it appears that these two sluggers will be one of the best hitting combinations in recent club history. Too bad that the rest of the lineup was not able to produce at a similar clip. By the way, I still believe the Tigers may be tempted to trade Maggs in order to get a No. 1 or No. 2 starting pitcher.

Look for the Detroit community to continue its pursuit of major sporting events. The Metro Detroit Sports Commission — headed by David Beachnau — goes after showcase events such as the NCAA Final Four, NCAA Frozen Four, Super Bowl and others. Everyone here is glad to see the Final Four in 2009 and Frozen Four in 2010. Now, can we please convince the Pistons to bid on the NBA All-Star Game?

Does swimmer Michael Phelps deserve a spot in the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame?  That is the question which begs to be answered. Much like Tara Lipinski, Phelps spent a period of time training for his Olympic glory while residing in our state. Yet he was not born in Michigan, did not attend school here (maybe a couple classes at U-M?) or officially reside here. His connection, as we know, was as a member of the Club Wolverine swim club. His post-Olympic training was shifted to Baltimore where he always had permanent residence. Michigan Hall of Fame guidelines allow for athletes to be considered who make a contribution to Michigan sports lore – even for a short period of time. This is a going to be a tough call yet Lipinski and boxer Muhammad Ali never got the Hall call and they trained in Michigan also.

     Purchase George Eichorn’s book, “Detroit Sports Broadcasters On the Air,” for $19.99 or less at www.amazon.com. Reach him at geichorn@yahoo.com.

Posted in Uncategorized -- No Comments

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

If the FAU Owls were looking to gain national respect the past two weeks facing the Michigan State Spartans (MSU) and Minnesota Golden Gophers of the Big Ten, they failed to accomplish that objective.

MSU (2-1) blanked FAU 17-0 on Sept 13, as 70,321 fans at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing,  watched Owls QB Rusty Smith struggle as he went 8-34 for 143 yards. One of his passes went for 71 yards to Rob Housler. MSU outgained FAU in total yards 347-225 and first downs 18-9.

MSU running back Javon Ringer plowed through the FAU defense as he had 43 carries for 291 yards and two touchdowns.

Prior to the season, Coach Howard Schnellenberger anticipated that Minnesota would be fired up for Saturday’s game and he was correct. Minnesota entered the game as 6 ½ point favorites and they definitely covered the spread as the Gophers (4-0) blasted FAU 37-3. The Gophers victory avenged last season’s 42-39 loss to FAU at Dolphin Stadium.

Going into the FAU game, Minnesota defeated Northern Illinois, Bowling Green and the Montana State Bobcats. These teams are not college football powerhouses so if anybody thought Minnesota’s light non-conference schedule gave FAU a false sense of security to thinking they’d be expected to win in Minneapolis, the Owls high powered offense had to eat humble pie.

This time weather wouldn’t be a factor as Smith struggled again. He was 17-34 for 153 yards and four interceptions. Minnesota outgained FAU in total yards 441-276 in the climate controlled Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

FAU is now 1-15 against teams from Bowl Championship Series teams with the only win coming against Minnesota.

The past two weeks against the Big Ten can be described as the “Midwest Massacre.” FAU loses by 17 to MSU and seven days later the margin doubles to 34 as the Owls were outscored 54-3. That is certainly not what anybody expected from a team which had 18 starters returning including highly touted QB Smith.

But that’s where the Owls (1-3) are at as they prepare to open the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) portion of their schedule. They travel to Middle Tennessee (1-3) Tuesday Sept 30^th to face the Blue Raiders on ESPN 2 at 8 PM.

In last season’s SBC opener at Lockhart Stadium, FAU pinned a 27-14 loss on the Blue Raiders to propel the Owls to the conference championship that led to the New Orleans Bowl win over Memphis. Like Minnesota, the Blue Raiders are looking for revenge and they’ll have a chance to get it on national television.

The Owls faithful were hoping to go at least 2-2 in non-conference play but that didn’t materialize. During their three road games, including the 52-10 opening loss at Texas, FAU was outscored 106-13.

On Sept 13, the Blue Raiders lost a heartbreaker to the University of Kentucky in Lexington 20-14. Last year, FAU was hammered by the Wildcats at Commonwealth Stadium 45-17.

The Blue Raiders lone win this season came against Maryland 24-14 at home. They are 0-2 in the SBC with losses coming to Troy on Aug 28 (31-17) and on the road at Arkansas State on Saturday 31-14.

The best thing that can happen for FAU is the Owls will have 10 days to prepare for the Blue Raiders. With their sluggish non-conference performance, the margin of error for FAU is small. They’ll need at least eight wins to have a shot at any other at an at large bowl if they fail to return to New Orleans Dec 21.

The SBC signed agreements with the St. Petersburg, Papa Johns and PetroSun Independence Bowl if the other conferences cannot fulfill their requirements.

Including Middle Tennessee, the next two FAU games will be on Tuesday nights. Troy travels to Ft. Lauderdale on Oct 7^th and plays in primetime at Lockhart Stadium on ESPN.

Speaking of Troy, they were beaten 28-10 by Ohio State Saturday in Columbus in another Big Ten versus SBC match-up. For Ohio State, they are now 1-1 the past two weeks against teams named the Trojans as they were routed by USC 35-3 in Los Angeles on Sept 13^th

Posted in Uncategorized -- No Comments

By George B. Eichorn

Detroit Monitor

What a weekend of football around these parts.

 I took in the Michigan State 17-0 victory over Florida Atlantic University on Saturday in East Lansing. The weather was best-suited for ducks and gators rather than football fans. No more than one-third of the announced crowd of 70,321 could have been on hand at Spartan Stadium. Following each MSU score it appeared several hundred more fans left their seats for dryer conditions on or off campus.

The Spartans are now 2-1 under coach Mark Dantonio and certainly have a super star attraction in runner Javon Ringer. All he did was pile up 282 yards rushing on 43 carries with two touchdowns. That was the fourth-best single performance by a back in State’s long football history.

The senior from Dayton, Ohio, appears to have the college football world at his grasp. Can anyone say Heisman Trophy candidate and All-American potential? How does the Senior Bowl sound? And what about the National Football League draft come April? How about endorsements of sneakers, clothes or even a few car dealerships out Lansing way?

Yes, Ringer is the real thing – not a ringer!  He is looking forward as are his teammates to punishing the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame this Saturday, September 20 (3:30 p.m. kickoff) on national television as ABC-TV roles into our state. The Irish are 2-0 this new season, aftet defeating the Michigan Wolverines last Saturday in South Bend, 35-17.

The Wolverines are 1-2 and in the midst of their bye week. Thank goodness. New Coach Rich Rodriguez has extra time to prepare for the Big Ten Conference season knowing full well it will take a giant effort to contend with the likes of Ohio State, Wisconsin and MSU for a title and its automatic trip to the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day in Pasadena.

Michigan has one good thing going for it and he too is a runner. Freshman tailback Sam McGuffie appears to be worthwhile of all the pre-season press clippings that came his way. Against the Irish, he had 25 of U-M’s 42 rushes for 131 yards. He also contributed in the passing attack with four catches for 47 yards and a touchdown (good for 40 yards). Yes, McGuffie is a keeper.

Michigan played Notre Dame tough most of the game last Saturday and was obviously upset by a couple of borderline calls by the Big East officials working the contest in South Bend.  Yet calls or non-calls are part of the game and there’s not much you can do about it. Michigan was clearly outplayed in the second half by the Irish and six turnovers (four fumbles) clearly cost them the game. Even an injury to head coach Charlie Weis could not deter the Golden Dome players. He suffered a knee injury in the first half when he was aqccidently hit by one of his own players. Weis came out after halftime wearing a leg brace and coached on crutches the rest of the way.

Rodriguez has wisely settled on a first-string quarterback and that is Steven Threet. The Wolverines could not continue using both Threet and Nick Sheridan without the team suffering from a consistent direction and flow. I think both guys are decent but Threet deserves the nod based upon the first three Michigan games. Against the Iriish, he threw for 175 yards and one touchdown.

As for our other team of note, the Lions, it was a demoralizing home opener at Ford Field last Sunday as the team lost to the Green Bay Packers, 48-25, in an NFC North showdown. The Lions are now 0-2 in the young NFL season while the Pack is 2-0.

Fans are shouting “same old Lions” on talk radio shows and on blogs throughout the state. The team made a valiant comeback, after trailing 21-0, to take the lead at 25-24 only to watch Green Bay score 24 unanswered points. I don’t know if the defense felt all they had to do is show up on the field after taking that lead. Or did the Packers just feel more urgency than the Lions?

Quarterback Jon Kitna was horrible in the games last few minutes as he threw three interceptions, two of which were run back for touchdowns by the Packers, including one from former Michigan Wolverine Charles Woodson. The Lions threw this game away and that hurts. It hurts the fans that showed up, the ones back home watching and the future fans who will decide if they should shell out money to see these guys play.

Attendance at Ford Field will not improve unless the product on the field does. The traditional Thanksgiving Day game could be the only other sellout the rest of the way if this pattern of performance continues. Fans were not very happy as they streamed out the stadium and onto the surrounding streets last Sunday. Only a win or two would bring some of them back.

Meanwhile, Kitna will continue to endure the wrath of Lions fans. Yet with Dan Orlovsky and Drew Stanton waiting in the wings, I have a hunch that coach Rod Marinelli will be forced to make a change if losses continue to pile up. What else can he do? It’s too late to make any more trades or sign any free agents. The Lions are stuck pretty much with the personnel they got. It’s a matter of take it or leave it.

Back to the Spartans-Owls game. It was great to see the folks from Florida Atlantic come all the way up for the game. Owls coach Howard Schnellenberger is a winner on and off the field and took defeat with class. Quarterback Rusty Smith, considered by many as a can’t-miss NFL prospect, was hampered by the poor field and weather conditions the entire day. Let’s not judge his act on this single game. The Owls won the New Orleans Bowl last year and are again headed to the post-season should they shrug off this defeat at the hands of MSU.

Buy George Eichorn’s book, “Detroit Sports Broadcasters On the Air,” for $19.99 or less at amazon.com. Reach him at geichorn@yahoo.com.

Posted in Uncategorized -- No Comments

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

For years, I keep asking myself, why do I waste my time paying attention to college football since this is the only major sport that doesn’t have a playoff system to decide a national championship?

The NCAA will always attempt to justify that it doesn’t want disrupt its bowl system which is fun to watch during the holiday season, in addition to the fact that NFL scouts earn their money trying to find talent. Yet, the lower divisions do have a playoff system to determine their champion.

If the NCAA had any sense, it would keep its bowl system intact and just take the top four teams in the country and go with a 1-4, 2-3 format and add one extra game to decide its champion. To determine this champion by the opinion of writers and computers is absurd.

But since that doesn’t figure to happen anytime soon, aside from my association with the FAU Owls, there is one other reason that I enjoy watching college football.

My colleague Rebecca Williamson and I debated some of the most intriguing rivalries in college football. If there is one thing good about all sports is fans and the media can appreciate a good rivalry. The TV Networks enjoy broadcasting the games because it attracts great ratings.

Here is a list of the top 30 broken down into two classifications. There are the national and in state match-ups. I encourage any reader and fan to e-mail me to provide their feedback.

The Best National Rivalries include:

1.  

   1. Michigan Vs Ohio State.

   2. Michigan Vs Notre Dame.

   3. Texas Vs Oklahoma

   4. Florida Vs Georgia

   5. Army Vs Navy

   6. Oklahoma Vs Nebraska

   7. Tennessee Vs UCLA

   8. Tennessee Vs Florida

   9. Michigan Vs Penn State

   10. LSU Vs Alabama

   11. Ohio State Vs Alabama

   12. Notre Dame Vs USC

   13. USC Vs Michigan

   14. Miami Vs Notre Dame

   15. Florida Vs LSU

The Best Instate Rivalries include:

1.  

   1. Florida Vs Florida State

   2. Auburn Vs Alabama

   3. Florida State Vs Miami

   4. Michigan Vs Michigan State

   5. USC Vs UCLA

   6. Georgia Vs Georgia Tech

   7. Texas Vs Texas A&M

   8. California Vs Stanford

   9. Clemson Vs South Carolina

   10. Louisville Vs Kentucky

   11. Oklahoma Vs Oklahoma State

   12. Arizona Vs Arizona State

   13. Penn State Vs Pittsburgh

   14. Virginia Vs Virginia Tech

   15. North Carolina Vs NC State

It will be interesting to see what new rivalries develop as newer college football traditions develop. Once FIU develops a competitive program, there meetings with FAU will be more meaningful. A couple years ago, a major brawl at the Orange Bowl between Miami and FIU gave both schools national publicity neither wanted as both teams recruit the same high schools thus developing the natural hatred amongst themselves.

My alma mater the University of South Florida (USF) has an I-4 rival against the University of Central Florida. Both schools are starting to send players to the NFL. Last season with the Bulls ranked No. 6 in the country, FAU lost an exciting 35-23 contest. Lockhart Stadium was a sellout. Fifty percent of the crowd was sporting the green and gold of USF while the other 50% was wearing the red, white and blue of FAU.

Look for FAU and Miami to meet down the road as Howard Schnellenberger faces the university that he led to national prominence by guiding the Hurricanes to a 1983 national championship.

Alabama-Birmingham has two great potential rivalries with Alabama and Auburn. I enjoyed watching Delaware and Delaware State face each other for the first time ever in last years Division 1A playoffs.

The newest addition to the Sun Belt Conference is Western Kentucky (WKU). The Hilltoppers face the Kentucky Wildcats at Commonwealth Stadium on Sept 27, in Lexington. This is the same WKU that made a good run in March’s NCAA Basketball tournament.

I haven’t found many quality football rivalries in the Northeast because that area is known for college basketball. Perhaps if the Big East wins a national championship, then by the next time I write a column like this, the list will change.

In the meantime, the biggest rivalry on the East Coast in any sport is the New York Yankees against the Boston Red Sox.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottbullm33@comcast.net.

Posted in Uncategorized -- No Comments

Posted in Uncategorized -- No Comments