Motor City Sports Sports in Detroit and beyond

Pistons v. Heat Live Blog – Shades of Gray

5pm: Time to go. I walk out of a warm house into a painting of Michigan February. Everything is different hues of the same color - gray. The plowed road is darker than the featureless flat-painted sky, and the week-old snow falls somewhere in between, thanks to age and accumulated dirt. The only flash of color is the bright blue of my Saturn. Sadly, I won't be driving that car tonight - it lost a battle to one of the potholes that turn Detroit freeways into something that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin should be springing across. Instead, I'll be driving a Buick - a gray Buick.

5:10pm: The "change oil soon" light comes on in my car, but I don't have time for oil right now - the kind in my engine or the type they dig out of the ground in the Middle East. I've been glued to the television for the last few days watching Egypt overthrow their dictator, but I think they might be suffering from premature euphoria. The country has been under military dictatorships since 1956, and they just turned power over to ... the army. To me, that's like cutting off Samson's locks and then signing him up for Hair Club For Men. Might be dramatic to watch, but I'm not sure it accomplishes anything.

5:30pm: My drive to the Palace is as simple as the instructions on a box of LEGO - drive a half-mile to 75, drive 19 miles, get off 75 at the arena. This being a Detroit rush hour, the speeds vary from 10 to 80 at random intervals. I've never understood this - maybe there is some mass psychosis that affects freeway drivers at this time of the day. Every eight minutes, they think "Oh, my dear heavens, this is rush hour!" and slam on the the brakes for now apparent reason. One backup today was so sudden that cars were scattering like the end of a short-track speedskating race.

6pm: If there were any question about this being a big day for the Pistons, it is answered by the Amazonian rain forest of satellite trucks in the parking lot. Channel 2 has a pair of them - I guess Jennifer Hammond has one for the ownership story and one for the Heat. That's the big time, but Hammer has earned as many trucks as she needs.

6:30pm: Interviewed Erik Spoelstra for the second time today - I was here at noon for Miami's shootaround - and he still hasn't said anything interesting. The Pistons are playing very well and gave them a tough time a couple weeks ago, it is always nice to be in first place, and he won't focus on the Celtics until after tonight's game. That's the basketball version of Crash Davis' lesson to Nook LaLoosh in Bull Durham.

7pm: Dinner time. Tonight's menu is salad, macaroni and cheese and "Cuban-rubbed chicken breast". I don't know what that means, exactly. Is it rubbed by Cubans? With Cubans? If this is real Cuban-rubbed chicken breast, can I be arrested for eating it? I'm just going to pretend it is actually Honduran rubbed, and plead ignorance if the poultry police show up.

7:15pm: Did I mention this was a big game? I just walked back through the media dining area, and Katrina Hancock is sitting next to Rob Parker. They both denied that they required the Sports Final Edition music to be played before they took their seats, but I'm not sure.

7:19pm: Just took my courtside seat. For anyone watching on TV, I'm sitting in the second row of the press seats, between Eli Zaret and Rob Parker. Say what you want about my job, I hang with the big dogs. Rob has 72 employers, not counting his bar, hot-dog restaurant and barber shops, while Eli has been a legend in Detroit journalism since Bill Bonds had his real hair.

(That's two bald jokes already - I probably shouldn't talk. I don't even get haircuts these days, I just hang upside down and let the longer ones fall out on their own.)

7:23pm: I'm sure it is a coincidence that the mobile spotlight in front of me looks exactly like a Dalek, but I can tell you one thing. There aren't a lot of sportswriters who watch Dr. Who, so if that thing starts yelling "Exterminate", I'm going to react a lot faster than anyone else.

7:25pm: The Pistons announced today that they are going to retire Dennis Rodman's #10 jersey on April 1. I can't think of a more fitting date to honor the NBA's court jester, but it is richly deserved. Like Ben Wallace after him, people never really understood the impact of someone who played defense like a rabid Rottweiler and hit the glass harder than a tanker full of Scrubbing Bubbles.

There is one problem, though. Greg Monroe currently wears #10, and has worn it for his whole life. He can keep wearing it - it will just never be issued to anyone else - but he feels like he probably should give it up. He said he'll discuss it with Dennis, and if the Worm gives his blessing he might keep the number. Greg's never met Dennis Rodman, and he certainly hasn't spoken to Dennis Rodman. That conversation might not be quite as sane as he expects.

7:30pm: Rick Mahorn just arrived at his broadcast position in front of me. In the process, he turned off our monitor, knocked our table askew and tried to unplug my laptop. Ricky is like a walking tsunami. Great guy, but leaves a trail of chaos everywhere he goes - usually intentionally.

7:36pm: I don't want to say that was a long anthem, but scientists just named the next paleontological age after the singer.

7:38pm: LeBron James got booed during the introductions. I knew Hosni Mubarak was in trouble when he started using LeBron's PR firm.

7:40pm: This tweet is why Dana was the best woman in my wedding - "She has a beautiful voice but no national anthem needs to be two minutes, 24 seconds. Anita Baker can do it in 1:10."

7:41pm: It is genuinely fun to be here with a packed house for a big game. This year, most of the crowds have looked out the turnout for the funeral of the guy in your office that creeps everyone out. Everyone figures that their co-workers will go, but no one does, and it ends up being his two sisters, the neighbor that took care of his dog and Chris Hansen.

7:44pm: Fact you would never realize from watching them play - LeBron James and Ben Wallace are the same height and have the same build.

7:48pm: Zydrunas Ilgauskas has a dunk and a tip-in. He's 7'3", so that isn't impressive, until you realize how immobile he is at this point. Most athletes have their vertical jump measured in inches, Z has his done in insects. "Z got up that time - that was three ants!"

7:50pm: LeBron throws an unbelievable alley-oop to Dwayne Wade, making the score 16-7. John Kuester calls timeout. Eli Zaret says "men against boys."

7:53pm: Did I mention this is a really big game? The Reverend Jesse Jackson is sitting at courtside, and is being ignored, because he's next to The Queen, Aretha Franklin.

7:56pm: Zydrunas just fed Rodney Stuckey his own jump shot. As I mentioned, when you are 7'3", vertical leap isn't all that important.

7:58pm: It's 22-11. Watching Wade and LBJ run the fast break is like watching Battle of the Supercars on Speed TV, but they have different styles. Wade is like a European supercar - a Ferrari Enzo, maybe. It's all speed and perfect handling. LeBron is an American muscle car - a Ford GT - doing the same amazing things with brute force.

8:07pm: Before the game, Vinnie Goodwill (Detroit News) and Heather Zara (Pistons.com) were debating which one should be considered the rookie beat writer and made to being donuts. Vinnie's case is that he's been on the beat full-time all season, while Heather just started in January. Heather, though, counters with the fact that she's been around longer, counting her work at Channel 4, and she's older.

Older, in this sense, means she was 6 when I started covering the Pistons, while Vinnie was only 5. I get more gray hairs every time I talk to those two.

8:10pm: The Heat only lead 25-21 after one quarter. That's a surprise, because at the beginning of the game, they were dominating the Pistons like Albert Pujols in a hitting contest against Neifi Perez. Of course, in the time it took me to come up with that analogy and type it, Miami has increased the lead to 33-21.

8:16pm: The bench is colder than Wyatt Earp's stare on the streets of Tombstone.

8:21pm: Doesn't look like there is going to be any movement on the sale tonight. Tom Gores has confirmed that he's got two more weeks of exclusive bargaining rights, but he's back in California for the weekend. No sign of Karen Davidson here tonight.

It is going to be good for everyone when this gets done. This franchise lost a lot of spirit when Bill Davidson died, and his widow doesn't have any particular enthusiasm for owning a sports franchise. She'll be happier when she's gone, and Gores is a local guy who will want to turn things around.

It will be strange to have someone else owning the team, though. The Davidsons are the only owners I remember, and Mr. D did a lot of great things in his life. It would be easy to say that the Palace will be his monument - an arena built without fleecing the public - but that would be a serious case of forgetting the real priorities of life. Bill Davidson should be remembered for all of the hospitals and schools that wouldn't exist without his massive donations, and all of the lives that were made better because he cared so much for so many causes.

This was supposed to be fun and silly, and that was a bit serious, wasn't it? We'll get back to the fun, now. It's 48-37 Heat with 4:27 left in the second quarter.

8:31pm: The fans aren't booing, they are Suuuuuuuhing. Ndamukong Suh was just recognized for winning the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award. He and his sister Ngum are fairly regular attendees at the Palace.

8:33pm: The only thing that surprises me about this story is that the heckler was male. I would have guessed female - a very specific female.

8:35pm: I was right after all. Stephanie just acknowledged on Twitter that she thought up the heckle, but someone else said it. Meanwhile, it is now 57-39.

8:38pm: Vinnie has just hurt his fight to receive veteran status. He used the word "scurred" in a tweet.

8:39pm: Heat 64, Pistons 41. Kuester just called a timeout. What is he going to tell them? That they need to get a lot better in the next 20 seconds?

8:41pm: Heat lead 64-43 at the half. On the bright side, the Pistons did win the final minute of the quarter.

8:50pm: Just returned from making sure Stephanie knew her work was all over Twitter. Voice of an angel, but she's a mean heckler.

8:51pm: Quick look at the halftime stats. Wade has 16 points, Bosh has 13 and LBJ is on pace for a triple-double with six points, seven assists and six rebounds. He's even got three steals. Prince and Stuckey have nine for Detroit, but the most troubling stat for the Pistons is that their bench is getting outscored. If you can't beat the Miami bench, you are in big trouble.

9:04pm: Remember that commercial where LeBron dreams about playing for the Browns? Can you imagine the damage he would do as a football player? You could make him a 6'8", 250-pound tight end with wide receiver speed, great hands and the strength to go over the middle. Imagine Antonio Gates, but better at everything.

9:08pm: Erin Nicole is doing her "season-ticket holder of the game" deal. Most of these people have seen the whole Palace cycle - the Bad Boys championships, the hell of the teal years, the 2004 title that should have been two or three, and now the disaster of the post-Billups era.

9:11pm: Miami's lead is still 18 points. If the Pistons make a run, I'll let you know. One additional thought about Karen Davidson's stint as owner, though. She doesn't want to be an owner, and that's fine. I don't think I would want to do it, either. If Tom Gores buys the team, that will be great for the Pistons, but a year too late for the Shock. I know that they didn't have the biggest fanbase in the world, but there were a lot of good people involved in that organization, my wife and daughter loved them, and it made me a lot of extra money.

9:15pm: Mario Chalmers just hit a 3-pointer to make it 81-59. I suppose that's not the biggest 3-pointer of his life.

9:20pm: Third-biggest cheer of the night - Aretha and Suh got the first two - comes when LeBron shoots an airball on a 3-point attempt.

9:21pm: On the next possession, LeBron got bailed out by one of the latest whistles in NBA history. It took so long for the ref to call the foul that even the anthem singer got bored.

9:24pm: LeBron with a step-back jumper at the buzzer. Miami leads 86-65 going into the fourth. So, read any good books lately? Angie and I both enjoyed The Hunger Games trilogy, but now I'm on a Western kick. I need to start working on my own novel again, though.

9:31pm: Did you ever seen the movie Godzilla vs. Bambi? If not, I suggest you try to find it on YouTube. I'll be here when you get back.

Everyone back? I'm not sure why at this point, but I appreciate it.

This game is not nearly as competitive as the climatic battle in that movie.

9:33pm: They are playing Sweet Caroline as tonight's sing-along song. Mahorn just pointed out in his quiet, understated way that an Aretha Franklin song might have been more appropriate.

9:41pm: I'm back - I had to write up a description of the Great Heckle so that AP can put out a story. This is turning into international news. I expect Anderson Cooper to arrive from Cairo at any minute.

9:47pm: It's 103-83 with 3:23 left, but the Heat still have LeBron, Wade and Bosh in the game. I'm not at all sure what they expect the Pistons are going to do here. Unless we start playing by Rock-and-Jock rules, Austin Daye isn't going to hit a 20-pointer.

9:49pm: OK, the Heat have taken out the Big Three. Juwan Howard is now in the game. Juwan Howard is 97 years old, and I'm so old that I covered him in college.

9:53pm: This game is like watching the Director's Cut of a Peter Jackson movie, but the orcs had a better chance than the Pistons.

9:55pm: The Cavaliers are winning in the final five minutes. Go watch that!

9:56pm: Pistons highlight of the night - Will Bynum's spectacular put-back dunk. Of course, it didn't count.

9:57pm: Final score: Heat 106, Pistons 92. It wasn't nearly that close.

10:00pm: Off to interview the Heat. Back in a while with some final thoughts.

10:48pm: Back from interviewing Erik Spoelstra, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. LeBron played down the heckling incident, saying that he didn't want to disrespect the fan, but that sometimes people get too passionate about a game and cross the line. He said there's been other times where he's said something to a fan when he thought they had gone too far.

Wade was more excited about meeting Aretha Franklin, calling it "awesome". He got his picture taken with her at halftime, as did some of the Pistons. Wade said he was glad to see that she was healthy enough to come to the game.

Everyone played down the big game against Boston on Sunday. Many cliches were used. If you guess, you'll probably be right.

And that's about it. I just hit 2700 words, and that seems more than enough. If you are still reading, thank you. I hope you enjoyed it. Maybe we'll do it again sometime.