I love this game!

What do doggies do?

Ruff.

What do kitties do?

Meow.

What do cows do?

Moooo.

What do Tigers do?

Beeseball.

I was probably 2 years old, but thus began my love affair with the great American past time. Before whining and complaining became the great American past time.

The Tigers’ magical run in 2006 restored my love of the game. From the early 90’s until then, baseball to me was more like a pretty good acquaintance that you could talk all night with when they stopped by, but if you didn’t see them, you didn’t miss them.

Secretly, I was jealous of the cities like Seattle, Atlanta and Cleveland that had baseball come back from the grave in the 90’s and early 2000’s. Those were the teams I laughed at when I was a kid. Shoot, even Boston and New York didn’t do too much from 1982 until their recent dominance.

The lean Detroit baseball years perhaps gave me some perspective. I’m a homer. I love me some Kool-Aid and cornbread, but I’m a realist.

You win some. You lose some. And by the way, sometimes the other team is better than you. And even if they aren’t sometimes the other team plays just good enough to beat you in that game or that series.

That’s why you play the game.

It was brought to my attention again that baseball is a game of failure. Failing 7 out of 10 times makes you and all-star. Failing 2 out of 3 times makes you a hall of famer. So often we sit back and pick apart every play and every pitch.

“Why did he throw there?”

“Why did he swing at that?”

“He should’ve…”

“Why isn’t Verlander pitching?”

It seems we’re all armchair quarterbacks…er, armchair coaches anymore. I’ve been there. But life has enough stress in it these days for us to now want to manage and scream at a team on the television.

Up until a couple years ago, that’s how I ended a lot of my sports nights. Between the Tigers and Pistons, I had 244 days and evenings (not including playoffs) of additional stress. It would be tough to sleep.

“Why didn’t he throw there?”

“Why did he do that?”

But recently, I’ve discovered the secret to enjoying watching baseball…more specifically, playoff baseball.

Just enjoy it.

If you’re watching playoff baseball, your team is one of only 8 that made it to the playoffs. The other 24 teams are watching your team play.

Enjoy watching your team play another good team. But realize, it’s not supposed to be easy. It’s the playoffs!

As a Detroiter, enjoy the fact that your owner spends enough to have had a competitive team most of the last 5 years. Enjoy the fact that the team doesn’t do a 1 year spending spree, to have it all blow up and then trades everyone starting a 10 year famine for quality baseball.

Enjoy the fact that you aren’t a small market team who will rarely get a chance to see playoff baseball live.

Enjoy the fact that you have arguably the best pitcher and hitter in baseball playing on your team…and they are signed long term.

Enjoy watching Brandon Inge. I usually don’t, but even though he’s been awful more than awesome, he’s always giving 110%.

Even though it’s been about every 20 years, enjoy the fact that Detroit baseball has a long and storied tradition. My boys will be cheering Cabby and JV. I cheered for Gibby and Tram. My dad cheered Rocky and Kaline. His dad cheered Mickey and Hank. His dad cheered Cobb.

And with that enjoy the fact that 8 cities have never had a World Series winning team to cheer for. And we’ve been able to cheer for four!

Enjoy the old English “D”. The world famous logo, up there with the overlapped “NY”.
Enjoy the fact that your team makes New York sweat.

Thirty some years after “What do Tigers do?” I spend these evenings with my boys in the front room screaming “Go Tigers!” and throwing the baseball around. We get out our “glubs” (gloves) and the whole nine.

“Here’s the windup, and the pitch..” is a game in which Grant pats the ball much like a quarterback surveying the field for an open receiver, and then adding a Jack Morris leg kick before releasing his unhittable 19 mph fastball under my chin.
And then I charge and tackle the pitcher like any good hitter who was brushed back would do!

Man, do I enjoy this!

I love this game…Oh wait. That’s the NBA.

Maybe baseball can borrow the slogan while the NBA is locked out?

Communication without consequence

I’m almost ready to boycott facebook.

I like the concept. I like being able to see what friends and family are doing. I like re-connecting with old friends.

But I’m tired of the constant “name your own” ville updates. I’m tired of seeing horoscopes and love tests, and 27 videos of someones favorite songs. You may like them and it may be good music, but it doesn’t need to clutter my wall.

I’m tired of hearing how many times you visit Starbucks during the day.

I’m tired of knowing every stop or every location you’re at during the day.

I’m tired of the “Re-post if …..” Because I do care, and I do love my mom, but I don’t have to repost it show it. How about you tell your mom you love her?

I’m tired of people’s everyday comments that are overexaggerated and downright sensationalized. People are entitled to their feelings, but I don’t need to know every single one of them. And not everything is amazing or unbelieveable.

I’m tired the rant clearly aimed at someone, but we don’t name them….”I’m sooo done with blah blah blah.”

More than anything, I’m tired of the shoot from the hip rants that most facebookers do these days. For example….As much as I disagreed with the Casey Anthony verdict, it is what it is. A bitter, scathing, sarcastic facebook post or status does absolutely nothing to change what happened.

I was most appalled when a good friend weighed in on someone else’s facebook post on the issue. All she said was, and I’m paraphrasing, “That’s the problem with circumstantial evidence…..”

You would’ve thought she said something about someone’s mother.

It’s uncalled for. Just as much as you had the right to be rude, she had the right to give her opinion. Especially in a public forum. Don’t post it if you don’t want a response. And by the way, you might get a response you don’t like. Go figure.

The problem with facebook and social networking these days it it allows for communciation without consequence because it’s not face to face. Type it, hit enter, and there it is. No repercussions. And if you don’t like it, I blow you up in a subsequent post, or I just “unfriend” you. There really is no confrontation. All we’re really doing is hiding behind a keyboard and monitor.

I miss the days of “Don’t speak unless spoken to.” Better yet, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

Social networking has given us a forum, but it doesn’t eliminate the need for manners or etiquette. Everyone’s a comedian. Everyone’s a critic.

Again, the Casey Anthony thing was just out of control. It was apalling the way people responded to the Casey Anthony verdict. It made me long for the days of a (insert news channel here) helicopter follow a white Bronco down a California freeway. I remember gathering in the university center to watch the OJ verdict, and the gasp throughout the room when it was read.

And then people talked. There was conversation.

“Can you believe it?”

“No way.”

“Wow.”

No one had the guts to tell a stranger that they hoped OJ died on his way home and that he and his defense burned in hell.

I wrote several months ago how unconnected we are in a society that’s supposed to be more connected and networked than ever. This is just another example.

Thanks to social networking we feel like we’re stars. The world can see and hear our views. It’s like we mean something. It seems our self worth is tied up in the number of facebook friends we have or the number of people that follow us on twitter.

It’s a predicament for me. I’m not sure if I want to unfriend the guilty parties, or hope that they ease up. But they’re my friends so it’s a tough spot to be in. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many facebook friends I have. So if I gotta do what I gotta do…

Oh, the irony as I’m using a blog and facebook to write my thoughts.

Unruly Fans Ruining Sports?

I was able to listen to a couple of great topics on sports radio recently. One of the better topics was unruly fans, the amount of alcohol they’re taking in and its effects on fans at sporting events.

People called in with a variety of responses, mostly telling their own person bad experiences with drunk fans. From people leaving in the first inning of a baseball game, or the beating of a fan in LA, there were many awful stories.

No one really called in with an answer, but perhaps it’s because it’s the reasons and answers no one wants to hear. Respect for other people isn’t even an option any more. And money drives everything in sports.

As far as drunk fans….it’s gone from bad to worse really quickly. As long as stadiums are getting $8 a pop for beer, it isn’t going to change. And as long as they draw big numbers with half off beer nights, half off ticket nights or college night…it isn’t going to change.

For sports at the League office level, or home team level, it’s all about the Benjamins, Baby. For many fans, the special event nights or even games in general, it’s just a reason to party and get wasted.

I have a hard time taking my wife and young boys to games anymore. I want to. I love sports and specifically going to the ballpark. But I fear for what they will hear, see, or be subject to. I’ve had more than one experience where an over indulged fan is vomiting his insides out.

I’ve been at basketball games where people near me freely dropped “F” bombs like there was a quota on how many they had to use in a 5 minute period.

Yeah. That’s why I came to the game. I shouldn’t be subject to that.

I shouldn’t be subject to foul language in front of me or my family. I don’t need to see stumbling fans that had too much to drink by the 3rd inning. And I shouldn’t have to worry about my safety if I have to defend myself or my family from the idiocy or ask someone to please clean up their language.

The thing is, the drunk guy doesn’ t care that my young son shouldn’t hear those words. The drunk guys don’t care that I have to worry about my wife being hit on or worry for her safety because he’s full of liquid courage. I shouldn’t have to worry about a fight breaking out because dudes have had too much to drink.

Paying for the ticket doesn’t give them the right to do any of that. They’ll say it does, but that’s my point. People today care only about themselves. Oh and by the way, I paid for my ticket too. When does your right trump my right to enjoy an evening with my family?

When I was growing up, my dad had to worry about the drunks outside of the stadiums, not the drunks inside the stadium. He worried about our safety between the ballpark and the car, not with the guy right behind us or in front of us. It wasn’t that long ago if someone did get out of control, they would either see us kids and apologize. Or my dad would say something and they’d stop. If it came to getting an usher, it was too far. And fans listened to the ushers.

Not nowadays. What’s an usher going to do? They just get cussed out too.

Here are my options. I can go to the cheap seats. But the biggest issue is in the cheap seats. Whether cheaper seats leaves more money for booze, or draws the “true” fan, it gets crazy out there. Can’t take the family there.

I could go to the nice seats, but can’t afford tickets for the whole family without dipping into my life savings.

Or I don’t go. Which is really disappointing because I love going to the ballpark. And my boys love baseball.

How about this? You go and enjoy the game. Fine, have a beer or two. I don’t know how you can enjoy a beer that cost nearly $10, but have at it. Have a good time. But more than that respect the other fans and their families. We paid our hard earned money to enjoy our night as well.

How connected are we really?

I just heard another story of a teenage suicide, and this one hit closer to home. The young man went to school with my cousins. Several members of my family, adults and teenagers, probably know the young man, and perhaps very well.

And it happened at Christian school….

I think sometimes we Christians are oblivious to what’s really going on in the world. I think we have all the right intentions, but maybe we’re going about it all the wrong ways?

Nowadays, we’ll come up with a program to address an issue. We hold brainstorming sessions, come up with clever names, come up with a launch date, invite people to the first meeting that includes food or snacks, talk of the “vision”, and grow the program…

I’m guilty of it. But I’m starting to question the methodology now.

How much time do we waste setting something up when all we really need to do is be there?

The more I think about it, the more I realize how unconnected we’ve become. Facebook, text, email, Instant Messaging, Skype which covers about 10 years of rapid communication technology bring us together in theory.

But in reality, we’re in our homes sitting behind a computer. Or out and using our “wireless device” to keep in touch.

The thing is we aren’t “touching”. We’re keeping in touch, but we’re really out of touch. This world is farther apart then it’s ever been.

As I grow older the more I realize the value and importance of a touch. A pat on the back. A high five. A good firm handshake. A hug.

Can’t do that via Wi-Fi.

I used to be afraid of what the future holds for us…for our country. For our world. I still am, but now I realize I’m only afraid because of how our we’re raising this generation. We’ve failed the kids who are coming up today.

I have to wonder how much longer we’re going to keep running the way we run these days. In many cases, kids are growing up in a broken home or they’re growing up in a 2 income home that leaves little time for “Johnny.” Some parents can pull off the 2 income thing, because they’re children are still a priority. But others….career and wealth are more important. They replace the love with things and technology.

Nowadays, we have more things, but so much less love.

Johnny will get the cool new phone with unlimited text and talk. Mom and Dad will feel better because they can call or text him at any time. It eases their minds because now they can talk to him, but there’s no real connection.

How about this? Family communication was originally “wireless” anyways. You sat down and talked. No wires. No phone. Just talking. Unlimited minutes too. It wasn’t $20 to add a line.

I’m devastated by the little I know of the young man who took his life. I’m sure he had friends and family to talk to, even if he didn’t know it. What drives someone with so much to live for to that point? Or simply….Why?

Maybe all he needed was one more hug. Maybe all he needed was a friend to stand up for him. Maybe he needed to be laughed with, not laughed at.

But I can tell you this…kid’s today don’t need another program. They don’t need a Facebook message. They only need…and want… love. They’re crying out for it. Will we stop planning the next program to help them and instead, get out of our meetings, leave work early at 5, and put down our wireless device long enough and soon enough to hear them?

Take a step back, look and listen to what’s going on. It’s bad out there. No way to sugarcoat it. But we have to stop looking at schools and programs to help and save our kids. Schools are running out of money, and programs cost money. How can we expect them to help?

It starts at home and it starts with us.

Goodbye Old Friend

Today was day I thought I'd never see. Today I had to say farewell to my dog Tiger.

In a way, it was becoming more and more expected. At the same time, Tiger had lived through so many things. As Mom said today, "I always thought he was invincible."

Time and health caught up to him recently. It was becoming harder for him to walk and jump. Those of you that knew Tiger know how much he like to RUN and JUMP. His sight and hearing began to fail in the last year too.

So over the six months or so, he was less like the Tiger we knew.

Still that Tiger was always in there. He could always seem to drum enough energy to play "bally-bally", the game he invented with my Dad. It involved 2 tennis balls because Tiger was too stubborn to give up the one in his mouth and my Dad was too stubborn to teach him how to give up the one in his mouth. Bally was Tiger's life. Like I said, he always found the health and energy to play his favorite game. It was like he could see better, hear better, and run like a 3 year old dog in his prime whenever the tennis balls were being thrown.

Over the last year, Mom and Dad would tell me how he seemed to be aging. Yet, when we'd come over with our dog Kobe, they said it was like he had spring in his step again. I thought maybe just the loneliness of being at home without kids or other animals was dragging him down.

Turns out that wasn't the case.

This past weekend we got a call from Dad saying Tiger's back and legs seemed to really be bothering him. He wouldn't run. He wouldn't jump. He'd had back issues before, but medication and rest always seemed to help. This time, rest didn't help. So Monday night we decided we should take him to the Vet to have it checked out.

I was at work, so Dad took him. He called me at 1pm and the prognosis wasn't good. They muzzled him, as Tiger needed at the Vet due to his outgoing personality and his nose started bleeding profusely. They checked his legs and it seems somehow the nerves in his back and back legs weren't working. So he didn't know his legs weren't working right. The vet seemed concerned about his nose, because it was a simple process of putting on a muzzle that caused the bleeding. His concern was maybe there was a tumor or something else going on.

So we made the decision to let Tiger go to Doggie Heaven. And it was a tough one.

When you get a pet and they bond with you, you never expect that day to come. Even though you know the life span, you expect your pet to live forever. Tiger was 13. His breed typically lives 12-15 years. We figured he had a couple years left.

He was almost invincible, Mom. He took on the UPS truck and walked away. He took on the lawn mower, and walked away. He took on the tumor when he was a puppy, and walked away.

Those of you who have pets probably know what I'm feeling. Pets become a part of your family. Part of you.

Tiger was that for me. When I got Tige, it was kind of a lonely time in my life. He came right in and became my best friend. A few years ago, I was doing some journaling about key moments in my life. Getting Tiger was one of them. Here's what I wrote:

"I saw a phrase one time that said God and dog have the same letters, and they're both man's best friend. So true in my case. December of 1997, I got my best friend Tiger. Ever since my last dog died, I wanted a Jack Russell Terrier. After several years of waiting, I got my JRT."

"I knew I'd name him Tiger from the start. I loved golf and wanted to give a golf name. Tiger Woods was my favorite golfer and the name fit. I drove all the way to Port Austin to get him, and when I saw him I knew he was the one I wanted. His nose was half pink and half black and he had 2 brown spots on his eyes. When I saw him I knew he was feisty as he was dragging his brother around the cage. On the way home, he tried to get out of the box. He was the Tiger I named him."

"Needless to say, we were best friends right off the bat. He slept with me, and we played all the time. He stole the heart of the family. He is the life of the house. He plays when we need to be happy. He cuddles when we need warmth and love. He's the greatest."

The drive from work to the vet was tough, man. You try to tell yourself it's just an animal, but they are part of your life. A 40 minute drive was like watching 13 years of memories go through your mind.

He'd been a part of so many things in my life. There really isn't room in this blog to mention it all. From college graduation, to dating relationships and break-ups, to frisbee, and climbing trees, and taking on UPS trucks and lawn mowers. He approved of my future wife, and she adopted him as her own. Strangely that was important to me when we were dating.

He'd been there through so much but brought so much joy and happiness to us.

So many great memories, unfortunately my last one is the worst one. When I finally got to the Vet, I got to spend a couple minutes alone with him. I wanted so badly to have him put his paws on my chest and look at me, like he did so many times of the last 13 years. I wanted so badly to lay on my back and have him lay on my chest. It always calmed us both down.

But this time I couldn't do that. He couldn't do that. His legs weren't strong enough, his nose was bleeding and he wouldn't calm down. I knew then we made the right decision for him, though it hurt me so bad.

I declined to go back with him and the vet when they "did what they had to do." After seeing what Tiger was going through, I thought it best. But now I think back and wished I would've done it. To be there with him for the one thing he couldn't beat. I'll never know how it went or how much pain he might have felt. I mean, did he cry? Was he looking for me like all the other times when he was scared at the Vet?

My last memory is putting a generic leash on him, taking his own leash and collar off and watching him walk out of the room. I was too numb and broken up at the time to rethink about going back with him. The Vet said it was probably best. But again, I'll never know.

I'm accused of being rational and realistic. I tend to think in practical terms. It's hard to get burned that way. But this time I did. I missed out on one last moment. One last chance to be there and hold him.

I'll miss that Dog.

I try to take something from every situation in life, and what I take today is to play and cuddle whenever you can. Tiger lived for those 2 things. Playing and cuddling. Isn't that the best way to live life?

Play whenever you can. Play with your whole heart even when your body doesn't want to. And cuddle with those who love you and appreciate the love and warmth they provide.

You just never know when that last time to play or cuddle will come. And it hurts to wish you could just one more time.

I miss you Tiger. Goodbye, Old Friend.

I'm just saying

I'm no coach....Although I did coach a group of 8th graders in a 6 game basketball season one year. It was a small school.

I did coach a ragamuffin bunch of 20-something softball studs to a softball championship. But really all I had to do was keep guys happy and let the talent take over.

But this Michigan football thing is something else. Again, I'm no coach. Nor have I ever been an Athletic Director. Much like most of my friends, I've never played a second of college sports. Never signed a pro contract.

Somehow though, we're all experts.

And according to the experts, the Brady Hoke hiring is a joke.

The fact of the matter is....we don't know! And now one of my best and closest friends will be upset with me! What up, K!

The way I look at it, this hire wasn't about 12-0 or 11-1. This was about making Michigan, Michigan again. As much as we don't like the thought of 8-10 wins a year, we loved it when it was that way before.

But more than 8-10 wins, and top 20 rankings, Michigan was a solid school with a clean football program. And during those years, they'd beat MSU most seasons, Ohio State every other year or so, and win 8 out of 10 of their other games.

Michigan loved the rivalry games, and what made them great was they were....drumroll please...rivalries. They hated Ohio State and would say it. They hated MSU and said it. It was never "just another game".

It wasn't about flash, though enough flash came through the Big House. Jim Harbaugh, Desmond Howard, Charles Woodson, Tom Brady, Braylon Edwards. Michigan was a factory for NFL caliber QB's, WR's, Offensive linemen, and defensive studs. Even if Lloyd Carr's last couple years they were pumping out 1st round draft choices. Under Lloyd Carr, UM won 75% of their games.

But the Michigan faithful were tired of being clean, yet successful. They lusted for speed and savvy of the SEC schools. All flash, and alot of cash drew the cream of the crop to those schools. We wanted the spread offense. UM was stagnant. Football passed Lloyd by.

Now, us same experts, sit back, point, laugh, and shake our heads at the new head coach of University of Michigan football program.

I'll say it again...We don't know.

Remember when Lloyd Carr took over in 1995? We didn't like it, but didn't mind having him during the undefeated season and national championship in 1997. He was U-M's defensive coordinator before getting the head coaching job. His D-line coach? Brady Hoke.

The 2 names the experts in our area wanted were Jim Harbaugh and Les Miles. Not a surprise. Both had the UM ties, and Jim Harbaugh appears to be the next Vince Lombardi.

People point to Brady Hoke's poor record as a head coach, and it's a fair point. They say he's only had 2-3 good years, and only one was great. Let's look at these numbers...

1st season - 1st school: 7-4. Then two 11-1 seasons in the PIONEER FOOTBALL LEAGUE! Then he goes to Stanford and goes, 4-8, 5-7, and 8-5. That's a combined 17-20 at the big program. Those look alot like a recent UM coaches first 3 seasons....Just sayin.

Then...THEN, he has the 12-1 season. Now, he can do no wrong and is the best thing out there. His career winning percentage...68%....at the big school...58%.

Yeah. That was Harbaugh. And don't get me wrong. I'm a huge Jim Harbaugh fan. He was my first favorite college athlete. I followed him as he went into the NFL. So yeah, I would've been a huge fan of him as the UM coach.

Next guy. Great record in the SEC. Even a national title. He has the Michigan background as both a player and coach. He started as a head coach at Oklahoma State. He had a 58% winning percentage there. His teams went to 3 bowl games in 4 years, but his teams were never ranked.

Then he went to LSU when Nick "the Mercenary" Saban jetted for the NFL. His teams have been to bowl games in all 6 seasons, and in his 3rd season they won the National Championship.

All in all, he has a 70% winning percentage.

So Michigan faithful....Lloyd's 75% wasn't good enough. But the top 2 choices don't have his winning percentage. Jim and Les combined have just as many national championships as Lloyd had.

Now, Brady Hoke doesn't have the same resume as Miles or Harbaugh. I'll give you that. But it's not like they became the Jim Harbaugh and Les Miles we know today overnight. He's turned 2 ugly programs around while learning on the job. He never had a coordinator job before the Ball State gig. He left that program with a 12-1 season. He went to San Diego State and turned a 4-8 team into a 9-4 team with a bowl win.

Yeah, he has a losing record overall. But so did Harbaugh after 3 years at Stanford.

From what I've read, players love playing for him and coaches love coaching for him. He loves Michigan. He was one of Lloyd Carr's top recruiters.

And from what I hear he's a stand-up guy. My guess is you'll never hear about NCAA violations with Hoke around. Yeah, there might be alot of 8-9 win seasons, but that looks pretty darn good after the last 3 seasons.

My guess is he'll run the football. He'll focus on defense. He'll tell his team we've got to beat MSU and Ohio State. The very things that made Michigan, Michigan. From 1969 to 2007 that was good enough. During that time, Michigan football was consistent. Consistently great.....They won 77% of their football games! Bowl games from something like 1976 through 2007. No one else could say that.

I guess I'm saying the formula worked for nearly 40 years. I don't buy the whole "Michigan Man" thing. Way overblown. But you want a guy who wants to be here. Not the guy who wants the biggest paycheck. The thing with that guy....a bigger paycheck will always come around. The job you've dreamed might only come around once.

This is Brady Hoke's dream job.

I'm not saying he's the one. But I'm saying he could be. We just don't know....I'm just sayin.