Edmonton @ Red Wings: The LiveBlog

7:35pm:  We are some kind of wedged in here tonight in the Joe Louis Arena press box.  The put two of us in the same spot and I don't know if I have room to write.  We shall do our best, that is all we can do.

The Wings, off to a great start at home 5-1-1 (.786) almost took the early lead just three or so minutes in off some beautiful passing.  Johan Franzen had Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin pulled and beaten, but he slid it right off the post.  The Oilers on the road are, for the record, 2-3-2 (.429).

The Wings did cash in a few minutes later, though.  Valtteri Filppula was left alone in front--or at least alone enough--and Jiri Hudler slipped him a pass from behind the net and Filppula made sure it wound up IN the net.  Goal at 7:22:  DETROIT 1, EDMONTON 0.

7:55pm  These teams met just 6 days ago in Edmonton, the second game of the Wings three-game swing through Western Canada.  The Wings won that game last Friday night, 3-1. Filppula scored in that one, too.  In fact, he had the game-winner, a second period goal that broke a 1-1 tie at the Northlands Coliseum (if that's still the name of the Oilers home rink.  It's tough, as you know, to keep up with who's got naming rights to the various arenas around the league these days.)

8:00pm:  The Wings lead 2-1 at 13:29 as Tomas Holmstrom banged in his own rebound and now he's got 7 points (4-3-7) in his last 9 games.  He had, however, gone 4 games without a goal until now.  If the Wings get the next one, we will look up who the Oilers back-up goalie is, because old Nikolai is taking a beating down there right now.  DETROIT 2, EDMONTON 0.

8:10pm:  Devan Dubnyk.  He's the Oilers back-up.  We had to look because we promised we would if the Wings got the next goal, and they did.  Dan Cleary--who also scored against the Oilers last Friday night--scores at 17:39.  That goal last week snapped a 9-game goal draught by Cleary and he hasn't missed since.  He's scored in each of the Wings last four games, starting with that empty-netter in Edmonton last week.  DETROIT 3, EDMONTON 0.

8:07pm:  The Oilers, who appeared in the Cup Final 8 times and won it all 5 times between 1983-'91 (see also: Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, etc.) have fallen on tough times of late.  And we're not just talking about this season--which sees them dead last in the Eastern Conference--but rather about the last four seasons, none of which has seen Edmonton in the playoffs at all. They almost made the most of it the last time they did qualify, though:  losing the 2006 Stanley Cup Final to Carolina in 7.

8:10pm  The first period is over.  DETROIT 3, EDMONTON 0.

8:34pm  Early in the second period, at 2:18, Cleary does it again.  His second of the night--his 6th of the season--makes it 4-0 Detroit.  No sign of pulling Khabibulin, though.  Which I do not understand, entirely. DETROIT 4, EDMONTON 0.

8:38pm:  Mike Modano becomes the first Red Wing to get a penalty shot here at the JLA in almost 3 years, but Khabibulin denies him.  Strange that the Wings haven't had a penalty shot at home since Filppula had one in December of '07, but that's what the Game Notes say and the Game Notes never lie, ever.  Funnier still, we happened to be talking about the fact that no Wing had had a penalty shot at home in almost 3 years over dinner tonight here in the Media Dining Room before the game.  Actually, we were sitting around listen to George Eichorn of the Detroit Monitor talk about it and, I'm not going to lie to you, it was pretty boring to be honest, but now it's all quite interesting.

8:56pm:  We're watching Taylor Hall, the #1 pick in the NHL Draft last summer from the Windsor Spitfires here tonight.  He's an Oiler now and he's got 3 goals and is (-5) 13 games into his career.  He turns 19 Sunday.  Some of my hockey equipment is, therefore, older than Taylor Hall.  And consider this: in a scant 2 years and 3 days, Taylor Hall be able to enjoy a beer after a game!   UPDATE:  Hall is (-3) tonight through 2 periods against the Wings so (if you are scoring at home) make him (-8) for his career. 

9:00pm: Filppula scores his second of the night, this time on the power play at 17:03, banging in a Franzen rebound out of mid-air.  DETROIT 5, EDMONTON 0 and I would give Khabibulin the rest of the night off, for sure.

9:05pm:  They are going to change the last goal to Franzen.  The replay shows it was his stick that batted it in.

9:06pm:  The second period is over.  I imagine this is the best news the Oilers have had all night.  It's DETROIT 5, EDMONTON 0 after 2.

9:20pm  I was wrong.  They did not change the last Detroit goal to Franzen.  They changed one of the assists on the goal but in all the excitement I didn't catch it.  Here's something else they didn't change:  the Edmonton goalie.  Khabibulin is still in there.  And just as I mention this, they do go ahead and give the goal to Franzen.  As scoring changes go, this one is notable, too, as becomes the 100th goal of Franzen's career.

9:23pm:  0:58 into the 3rd and there goes Jimmy Howard's shutout.  Dustin Penner gets the goal for the Oilers as he collected his own rebound and slammed it by.  DETROIT 5, EDMONTON 1.

9:34pm:  The Stats sheet says the Oilers are (-20) as a team tonight.  Detroit, meanwhile, is (+20).

9:41pm:  There's not too much to say at this point.  The Wings are sitting on the lead, which makes sense, and there's just not too much Edmonton can do about it, at all.  5:43 to go as Anthony Michael Hall, in the stands tonight, is introduced to the crowd via scoreboard big screen.  He was the guy who brought the flare gun to school in "The Breakfast Club" which is still, to this day, a classic and a film beloved by high school students everywhere.  This is the upside of our budding film industry here in Michigan: celebs in the stands.

9:45pm:  Homer, Tomas Holmstrom, fires in yet another rebound at 16:40 and so now its DETROIT 6, EDMONTON 1.  It's his 2nd of the night, so now he and Cleary each have a pair in what is about to be Detroit's 10th win of the year. 

9:51pm:  A meaningless goal for the Oilers with 1:15 to go.  We're not even going to tell you who scored it because it was so meaningless.  DETROIT 6, EDMONTON 2.  (Okay, it was Theo Peckham.  It his first career goal, so I guess it's not so meaningless to him.)

9:53pm:  The final score:  DETROIT 6, EDMONTON 2.  Detroit is, for the moment, in first place in their division and in their conference, but it could all change.  If St. Louis picks up a point against Nashville tonight they will be tied with Detroit.  If the Blues win, they will still be in first place come the morning.  The Blues--off to a shockingly good start this season, are here next Wednesday night.  First for the Wings though, Colorado here on Saturday night.  We'll check in with you then. 

Coyotes @ Red Wings: The Live-Blog

Pre-Game Skate:  Did you know you can glean many useful and interesting Items of Note merely by looking at the standings?  It's true.  For example, did you know that only one team in the National Hockey League (Boston, 11) has played fewer games than Detroit?  And that the Wings have 5 games in hand on Chicago?  (Which is actually quite a lot in case you didn't know.)

This is the Wings 13th game of the season and, in a scheduling oddity, this is the only game on the NHL schedule tonight.

In a second scheduling oddity, this is the 3rd time Detroit has played Phoenix already, and if they lose tonight, the Coyotes will have won the season series against the Red Wings.  Phoenix scored three first-period goals against Detroit just over a week ago, on October 28th, and beat the Wings 4-2.  It was a fifty-foot wrister that made it 3-0 for the Coyotes in the 1st and it was that goal that cost Chris Osgood as Detroit got back to within a goal at 3-2 before Phoenix iced it with an empty netter.  Here's how we saw it at the time:

8:00pm:  Osgood is razzed as he makes an easy save. That's because he just gave up an easy goal. A 50-foot wrister by Lauri Korpkoski, shorthanded, the kind of shot that frankly I should have stopped and it's 3-0 Phoenix on the goal at 11:56. It's sad to hear the fans boo and ridicule Osgood. The guy has done a lot for this franchise, and just the season before last, he was one save away from winning the Stanley Cup for this town. You'd think that would be worth something, but he his is getting his rear end booed at home. It's awful.

7:43pm  This just in...DETROIT 1, PHOENIX 0.  Brian Rafalski's slapshot from the line was five feet wide but it caromed off the end boards right to Dan Cleary (the PA guy called him "Danny", is that how he likes it?) and he was right there to slam it by startled Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. Detroit is 5-0-1 when scoring first this year.

7:55pm:  Tonight is the night that Wings President Jimmy Devallano is being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.  I was at the press conference when he was named Wings GM back in the early 80's when Detroit was AWFUL.  Jimmy D's major contributions to hockey are these:  He invented the European player (see: Petr Klima, Sergei Fedorov and Nicklas Lidstrom et. al.) and he drafted Steve Yzerman with the 4th overall pick in the 1983 draft.  Srsly.  3 teams--the North Stars, the Whalers and the Islanders--passed on Stevie Y.  Devallano came to Detroit from the Islanders where he was Bill Torry's assistant GM when that team was winning the four straight Stanley Cups and whatnot.  About 20 seats to my left tonight is Ken Morrow who won all 4 of those Cups on the the Island.  The first of them came just a couple of months after Kenny's US Olympic team beat the damn Russians and won the Olympic Gold Medal in 1980.  You've heard of the "Miracle on Ice"?  Ken Morrow lived it.  He was the assistant coach on a team I did play-by-play for about 20 years ago and we've been pals ever since.  He's one of the nicest guys in hockey.

8:13pm:  At 19:05 the Coyotes tie it as Martin Hanzal bangs a rebound past Jimmy Howard.  DETROIT 1, PHOENIX 1.  The period ends.

8:22  Live-blogging hockey is hard!  We'll try to get caught up here in the intermission.  I was talking about Devallano going into The Hall tonight.  I'm already in, and have been for about 7 years now.  I am not making this up.  When my book, The Gods of Olympia Stadium came out The Hockey News gave it a nice review and I got a letter from the Hall of Fame shortly thereafter asking if I'd donate a copy to their library.  So I did. So my book is in the Hockey Hall of Fame and as far as I'm concerned, that means I'm in the Hockey Hall of Fame, too.  So there. 

Not that this means a lot.  Scotty Bowman once asked me about then-Wings broadcaster Bruce Martyn. "Is he any good?"  "Scotty," I said, "he's in the Hall of Fame!"  "That doesn't mean anything," Scotty said.  "After all, I'm in the Hall."

8:31pm  The teams straggle back out onto the ice.  How is Detroit not exhausted?  This is their 4th game in 6 nights--the last 3 on the road in Western Canada.  Anyway, back with the middle twenty right after this...

8:36pm  Here's a little something for you to watch during the next commercial break! 

Clever boys.  Very clever boys.

8:47pm:  PHOENIX 2, DETROIT 1.  Keith Yandle fires a shot high into the net past Howard from the left circle at 7:31.  Not much more to say about that.  It was a simple play and a simple goal and now the Wings--outshot this period 10-3--trail the hockey game 2-1.

8:59pm:  The Wings have had the last 6 shots on goal and are on the power play, still down 2-1 with 6:00 to go in the second period.  That is all.

9:09pm  The second period is over: PHOENIX 2, DETROIT 1.  Shots were 13-12 Phoenix in the period, 25-22, Detroit in the game.  This is only the 3rd time this season the Wings have trailed after 40 minutes.  They are 0-2-0 in that situation to date.

9:20pm:  I think I'm getting a headache.  I long for the old days when in the intermission they'd announce upcoming events at the Olympia and play a little organ music and the game would start again.  They are blasting some rock song right now ("You Shook Me All Night Long"--I think it's about sex) and they never, ever let up.  Not for a minute.  And it is SO DAMN LOUD!  Hockey games now are like standing next to a running jet engine for about three hours. I am not ruling out making ear plugs a part of the sportscasting gear I take to every game. Now it's "Detroit Rock City" by Kiss.  Hey, I saw Kiss at Cobo about an eon ago.  Good show, good times...

9:35pm:  13:26 to go still 2-1 Phoenix.  The Wings have had some good chances here in the 3rd, but you know...
I just found out I'm picking the 3 Stars Saturday night when Colorado is here.  I may drop by the two morning skates on game day (only somebody who doesn't know hockey calls them "skate-arounds") and let the boys know that, yes, I can be bought.  And somewhat cheaply, at that.

9:40pm:  And we're tied.  DETROIT 2, PHOENIX 2.  A shot from the left point by Lidstrom goes in.  We were arguing about whether Johan Franzen, standing in front of the Coyotes goal, had tipped it.  I said he did, the scorer said he did not.  The scorer wins.  It's the 2nd of the season for Lidstrom and it comes at 7:24.

9:51pm  Gee, it getting on towards ten o'clock and we still have 4:40 to go in regulation.  Not to mention overtime and a shootout if it comes to that.  Kids have got school tomorrow, etc.  Still 2-2.  Detroit killed penalty to Justin Abdelkader shortly after Lidstrom's goal tied this thing.

9:56pm: Scottie Upshall just hit the crossbar like I've never seen before and I'll tell you kiddies, I've been coming to NHL games since, like, 1968.  Upshall's slapper hit the bar so hard and so clean that it caromed all the way back into the Phoenix zone, travelling 100 feet, at least, in the air.  The damndest thing I've ever seen, when it comes to hitting the post/crossbar.

10:00  On to overtime.  Detroit is 1-1 in overtime.  Phoenix is 0-4.  This means one of two things:  they are due, or they suck at overtime.

10:05  The Wings win in overtime as easy as 1-2-3.  That was the time of the goal, 1:23.  It was a deflection out in front by Henrik Zetterberg on a shot from the top of the left circle by Ruslan Salei while a delayed penalty was being called on the Coyotes and the Wings had the extra man on.  Final score:  DETROIT 3, PHOENIX 2 (OT).  Detroit is 9-3-1, 19 points, 1 back of division-leading St. Louis.  Because they are second in the division, the Red Wings remain in 4th-place in the Western Conference (the top 3 positions go to the division leaders, as you know.)  The Wings are 5-1-1 at home and Edmonton, last in the West, will be here Thursday night.  We'll talk again then. 

Jets @ Lions: The Liveblog

1:00pm:  Remember I told you last week how the Lions stood at attention for the National Anthem much better than the Redskins did and how Detroit went on to win the game?  We have a problem today.  The Jets stand at attention as well as do the Lions, and maybe even better as they hold their hands over their hearts.  The Lions were fidgety during the anthem today, perhaps a good sign.  Perhaps it means they can’t wait to get started.

There’s a mistake in the first paragraph of the first page of the Officials NY Jets Game Notes.  They call Detroit return man Stefan Logan “Steffan” Logan.  What a sloppy organization they must be.  Let’s see if it translates into the way their team plays.

Reminder:  Detroit is perfect, 2-0, since Ndamukong Suh guaranteed after the Lions lost their home opener that Detroit would not lose another game at Ford Field, ever.

That reminder reminds me: if we were in Norway, would we be playing at Fjord Field?  (Fjord: it sounds like Ford.  See what I did there?)

1:12pm: The Lions couldn’t wait to get started as it turns out.  They’ve driven from their own 20 to the Jets, well, to the Jets end zone in 11 plays.  I mean, the Lions have driven from their own 20 to the Jets end zone in 11 plays!  (Fixed.)  The scoring play is a 10-yard Matthew Stafford-to-Brandon Pettigrew pass with 9:16 left in the quarter.  Two Jets penalties helped Detroit out, but Stafford was 4 for 7 for 75 yards on the drive, and that helped, too.

1:45pm:  The first quarter is over.  Stafford has cooled, but Mark Sanchez hasn’t gotten hot yet so that Detroit score on the game’s opening drive is standing up so after one its DETROIT 7, NEW YORK JETS 0.

1:50pm: Somebody just said a bad word—a very bad word—and it got picked up by the referees microphone as he was announcing the latest penalty against Detroit and the whole stadium heard it.  Hell, the entire Detroit and New York metropolitan areas heard it.  The game is on TV, after all.  I am shocked, shocked I tell you, to learn that profanity is being used down there.

2:10pm: A 31-yard Nick Folk field goal gets the Jets on the board 4:46 before the half.  It was the first sustained drive by NY today as they moved from their own 12 to the Detroit  8 before losing yardage on a 3rd down fumble by Sanchez.  That forced them to go for the field goal and that’s why the Lions lead 7-3 instead of being tied 7-7.

Note:  Since the opening drive when he was 4/7 for 75 yards, Stafford is 3/8 for 36 yards.

2:25pm:  This is exactly the kind of thing that kills the Detroit Lions week in and week out: with 1:00 left in the half they let Braylon Edwards get in behind the secondary and he catches a 74-yard TD pass from Sanchez and NY takes a 10-7 lead.  Just. Like. That.  The Lions had done a good job holding the Jets offense in check in the first half.  Until that very moment, that is.  Halftime: NEW YORK JETS 10, DETROIT 7.

2:50m  That Louis Delmas, Detroit safety, is one sneaky son-of-a-whatever.  He just stone cold stole the ball from Braylon Edwards after Edwards caught a pass from Sanchez on NY’s first possession of the second half, and the Lions have the football in Jets territory at the 47.  Edwards wants a do-over.  As he pouts, Detroit drives all the way to the Jets 4.  That’s as far as they get.  Well, actually, they got to the 2 on a first-down run, but then they lost 2 on the next play and then they threw an incomplete pass so Jason Hanson kicked a field goal except the Jets Trevor Pryce roughed him (he went straight for Hanson’s knee—a really, really dirty play) to give Detroit an automatic first down at the 1 by penalty.  Stafford makes like Bobby Layne (look it up, young people, or as you say, “Google it”) and bootlegs it around the right side right into the end zone.  And get this: Ndamukong Suh has to come in to kick the extra point because Hanson was actually roughed up on the Roughing the Kicker penalty against Pryce to the extent that he couldn’t come in to kick the extra point.  Suh, almost as an aside, hits the right upright with his try—no good.  His form was strictly Lou Groza.  The result, not so much.  Nick Harris, the punter, has to kick off for Detroit now.  The Lions drove 47 yards in 8 plays for the TD (Points Off Turnover for Detroit, remember) and now lead 13-7.  Hanson remains in the area of the Lions bench and is up and walking around.  

3:08pm: Mark Sanchez just pump-faked as pretty as you will ever see and it worked—his receiver was Wide Open in the end zone.  The good news for Detroit was that Sanchez badly underthrew the pass and Alphonso Smith made a leaping interception.  However, Smith forgets he’s in the end zone at the time and so, inexplicably, he tries to effect a return and is dropped at the Detroit 1.  But still, the Lions have the ball and have stopped a Jets drive. 

3:23pm:  The 3rd quarter is over: DETROIT 13, NEW YORK JETS 10.

3:40pm:  You just HATE to say this, but it looks like the Lions are going to win.  They just went 90 yards in 9 plays and Nate Burleson caught a 2-yard TD pass from Stafford.  Also, Hanson kicked the extra point so it looks like he’s okay and the Lions lead 20-10.  There’s 11:43 left in the game.  That’s why you hate to say, “it looks like the Lions are going to win,” because 11:43 is a lifetime in “Lions Years.”

3:59pm:  We have an exchange of punts here which works in Detroit’s favor as the score remains unchanged—20-10, Detroit—and now we are down to 4:30 to play in the game.  Drew Stanton replaced Stafford at quarterback for third-and-long the last time the Lions had the ball, but Stafford appears unhurt.  It may have been a case of Detroit hoping Stanton could run for a first down with the ball way back inside their own 10.  Indeed, Stanton did run, but he did not pick up the first down.  In the “Department of I Did Not Realize That,” if the Lions win today it will be the first back-to-back wins for this team in 3 years.  It may not be a big deal when the football team from your local area wins on consecutive weekends, but around here I’m pretty sure we throw a big parade replete with balloons when it happens.  I just can’t remember.

4:05pm: There is 2:46 left in the game and the Jets have gotten to within 3, trailing now 20-17.  They drove 56 yards in only 1:40 with Sanchez scoring on a 1-yard keeper.  Let the nail-biting begin and begin in earnest.  The Jets have only 1 timeout left (they burned a couple on defense when they had 12 or 13 guys on the field, twice) so there is that, at least.  Stanton remains in the game.  What’s up with that?  Stafford, who has thrown for 2 TD’s today and run for a 3rd, is wandering about on the sideline wearing a baseball cap while Drew Stanton runs the offense.  NY uses their final timeout and the clock runs down to 2:00.  3rd and 6 for the Lions, when we return…

4:12pm:  Up here in the Press Box I hear a writer, a very well-respected writer, say: “Stupid call, that was a stupid call,” after Stanton attempts a pass on the third down play and it is incomplete and THE CLOCK STOPS.  FOR REAL, DETROIT PERMITS THE CLOCK, THE THING THEY ARE TRYING RUN OUT, TO STOP BY TRYING A PASS INSTEAD OF A RUN.  THIS IS UNREAL.  Detroit punts and the Jets start from their own 22 with 1:40 to go.  There should be under a minute left—Detroit could have burned 0:40 more just by running on that third-down play.  The Jets get to around the Detroit 40 with 0:40 left, and a late-hit penalty on Detroit’s Julian Peterson gives NY 15 more to the 28.  It’s a stupid play by Peterson who should know better.  There is simply no other way to say it.  We are going to overtime, for sure.  Unless the Jets actually score a touchdown here, that is.  They won’t.  Sanchez spikes it with 0:04 left.  Here comes the field-goal unit.  It’s Folk from 36 to tie…and its good and it’s tied 20-20 at the end of regulation.  The scoring drive took 1:40.  The Jets previous drive, the one where Sanchez scored the touchdown?  That took 1:40, too.  Something is at play here at Ford Field right now and it isn’t good.  Why did Detroit attempt a pass on that 3rd down play?  Why did Peterson give NY 15 free yards with a senseless out-of-bounds hit?  And what’s the deal with Stanton in for Stafford?  Who knows, here comes overtime in Detroit.  And don’t forget that extra point try by Suh after Hanson got hurt that hit the upright.  It turns out that that is the difference in this game!

4:25pm:  NY wins the toss and Sanchez to Santonio Holmes down the middle on NY’s second play of OT goes big, really big—52 yards big—and the Jets are in field goal range and then some at the Detroit 16.  (Could you see this coming right up Woodward? You could, couldn’t you?)  It’s the 2nd-longest play of the day for NY (remember the 74-yard TD pass to Braylon Edwards with a minute left in the first half?) and what a time for it.  They send in Folk to try the field goal on 3rd down.  It’s a 30-yarder for the game.  It’s good.  The ballgame is over.  What a crusher.  The Final: NEW YORK JETS 23, DETROIT 20.  The playing field, as matters turn out today, is not the only place where profanity is being used at Ford Field.  Far from it.

Harrison 28, Berkley 13

I did the play-by-play of this game, and now I'm trying my hand at a little sportswriting, you know, to go with...

A week after a pair of defensive touchdowns in the final two minutes gave Farmington Hills Harrison an improbable 37-27 win over Birmingham Brother Rice in the opening round of the playoffs, a pair of special teams touchdowns were instrumental for the Hawks in their 28-13 District Final win this afternoon over the visiting Berkley Bears.

Harrison (11-0) advances to meet Warren DeLaSalle (8-2) in the Regionals next weekend at Buller Field.

The loss ends the 41-year coaching career of retiring Berkley coach Jim MacDougall who led the Bears (9-2) to one of the best seasons in school history in his final season on the sidelines.

Harrison overcame 4 turnovers and an offense which sputtered most of the afternoon to win, primarily because the Hawks defense was able to shut down Berkley’s star running back Terrell Porter. While he scored both of the Berkley touchdowns today to run his season total to 32 (29 rushing), Porter was held to roughly half the average of 145 rushing yards per game which he brought into the contest. The only two games this season in which Porter failed to rush for 100 yards were the only two games the Bears lost this season.

Playing without their leading rusher Steve Slobin—out for the season with a knee injury sustained on the first play of the game last week against Brother Rice—the Hawks turned the ball over on the first play from scrimmage when Aaron Burbridge fumbled and the Bears recovered at the Harrison 27. Three running plays netted the Bears -1 yard and Berkley had to punt.

With 6:40 left in the first quarter, Burbridge atoned for his early bobble with a remarkable 83-yard journey of a punt return for a touchdown during which the junior wide out simply hurdled a would-be tackler at his own 25 and outraced the rest of the Bears to the end zone.

Berkley answered just before the half when Porter, open in the flat, caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jim Bernie to cap a 71-yard, 11-play drive which began when Harrison running back Austin Hunter lost a fumble and it was a 7-7 game with 0:55 left in the second quarter.

It took Harrison 0:13 to answer. Jake Vento—whose 61-yard fumble recovery touchdown with 1:48 to go against Brother Rice last week erased their 27-22 lead—stunned the Bears just as badly as he had the Warriors by taking the ensuing kickoff 78 yards to the house to give the Hawks a 14-7 lead with 0:42 remaining in the half.

Tommy Vento, who, since throwing 5 touchdown passes in the first half of Harrison’s 54-21 win over Rochester Adams on October 8, has now thrown more interceptions (7) than he has touchdown passes (6) in his last 4 games (odd, because in the 5 games prior, Vento had thrown 14 touchdown passes without an interception in 83 passing attempts) threw his second pick of the afternoon on Harrison’s first possession of the second half.

Berkley would take advantage, going 49 yards in 11 plays—capped by Porter’s 1-yard touchdown dive—to make it 14-13 Hawks with 4:38 left in the 3rd. It was here that Harrison’s Lido Zefi made one of the biggest plays of the day, busting through to block Kyle Braun’s extra point, and the Hawks held their lead, barely.

Today’s game was the first this season in which Tommy Vento failed to throw a touchdown pass. Indeed, as the game moved into the 4th quarter, somewhat amazingly, Vento had yet to complete a single forward pass. That changed when Derek Head caught a Vento screen in the flat and raced 51 yards to the Berkley 1. Freshman Lorenzo Collins blasted over the goal line on the next play to increase the Harrison lead to 21-13 with 9:25 left in the game.

Vento’s only other completion was a 31-yarder to Devin Funchess the next time Harrison had the ball, and it was the big play in a 52-yard, 7-play scoring drive for the Hawks. Austin Hunter got the touchdown on an 11-yard run with 5:00 left, giving Harrison a 28-13 lead.

Is this the Hawks year? Consider this: with enough time left for Berkley to still mount a comeback, Harrison again fumbled the ball deep in their own territory, but this time the football bounced right into the hands of Burbridge who motored for a key first down, enabling the Hawks ran out the clock.

Is this the Hawks year? DeLaSalle’s coming calling next week. We shall see…

Sparky Anderson

I was at the press conference in June, 1979 when Sparky Anderson was named Tigers Manager. It was held at noontime in the Tiger Room, the tiny dining room under the stands off home plate at Tiger Stadium where we in the media took our pre-game meals (and where we took our post-game liquor, as well.) What I remember most distinctly was the fact that the room was way too small for the number of reporters who crowded in there to cover this most momentous of announcements the Tigers were making: that they had hired a new manager. Everybody was there.

I was working for a radio station in Lansing at the time, and since the Tigers were playing Seattle that night and I had coverage, it didn’t make sense to go back to Lansing only to turn right around and drive back to Tiger Stadium so I stayed at the ballpark all day that day. After his press conference, most of the media wandered off and Sparky entertained the small group of reporters who remained behind with an impromptu get-together, a bull session actually, right there in the Tigers dugout. I was one of them. He must have spent a couple of hours with us and I will never forget that even though I was a baby reporter at the time—I was only 23—Sparky treated me just like he treated the veteran guys, the important guys like Joe Falls and Jerry Green, which, of course, made me feel like I was some kind of a big shot. He was just great. I’ve never forgotten the fact that he treated me great all that summer and all the summers that came after. (I was also at the press conference in 1995 when Sparky announced his retirement, so we are talking about a lot of summers here).

Remembering Sparky this morning, I came across the following this while leafing through his autobiography “Sparky” that he wrote with another legend, former Tigers PR Director Dan Ewald: “I enjoy helping the reporters, especially the young ones. I watch them when the walk into my room. I can tell they are shaking in their boots. It’s hard for them to believe they are talking to a Major League manager. They’re so scared sometimes they forget to ask questions. I always try to give them something. I try to lead them into a story.”

He could have been talking about me in that summer of ’79. And maybe he was. And I for that, I just want to say, “Thank you, Sparky. Thank you, George!” I will never forget you.

Not Since 1947: LiveBlogging (via Tape Delay) Detroit 37, Washington 25

12:55pm 6:00 (give or take) to Kick-Off and the people who are here are excited as all get out. The problem is, there aren’t that many of them. This tilt between the Lions and the Redskins is blacked-out locally as it did not sell out, and when you look around the stadium, about all you can say about that is, “No kidding, it didn’t.”


12:59pm Some sax player from Kid Rock’s Band (I am not all that familiar with Mr. Rock’s work, sorry to say) plays the National Anthem and I can tell you this much: The Detroit Lions totally kicked Washington’s butt when it came to standing for the Anthem (surprising don’t you think, what with the ‘Skins hailing from DC and all) but it’s true. The Redskins stood around in what can best be described as haphazard “we-don’t really-give-much-of-a-damn fashion”, while the Lions stood at attention, perfectly still, each players toes flush against the spot where the out-of-bounds stripe meets the field. The line stretched from one 20 to the other. And to add to the effect, all sideline support personnel stood shoulder to shoulder in a line of their own a few feet behind the players. It was impressive, I can tell you that. I don’t know if this will translate into points, but something—perhaps my many, many years experience watching professional football—tells me that it will not.

1:13pm Washington’s had the ball twice and they’ve gone three-and-out twice and Donovan McNabb looks for all the world like, well, a Detroit Lions quarterback. Detroit was three-and-out themselves the first time they had the ball but they’ve got it now after a Washington punt at the Washington 47. Matt Stafford is back at QB for Detroit today for the first time since he was laid out in the season opener and that makes this is worthy of a note: upon seeing his throwing arm securely taped to his side after he got hurt in that season opener in Chicago, my doctor said, quite matter-of-factly, in fact: “Second-degree shoulder separation. He’ll be out ‘till Halloween.” Today is, for the record, October 31, Halloween.

1:19pm From the 47, the Lions move smartly to the Washington 21 whereupon young Stafford does what all Lions quarterbacks always do (and, while we’re on the subject, have always done, and we suspect always will do): he throws a drive-killing end zone interception. Stafford was trying to hit Calvin Johnson. As everyone knows, to do this all you have to do is throw the football so high the defensive back can’t reach it no matter how high he jumps because no matter how high that is, Johnson can leap even higher. In the worst case you throw it so high that Johnson can’t get to it and it winds up, incomplete, in the seats. But what Stafford tried to do was squeeze it in there and Washington defensive back DeAngelo Hall stepped in front of Johnson and caught the ball. And, so much for that Detroit drive.

1:40pm Washington goes three and out after the pick but so do the Lions after that and that’s pretty much how the quarter has gone. Or, we should say, went. It just ended. I am not sure if Washington even got a first down (I’ve become totally dependent upon the stats sheets they hand out throughout the game it’s sad to say) and they—Washington—will be punting the ball away to start the second quarter. The score at the end of one quarter, by the way: Detroit 0, Washington 0. (We got the stats sheet. Washington got 1—count ‘em—1 first down in the quarter.)

1:51pm Stefan Logan, who the last time we were here returned a kickoff 105 yards for a TD to tie the Lions record for Longest Play Ever in Detroit’s win over the Rams, just returned a punt 72 yards to the Washington 19. It looked like he was going to score, but in trying to tiptoe down the sideline he lost his balance and went out of bounds. We looked around for the flag which always seems to fly whenever the Lions have a big play—but none was to be seen, so Logan has another huge return and the Lions have a chance to take the lead with a Red Zone first down.

1:54pm Touchdown. It’s Stafford to Johnson from 13 yards on 3rd and 5 or 6, I can’t remember but it was one or the other. It’s a 3-play, 19-yard drive and it’s 7-0, Detroit.

2:00pm 1st and goal Redskins from the 6. Washington’s Brandon Banks returned the kickoff which ensued following the Detroit score about 50 yards and McNabb ran 36 yards to the Detroit 6. A McNabb to Ryan Torain TD pass ties it 7-7. It was just a little dump off and Torain scampered in. The Lions lead last for 1:19, or, if you prefer, 79 seconds.

2:15pm Ndamukong Suh—the man who guaranteed Detroit would not lose another home game this season after Detroit lost the home opener here (and they haven’t, having gone 1-0 since he spoke up)—has just sacked McNabb twice on the same set of downs. Suh now has 6.5 sacks this year to lead all NFL rookies. Who’s second on that rookie sack list? Why, it’s Koa Misi of Miami, of course. This is not a misprint. There’s a player in this league named Koa Misi.

2:22pm It’s the 2-Minute Warning and Ron Angel of the seat in the press box two down from me, says there have been 11 punts so far in today’s game. That cannot possibly be correct, but it probably is. We’ll check it once the halftime stats are distributed because, again, we are utterly at the mercy of the in-game stats when it comes to telling you what’s going on down there.

2:25pm The Redskins take the lead 10-7 on a 37-yard field goal by Graham Gano. It was a 60-yard drive and 50 of it came on a single play—McNabbs first completion of any consequence in the game so far. He hit Anthony Armstrong long over the middle.

2:34pm The Lions just couldn’t get to the half down only three. They punted the ball back to Washington with a whole 0:16 seconds left before the break and of course they let the Redskins get into field goal range and of course the Redskins converted. Gano’s 2nd field goal in 1:04 brings us to halftime: Washington 13, Detroit 7.

2:56pm The second half begins where the first left off: each team runs three plays and punts and now we have had 13 punts combined in this game. Detroit has the ball back at their 48. Let’s see what they do with this good field position.

3:01pm Well, now. The Lions, with a 20-yard Jahvid Best run the big play, move smartly into the Red Zone but stall on 3rd-and-1 from the 7 when Best can’t turn the corner and loses a yard. Jason Hanson comes on to kick the field goal which would cut the Redskins lead to 3, but the Redskins “encroach” (whatever that is) or otherwise violate “the neutral zone” (whatever that is) and the penalty is half the distance to the goal which makes it first and goal, Detroit. Brandon Pettigrew catches Stafford’s second touchdown pass of the day and the Lions do make good on the short field—the 4th down penalty against Washington was huge, obviously—and Detroit somehow leads this game 14-13 with 7:10 left in the 3rd quarter.

3:06pm It looked like the Lions would hold the lead for, oh, maybe 0:10 seconds or so this time as Brandon Banks returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a TD, but, as it turned out, it never happened. There was a block in the back against Washington, so they start from their own 8, instead of starting by kicking an extra point.

3:23pm Stafford completes his longest pass of the day, 31 yards, but largely owing to the fact that these are the Detroit Lions, the receiver on the play, Nate Burleson, fumbles the ball away and the Redskins have it at their own 24. And the third quarter is over: Detroit 14, Washington 13.

3:40pm Washington scores on a 5-yard run by Keiland Williams to go up 19-14 with 11:15 left. The ‘Skins got another solid punt return from Brandon Banks—he’s having a pretty good day—and Washington started at the Lions 46. It took them 3 plays to score. McNabb’s pass on the two-point conversion bid was incomplete, so there was that, at least.

3:47pm This time Detroit answers in a hurry. They get a good kickoff return by Jerome Felton—37 yards—and start in Washington territory. They go 47yards in 6 plays to retake the lead. Stafford hits Johnson for the score from 7 yards out, his third TD pass of the day and Johnson’s second TD catch. Detroit goes for 2 and fails, and its 20-19, Detroit with 8:21 to play.

3:53pm Now its Washington 25, Detroit 20 with 8:05 to play. How can this be? Brandon Banks (remember we mentioned he was "having a pretty good day"?) returned the kickoff which followed the Detroit touchdown 96 yards for a Washington touchdown, so the Detroit lead this time lasted a grand total of 0:16. The Redskins again go for 2 and again they fail, so Washington leads by 5 as we move to the last half of the last quarter.

4:01pm Donovan McNabb makes his first major mistake of the day, and what a time to make it. He has a pass intercepted by Detroit’s Alphonso Smith with 4 and a half to go and the Lions have it at the Washington 37, trailing by 5. Kevin Smith—having a fine afternoon in his own right—catches a 13-yard Stafford pass for a first down at the Washington 24. 4:13 is left on the clock. It’s Smith’s 4th interception of the year, we are told, which is the most by a Lion since Dre Bly had 6 in 2005. (There may be an apostrophe somewhere in Mr. Bly’s name, but we cannot remember and we do not have time right now to look it up what with the Lions driving and the game on the line, etc.) After an incomplete pass on second down, a flag flies and its defensive holding and an automatic first down for Detroit at the Washington 19. 4:08 left. Now it’s 4th and 1 at the Washington ten. What would you do with 3:20 to go? Detroit decides to go for it (Why not? You’re 1-5, right?) and it’s Stafford to Johnson again: 4 TD passes for Stafford and 3 TD catches for Johnson. 26-25, Detroit. Again the Lions go for 2, and this time they make it as Stafford finds another Johnson open in the end zone: Bryant. 3:12 remains and its Detroit 28. Washington 25.

4:13pm Washington has to go for it on 4th and ten with 2:20 to go from their own 28 and Cliff Averill sacks McNabb for an 8-yard loss. The Lions take over on downs. That’s 6 times McNabb has been sacked today, we think. The last time the Lions had 6 sacks in a games was…well, we’ll have to look that up.

4:16pm Two-Minute Warning (it comes with 1:59 left) and Detroit has 3rd and 5 at the Washington 15. The Redskins have 1 timeout left. If Hanson kicks a field goal the Detroit lead would be up 6 and at least Washington couldn’t tie the game with a field goal of their own. The Lions get a yard, the Redskins use their last timeout, and Hanson’s on to kick a 32 yard field goal and it’s 31-25, Detroit with 1:50 to play.

4:22pm Suh scores a touchdown(!) and the “Suhs” (not boos, it just rhymes with “boo”) rain down from the stands. Rex Grossman came on to relieve McNabb at quarterback—we don’t know why, exactly—and on the first play, Kyle Vanden Bosch hammered him and it would have been a sack (and maybe it is, I’ll have to check) and the ball came loose and Suh picked it up on one hop and ran it, I’m not sure they every said officially but it looked like 17 yards or so to me, into the end zone and bang, its 37-25, Detroit with 1:36 to go. And how about that? The 2-point gofer fails but who cares?

4:26pm The Lions are going to win this game. Washington has the ball but there’s only a minute-and-a-half left and the Redskins are out of timeouts. A quick check of the Official Washington Redskins Game Notes (good thing we downloaded them before we came because, did I mention it costs $30 to access the Internet at this place?) indicates that this is the most points the Lions have scored against Washington since 1947 when they beat them at Tiger Stadium 38-21. I text Al Rosenberg this information right away. He’s the Producer of the Detroit Lions Radio Network. Maybe they’ll use it on the air. Who knows? Anyway, it’s over: DETROIT 37, Washington 25.

Liveblogging the NHL: Phoenix Coyotes 4 (at) Detroit Red Wings 2

7:40  The game started a couple of minutes ago, but you haven't missed anything.  In fact, just as we begin the 5-1-1 Red Wings are shorthanded as Jacob Kindle goes off for an elbow. 

I spent some of my valuable pre-game time tonight doing my prep work for the prep football game I'm calling tomorrow night: Birmingham Brother Rice at Farmington Harrison.  The two coaches involved Al Fracassa of Brother Rice and John Harrington of Harrison have 788 wins between them.  It's one of the biggest games of the night as the state High School football playoffs get underway and I'm very excited to be doing to play-by-play.  There are 256 teams in the playoffs which sounds a little unwieldy, but if you break it down into 8 division as they do here in Michigan, what it amounts to is really 8 separate tournaments of 32 teams each--a bit more manageable.

7:42  Kindle is out of the box and there is no score, still.  Phoenix was a huge surprise last season, picked by many to go bankrupt before the season was over.  Instead, they surprised everyone and...back to that thought in a moment.  It's 1-0 Phoenix.  Radim Vrbata put the deke on Chris Osgood and scored on a breakaway and now, less than a minute later, #90 for Detroit, Mike Modano, goes off for hooking.  The Vrbata goal came at 7:00, the Modano penalty less than a minute later.  Osgood is the surprise starter in goal because Jimmy Howard complained of back spasms after the morning skate and was unable to go tonight.  In fact, Detroit called Joey MacDonald up from the minors to back up Osgood tonight.  MacDonald is going to find himself in this hockey game if things continue like this. Keith Yandle just scored on the power play (critics will say Ozzie went down to early on the shot from the low rim of the circle to his left and the critics  may be correct) and now Phoenix leads 2-0. 

8:00 Osgood is razzed as he makes an easy save.  That's because he just gave up an easy goal.  A 50-foot wrister by Lauri Korpkoski, shorthanded, the kind of shot that frankly I should have stopped and it's 3-0 Phoenix on the goal at 11:56.  It's sad to hear the fans boo and ridicule Osgood.  The guy has done a lot for this franchise, and just the season before last, he was one save away from winning the Stanley Cup for this town.  You'd think that would be worth something, but he his is getting his rear end booed at home.  It's awful.

8:14  The period, mercifully, is over.  Phoenix 3, Detroit 0.  You wonder if, maybe, Detroit will send you MacDonald out there to start the second period. Probably not, but if the Wings give up the next goal, probably yes.

8:36  The Wings pressure to begin the second, but Tomas Holmstrom takes an unnecessary crosschecking penalty (ALL crosschecking penalties are unnecessary) and Detroit's short 5 minutes into the period.  If Phoenix scores here--if Phoenix scores the next goal in this game--we can all go home, except for the talking to the players afterward part of the job description.

8:43  Osgood just made a save on a breakaway and the fans love him again.  There are a lot of empty seats here again tonight, and I mean a lot: at least a third of them and probably more are unoccupied.  Still, its nothing like it was the first few years Detroit played in this building.  We'd sit way up here (the Joe Louis Arena Press Box is located behind the last row of seats in the Uppers), and we'd wonder what the place would be like if there were ever more than a few hundred fans in the Upper Bowl.  People don't believe me when I tell them that, but its true.  On most night almost all of the Upper Bowl sections here were completely unoccupied.

8:51 Johan Franzen (6) tips in a shot from the point at 13:05 and the Wings sneak back into the game.  A lot of heat but no fire for Detroit in the second until this point.  Franzen now has 2 more goals this season than any other Red Wing.

8:54  Did I mention I am sneak-watching the World Series while all of this is going on?  I am, don't tell anybody.  I had to miss Game 1 last night (I know, right?) because I had to get up at 3:30 this morning because I was filling in for somebody on their morning-drive show.  I did see all the highlights, so I was/am conversant in re the game.  Interesting, for example that the Game 1 winner has won the Series 6 of the last 7 years, and 11 of the last 13.  One of the teams that did not was SF in 2002 when they beat the Angels to open the Series but LA came back to beat 'em in 7.  Another interesting note:  Texas is now 0-10 all-time at ATT Park....

9:04  End of Period.  Detroit out shot Phoenix 19-9 but have to settle for just the one goal.  Ozzie stopped another breakaway and came up with another nice save in the final minutes of the period, so they are cheering him again, but just you wait, if another one goes in, those cheers are going away.

9:20  Edgar Renteria just homered to put SF ahead 1-0 in the 5th inning of Game 2.  And here, the third period begins with  a couple of brilliant (physically not intellectually) Ilya Bryzgalov saves and as I type his name is ask myself, "What is it with this Coyotes team and consonants, anyway? Bryzgalov, Vrbata?"  Still 3-1 Phoenix and we've played almost 3 minutes of the third.

9:24  It takes 4 rebounds but the Wings get another goal.  Really bad defensive zone coverage as Harry Neale used to say on Hockey Night in Canada.  Neale is probably still saying it.  The former Wings coach is still getting it done, he's the color commentator on Buffalo Sabres broadcasts.  It's Holmstrom with the goal and now Detroit is within 1 with 15 minutes to go.  Meanwhile, with this going on, word is breaking in the Press Box that MSU coach Mark Dantonio has re-instated Chris L. Rucker, the Spartan defensive back who was arrested for drunk driving the night MSU beat Michigan and who had to go straight to jail for 10 days because of it because he happened to still be on probation for last year's on-campus dormitory brawl.  I went to MSU and I love my Spartans but I think this is an awful decision by Dantonio.  Just awful.

9:38  Here's some of Dantonio's statement:  "The poor decision he made had need for serious consequences which he has now met and resolved from a team and legal perspective. It does not; however, rise to a lifetime banishment.  I have been asked about last year's statement regarding zero tolerance. Zero tolerance means exactly that. We have no tolerance for Chris L. Rucker's actions. I repeat, I have no tolerance for his actions. He was immediately suspended. He has served his civil punishment, and there are other internal disciplinary measures nobody will know about outside the program. Again, zero tolerance does not mean automatic dismissal."  Huh.  And, say what?  Then what does "zero tolerance mean"?  In this case it means what it says it means.  The word "zero" means "nothing".

9:44  Back at the hockey game, still 3-2 visitors with 7:55 left.  Detroit 41 shots on goal.  Their season high is the 43 they had on opening night.  You have to figure that with this much time left, while they may or may not tie the score, the will certainly set a new season high in shots on goal.

9:50  A big penalty against Detroit at 15:12.  Holmstrom gets called for "Roughing the Goalie".  There is, of course, no such penalty--it was interference, officially--but there should be.  I like th sound of it, don't you?


9:55  Down to 1:16 to go.  A couple more great chances for Detroit, a couple more great saves by Bryzgalov.  The Wings are up to 45 shots, so they've got that new season high.  Osgood is pulled at this point.  It's that 50-foot wrister he gave up in the first that's going to beat him on this night.  And it does.  Phoenix gets the empty-netter with 0:57.7 left.  The question for Osgood, and you hate to have to even ask it but somebody better, somebody has to, is how does it feel to get booed in your own building by your own fans after everything you've done for this team? 

9:58  Game over.  Final score: Phoenix 3, Detroit 1.