And for those losers in Buffalo, you can't beat this...
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."
They weren't so amazing last night in Nashville. Chelios spent a good part of the night whining to the refs, as usual. We sat just as many of our strongest players, due to the horrific string of injuries we've had all year, and whipped them.
Beat the Buckeyes! Go Blue! ;-)
And for those losers in Buffalo, you can't beat this...
BFD!
Detroit ping.
From the madman of westland!!!!
oh..and i work at the detroit opera house, so i think ill start wearing my wings jersey to work!!!!!
Not Lately. LOL!
Yeah - the Wings and Pistons tend to do well, and the Tigers and Lions tend to do little or nothing. Our cup is half full. That's way better than half empty.
You mean Manny Legace. CuJo is a Coyote.
"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.'
You are so right.
In 2003, Cujo was a Red Wing. That's an old picture. But still priceless.
But in Dallas, we have the Stars, Mavs, and Cowboys. Not only that, but the Stars lead the NHL in fighting majors, while the Red Wings were at the very bottom. Steve Ott alone had 10 more fights than the entire Red Wings team. So, advantage Dallas.
The Mavs will never win a championship with Nowitzki. He's a nice play and all, but he always chokes in the clutch.
Or as they say in Detroit, "Lions and Tigers and Errors....Oh My!"
Just like they did in November, huh? (~40 point Mav win).
Incidentally, Phoenix is NOT a better bet to emerge from the West than Dallas is. The only thing they have going for them is they don't have to play Dallas or SA in a second round series, but they likely won't get to the Conference Finals.
No, the series (if lightining strikes the Spurs and Suns) will look more like the game in March where Detroit held the Mavs to 40 pts in the second half and forced candy ass Dirk into a 9-23 night from the floor en route to a 97-90 win.
Nowitzki is soft, Stackhouse....we had Stack in Detroit, he's the king of playoff chokers. Van Horn and Dampier are two of the biggest stiffs in the NBA and they're your primary big men off the bench. The Wallaces, Mcdyess and Dale Davis are going to chew Dirk and the rest of your post players up.
Even without Stoudamire, I'll take Phoenix over Dallas. Diaw, Nash and Shawn Marion are more than enough to take care of the Mavs.
Let me get this straight: you are crowing about a 7 point win after Dirk being held to .333 or so shooting, and you think that is a GOOD thing?
Van Horn is injured and its unclear whether he will play in the playoffs, but none of the three Pistons you mentioned can guard Dirk on the perimeter. I'm not saying that Dallas would sweep Detroit by winning all 4 games by 40, but I am saying that as a Mavs fan, if we can take care of SA in the second round, I don't think the Mavs will have to go 7 games in the semis or finals to win a championship. Unless, of course, the Pistons turn it into a slugfest.
That 7 point win you're so dismissive of was a classic example of Piston basketball. Play good, hard defense and smart offense for four qtrs and eventually suck the life out of your opponent because they don't have the depth to keep up.
It's an approach that won a championship two years ago and almost won another last year. What has Dirkie wandering around the perimeter brought home for the Mavs?
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