http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/ FOX 17 Sports Director Brent Ashcroft will post comments throughout the week about your favorite sports teams and sports topics. From your favorite Detroit teams to our local sports scene, Brent will give you his take. en Copyright 2008 Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:16:55 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss This coming Thursday, Fox 17 will make an in-road on the West Michigan TV landscape. We'll begin airing the "Blitz Pregame Show". It'll be a full hour, from 5-6pm, dedicated exclusively to high school football. The majority of the show will be broadcast from our Game of the Week site, while Tara Miller and I anchor the coverage back at the station. Tim Doty and Bret Bakita will be live in the field. The entire hour is geared toward the high school football fans who are getting ready to head out to their respective games that night. Our coverage will not only focus on the Game of the Week, but also on some of the other big matchups around West Michigan. The rematch of East Grand Rapids versus Orchard Lake St. Mary is our game of the week for week 1. How can you go wrong with that, since these two schools hooked up last November at Ford Field in what was arguably the greatest football game in MHSAA history. We did a rehearsal for the show this past week and let me tell you it's gonna be great! Compelling feature stories, mixed in with previews of all the big games, plus all the excitement that builds at the games two hours before kickoff. If you plan to attend the EGR/OLSM game Thursday, get out there early and be a part of our broadcast! If you're going to a different game that night, then be sure to check out the broadcast. It'll have everything you need to know before heading out to that game nearest to you. http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/08/blitz_pregame_show.html http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/08/blitz_pregame_show.html Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:16:55 -0500 A year ago right now, UM football fans were scanning the 2007 schedule. They saw Appalachian State at the Big House week 1 and thought, "easy pickins." We all know what happened in that game. College football's biggest upset ever unfolded, ending Michigan's shot at a national championship in what ended up being Lloyd Carr's final season. Moral of the story, nothing is "easy pickens" in sports. Turn the page to 2008. New head coach Rich Rodriguez is set to unveil the spread offense in Ann Arbor, though he's remained pretty mum about how it will all work. Keep in mind, aside from his recruiting class he just brought in, the majority of the '08 Wolverines he inherited from the Carr regime, which didn't exactly focus on spread-offense-type talent. So, how does Rodriguez take a whole bunch of guys who aren't his type of players and make them into his type of players? That's the million dollar question. Offensively, this team could struggle mightily in '08, to the likes UM football fans haven't seen in decades. Though Rodriguez has yet to officially name a starting QB, it's assumed that Georgia Tech transfer, Steven Threet will be the man under center to an offense that's only returning three starters: Tackle Stephen Schilling and part-time regulars Carson Butler at TE and fullback Mark Moundros. Chad Henne and all his school records is gone. Tackle Jake Long, the top pick in this past April's NFL Draft, is no longer available to protect the QB and create holes for a running game. Mike Hart is also gone, taking with him UM's all-time records in carries and rushing yards. For the first time since the early 1980's, UM football fans will head into a season with guarded optimism. If the majority of this team struggles to adapt to Rich Rodriguez's style, 2008 could be the first year in almost three decades the Wolverines football program doesn't appear in a post-season bowl game. How weird will that be? http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/08/um_football_what_will_2008_bri.html http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/08/um_football_what_will_2008_bri.html Sun, 17 Aug 2008 11:22:41 -0500 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. http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/07/so_long_pudge.html http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/07/so_long_pudge.html Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:21:36 -0500 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 http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/07/little_league_scores.html http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/07/little_league_scores.html Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:09:43 -0500 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 http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/07/little_league_baseball_softbal.html http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/07/little_league_baseball_softbal.html Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:39:22 -0500 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 http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/07/im_back_and_talkin_little_leag.html http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/07/im_back_and_talkin_little_leag.html Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:19:27 -0500 Dontrelle lasted 1.1 innings, allowing 8 earned runs on just 3 hits. He walked 5 and struck out only 2 hitters. Basically, his he had no control, and had no idea where home plate was located. For normal pitchers home plate is 60 feet 6 inches away. Dontrelle was was no where close to that last night. What hurts even more is that the Tigers can't just give up on Dontrelle. They're committed to him, to the tune of 29 million bucks over the nest three seasons. They just should've never given him a long-term deal before they knew he'd got it right. The Tigers gambled and lost, which seems to be the running theme for Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland these days. They need to fix him. Problem is, that's clearly easier said than done. So, what do the Tigers do with him. Keeping him in the rotation isn't an option. Do they send him back to the bullpen? That's probably the best bet right now. Bring him in to face lefties along with Bobby Seay. Dontrelle Willis is going to have to start over from scratch and re-invent himself as a pitcher. Hopefully Tigers' pitching coach Chuck Hernandez has what it takes to make that happen. If not, it's a 29 million dollar investment wasted. Tigers traded away all their good minor league pitchers last fall and winter. Boy would Jair Jurjjens be a life saver right now, and I haven't heard of any starters in Toledo who are ready to jump up to the bigs and hold down a spot in the rotation. Do the Tigers try to convert a Denny Bautista or an Aquilino Lopez into being starters? I'm not sure that's the best course of action either. Then there's Zach Miner, who enjoyed some spot starts a few years ago. Miner has had very few good outings this season so what's to say making him a starter will make him better? I think the Tigers will be making a trade soon. They need to find a proven starting pitcher who can win games for them right now. Who do they give up? Probably more young guys like Clete Thomas, Matt Joyce, Brent Clevlen, etc... Nobody's gonna want Edgar Renteria or Gary Sheffield or any of the older guys. In fact, I would argue that most of the Tigers' everyday players don't have much trade value these days because of the season they've had thus far. Dontrelle Willis' poor outing last night means the panic button is now being pressed by the Tigers' brass. They now know they can't run that guy out there every 5 days. They need to start trolling for a trade to find somebody who can win games now. Don't be surprised if Dontrelle Willis goes on the DL again soon with a "tired arm" or "tendinitis" or some other phantom injury or ailment that baseball managers use to make roster moves. When do the Red Wings and Pistons start playing again?]]> http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/06/the_dtrain_doesnt_have_all_abo.html http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/06/the_dtrain_doesnt_have_all_abo.html Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:28:43 -0500 I was heading out to the set to do my sportscast as the game ended, though I stopped quick to check out one of the monitors. The final :10 was rediculous. Pens get a shot in on Osgood. He couldn't glove it cleanly. Ozzie then sprawled in gthe crease while the Pens Marian Hossa cut in front and managed to poke the puck over Ozzie. The Puck slithered across the crease, three inches from going in. The horn sounded and the game ended. The Red Wings were Stanley Cup champs for the 4th time in 11 years. I had to go out to do my sportscast after watching that unbelievable ending. I discovered later that time had expired on the clock as the puck was sliding through the crease, meaning had the puck gone in it wouldn't have counted. But still. What a way to out to do a sportscast. Fox 17's Executive Producer, Chris Pantaleo had to run out to the studio to tell me that Henrik Zetterberg had won the Conn Smyth Trophy. By the time I was done with News at Ten, most of the celebration had ended. Fortunately I DVRd the game at home and was able to watch all the celebration. How 'bout all the story lines that come with this championship. Chris Osgood taking over for Dominik Hasek in the first round and led this team to the title. How 'bout all the former Grand Rapids Griffins on this Wings' team. Guys like Darren Helm and Valtteri Filppula, who started the 2007-08 hockey season in Grand Rapids and finished it hoisting hockey's holy grail. Personally, the best story is Darren McCarty. Folks, five months ago this guy wasn't even playing hockey. Because of his friendship with Kris Draper, McCarty was signed by the Flint Generals of the IHL back in January of this year. McCarty spent a month with Flint, bussing around the midwest to cities like Port Huron, Muskegon and Fort Wayne. February arrived and the Red Wings signed him and sent him to the Griffins, where McCarty was great. The Wings then called him up in late March and the rest is history. McCarty experienced everything the game of hockey has to offer in five short months. From bussing with wannabe 19 year olds in January to hoisting the Stanley Cup in June. Not too shabby. I wish that had wrapped it up Monday in game 5 because I was there and wanted to see it. I have seen a lot in my 18 years in the sports broadcasting business but I've never been present to see a Detroit team win any kind of championship. The only consolation I can take is that it didn't go to a game 7. I would've had to go to the Joe to cover that and, knowing my track record, the Red Wings would've lost. Wings proved how good they were by winning the Cup in game 6. Until the Wings won game 4 last Saturday the Pens hadn't lost a game at the Igloo since February 24th. It took this Wings team to end that streak and win the final two games of the season there to clinch the cup. A great night, indeed. I will show a bunch of highlights and postgame reaction tonight on Fox 17 News at Ten. Make sure you check it out. Brent ]]> http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/06/chris_osgreat_was_good_to_the.html http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/06/chris_osgreat_was_good_to_the.html Thu, 05 Jun 2008 01:07:06 -0500 34.3 seconds away from winning the Cup. 34.3 seconds! In a matter of seconds, the Joe went from being electric to feeling like a morgue. Who would have thought there would be nearly three more periods of hockey. The Red Wings locker room was empty. Derek Aupperlee & James Baetens (the two Fox 17 photojournalists who went with me) joined me in the locker room afterwards to get some postgame interviews. All three Detroit TV stations were doing postgame shows, but very few Red Wings players came out to meet the media. Rafalski, Nick Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall were the only players who made themselves available. Most of the media was huddled around Chris Osgood's locker waiting for him to come out of the showers and talk about what it was like to be 34.3 seconds away and allow the goal at the end of regulation, then discuss Petr Sykora's power play game winner midway through the 3rd OT. But, Osgood never came out. We stayed in the Wings' locker room until 1:40am before we gave up. Nobody wanted to talk about it and, quite frankly, who could blame them. They were 34 seconds from nervana. They were 34 seconds away from an amazing comeback win and dominating this series. Instead, the Penguins have life and are headed back for game six at Mellon Arena, where they've only lost one game since February 24th. Even though the Wings lost, and we were only able to interview four players afterwards, it still was amazing to be present for some hockey history. That hockey game allowed you to experience just about every emotion there is. Getting home at 4:30am wasn't too much fun. Oh well, I guess it was a good thing that I don't have the traditional 9-5 job. Detroit has to seal the deal tonight because anything can happen in a game 7. ]]> http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/06/game_5_heartbreaker.html http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/06/game_5_heartbreaker.html Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:48:28 -0500 For the third straight year the Pistons bow out in the Eastern Conference Finals. Detroit blew a 10 point 4th quarter lead and lost Game Six, 89-81. Pistons have reached the Conference Finals six straight seasons and have two Finals appearances and one championship to show for it. It's time for heads to roll starting with Flip Saunders. Once again he got out coached in the 4th quarter of a big game. He had no answer for Paul Pierce down the stretch in Game Six. Saunders failed to get the Pistons back to the Finals each of the past three seasons. Is assistant coach, Michael Curry ready to take over as head coach? Hey, Isiah Thomas is available! Maybe Joe can woo Gregg Poppavich out of San Antonio? Botttom line, this team is aging, and it needs new leadership. Rip, Chauncey, Sheed, McDyess are all in their early 30s now. Realistically, they can't continue to maintain this run they've enjoyed especially when you consider other teams in the East have improved. You know the Cavaliers will add another player or two this off season to help get LeBron a title. The Orlando Magic aren't too far away from being a contender and, heck, the Sixers gave us fits in the first round. Philly is only a player or two from getting better. Joe Dumars has shyed away from signing big-name free agents in recent years because he believed in winning with a bunch of players with no egos. Well Joe, maybe it's time for you to put your ego in your back pocket and take a page out of the Boston Celtics' book. The Celtics won 24 games in 2007. That's right, 24 games! One year later, GM Danny Ainge decided to make some bigtime trades and sign some free agents. They turned 24 wins into 66 wins and an Eastern Conference Championship. I remember a year or so ago Dumars had a chance to trade for Kevin Garnett. If I recall, a deal was on the table and Dumars withdrew. Now I wonder if he wishes he had reuinted Garnett with Saunders in Detroit. That move might have brought the Pistons back over the hump. Instead, it's the Celtics who go from the NBA's outhouse to the penthouse in 12 short months. And it's the Pistons who hit the glass ceiling again. I have the utmost respect for Joe Dumars. I grew up in the 80s and watched him help the Pistons win back-to-back titles in 1989-90. But you need star players to win in the NBA these days. Adding Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett turned the Celtics from a laughing stock into a champion. This is two straight years a Flip Saunders Pistons team has been eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals by a new kid on the block. Last year the Cavs upset us. The Pistons are quickly getting a reputation for being an easy team to beat in a seven-game series. It's time for Joe-D to start rebuilding this team. In my opinion, the only untouchable players are Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince, Rodney Stuckey and Jason Maxiell. Everybody else is expendable, including Richard Hamilton. I wouldn't be surprised if Rip gets dealt this off-season, perhaps to get a higher draft pick. Stuckey has proven he's a deadly shooter who can be trusted at any point during games. I also think Rasheed Wallace needs to go. His act has grown tiresome. The two teams in the NBA Finals each have star players. The Lakers have Kobe and the Celtics have Garnett. Both teams are built around their star players. The Pistons have no star players. In fact, nobody on this Pistons team will ever make it to the Hall of Fame. Sure they've won but the rest of the East is catching up, and the Pistons are close to becoming a punch-line. We can't live in 2004 & 2005 forever, and Larry Brown is now in Charlotte. The Pistons, in their current form, are not good enough anymore. I certainly hope Joe Dumars realizes that after missing out on their goal.... again!! http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/05/time_to_bust_up_the_pistons_as.html http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/05/time_to_bust_up_the_pistons_as.html Fri, 30 May 2008 23:54:05 -0500 So I decided at the last minute this past Saturday to go with one of the Fox 17 photojournalists to game one of the Stanley Cup Finals in Detroit. I had a gut feeling that if I wanted tp get to one of these games, the first game had to be it. Plus, all work and no play makes Brent a dull boy. I sat in the press box and watched a Red Wings team surgically destroy the young Penguins over the final two periods. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin could do nothing, ad the Wings defenders got back and sealed off the blue line. I then went on the Sports Ticket Sunday night and called for a sweep by Detroit. After watching game two from the comforts of my living room, I stand by my sweep prediction. Simply put, the Penguins don't belong on the same ice as the Red Wings. Detroit is just flat out better in every phase of the game. Penguins fans may argue that the series is now shifting to Pittsburgh, where the Pens haven't lost a game in almost three months. They will have a jump in game three. They will try to match the Wings in the physical department, but I don't think it will lead to a win. If the Pens can get the first goal in game three, and feel what it's like to play with a lead, they'll feed off the home crowd and play better. But eventually the Wings experience will rise to the top again and Detroit will win. This series is over folks. The young Penguins are now faced with having to beat the Red Wings four of the next five games, including one game at the Joe. Not gonna happen!! The only thing that upsets me is that the Wings won't be able to skate the cup at home. It'll happen Saturday night at Mellon Arena. http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/05/stanley_cup_missmatch.html http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/05/stanley_cup_missmatch.html Mon, 26 May 2008 23:33:06 -0500 Most of you probably heard about what happened last night before the Tigers beat the Mariners, 12-8. Jim Leyland spoke to the media about some comments former Tigers relief pitcher Jason Grilli made in an article in USA Today. Grilli said, "The Tigers have no chemistry and and there are too many cliques in the clubhouse." Well, Leyland took major offense to that and sounded off about it during his pregame news conference. I ran :50 of Leyland's rant during my sportscast last night, but I managed to find the entire transcript today. So I decided to clip and paste here. Let me know your thoughts after you read it. Was Leyland in the right? Should he have just kept his mouth shut like he does in most cases? You decide Here is the majority of Leyland's rant. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I find that hard to believe that that has anything to do with somebody not getting a run in. I mean, would I like this to be a little more close-knit? Yes. Do I buy a lot of people when they start talking about that, and some of it comes from players, I think they ought to look at themselves in the mirror. I think it's diversionary tactics, and I really take offense to Jason Grilli's thing about not having Sean Casey. You have to be kidding me. I mean, please. Jason Grilli ought to just worry about Colorado. Jason Grilli's not here any longer because Jason Grilli didn't pitch good under pressure situations and didn't pitch very well in Detroit. You want to tell it like it is? When players want to start talking, I'll start talking. But I'm very reserved about stuff like that. Jason Grilli ought to worry about Colorado, not Detroit. "Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I miss Sean Casey. But Sean Casey doesn't have anything to do with the fact that the Tigers are where we're at. Now let's get that straight right now. And people want to start talking about things and this and that, what this guy's doing, what that guy's doing, they should look in the mirror. They should look right in that mirror, look at themselves and see what they're doing. And what some of these guys are doing on this club, the last thing they should be doing is popping off in the newspaper. They're diversionary tactics and they look foolish. You can quote every bit of that. There's nothing wrong with inside the clubhouse. The problem here is in between the lines. That's where the problem is. But everybody looks for an excuse, and to me, that's a weak excuse. Look in the mirror. Are you knocking in runs? Are you getting hits? Are you doing your share? And if you don't like what's going on in the clubhouse and you're a player, then say something about it. Put a name to it. Stick your chest out and put a name to it." The other issue he had was with Carlos Guillen. Here's what Guillen said in the story: "We never said we were going to win 100 games. All we said was that we have a good team with good players. That was the (sports) media and fans doing the talking. You don't win games looking good on paper. You've got to do it on the field. That wasn't fair to us." Here's Leyland's response: "It isn't fair all of a sudden for people to have expectations? Well, why wasn't it fair? What are you talking about, it wasn't fair? You're supposed to love the expectations. You're saying it wasn't fair to have expectations? What are you talking about? I'm a grown man. I can take my heat, and I deserve some for the performance of this club. But you better be careful when you're a player. If you're hitting .200 and .220 and striking out or hitting .200 and .215, you shouldn't be popping off, in my opinion, about other situations. You ought to be taking care of your own business. If they want to play games, I'll play games, and it won't be long [before] I'll put names to it, if they want me to. I'm not quite to that point yet. They want to play games, I'll play games. I'll quit protecting some of these guys night after night after night after night. And I'll put some names to it." Overall, eyland's problem was with current players going off in the press: "If players want to play games in the press, I'll play games in the press. And it won't be very pretty. That doesn't have anything to do with a guy hanging a slider or missing a fastball right down the [middle], throwing the ball away. That has nothing to do with it. That's a weak excuse. That's a lame excuse." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, did Leyland do the right thing here? Or is this step number one in the complete crumbling of the Tigers clubhouse and the exit of Leyland? Bottom line folks, it ain't comfy right now in Detroit. Dave Dombrowski can spin it however he wants it but I've been in the broadcasting business for almost 20 years; when stuff like this leaks out, not only is it usually true, it's definitely not good. And now Leyland is deciding to no longer protect his players in the media. Winning will cure everything, but if they don't start doing that on a regular basis soon, I think we as Tigers fans can expect more of these rants and player call-outs. If Leyland has more to say, I will have it in my sportscast tonight on Fox 17 News at Ten. So please remember to check it out. Brent http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/05/leylands_rant_about_grilli_his.html http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/05/leylands_rant_about_grilli_his.html Wed, 21 May 2008 10:53:40 -0500 It's become abundantly clear that somebody either needs to be fired or cut from the Tigers. Personally, I don't think Jim Leyland will be that person, but I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on who should go. Should it be Gary Sheffield? Should the Tigers try to trade Carlos Guillen so Brandon Inge can play fulltime again? Should the hitting and pitching coaches be flushed? C'mon West Michigan, let me hear your rants... Just click on the 'comments' link below and unload. Trust me, as a diehard Tigers' fan, it's very theraputic for me to do it too. Brent http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/05/who_needs_to_go.html http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/05/who_needs_to_go.html Sat, 17 May 2008 13:02:57 -0500 Should he have flipped the ball for the force at second base, or should he have put it in his pocket, knowing the degree of difficulty that play presented. It's tough to say, because when you're in the middle of a play like that you have to make a quick decision. Had Edgar Renteria just put it in his pocket, the worst case scenario was the Royals having the bases loaded with 2 outs. You then hope Francisco Cruceta can somehow get the third out and you head to the top of the 9th inning still tied 2-2. Personally, I think Edgar Renteria should've put the ball in his pocket and not tried to be a Sportscenter highlight. It was the bottom of the 8th inning, for crying out loud! Two outs. Esteban German was going to keep running no matter what. Renteria needed to recognize the situation better. Flipping a ball, against your body's momentum in the bottom of the 8th inning, in a tie game, with the go-ahead runner rounding 3rd base, probably isn't wise. Bottom line, Renteria should've held the ball. Would that have guaranteed a Tigers' win? Who knows. The way this team is playing, probably not. But it would've increased the team's chances. That's for sure. You can ovecome an error like that in the 3rd inning of a game. But in the bottom of the 8th, on the road, with runners moving and 2 outs, not as easy to overcome, as evidenced by the final score last night. Nate Robertson had his best outing of the season. He allowed 2 runs, no walks over 7 innings. Only 82 pitches. He wouldn't have gotten the win because he was relieved when the game was tied. I can't remember a single game so far this season where the Tigers got great starting pitching combined with timely hitting. They just can't put it all together. Here's the sobering stat of the season thus far, the Tigers are now 0-20 when they score 5 or fewer runs in a game. 0-20!! This team is still in trouble, folks. One third of the season will be over on Memorial Day. That's less than two weeks away. When Leyland and Dombrowski take inventory on the Tigers' first 60 games, I don't think they're going to be doing cart wheels. http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/05/edgars_error_another_tigers_lo.html http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/05/edgars_error_another_tigers_lo.html Wed, 14 May 2008 12:15:15 -0500 This really shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone, even though the Nichol family has maintained that Keith wasn't going to leave Oklahoma. Keith just wasn't going to play for the Sooners with Sam Bradford in front of him. Nichol's Oklahoma career reads like this after just one season - played in three games for the Sooners, rushed for 8 yards and completed only one pass in his debut against North Texas. He finished his freshman season completing 2 of 7 passes for a total of 15 yards. Keith Nichol is arguably one of the most talented quarterback commodities to ever come out of West Michigan. He has pin-point accuracy mixed in with great speed. He was an "Elite 11" quarterback during his senior year at Lowell. I remember two years ago when Nichol withdrew his verbal from Michigan State and decided to go to Oklahoma. On the surface, it looked like a great move. MSU was going through a head coaching change, having just fired John L. Smith and things were very uncertain in East Lansing. Mark Dantonio was soon hired and one of his first missions was to connect with Nichol to find out his intentions. Ultimately, Nichol's intentions were to move away from MSU and focus on OU. Now the landscape is wide open again for Nichol. Where will he end up? Will Dantonio decide to reach out to Nichol and open a dialogue agaub? If Nichol decides to transfer to a Division I school, he'll have to sit out the 2008 season, meaning he'll become eligible again in 2009. By the fall of '09, Bryan Hoyer will be graduated. But if Nichol returns to MSU, what does Dantonio tell backups Kirk Cousins and Nick Foles? Cousins and Foles were expecting to battle it out to see who the 2009 starter would be. If Nichol is brought in, he'll be the starter, and Foles and Cousins will look to leave. I don't see Dantonio taking this path. I think Dantonio will have a courtesy conversation with Nichol but ultimately the Lowell product will not end up in East Lansing. Ironically, Michigan is where Nichol should end up. He's exactly what Rich Rodriguez needs for his spread offense. The Wolverines lost out on Terrelle Pryor to rival Ohio State, so wooing a talent like Nichol would be huge and a perfect fit. I believe Rich Rodriguez will definitely reach out to Nichol and see if he has any interest in coming to Ann Arbor. The other school Nichol could consider is Cincinnati. Brian Kelly no doubt followed Nichol's career while he was coaching CMU. In fact, I'm sure Kelly and Nichol had some conversations when Kelly was still at Grand Valley. If Nichol wants to play right away, he has to either transfer to a I-Double-A college or step back to Division II of Division III. If he really wants to play close to home, he could consider Grand Valley. Former Lowell QB Mark Catlin went to GVSU, which has one of the elite Division II football programs in the nation. The one thing we do know is Keith Nichol will be coveted by a lot of schools again. It's almost like the recruiting process has started over from scratch. Wherever he goes, he must find a situation where he'll play right away. Transferring from OU to another school just to hold the clipboard again can't be an option this time around. My bet is on Michigan. Expect to see Keith Nichol wearing the Maize & Blue and starting under center in 2009, and we'll see if he can out-duel Terrelle Pryor when the Wolverines and Buckeyes hook up on the gridiron late in the season. http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/05/breaking_news_keith_nichol_tra.html http://blogs.trb.com/sports/local/grandrapids/2008/05/breaking_news_keith_nichol_tra.html Fri, 09 May 2008 16:42:01 -0500