Now that the Los Angeles Lakers/Orlando Magic mismatch is over, it’s time to reflect on what would have been.

The ultimate choke artists are the Cleveland Cavaliers! This is a team which had a chance to put itself in the record books with the Boston Celtics if they had won its last home game with a 41-1 record but decided to rest its players and settled for 39-2 by losing to the Philadelphia 76′ers 111-110 on April 15TH.

I’ll bet that 41-1 record would have been a nice consolation prize for not winning a championship or at least have the right to face Kobe Bryant and compete for one.

Before the final home game, Lebron James took the microphone and told the Cleveland fans that he was looking forward to snapping the city’s half century championship drought.

The Cavaliers had a false sense of security just by thinking a 66-16 record could coast to the NBA Finals.

Sweeping the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks meant nothing when the Orlando Magic took advantage of their overconfidence. Undoubtedly, home court advantage throughout the playoffs meant nothing since they didn’t make it all the way through to the finals.

When James decided not to show sportsmanship by not shaking the Magic’s players hands after the series was over then refused to speak to the media, this was classless. I’m sure he’s been criticized plenty but I hope he learns from his infamous hat trick of overconfidence, sportsmanship and bad public relations.

I do believe that Cavaliers Owner Dan Gilbert is the one person who could deliver Cleveland a title. But Gilbert, who is from Farmington Hills, MI and used to advertise with the Pistons and did watch the perfect business model by the late William Davidson, won’t do it with Ben Wallace.

Wallace isn’t the same player former Pistons TV Play-By-Play Announcer Fred McLeod used to broadcast on the 2004 championship team. Wallace’s defensive abilities never took his next two stops the Chicago Bulls and Cavaliers to the promised land. He is on the downside of his career.

I’m sure Coach of the Year Mike Brown knows it. But if one Wallace doesn’t work, Rasheed Wallace is an unrestricted free agent and might come at a reasonable price. Another chance to land a former Piston for Gilbert could be quite tempting. Desperation can do many things especially with a long championship drought.

I’ll bet Brown will attempt to protect Wallace like former Pistons Coach Larry Brown did and channel that intensity. If Rasheed can play some defense and hit few timely three pointers, he might actually get Cleveland fans to like him since he’s had unpleasant things to say about them in the past.

But I guess for the time being, the only way we’ll see a Bryant versus James match up is on video games until we them play on the court next season. We’ll have a year to see if this mega ratings match up ever materializes.
Perhaps then, I’ll watch more than 15 minutes of a finals series. But I’m probably not alone and if James is smart, he’ll take the microphone and speak to the Cleveland fans in June and not April learning from his overconfidence experience.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com

If you’re a Detroit er, the weekend of June 12-14 was a tough one to digest against Pittsburgh sports teams.
It was difficult to see the Detroit Red Wings lose the Stanley Cup Finals to the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 as home ice advantage meant nothing.

But to see the Detroit Tigers lose a pair to the Pittsburgh Pirates was harder to deal with. It wouldn’t have bothered me as much if the Tigers lost to a Pirates team which featured players like Bobby Bonilla & Mr. Steroids Barry Bonds.

Those Pirates, managed by current Tigers Manager Jim Leyland from 1990-1992, reeled off three straight division titles.
It wouldn’t have bothered me if the Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente and Dave Parker, etc… of the 1970’s which won a pair of World Series titles, would have defeated the 2009 Tigers.

The Pirates are now an organization which has a new stadium but instead of putting people in it, they’re now known for trading their quality players away with their annual fire sales.

Yet, we’re midway through 2009 and Pittsburgh can still make a legitimate claim to being "The City of Champions."
The Steelers won their sixth Super Bowl on February 1st, while the Penguins won their third Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history on June 12Th.

Pittsburgh wouldn’t have a chance to win an NBA title because they don’t have a team.

The Pirates won’t win this years World Series yet the franchise still has a proud history.

The University of Pittsburgh does have a fine football and basketball programs.

Does anybody remember that Tony Dorsett won a National Championship in 1976 for the University of Pittsburgh, and in 1977, won a Super Bowl in his rookie season with the Dallas Cowboys, thus becoming the first player to accomplish this feat?

The Panthers basketball program is an elite team in the Big East Conference and I wouldn’t be surprised they’d defeat the Los Angeles Clippers.

If for some reason, the Los Angeles Dodgers do win the World Series this year, it would be ironic if all four major sports titles were won by two cities.

Even though the public may not know members of the 2009 Pirates, they’re well aware of Penguins Owner/Hall of Fame Player Mario Lemieux, the Rooney Family, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, Mean Joe Greene, Ben Roethlisberger and Sidney Crosby.

Your economy may be down but it sure seems like your sports teams are doing a nice job picking up the slack.
The best part is the Penguins will be playing in a long overdue arena in the future and we could be looking at a dynasty in the making. The Steelers are a model franchise run by the Rooney’s and their last three coaches have all won Super Bowls speaking of Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher.

The three rivers are nice to watch and your sports ownership appears to be solid for the most part as well as the Pittsburgh Panthers success.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com

    When my colleague George Eichorn sent me a photo that the remaining portion of Tiger Stadium was now being demolished, there were chills down my spine. That’s the last thing I need at the moment with back surgery scheduled for June 24Th and a hospital stay which figures to last as much as five days let alone a recovery process that could be up to 12 months. On January 1st, I took a few pictures of the last part of Tiger Stadium. It was a snowy, cloudy day with the temperature around 10 degrees. Three days prior, I had lunch with Ernie Harwell on my 46th birthday and asked him what the odds were of saving Tiger Stadium? Like all of us, he was hoping it would get preserved but didn’t appear optimistic. Although I currently live in Florida, when I heard that Harwell wasn’t getting enough cooperation & support from the city of Detroit and decided to no longer work on the committee to save the landmark, this was worse than the Lions 0-16 season. Bad seasons get fixed and franchises get turned around. But when landmarks get demolished as Harwell’s famous home run line, Tiger Stadium is "long gone." This man was loved by Tigers fans for his memorable calls. But when the same people who listened to his broadcasts in the city disrespected him in his efforts to save Tiger Stadium despite the fact that he was willing to donate some memorabilia and use a "Field of Dreams" concept, this was hard to swallow. The city’s Economic Development Corp. board voted 7-1 to finish the demolition. The non-profit group was unable to come up with $33.4 million for the redevelopment project therefore the of Detroit is paying $400,000 to handle the project. What bothers me about this is everybody is in a hurry to demolish the building but they have no plans what to do with the land for the economic development. Now when Metro Detroiters drive on I-75 by Michigan & Trumbull, there will be memories on a vacant piece of property. I have no problem tearing a building down as long as there is something that’s going to be built on the land! The remaining portion of Tiger Stadium could have been used for youth or Wayne State University baseball. The Tarters at Tiger Stadium would have a nice ring to it. While I’m unaware of the maintenance costs to run the facility, if all parties could have cooperated & worked together, something could have been worked out. What was left of Tiger Stadium would have made an ideal minor league baseball venue. When the city of Miami tore down the Orange Bowl which was the site of past Super Bowls, Orange Bowls, College Football National Championships, the Miami Hurricanes, Miami Dolphins, they’re using this historic site to build the Florida Marlins a long overdue new ballpark. If the Marlins keep former Tigers Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin, this is where they’ll have a chance to have productive careers. Now the question remains, what will make the most sense for the Tiger Stadium site? If new Mayor Dave Bing wants to score points with voters as he did with the Detroit Pistons, he’ll address the Detroit Red Wings needs and build another Olympia Stadium. Despite the Red Wings heartbreaking attempt at winning a fifth championship in 13-years to the Pittsburgh Penguins, as much as Joe Louis Arena is a decent facility, it’s 30 years old and is one of the oldest stadiums in the NHL, thus it’s become outdated. It needs more suites and first class press facilities. We all know that accessibility will never be a problem at the Tiger Stadium site. The only way to increase economic development is by building newer restaurants, sports bars and memorabilia stores. Detroit needs to get this decision right! The national perception around the country is negative. With the auto industry in shambles, the casinos struggling due to lack of disposable income, the sports traditions keep the city in the news especially when the teams are winning. On Fathers Day, the Tigers drew over 40,000 at Comerica Park in their three-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers. Here is some advice to you Bing. Follow the city of Miami’s plan! It’s a good one because the only way to connect the past, present and future generations is by preserving historic sites and creating new traditions. It would be great to see the next Steve Yzerman playing at the Corner of Michigan & Trumbull. Scott Morganroth can be contacted at scottsports33@aol.com

As told to Raymond Rolak at the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame Induction, June 18, 2009

At the weekly Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association meeting to highlight the 37^TH NPASHF induction class, I was privileged to witness the close bond that has developed between Bobby Czyz and author Greg Smith. Czyz chose Smith to be his presenter at the NPASHF induction ceremony.

The Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association has proudly helped the Warren Cousino studnet-run WPHS Radio station with a Grant Fund donation in the past.

FROM WPHS-

Tell the Warren Consolidated School board why WPHS should stay on the air.  This should be done in a respectful and honest way.  How has WPHS personally affected you in a positive way?  There is a regularly scheduled board meeting set for Wednesday, June 17th at 7:30 PM.  During the Audience Participation portion of the WCS Board Meeting, board policy guarantees 3 minutes for each concerned member of the public.  We know our fans.  This could be an awfully long meeting. 

HELP SAVE 45 YEARS OF EDUCATIONAL RADIO

For those of you old enough to remember the classic Roberta Flack song "Killing Me Softly"… or those of you young enough to consider The Fugees version the true classic, we’re starting to get the feeling that somebody up there is trying to do us in.

What can you do?

Live-Blogging Game 6…

All I know is that if the Chris Osgood doesn’t give up any goals tonight like he did Saturday (or didn’t, depending on how you look at it), Detroit wins the Stanley Cup tonight. It’s not like he’s never done it before. Osgood shut out the Penguins back-to-back in Games 1-2 of last year’s Final.

13.2 seconds to go and the Wings come so close. Johan Franzen has an open net but Rob Scuderi, Pittsburgh defenseman, makes a kick save and a beauty in the crease with his goalie out of position and guess what? We are coming home to Detroit for Game 7. Put that Cup back in the box and we’ll see you Friday night. Wow. Another great game. Need I mention that the home team has won every game in this Stanley Cup Final? I suppose you already know that.

By Scott Morganroth

When I was covering the Detroit Pistons on a regular basis, I’d occasionally take a nearby road trip.

There is one road trip I’ll never forget in the early 1990’s and that’s when I saw the Pistons face the Cleveland Cavaliers in a nationally televised contest on a Sunday afternoon at the old Richfield Coliseum.

The Richfield Coliseum was located at 2923 Streetsboro Road, Richfield, OH 44286. The Coliseum was located between Cleveland and Akron.

The arena was torn down by a wrecking ball from 3/99 to 5/99. It was transferred to the National Park Service which runs the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area. Now instead of basketball players roaming the court, the land is home to the deer and rabbits who run and roam the wild.
What made this trip so special were a couple things.

The Saturday night before the game, I stayed at the Pistons team hotel and went to dinner with Detroit’s Assistant Coaches Brenden Malone & Brenden Suhr at Whitey’s Restaurant.

We were watching a couple of NBA games on separate televisions. They were scouting other opponents while I was subdued and asked them basketball questions during commercials. It was a great time! These guys were class acts.

Twelve hours later, I had lunch with another Pistons Coach. His name was Chuck Daly. We sat in the Media Cafeteria and just talked. I asked Daly lots of questions off the record about his team but more importantly slipped a few in about life. He was nice enough to answer them, pat me on the back and shook my hand when the meal was over.

Daly told me the key to his squad’s success is that he got his players to buy into the team first approach and not worry about individual statistics. He said this approach works well in life as well and thanks to his wisdom I’ve learned 18 years later, he is truly correct. He said he’d use his distribution of minutes to get his point across and the players knew he was in charge and respected what he was doing.

One of the things we joked about was the fact that in the Richfield Coliseum, he was 9-32 as coach of the Cavaliers in his first coaching job. He admitted that this was a learning experience but when Cleveland fired him, he always enjoyed coming back with a division rival and letting his former employer know they made a mistake by not giving him enough time to incorporate his system. But he told me that when he was dismissed, he was determined to turn a negative into a positive.

Did he ever.

It’s hard to believe that Daly’s first Pistons contract was a three-year deal for about $125,000 per season. He had a three-year contract at Cleveland in 1981-82 worth $500,000. But he took lesser money to come to Detroit and erase that blemish for another shot to become a successful NBA head coach which he undoubtedly did building a dynasty with the Bad Boys that led to a pair of championships.

Dealing with personalities like Dennis Rodman, John Salley, Rick Mahorn, role players such as James Edwards, Vinnie Johnson along with his stars Isiah Thomas, Bill Laimbeer, Joe Dumars and juggling their minutes made Daly look like Albert Einstein with his success.

He worked the same magic with the 1992 Olympic Dream Team which won the Gold Medal by dealing with more superstars. Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, etc… turned out to be the icing on the cake for his Hall of Fame Career.

But when you think of all the success he had, it’s still hard to believe that once upon a time, Daly like all of us had some tough challenges in the pros to overcome dating back to his days at the Richfield Coliseum.
It’s also very ironic that by the end of June, the Cavaliers are considered the odds on favorites, led by LeBron James to win their first NBA title and Daly will not be alive to see it. Perhaps, deep down inside, he doesn’t care, but we’ll never know.

To date, he’s still the all-time winningest coach in Pistons history. Detroit retired the No. 2 to honor his pair of titles. There is no doubt that late Pistons Owner Bill Davidson made sure his future contracts were much, much higher as his stature with organization and his influences are alive and well with the people he touched the most.

When I saw Pistons Vice President, Public Relations Matt Dobek and Dumars in town to see Detroit face the Miami Heat on April 15, there is no doubt that they went to Jupiter, Fla., on this trip to visit with Daly.
On the day that Daly died, Detroit News Columnist Terry Foster was correct when he said that it’s been a tough period for the Pistons by mentioning that longtime scout and Hall of Fame Coach Will Robinson died last year and Davidson died earlier this year.

As much as I think of the great times I’ve spent with Daly especially in Richfield, Ohio., it’s ironic that I was in Jupiter, where he lived and died on May 9, at the age of 78 of Pancreatic Cancer. I was in Jupiter picking up my friend Melissa Gardner. When I first heard of Daly’s death, Gardner, who isn’t knowledgeable about sports, was fantastic and listened to my great memories of Daly.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at Scottsports33@aol.com

It takes two. That’s all it takes now for the Detroit Red Wings to win a 12th Stanley Cup. Following successive 3-1 home-ice victories over the outmanned Pittsburgh Penguins over the weekend at Joe Louis Sports Arena, the Red Wings are sitting pretty in their quest for back-to-back championships.

While one could have predicted that goaltender Chris Osgood’s star would shine, who in their right mind could have predicted that unknown minor leaguers such as Jonathan Ericsson, Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader would be stars of the show in the National Hockey League’s greatest spectacle?

No one could likewise have guessed that injuries to Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk and Kris Draper would have like zero impact on the outcome of the first couple of games, okay, Lidstrom was back in Game 2, but still. The Red Wings of 2009 look every bit as hungry as the Red Wings of 2008 who won the franchise’s 11th up championship.

The Penguins meanwhile do not have an answer — as yet — for Detroit’s stiffling defense. And it is not just the defensemen who are playing solid defense; look all around.  There’s Henrik Zetterberg covering a loose puck in Game 1 atop Osgood’s No. 30 jersey. And there’s Zetterberg again in Game 2 inside the goal crease blocking a shot while Osgood lay prone. Everyone is pitching in to help. Everyone wants to taste from the Cup again.

NBC and Versus are going way overboard in heaping publicity and praise on the Penguins and especially superstar Sidney Crosby. The pressure most be enormous on Sid the Kid. Yet a funny thing happened last June on the way to the Finals. The Red Wings still proved they are the better team. History could repeat itself again.

Sure, Detroit is not a sexy team, and not a sexy town. Red Wings fans are spoiled and expect the best out of their team year in and year out. That does not translate into many extra viewers or fans nationwide. The Red Wings are like the New York Yankees of hockey — you love them or hate them. Unfortunately, the latter is the case nationally. In fact, I’d dare say more hockey fans are jealous of the Red Wings than actually hating them.

This is a series to be won now by Detroit. They have the home-ice advantage and took care of business at The Joe. Now comes the hard part — winning at Mellon Arena in front of some harsh and vocal fans who will support their Pens to the bitter end.

Buy George Eichorn’s book, "Detroit Sports Broadcasters On The Air," for $19.99 at www.amazon.com. Reach him at geichorn@yahoo.com.

    Fasten your seat belts, Detroit Tigers fans, your team is taking you on a pennant race!

    I know it’s only May and there are four full months of baseball to be played but fans of the Tigers appear to be bracing for a chase to the American League Central Division title. Manager Jim Leyland’s first-place ballclub appear to have many of the ingredients necessary to contend for a crown.

   Number one is pitching — always has been and always will be. The Tigers are blessed in 2009 with an outsatanding 1-2-3 pitched punch from righthanders Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson and rookie Rick Porcello. The trio has combined to make the Tigers a contender. Verlander leads the majors in strikeouts and has been "lights out" of late, Jackson was a steal coming over from the defending AL Champion Tampa Bay Rays and 20-year-old Porcello has demonstrated the maturity of a veteran starter — trying to capture his fifth win in a row on May 27 in Kansas City.

   The concern is the the number 4 and 5 starters — righty Armando Galarraga and (at the moment at least) Dontrelle Willis. Galarraga has not pitched well since members of the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association gave him his 2008 Rookie of the Year Award on April 29, 2009 at Detroit’s Comerica Park. I hope this is not like the Sports Illustarted (SI) jinx. Willis, meanwhile, pitched well his last couple starts. One of these two spots in the starting rotation could end up with veteran Jeremy Bonderman who is completing his rehabilitation following off-season surgery.

  As for the Tigers bullpen — closer Fernando Rodney has been effective enough. He’s taken over the role perfected the past several years by the retired Todd Jones. Rodney is supported by flamethrower Joel Zumaya, veteran Zach Miner, lefty Bobby Seay, rookie Ryan Perry and former relief ace Brandon Lyon. It has been an effective group for the most part.

   The Tigers defense is much improved with Gerald Laird catching fulltime and Brandon Inge at third. Adam Everitt is steady at shortstop, with Placido Polance covering the ground at second and Miguel Cabrera — while no Gold Glove — making progress defensively at first. The outfield is anchored by center fielder (and Gold Glove candidate) Curtis Granderson, right-fielder Magglio Ordonez and a cast in left field, including Josh Anderson (hitting over .300) and (when healthy) Carlos Guillen and Marcus Thames.

   The Tigers have received excellent hitting this spring from Cabrera who is one of baseball’s pure hitters and one worthy every penny that owner Mike Ilitch and general manager Dave Dombrowski pay him. The Tigers can only win this thing should Cabrera carry them at the plate, in my humble opinion.

   Ordonez has been emerging from a season-long hitting slump as has Polanco. Detroit needs both these guys plus more singles, doubles and triples off the bat of Granderson. He has a home run punch in 2009 but not much else. Inge continues his fine hitting and even Laird is providing some key hits. Everitt and Ramon Santiago are giving the Tigers a lift at the plate too!

   Yes, the Tigers appear to be for real in the weak Central. No one deserves credit more than Leyland for his patience, coaching and coaxing the most out of this team. It’s high time the Tigers reward the skipper with a 2 or 3-year contract extension for the way his club has produced.

Buy George Eichorn’s book, "Detroit Sports Broadcasters On The Air," for $19.99 at www.amazon.com. Reach him at geichorn@yahoo.com.