Detroit Sports Scene

Our Detroit Tigers have a 7 game lead in the AL Central Division…is anyone excited? That grand slam by Inge in the 9th inning yesterday was incredible.

Glenn - Detroit Sports Scene

Hmmm, I’m surprised to learn that Matthew Stafford will be starting the opening game of the Lions season this Sunday against New Orleans.

He showed his fantastic arm and a confidence in himself to just keep trying and keep going forward with how he plays….which might be a smidge, reckless? 

I truly wished that Culpepper started the season, but it’s time to get behind Stafford because, well…we have to. The Lions will have a transition year with only 20 players from last years roster that made the 2009 team. Just think about that…barely %40 are still Lions, that’s amazing to me. 

Anyway, I’m predicting a 5-11 season for this year’s edition. I do believe the offense will score points, but don’t have much faith in the defense despite the upgrade in linebacker (Foote and Petersen). Football is back folks. Sit back, order a pizza and get a lot of your favorite game day beverage in the fridge (or cooler next to your chair) and root your team on, we have a lot of football ahead of us. WOO HOO!

 Glenn - Detroit Sports Scene

U of M, MSU and the Tigers all won today….makes everyone feel pretty darn good.

Holy crap…Robinson from Michigan is one fast human being!

 Glenn - Detroit Sports Scene

Last night I almost called for the firing of Fernando Rodney. Yeah yeah, I know you can’t fire a major league pitcher, I’m just being nice. So with 27 games the Tigers have a 6 game lead on the Twins….can you believe this???

College football is here!!!!! Go Blue!!!!! I’m anxious to see what Michigan does in Rich Rod’s second year….should be a great weekend of college football

Glenn - Detroit Sports Scene

The Lions….oh the wonderful Detroit Lions. Granted it seems as though people have better feelings about his team, the truth is they just still aren’t very good. I think the offense will start to put up numbers…maybe even big numbers if everything comes together during the season. It’s just that defense, it’s not there yet.

The front seven should be better even though everyone is worried about the defensive tackles. The linebackers are a definite upgrade with the additions of Larry Foote and Julian Peterson. Ernie Sims just might have a breakout year with this new scheme and capable linebacker pals. However…the real problem lies with the DB’s. While Henry and Buchanon may be upgrades from last years group, it’s still not great.

Now…the QB’s….oh yeah, them. The 3rd exhibition game is tomorrow, Culpepper is starting. After last weeks VERY rough start against the Cleveland Browns, some people say Stafford took a step backward…no no, i don’t think so. Hey folks…HE’S A ROOKIE!!!. The ‘must happen now’ crowd is going to be having a field day if Stafford doesn’t have a good year, but it won’t bother me. Yes he struggled last week, but he learned…learned a lot I’ll bet. I always think of Troy Aikman going 1-15 his rookie year in Dallas, I think he ended up just fine.

We have to let Stafford grow and learn. Is he the guy that will take the Lions to the Super Bowl? How the heck should I know…but he does have the arm, talent and intelligence to do so. I’m willing to wait. When’s kickoff??!!

Glenn Hyska - Detroit Sports Scene 

It’s pretty amazing that after all my time off the Tigers are still in first place. No one here is talking about a pennant race, they’re only waiting for the day Chicago or Minnesota catches, then passes the Tigers in the standings.

One thing for sure is that the big hitters are actually being the heavy hitters. Cabrera, Ordonez and Polanco have all shot their averages upward quite a bit over the past month…even Guillen has piped in with some big hits. The pitching has been above average as they have been all year, however I think we were all expecting a little more from Jerrod Washburn. The Tigers have a 4 1/2 game lead here on August 27th…not too shabby. 

Glenn - Detroit Sports Scene

The Detroit Tigers start the second half of the baseball season in strange land, the new Yankee Staduim. It’ll be a good test out of the break as the Tigers will be throwing the top two pitchers, Verlander and Jackson on the weekend. Like most other Tiger fans, while i’m very excited and happy Detroit is in first, I’m wondering how they are staying there.

The big bats really need to wake up and start producing a little more. Cabrera has a really good average but he’s tied for second on the team in home runs! Cabrera also has 50 RBI’s, but don’t you feel he should have more? Detroit is paying this guy a ton of dough, plus he didn’t even make the All-Star team. I don’t care how many good first basement there, for his potetial (and contract) he should still be a the mid summer classic every single year. 

Pitching has been the true backbone of the team no doubt. One has to wonder how long Porcello will be effective though, remember he’s only 20! The bullpen has been quite good this year so far and really needs to continue. This isn’t too much of a worry. 

Guys like Granderson, Inge and Polanco really need to start hitting more and get those averages at least closer to .280. Carlos Guillen will be coming back soon but there’s guarantee as to what hel’ll be contributing. It’s going to be a fun second half. 

I really don’t know if they have enough to make the playoffs. Should they make a trade? Should they release Ordonez? 2 1/2 months to go…let’s see what happens. 

Glenn - Detroit Sports Scene

I still don’t know what to make of the Pistons moves the past few weeks. He signs two pretty good free agents…and he signed them without having a head coach. I’m not sure what’s going to happen next…a trade of Rip Hamilton and/or Tayshaun Prince? Who’s going to be the head coach…Avery Johnson…maybe Bill Laimbeer? This is going to be interesting. 

Glenn - Detroit Sports Scene

After a seven game winning streak the Tigers have slowed a bit and have only gone 2-4 since then.

Now that the season is pretty much half over, we know what kind of team the Tigers have. Their top 3 pitchers…Verlander, Jackson and Porcello can rank with any other teams top 3 in the AL. What seems to be the issue is the inconsistent offense. Cabrera is having an All Star season at the plate, but is anyone else? Power has come from Granderson and Inge…more recently Marcus Thames has done well in that area also, but averages for most guys after Cabrera is below .280. 

The Twins have been hovering around .500 all year and now the White Sox have come alive to create what now seems like a 3 team race for the AL Central title. This weekend the Tigers and Twins be playing a 3 game set at the homer dome…recent history suggests the Tigers will struggle, the race may be really tight after this weekend. 

There weren’t too many experts that picked the Tigers to do much this year, but now that they’ve played this well they might as well finish the job! They’re on pace to win 90 games which is usually good enough to win a division, let’s hope they can do it!

Glenn - Detroit Sports Scene

Not too long ago the Detroit Tigers were struggling to score runs. Magglio Ordonez was benched. People were saying Mags should be released, Leyland should be fired…all this while the Tigers were 3 games above .500 and in first place in the AL Central. Ahhh, what a 7 game win streak will do for a franchise! Leyland received an extension last week, and because of his tinkering with the lineup the Tigers just started rolling. The return of Marcus Thames to the lineup has provided punch and allowed for more flexibility into a lineup that needed a jolt.

After sweeps of the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs at Comerica Park in downtown Detroit, the streaking Tigers hit the road for Houston for 3 with old friend Pudge Rodriguez and the Houston Astros. Two of the Tigers big 3 pitchers, Verlander and Jackson will be pictching which means the Tigers have a good chance to have a successful weekend and possibly even increase their lead which is now 5 in the AL Central. Let’s see what happens!

Glenn - Detroit Sports Scene