Posted on 04/19/2006 8:04:29 PM PDT by jazzo
DETROIT (AP) -- Hockeytown or Hoopstown?
Detroit is both.
The top teams at the end of the NBA and NHL regular seasons are from the same city for the first time, with the Pistons and Red Wings combining to pull off the feat for the Motor City.
"It's always cool to be a part of anything that hasn't happened before," Joe Dumars, the Pistons' president of basketball operations, said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press. "This is a great sports town, and the fans around here are about to really have some fun following both teams."
The Red Wings ended the regular season Tuesday with an NHL-best 58 wins, and the Pistons closed Wednesday night against Washington, entering the game with an NBA-best 64 wins.
"We both established ourselves at home with great crowds, and both have been the best teams on the road," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "Different sports, but it's like we've been looking at each other in the mirror."
Detroit faces the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the first-round playoffs Friday night, and the Pistons will open the postseason this weekend against the eighth-seeded team in the Eastern Conference.
If the Red Wings and Pistons win titles in two months, Detroit will be the first city to have NBA and NHL teams win championships in the same year.
Anything less will be a disappointment for both teams -- and their fans -- because of a championship-or-bust mentality that has been cultivated with sustained success.
The Pistons won it all two years ago, came just short of repeating last season and have won 50-plus games five straight years. The Red Wings won three titles in a six-year span before two straight early exits in the playoffs before the lockout that canceled last season.
Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said his players did not want to touch the Presidents' Trophy -- awarded to the NHL team with the best record -- because they want to hoist the Stanley Cup.
"We all know what it's about here," Babcock said.
For Detroit fans, they know it's wise to enjoy the Pistons and Red Wings while they're in season because the other two pro teams in town -- the Tigers and Lions -- will likely let them down.
Detroit hasn't had a baseball team with a winning record since 1993 and hasn't won a World Series since 1984. The Lions have been the NFL's worst team since 2001, and they have one playoff victory since their last title in 1957.
For the Motor City's Big Four, success -- or lack of it -- seems to come from the top.
Mike Ilitch owns the Red Wings and Tigers, and his hockey team's reign atop the league was established when he hired general manager Jim Devellano in 1982.
"Hockey wasn't on the map when Mike Ilitch bought the team, but Jimmy D. did a great job by changing that," said Red Wings GM Ken Holland, who has kept Devellano's momentum going since being promoted in 1997. "We would not be the franchise we are today without Jimmy D.'s moves and vision."
Holland kept the Red Wings on top this season despite cutting their payroll almost in half to get under the salary cap because of the NHL's new collective bargaining agreement.
While it was Jimmy D. who turned around the Red Wings, who used to give cars away to attract fans, Joe D. made the Pistons a championship-caliber team after they sunk following back-to-back titles he helped them win as a player in 1989 and '90.
Brendan Shanahan said the Pistons were irrelevant when he started playing for the Red Wings in 1996.
"It was like they didn't exist," Shanahan said. "It's been great to see what Dumars has done to turn the Pistons around because I root for all of the pro teams around here."
The Lions and Tigers have been harder to pull for because their owners -- William Clay Ford and Ilitch -- have not seemed to find a GM like Devellano, Holland or Dumars.
That doesn't stop Dumars, who has evolved into a "certified Detroit sports fan" since being drafted by the Pistons in 1985.
"My wish would be that all four teams could be contenders," he said. "The Pistons and Red Wings are there, and the other two are not far behind. I think the Lions are going to take (Michael) Huff in the draft to help right away, and I think the Tigers have a chance to be in the playoffs."
Like what else are they gonna do? LOL!
It is much more likely to be Dallas celebrating the dual championships
I guess the head coaches threatened to make them all live in Dearborn if they didn't perform.
You've got that right. Thanks to the Pistons and Wings for great seasons...now the real fun begins.
BWHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Now that is funny! No chance.
A football coach was watching the news, and saw a kid in the new Afghan Army throw a grenade 5 stories high into a building, and the terrorist was blown out the window.
The coach says, "Wow, kid has an arm!" and flys to Afghanistan, convinced him to come to America and play football.
The kid agrees, and practices constantly. He tries out for an NFL team, as a walk on, and wins a place as a backup quarterback.
After a few games, the starting quarterback gets hurt, and he steps in, and wins the game in the final minutes. He continues to play, and gets better and better every week. Finally he takes his team to the Playoffs, and to the Superbowl. In a supreme effort, in the last few seconds he shakes off a tackle or two, and throws a pass to win the game!
He flys home to see his dad. "Dad, I won the Superbowl!"
Dad says "You are not my son!"
"Dad? What's wrong?"
"Look at us! We have no water, we have no electricity! I have to keep your sisters in the house to protect the family honor! We have no schools! People shoot at our house every day!
We never should have moved to Detroit!"
"
avg(Pistons, Red Wings, Lions, Tigers) = mediocre sports team
That's funny!
Could we maybe at least start the playoffs before we hand out the crowns? Just a thought.
The Mavs are soft. Should they somehow manage to emerge from the West, (Phoenix and San Antonio are better bets)the Pistons will beat them to death physically and mentally.
So what? Nobody remembers who had the best regular season.
Now if Detroit could just produce a winning lineup of cars And better Senators and Governor), maybe then they would have something real to cheer about.
Steve Yzerman is an absolute class act - arguably the best leader to ever wear the "C". If this is gonna be his last run at the cup - and I hope it is not - if my Avs get bounced from the playoffs - I hope Stevie Y gets his name on the grail one more time.
Freep mail/ping airborne or Hat-Trick if you want on or off the Hockey Ping List.
Watch the Dead Wings crash and burn. Hockey Town, indeed.
Bad kitties.
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