Brent's Sports Blog

Gotta admit, anchoring sports Tuesday night was a true joy. Being able to watch the Pistons hammer the Sixers.. at the same time the Tigers held on to win at Yankee Stadium.. and knowing that game three between the Red Wings and Avalanche was still to come. It was an awesome night to be a Detroit sports fan.

The Pistons played with a sense of urgency for once. Chauncey Billups had his best game of the series, recording a double-double.. 21 points and 11 assists. In fact, Billups, Wallace and Rip Hamilton accounted for 58 of the Pistons 98 points. Now they have to go into Philly Thursday night and play with the same sense of urgency. I don't think Thursday's game will be easy at all, but if they can keep it close for three quarters, then Detroit will win. If the Pistons fall behind by double digits again early, this series may go seven games, allowing the Orlando Magic to continue to rest.

The Red Wings, Avalanche series is no contest. This series will be a sweep. The Avs just aren't as good as the Wings and, to add insult to injury, are just too banged up to compete. Remember when Pavel Datsyuk was ripped for not showing up in the playoffs? Well, I guess he's silenced those critics. Datsyuk has scored 13 goals in his last 27 playoff games. He only scored 3 goals in playoff games stretching between 2002-2006. Replacing Hasek with Osgood may go down as the greatest decision ever made by Mike Babcock. Of the five previous playoff meetings between the Wings and the Avs, the winner has always gone on to win the Stanley Cup.

Gary Sheffield finally snapped out of it. At least for one at-bat. Sheff's 2-run homer in Tuesday's 6-4 win over the Yankees broke his personal 0-for-17 slump, and it might've gotten him back on track at the plate. Placido Polanco was 4-for-5 with 2 runs scored, Curtis Granderson was on base all night and scored 3 runs. He also homered to the deepest part of Yankee Stadium. How important is Granderson to this Tigers' team? I don't think common words can describe his importance. He's noticeably a better hitter, he works counts and has no problem taking a walk. Granderson from two years ago, or even last year, wasn't this picky at the plate. He's learning how to work counts fro guys like Sheffield and Ordonez.

Anyways, all three Detroit teams win. And all three games were meaningful. The Tigers win over the Yankees matters because before it's all said and done, the Tigers could be battling the Yankees for the AL Wildcard. These head-to-head meetings will factor into the equation when late September rolls around.

April and May are the best times of the year if you're a Detroit sports fan. Tuesday night proved that, hands down!