Brent's Sports Blog

Okay, I admit it. I've been slacking a bit. I haven't done a blog entry in almost a month. Once the Red Wings and Pistons seasons ended, I must've ran out of gas. I know, I know the Tigers have somehow climbed back to respectability. I believe when I made my last entry they were 12 games under .500 and something like 10 games out of first place. Now they're back in it, sort of. So yes, I could've talked about them. But from June 18th to June 29th I was on vacation. Didn't go anywhere. Just stayed here in good 'ole Grand Rapids and hung out. No stress. Made a few trips to Muskegon to visit family and friends. That was about it.

I returned from vacation on June 30th, began looking at my July calendar and started to wonder what am I going to do for the next four weeks to fill my sportscasts? July is typically the slowest month of the entire year for local sports, especially here in West Michigan. The Rampage are playing well so that helps. The Griffins will probably call a news conference at some point this month to introduce their new head coach. That will fill :40 in a weekday show at some point.

But late last week I spent the 4th of July with some good friends. My buddy Mark began telling me about the District 9 baseball and softball tournaments that are happening all over West Michigan several nights each week. He went on to say that the 9 & 10 year old boys little league all-star games often draw hundreds of fans and it has a cult following.

My sports director antenna went up. I thought, hmmm, maybe I can start showing some highlights of these games to help flesh out my sportscasts.

So far I've only shown games from the 9 & 10 boys baseball, but that's not the only age bracket competing right now. There are several different ages going at it, all the way up to kids in their late teens. And it's not just baseball, girls are involved in the same age levels in softball.

I thought, this is huge!

So far, so good with our coverage. We'll get better as it goes. I'm waiting to get some feedback from the viewing public. Are these moms and dads racing home from these games, flipping on Fox 17 to hopefully catch a glimpse of their son or daughter? Hopefully that's what's happening.

No TV station in Grand Rapids has ever started covering these little league tournaments this early in the summer. We've always started covering them in mid August when the games really start to matter.

Well, I've found out that the games matter right now. Pool play matters so teams can advance to August. Teams need to be successful in these round-robin pool formats or their seasons will end.

If you've seen our coverage, please drop me a line and tell me what you think.

I've learned in my 18 years in this business that whenever you put people's kids on TV, the viewership goes up. I'm hoping that's happening with my early coverage of the little league tournaments.

Again, this week we're covering the 9 & 10 boys baseball but next week I may venture into one of the girls softball tournaments. We'll have to wait and see.

Meantime, you can follow the entire tournament on our website: www.wxmi.com

Just click on the "Fox 17 Sports" icon on the left side of the main page. You should see two little league logos within the "Blogs" section.

Please check it out and keep watchin'

Brent

Just wanted to remind my viewers that I will have two little league games each night this week (Monday-Thursday). I will have one baseball and one softball game each night to help balance my coverage.

I will only be covering the 9&10 year old baseball & softball, but I welcome everybody to call us with final scores from any games involving any age bracket around West Michigan.

Our score phone number is: 616-447-5148

Just leave your score and we'll retrieve it later in the evening. Please make sure to specify the teams properly. If you just say, "Georgetown beat Lowell, 8-2", but it was actually Georgetown Nationals beating Lowell #2, we may confuse viewers.

We will attempt to get all final scores called in on our ticker.

Right now I'm only covering District 9. I realize that there are several other little league all-star teams around West Michigan playing in similar tournaments from other districts. This is where I need your help. If you live in the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek area or along the lakeshore (Muskegon/Grand Haven/Holland) please call in your scores as well. If you have a website (like the District 9 site we have linked to the WXMI page) please post that link in "comments". I can get the Fox 17 'IT' guy to link your site to ours and people can follow all the little league tournaments around the viewing area.

This is the first year I've attempted to cover this tournament so in order to make it the best it can be I need your help.

Thanks, and keep watching!

Brent

Hi everybody,

Several local teams are still alive in the Little League/Big League baseball and softball. Most of these teams are playing in Cheboygan, Bay City, Jackson, Tecumseh, etc... Others have advanced to playing in other states. Consequently, I can't get cameras out to cover them like I could the past few weeks when all the games were unfolding within a 60 mile radius of Grand Rapids.

The best I can do is get the scores on my ticker each night. This is where I need your help. If you are following your teams, please call our score phone each night with final scores. I will retrieve those scores and make sure they appear on our ticker each night.

Believe me, if these games were still being played here in West Michigan I'd be covering as many of them as I could, but it's just not possible for me to send cameramen 3-5 hours away and get those highlights back in time to put on TV.

The response I have received for our little league coverage this summer has been positive and I can assure you that Fox 17 will expand our Little League coverage next year.

Regards,

Brent

I had a feeling the Tigers would trade Pudge Rodriguez before Thursday's deadline. Rumors began swirling ten days ago that the Marlins were interested in him. The Tigers weren't going to re-sign him this off season anyways, and because he's in the option year of the 5-year, 50-million dollar contract he signed back in 2004, unloading him makes sense.

So the .220 hitting Brandon Inge will become the Tigers' every-day catcher for the rest of the season.

Detroit gets Kyle Farnsworth who pitched for the Tigers back in 2005. He'll help the Tigers bullpen, probably assume the 7th inning role and be used in some long-relief situations.

Tigers now need a backup catcher. Here's what I think will happen. Detroit will recall Dane Sardinha from Toledo and to make room on the 25-man roster they will give Todd Jones his outright release. With Farnsworth now in the equation, Jones is no longer needed. Rodney has been named the closer and Zumaya is the 8th inning guy, for now.

Sardinha is the only option as the backup at this point unless the Tigers plan to trade for a backup before tomorrow's 4pm deadline.

This is just my hunch. Jones won't admit it when the TV cameras are on but he's not happy with his demotion.

The big question is does the Pudge trade mean the Tigers are giving up on this season or is there a method to their madness? Will they pull the trigger on any more deals tomorrow?

I guess we all have to stay tuned.