By Larry Sternberg
April is a great month for sports in Detroit. All four major sports are interesting with hockey and basketball starting the playoffs, the opening weeks of Tigers play and the NFL draft.
Red Wings:
“The same old thing” is the theme so far this season. As in seasons old, the Red Wings won the Presidents’ Trophy for the most points in the NHL and are the number one seed in the Western Conference. As usual, however, the number eight seed gave the Wings more trouble than expected. While the Wings won the series against the Predators in six games, they lost games three and four. In fact, Nashville scored two goals within 35 seconds of each other in the fourth game, seriously raising the blood pressure of many Wings fans. When goaltender Dominik Hasek let up a third goal in the same game, the Wings took action and replaced him with Chris Osgood.
Goal-tending issues are another “same old thing” for the Wings. The margin for error in hockey is very small. A hot goaltender or a bad goal can change the season. The Predators won the fourth game in spite of the goaltender switch, but Osgood looked confident and on his game. The Wings unexpectedly kept Osgood in net and won the fifth and sixth games. In fact, they shut out Nashville 3-0 in the sixth game.
Pistons:
The long regular season is finally over, and the Pistons are the number two seed in the Eastern Conference. In reality, they have been the number two seed all year. They should dominate the 76ers in the first round, winning, I would think, in five games. The second round will probably bring in Orlando with Dwight Howard. Again, a little tougher, but the Pistons should win in six.
All year, the Eastern Conference has been about the Celtics and the Pistons. They have the two best records in the NBA and should ultimately meet in the Eastern Conference finals – in fact, maybe we should just skip the initial rounds and get to the real match up. I think that the Celtics have the better starting line up with Garnett, Pierce and Allen leading the way, but the Pistons have the depth and are a little younger. It should be a great series.
Lions:
The draft is upon us. All the combines, the Wunderlicht test and prodays are over. Teams now make educated guesses as to who will be a good NFL player and who will be a bust. Unfortunately, the Lions drafts under Matt Millen have been atrocious. Remember the draft with Kevin Jones and Roy Williams getting an A- for the Lions? Now, three years later, that draft is a disaster. Names like Charles Rogers, Mike Williams, and Joey Harrington live in infamy around Ford Field.
The Lions need to draft linemen early and often. They lost Shaun Rogers of the defensive line to Cleveland and Damien Woody on the offensive line to the Jets. These are immediate holes that the draft can fill. I wouldn’t worry about replacing Kevin Jones until later in the draft, possibly in the third or fourth rounds. There are plenty of usable backs that can be drafted later. In fact, knowing Matt Millen, pencil in a wide receiver.
Tigers:
The bats are coming alive. After the disappointing 2-10 start, the Tigers are now crushing the ball and putting up crooked numbers every night. The turning point was the comeback against Minnesota when they scored six runs in the eighth inning. Remember that game as the turn around point for the Tigers when they are in the mix for the playoffs in September -- if they can find a fix for their still scary pitching.
Side note:
What happened to C.C. Sabathia for the Indians? He won the Cy Young Award last year. This year, however, he is throwing batting practice. I bet his agent is happy he didn’t get a long-term deal.
