Anaheim Haunts Detroit Sports Tuesday Night

Tuesday night in Secaucus, New Jersey, the Portland Trail Blazers emerged from the NBA Draft Lottery with the #1 selection. Blazer fans are surely ecstatic at the prospect of Greg Oden or Kevin Durant suiting up at the Rose Garden Arena. Sports fans in Detroit would point to another reason why their counterparts in Portland could celebrate on Tuesday. Anaheim couldn’t ruin their night.


Orange County did a number on the Motor City last night. Most significantly, the Anaheim Ducks downed the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 to capture the NHL Western Conference finals in six games. Due in large part to the goaltending of Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Hockeytown was no match for Mickeytown. In a bitter twist for the automotive capital of the U.S., its team was eliminated in the Honda Center. The Ducks’ Honda connection does seem appropriate, since they’re getting more mileage than their competition from Detroit.


Now instead of the Red Wings capturing their 11th Stanley Cup title, either Anaheim or the Ottawa Senators will win their first. The Ducks began their run to the finals with a 4-1 opening round win over Minnesota. Therefore, their mascot Wild Wing contains the nicknames of two of their playoff victims. The then-Mighty Ducks also eliminated the Wild and the Wings on their way to the 2003 Stanley Cup finals, which they lost to New Jersey in seven games. Disney has since sold the team, but “It’s a small world” will accurately describe the U.S. television ratings for these finals.


Also last night, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim held off the Detroit Tigers 6-3. In a potential playoff preview, the Angels increased their AL West lead to 5 ½ games, while the Tigers remained ½ game behind Cleveland in the Central. Orlando Cabrera had a home run and three RBI, and his leaping catch snuffed out a ninth-inning rally for Jim Leyland’s club. Cabrera’s hang time was much better suited to Comerica Park than the Palace of Auburn Hills. In the NBA, you don’t see Orlando winning in Detroit.


The series continues with games tonight and tomorrow afternoon at Comerica. If the Angels continue the Anaheim-over-Detroit trend, the Cleveland Cavaliers will surely adjust accordingly for Thursday’s game 2 against the Pistons at the Palace. The visitors would likely take the court as the Anaheim Cavaliers. Also, in addition to getting to the foul line, LeBron James would need to make another adjustment to enhance his team’s chances for victory. You could expect him to replace his headband with a pair of mouse ears.


Obviously, Tuesday did not feature any Detroit-Anaheim matchups on the gridiron. The NFL season does not kick off for another 3 ½ months. Plus, Anaheim has been out of the league since the Rams bolted for St. Louis in 1995. Detroit has also been without an NFL franchise since the Lions hired Matt Millen.


Perhaps the Tigers will rebound tonight against 5-0 Bartolo Colon. Even if that happens, do not expect the Detroit fans to warm up to Anaheim anytime soon. Last night, Motown fans had a new nickname in mind for the home of Disneyland. To them, Anaheim was the crappiest place on Earth.

St. Louis vs. Detroit: A World Series Breakdown

Tomorrow night begins the third World Series in history between the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals won in 1934, and the Tigers took their turn on top in 1968. This season, both clubs struggled down the stretch before rebounding in the postseason. These playoffs have been rather unpredictable, but the following analysis sheds some light on what to expect in the Fall Classic.


Ballparks: The Cardinals play in the newest Busch Stadium, while the Tigers call Comerica Park home. If you’re hosting a party for the game, you can’t have a keg of Comerica. Advantage: St. Louis

Wildness: The Tigers are a wild card, but the Cards are not a wild tiger. Advantage: Detroit

Sports-Related City Nicknames: St. Louis is well-suited for the Fall Classic as “Baseball City USA.” Detroit is at a disadvantage as “Hockeytown,” since commissioner Bud Selig has prohibited the use of a Zamboni between innings. Advantage: St. Louis

Ed McMahon: Johnny Carson’s sidekick was born in Detroit. So unfortunately for the Tigers, the city embraces second bananas. Advantage: St. Louis

Rocky III: Rocky used the Eye of the Tiger to defeat Clubber Lang. The Eye of the Cardinal doesn’t intimidate anyone. Advantage: Detroit

Gibsons: Bob Gibson was the World Series MVP for St. Louis in both 1964 and 1967, but his Cardinals fell to the Tigers in 1968. For Detroit, Kirk Gibson won a World Series more recently, as his game 5 home run put away the San Diego Padres in 1984. According to St. Louis skipper Tony LaRussa, no Kirk Gibson highlight could ever top that one. Advantage: Detroit

Vatican City: Tigers don’t get to elect a pope, but Cardinals do. Advantage: St. Louis

College Spies: In Division 1-A, there are Missouri Tigers. But there are no Michigan Cardinals. Advantage: Detroit

2005 Conference USA Basketball Tournament: The Cardinals (Louisville) edged the Tigers (Memphis) 75-74 for the title. Detroit will be in trouble if this series comes down to free throws. Advantage: St. Louis

Guys Named Louis: St. Louis is named after Louis IX, the only king of France to be made a saint. But Detroit’s Joe Louis would pummel that French pansy. Advantage: Detroit

Rivers: Detroit is appropriately bounded by the Detroit River. But even though Missouri does not border Mississippi, St. Louis lies along the Mississippi River. Do they take us for fools? Advantage: Detroit

Charles Lindbergh: Lucky Lindy was born in Detroit. But the Spirit of St. Louis got him to Paris - after a layover at JFK. Advantage: St. Louis

Movies: Judy Garland delighted audiences in Meet Me in St. Louis. But there’s no way she could compete in 8 Mile, rapping off against Eminem. Advantage: Detroit

Roy Williams: In 2005, North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams won a national championship in St. Louis. Lions receiver Roy Williams has no hope for a title in Detroit. He’d settle for one shining moment. Advantage: St. Louis

Music: St. Louis has been a hotbed for the blues and other forms of music, but it can’t compete with Motown. There’s also “Detroit Rock City,” which has often inspired Tigers manager Jim Leyland to wear Kiss makeup in the dugout. Advantage: Detroit

New York, New York: Both World Series participants eliminated a New York team. But the Cardinals had to beat the one without A-Rod. Advantage: St. Louis

2005 World Series: Last year, the winner was an AL Central club with a Guillen (Ozzie). Detroit’s Carlos Guillen hopes that the White Sox started a trend. Just to be safe, he should regularly make comments that offend people. Advantage: Detroit


Tallying up the results, it’s Detroit 9, St. Louis 8. So the Tigers will win a tight series, which goes the full 17 games.

Detroit & Auburn Tigers Delight Michigan Sports Fans

According to the Chinese zodiac, 2006 is the year of the dog. The year of the tiger will not arrive until 2010. However, October has clearly been the month of the Tiger for sports fans in Michigan. Tigers from Detroit and Auburn have brought great joy to the state over the past two weekends.


Last Saturday, the Detroit Tigers captured their first postseason series victory since 1984, stunning the favored New York Yankees in the American League Division Series. Simply appearing in the playoffs was a tremendous accomplishment for the franchise, three years removed from an abysmal 43-119 season. In 2003, the idea of the Tigers beating the Bronx Bombers in a playoff series was laughable. However, the post-game celebration in Comerica Park showed an image that seemed even more ridiculous to music fans: a successful pairing of Kenny Rogers and Motown.


The celebration was even better for Detroit yesterday. Magglio Ordonez slammed a walk-off home run to cap a 6-3 victory and a four-game sweep of the Oakland A’s in the American League Championship Series. The euphoria that ensued was ironic in light of the recipient of the ALCS MVP award: Placido Polanco, whose first name is Spanish for “calm.” However, skipper Jim Leyland is an even bigger reason the World Series will be opening in Detroit next Saturday. The name Leyland is translated as “chain-smoker who manages his tail off.”


In addition to the nearby Tigers on the diamond, fans in Ann Arbor have also benefited from the gridiron Tigers from Auburn the past two Saturdays. Last week, the second-ranked Tigers did Michigan a favor by falling flat against Arkansas, 27-10. However, yesterday they rebounded to take down new #2 Florida, 27-17. The second spot in the rankings has proven to be very unlucky, as Notre Dame and Texas also fell from that perch in September. This college football season would be perfect for Dr. Evil, who consistently disrespected Number 2.


Thanks to the Auburn Tigers’ results the past two weeks, Michigan controls its own destiny for a spot in the BCS national championship game. The Wolverines are likely to be third in the initial BCS rankings, but they will have the opportunity to jump ahead of #1 Ohio State when the teams meet November 18 in Columbus. Despite the absence of injured star Mario Manningham, Lloyd Carr’s unit stayed undefeated with Saturday’s 17-10 road victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions. The game represented a familiar sight for sports fans in Michigan: a football game lost by the Lions.


The downtrodden NFL franchise in Detroit has noticed the positive effect of Tigers on local sports fans. The Lions are hoping to sign a beloved Tiger who hails from Michigan. However, management is reportedly far from an agreement with Battle Creek native Tony the Tiger. The cereal icon apparently remains skeptical about the team’s commitment to winning, remarking, “They’re grrreatly disappointing!”


The sports world’s most famous Tiger is not in action this weekend. However, in a few years Tiger Woods is expected to provide another reason for Michigan sports fans to celebrate. It is only a matter of time before Woods wins his 19th major championship to surpass the record of Jack Nicklaus. Tiger will therefore accomplish exactly what the Wolverines hope to do in The Horseshoe next month: knock the Ohio State Buckeyes from the top.