When it rains it pours. Right behind the unemployment rate and hundreds of thousands of people losing their jobs in the state of Michigan the one silver lining was the Lions won a football game. Life can be oh so cruel and it's going to get a lot crueler come Wednesday morning if the home town Tigers cannot come through with a victory over their nemesis and ever present thorn in the side, Minnesota Twins.
Three years ago the gutty, gritty, young clean cut gang from just north of Iowa in the land of a thousand lakes put together a late season run and was able to catch the Detroit Tigers. Fortunately for Tigertown they never had to face the Twinkies in the playoffs and let someone else do their dirty work en route to a their first World Series appearance since Kirk Gibson won the World Series MVP while playing alongside legendary Detroit icons named Morris, Trammel, Whitacker, Parrish and the lovable, crusty old man affectionately known as Sparky.
This year the joke gets rubbed in a little deeper by the not so hospitable bunch of ball players in a hospitable state full of friendly Minnesotans. Why does it look so grim for Detroit. It starts with blowing a big lead and it doesn't end with not having Verlander on the mound for the one game playoff. It will get uglier with 60,000 hanky wavin' bleary eyed tailgating sports freaks who have been on a bender this weekend. A season ending sweep of the Kansas City Royals including their ace Zack Greinke while the Tigers were mired in mediocrity being able to only salvage a split at home against the Twins sandwiched by series 2-1 losses to the Chicago White Sox who seemed more into the spirit of the playoff race with nothing to gain.
The downfall of Detroit is upon us. One of the greatest sports cities in the United States. The city that hosted arguably the toughest team in the NBA Eastern Conference during the decade and winners of the 2004 NBA Championship along with the team of the decade on ice the Red Wings. The last Red Wing Stanley Cup championship seems like eons ago back in the spring of 2008 when they dispatched of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Soon after the Wings carried the cup around the results of George W. Herbert Bush's failed politics began to cite the Motor City right in the keester. Massive layoffs throttled the city. The big three, General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford have held on for dear life and GM was neutered by the government that realized more leadership into the ground while paying a guy $50 million big big ones in one of the countries most depressed cities was bad for business. For the laid off football in "08 offered no relief but did reflect the victories for the city in the post Wings championship era. No wins, the first NFL team to go defeated in a 16 game schedule. 2009 offered very little in terms of excitement for Detroit. More layoffs. Higher unemployment rates. A population on the move and foreigners coming in with huge coiffures of cash buying up houses at pennies on the dollar while the locals have resorts to sleeping on mom's couch which no longer has a house to shelter it as mom has been put on the street also. The Wings tried to fight back for the city and show some pride in "09 only to be dethroned by the Penguins at the Joe (Louis Arena) in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Lions have been the one silver lining in the whole equation in "09. They showed the city how to scrap for a morsel of pride winning one game but will more than likely fall back into their losing ways.
Next up the Tigers. Where is Sparky? At least he would have something nonsensical to say whereby nothing would be nothing and the Motor City Bengals could at least just go out and play baseball. The Twins might not do what is necessary to win Tuesday night but it appears apparent ever depressing gloomy outlook is the Tigers will find a way to lose.
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