FAVORITE TEAM UPDATE: nah, it just wasn't to be for the Red Wings this time in the Stanley Cup Finals--they made a couple of crucial errors, and then in the final period were denied by the crossbar and by the Penguins' goaltender...and lost 2-1. It's frustrating to have a 2-0 lead in the series and let it get away; it's especially tough to lose a game 7 at home. But Pittsburgh obviously was a tough club, too; interestingly, their coach, Dan Bylsma, grew up in western Michigan in the Grand Haven/Spring Lake area--the same place I grew up. So I guess I'm a bit glad for him, but still...I'd have much rather see the Wings win. But, when a series goes to a game 7, anything can happen, and you saw that again last night.
That's the thing--it would have been great for the Red Wings to give the Detroit area and the people of Michigan, suffering through such difficult economic times right now, a lift. But that's the thing about sports--it's a little like life...
...that is, it ain't always fair, and happy endings aren't guaranteed.
BASEBALL DIARY: ah, BUT--Detroit did beat Pittsburgh last night, somewhere; that is, in interleague play, the Tigers bumped off the Pirates, 3-1. Excellent outing by Rick Porcello; the rookie continues to impress...he has 7 wins now. Another slow night offensively, however--the Tigers got 11 hits, but left 11 men on base, and most of those batting 1 through 5 in the order didn't get it done last night. The Tigers need another bat. At least they have pitching, though...
Meanwhile the Cubs played another bad ballgame, losing to the Twins yesterday 7-4. Milton Bradley disgraced himself by making baserunning blunders, not knowing how many outs there were in an inning, etc. They're pressing. And getting themselves in a bad situation.
But the Texas Rangers keep on keepin' on, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-0 last night. The Rangers got another strong start from Vincente Padilla, and Michael Young and Hank Blalock had big hits. Two straight shutouts--few imagined that from Ranger pitching as this season began.
SILLINESS UPDATE: in West Burlington, Iowa, an umpire ejects an entire crowd of 100 people from a high school baseball game. He claims they were being unusually unruly, yelling, etc. But a high school administrator at the game didn't back the ump up.
Sounds like a certain umpire needs to get rid of his rabbit ears...
IS THE GOP DEAD? DEPT:
Again, nope--in fact, investigations pending against leading House Democrats mean that the Republicans could have an issue for 2010:
"The revelation that Democratic appropriations kingpins may face an ethics investigation of their campaign donations moves Republicans closer to gaining a corruption issue in 2010....Democratic Reps. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, Pete Visclosky of Indiana and Jim Moran of Virginia, all members of the money-dispensing House Appropriations Committee, received significant campaign donations from lobbyists from a defunct firm, PMA, and its clients — companies that got money for pet projects."
