When did the puck drop?
I must have been sleeping or something because the Tigers were
destroying the American League enroute to a pennant, the Wolverines were about
to win the Rose Bowl and a Big Ten Championship, and the Lions were about to
win the Superbowl.
It was a euphoric dream in part because of how things have
gone the last couple of years for most of the teams I love. Then some Spartan was standing over my bunk
slapping me awake (didn’t even get a flag) and it was all gone. To make matters worse I wake up to realize it’s a bye week for
Michigan and the Tigers are done until April.
For homer fans October means replacing the summer wardrobe
with wing-wheeled sweaters, hats and long-sleeved Ts. People are flocking to the Joe, NHL Center
Ice, or a local pub to get their fan-fix of a winning sports program in action,
but not this year.
With so much happening in Michigan sports this year it’s no
surprise the Wings are skating under the radar.
October generally means the Lions are deciding whether they’ll draft
first or second, the Tigers have been golfing for a month, and the Wolverines
are working to be bowl-eligible with four-a-day practices.
Red-Hot
After 10+ years Detroit fans love their wings and their wings
always bring optimism, the promise of a long playoff run and sometimes even a
great jump in the Central division. This
year is no different but it only occurred to me this morning that the boys were back on the ice because
I’d been so caught up in the amazing runs by the Lions, Tigers and Wolverines
(Lions beat the Bears).
I’ve spent the better part of the day catching up on the
Wings only to discover they are 4-0 going into Columbus (oh, how I loathe that
town), Juri Hudler is busting his tail in practice, and for some reason they
only have four games played a month into the season. It seems the NHL decided to adopt a college
hockey schedule for month one of the season, which adds to the below the radar
business.
Pure Detroit
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| Detroit News Photo |
You have to love how the team has spent their down time in
the community changing oil, serving pizzas, and meeting fans where the fans
spend their day to days. You have to
appreciate the Wings players using it as an opportunity to cheer on the Lions
and Tigers in a sorely needed show of solidarity for Detroit. Postgame handshakes aside, all three of our
downtown coaches are classy, passionate supporters of the community but to me
it was Babcock’s crew that really brought it all together because they’ve been
there consistently and didn’t blow off a chance to be part of the bigger Detroit
team.
That’s the beauty of the Wings; you’re always confident the
wins will come along with a good spot in the playoffs and you know from
ownership on down, the team is pure Detroit in how they reach out to the city
and fans. Puck drops at 7:00 p.m. EST,
and since I’m in Afghanistan, I’ll be following the tweets and pleased that
you’ll be enjoying the game.
Last thought
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| AP Photo |
On a serious note, the Lions got a triple dose of bad news
this week with Javid Best possibly being out for the season and the Ronnie
Brown deal falling through; all minimal in the greater context as the team
learned running back Jerome Harrison has a brain tumor. As many sports writers have already pointed
out, the trade that didn’t happen likely saved his life since the mandatory
physical is when the tumor was discovered. A little more Detroit solidarity with all our prayers for a good man to beat a tough opponent.
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