D-Train Wreck
This is painful to watch.
Dontrelle Willis was just taken out of the game in the second inning. It's already 8-0.
Willis threw 64 pitches and got exactly four outs. He walked five of the 12 batters he's faced and gave up two long home runs.
This is a guy that was an All-Star in 2005, and now he's completely helpless. He's walked 21 batters in 11 1-3 innings, and his ERA is now over 10.
The biggest problem? The Tigers just signed him to a three-year, $29 million contract. He's going to get that even if he never throws another strike.
Wait Until Next Year…
6) Da’Tara: Almost certainly better than Guadalcanal. That’s about the best thing I can say about him.
OK, maybe not. In my defense, though, I did get the second and third-place horses correct.
It was pretty obvious by the midpoint of the race that Big Brown wasn't going to do it. He was stuck wide, but he couldn't get past Tale of Ekati, a horse he destroyed in the Derby, and he wasn't make any headway against D'Tara, a horse he crushed in the Florida Derby.
He was eased down the stretch, but he walked off the track and didn't seem to be in any pain. We'll see what develops over the next couple days, but hopefully he just had a bad day. I'm sure he'll never race again.
Belmont Pick
The horses of the Belmont, in post position order:
1) Big Brown: You might have heard of him. A perfect 5-for-5 in his career, and has never been seriously threatened in any of the races. The only question mark is a minor stress fracture in one of his hooves, but his connections swear it won't be a problem.
2) Guadalcanal: Like Big Brown, Guadalcanal is also perfect in his career - he's never won. I'm sure there's a reason for him to be in this race, but I have no idea what.
3) Macho Again: The good news is that he finished second in the Preakness. The bad news is that he was so far behind Big Brown that Kent Desormeaux had to look back through his legs to figure out where all the other horses had gone.
4) Denis of Cork: Finished third in the Kentucky Derby and might have been gaining slightly on Big Brown at the end. Slightly. Maybe.
5) Casino Drive: I'm writing this at 6:30 Friday evening. At this point, Casino Drive is still expected to race despite the discovery of a stone bruise on his back left foot. I've written about him before, and on paper he's clearly Big Brown's toughest challenger. However, he's looked terrible in two workouts, and now there's the news about the bruised foot.
6) Da'Tara: Almost certainly better than Guadalcanal. That's about the best thing I can say about him.
7) Tale of Ekati: He's won twice at Belmont, including a nice performance in this spring's Wood Memorial, but he might need a golf cart to go a mile-and-a-half.
Anak Nakal: Name is still not a palindrome. Horse still hasn't won in 2008.
9) Ready's Echo: Got smoked by Casino Drive in the Peter Pan Stakes. Doesn't figure to do any better this time.
10) Icabad Crane: Finished third in the Preakness. SEE ALSO: Again, Macho.
A week ago, I was planning to pick Casino Drive, but Big Brown seems to be training well despite his injury and Casino Drive has looked awful. My computer model picks CD, but that's mainly because Desormeaux throttled BB down so much at the end of the Preakness that his final time was slow.
But now, with Casino Drive at less than 100 percent, I'm thinking it is silly to pick against Big Brown. Barring something catastrophic, he's just easily the best horse in the field.
- Big Brown
- Denis of Cork
- Anak Nakal
Flip Flupped
I said yesterday that the Pistons might fire Flip Saunders, and I told someone this morning that I figured it might happen as soon as today.
An hour later, I got an email from the Pistons saying that he was gone and Joe Dumars would be holding a press conference at 2:00.
So, is it a good move? There's no way of knowing that until we find out if Michael Curry can actually coach. He's certainly liked by the players - he was the president of the union for several years, and he was a starter on the first of the six straight Pistons teams to go to the Eastern Conference finals.
But, on a team where effort and intensity is a problem, are the Pistons really better off with a rookie coach that is a peer to the players, not a authority figure?
It is certainly a risky first move for what Dumars promises will be a busy offseason. Trading Rasheed is the safe second move - trading any of the other core players will be the dangerous decision. It is going to be fascinating to see which way he goes.
Monday Wrap: State of the Sports City
Detroit Red Wings (lead Stanley Cup finals 3-1)
Barring both a massive collapse by the Red Wings and a sudden revival of the Pittsburgh offense, Detroit is going to win its fourth Stanley Cup in 11 years, probably tonight.
It's going to be very strange to see Nick Lidstrom raising the cup instead of Steve Yzerman, but Nick deserves the moment. He's one of only five guys that will have been on all four championship teams - Lidstrom, McCarty, Draper, Holmstrom and Maltby, and McCarty was gone for a while in there.
By the way, how great a story is Chris Osgood? The Red Wings ran him out of town for Dominik Hasek, then brought him back to be Manny Legace's backup, and then went with the 97-year-old Hasek again. Until a month ago, Ozzie hadn't been Detroit's first-choice goalie in seven years. Now he's not only going to win the Stanley Cup, he's probably going to win the Conn Smythe.
This also has to firmly cement the Red Wings as the #1 team in town. The argument for a while was that the Pistons had supplanted them in the last few years, but now you'll have the Wings back on top with the Pistons unable to even make the finals.
Detroit Pistons (eliminated by Boston in Eastern Conference finals)
Six years in the Eastern Conference finals, but still only two trips to the finals and one title. If Rick Carlisle got fired when he couldn't get a young version of this team over the top, what happens with Flip Saunders? He's had three shots, and they've all ended badly.
That said, this season has to be measured as a success for the Pistons. Remember, in November, people were picking them to finish third in the division, behind Chicago (Doug COLLINS?!?) and Cleveland. They were an old team that was getting older and didn't appear to have any bench at all. So, if nothing else, this year is a positive because of Rodney Stuckey, Jason Maxiell and, to a lesser extent, Amir Johnson and Arron Afflalo.
So now what? Sure, they could fire Flip, but there's not exactly anyone out there that is going to be a huge improvement. Did I mention that Doug Collins just got another job? Chuck Daly isn't coming through that door.
That means you have to break up the core, and how does that work? They'd be insane to trade Chauncey Billups or Tayshaun Prince, and I think Rip Hamilton means too much to the chemistry. Antonio McDyess has the knees of a 97-year-old man, so you won't get anything for him.
That leaves, as usual, Rasheed Wallace.
The problem with trading Rasheed is the "what if" factor. Even in his 30s, there's no question that he could be one of the 10 best players in the NBA if he wanted. He's 6'11", he can play with his back to the basket and he can shoot 3-pointers, and he's a great defender. You don't ever want to give up a player like that, because you're afraid that the next team will find the switch that gets him to turn it on for more than two games in a row. It's the same reason that teams keep picking up Darko Milicic.
I don't think Flip is going to get Rasheed to step up, and I don't think there's a coach available who can do it. So I think you've got to try to trade him. He's a Philly guy, and he's played for Maurice Cheeks before. How would he look in a 76ers uniform?
Detroit Tigers (24-32, six games behind Chicago)
The Tigers have gone from bad to boring. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games, which is better than what they were doing, but still not going to make any impact on the pennant race. If they can get their acts together, they can still make a run at the division - it isn't like the White Sox or Twins are actually good.
The fabled offense is still not producing. Magglio Ordonez is having a fantastic season, and Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Guillen have been very good offensively. Placido Polanco has been OK, and everyone else has been awful. Ivan Rodriguez and Edgar Renteria are combining for about a .300 on-base percentage, which is completely unacceptable, and Curtis Granderson and Brandon Inge aren't much better, although they are at least hitting for a little power. Gary Sheffield might as well retire - he's a smart player, but his body has given out.
The other problem with Detroit's everyday players is that their defense is horrific. Cabrera and Guillen have both been disasters at third base, which means, to the delight of Brandon Inge and the disbelief of everyone else, he's going back to third. Guillen is now going to play leftfield, which should be entertaining, while Cabrera will continue to not care about defense at first base. Luckily for both of them, they are good enough offensively that it doesn't matter that neither of them can field.
The pitching staff has shown a few signs of improvement. Justin Verlander went 1-4 in May, but with a 3.92 ERA, and Armando Galarraga is still pitching like a decent #5 starter. On the other hand, Nate Robertson, Kenny Rogers and Jeremy Bonderman had a combined ERA of about 5, and Dontrelle Willis looked terrible in the one inning he's managed to pitch since coming off the DL. His start on Tuesday could be huge.
Detroit Shock (5-1, 1st place in the Eastern Conference)
Although no one has noticed, the Shock have been playing for two weeks now, and doing pretty well. They've gone 5-1 even though their best two players - Cheryl Ford and Deanna Nolan - are playing at well under 100 percent. Nolan hurt her ankle in Russia and Ford is still recovering from last year's knee injury.
Nolan's injury is related to the WNBA's dirty little secret - the basketball isn't any good. Let me be very clear about this. I'm not saying that women's basketball is bad. It isn't the same as men's basketball, but it can be very entertaining when played at a high level. I'm saying that the WNBA is no longer a high-level women's basketball league - it's a vanity exhibition league that makes the NBA feel better about itself.
The best players in the WNBA aren't making their money in the United States - they are making a lot more playing overseas from October through May. That's why you get Nolan showing up a few days before the season starts, having missed most of training camp and already injured. It's hard to blame her, when she's making big money in Russia and less than $100K in the WNBA.
So, instead of the crisp, fundamental game that women's basketball can be, you get a sloppy mess between teams that haven't practiced together, filled with exhausted players. Nolan hasn't had an offseason since she left college. You end up with games with teams shooting 30 percent and combining for more than 40 turnovers in a 40-minute game.
It will get better as the season goes on and teams get a chance to practice, but then there's the month-long break for the Olympics. That's going to help the Shock, since Katie Smith is the only Detroit player going to Beijing, but it kills any momentum that the league might have found.
It's a shame, because I enjoy covering the Shock, and I'd love to see it succeed. My stepdaughter is a huge WNBA fan, and it has provided us a way to bond, but they've got to find a way to attract fans that are older than 13.
Of course, she'd also be happy if the Shock would stop trading away her favorite players. She won't even go to Wednesday's game against Seattle, because it is "too confusing" for her to have to deal with Swin Cash in someone else's uniform.
Detroit Lions (offseason)
Training camp is two months away. Until then, there's not a whole going on.