How Big Cable and the Big Ten Network Ruined College Football

While Michigan has not had the best season in the program’s history, it may be having one of the more memorable in recent memory. Still, it is hardly even noticeable to thousands of people because of the horrid TV coverage situation. The 2007 campaign has featured a record-breaking upset at the hands of Appalachian State, but also a great recovery following an 0-2 start, which led many to prematurely press their panic buttons. While #20 Michigan (6-2) may not have a BCS Championship in their eyes, the Wolverines definitely have a chance to make up even more ground in the rankings, with the most notable game remaining on the schedule being the season finale against #1 Ohio State. Still, the majority of Wolverines fans have not only missed out on this turnaround, but will also be unable to witness the upcoming games that will define this season. Can Lloyd Carr inspire his team to rebound from an 0-2 start to finish the season in a respectable bowl game? Better get your newspaper subscriptions paid up and those radios dialed in to find out, because many of you will simply be unable to watch on TV.

Rockies + Red Sox = Free Tacos?

The World Series is upon us.  Yes, the Tigers failed to make the playoffs this year, which is a major downer.  Well, as it snows at the home of the National League Champs and the BoSox prepare to host the Rockies in the 2007 World Series, there is a light for everyone in America.  If any player from either of those two teams steals a base during the World Series, we can all get a free taco from Taco Bell!  I am no psychic, I am no sports expert — in fact I hardly have time to be a fan of late — but those are pretty good odds.  One stolen base through a potential of 63 innings of baseball is all it takes.  If someone can advance 90 feet to allow us to steal a free taco in games one or two, Tuesday, 30 October 2007, will henceforth be known as Free Taco Day.  If the first base is not stolen until games three through seven, then we are talking 6 November 2007.

So,  who is ready for the World Series now?  In a special treat, Fox messed up the postseason schedule, and what had already gotten underway last year begins on this Wednesday — Happy Birthday to me, I suppose.  I will not be watching, I have celebrating to do.  Enjoy your tacos!

Taco Bell: Steal a Base, Steal a Taco [StealaBaseStealaTaco.com]

Time

Unfortunately as you have all noticed, Detroit Sports Unleashed has fallen into complete disrepair since the start of the school year.  I have been a very bad blogger, I will not deny it — there simply are not enough hours in the day.  Somehow my hours at Subway have more than doubled, and I have discovered the horrors of working 18+ hours in a week in addition to spending 35 hours inside of a high school, not figuring in the tolls that homework, projects, and sleep deprivation are taking.

I will do everything I can to try and get back to blogging, but as things stand, that is not a realistic prospect.  Still, if there is ever a free hour or so in the day, I will do my best to jump back into the blogosphere.

The Future of Media

On Tuesday I had a great opportunity to speak with the editor of The Flint Journal for a career-related school project. Being somewhat interested in journalism, the local newspaper seemed the most logical place to conduct the mock interview, and a worthy career to look into. I was pleasantly surprised with the level of awareness the Journal had, as far as changing technology. I was asked myself how I thought technology would change newspapers, and responded that I believe paper distribution of the content will cease sometime soon, as well as the Internet definitively being how everyone will eventually receive their news. After all, I love the flexibility of reading my news and RSS feeds from any source for free at any time, and in any place with Internet access. Fortunately for my potential future career, the editor also realized this. I asked him the same question, and he realizes that there is no question that news will be delivered electronically — it is just a question of how revenue will be produced from the online model. This is something mainstream media is still getting a handle on — The New York Times just switched their premium, paid content, to content that is open to all, relying on ad revenue instead. It is an interesting experiment, and one I am keeping an eye on. For technology continues to shape our lives, and information is continuing to become increasingly available to the masses, making it difficult to imagine exactly how the future of media will shape up. It is crucial to recognize just where media is headed.

As a blogger, I was thrilled to see that I could bring up blogs and technology without seeing fear or anger from someone at the top of a very respected newspaper — blogs are only the beginning of the information revolution. Whether those of us in the blogosphere realize it or not, our fact checking will likely rely on newspapers for fact checking and information for a long time. Blogs may be an effective way to deliver information regarding a wide plethora of topics, but newspapers will be here for a long time to come — even if it takes them awhile to fully tap into the awesome power that is the Internet. Blogs and newspapers can indeed coexist, though independent blogs may always be more opinion-based, as newspapers continue to do the true investigating and fact-checking.

Times are changing — are you watching? Could you even imagine life before social networking, blogging, Wikipedia, photo sharing, YouTube, or Google? Goodness, how the times have changed, yet there is still so much change to be had.

One Final Look at Tiger Stadium

Demolition is coming. The auctions are up, seats for sale. It is a very busy beginning of the week for me, so rather than make a poor attempt at trying to catch up on the weekend’s action now, let’s stop for a moment and remember Detroit sports history. Tiger Stadium was the site of baseball from 1912 to 1999, and The Corner was always a favorite among locals. With its obstructed views, double decker bleachers, and historical significance, Tiger Stadium has sat empty on Michigan Avenue for eight years now.

Fortunately, there is one last shot at catching a peek at the inside. Exposure.Detroit was able to get permission from the City of Detroit to have a short, small tour of around 20 people into the stadium. There are plenty of pictures appearing from this expedition on Flickr now.

Pictures from the expedition are tagged with tigers9282007.

Around the Bases: September Megawrap

OK so maybe the Tigers’ playoff hopes have vanished off the radar, but there has still been plenty to talk about.  After sweeping the Twins there was hope, but the Tribe put an end to the dream — still, one has to appreciate that the Tigers actually played many meaningful games in the month of September, which is more than any club from between the mid-1990’s or so and 2004 can say for itself.

• One of the Tigers’ Single-A affiliates, the West Michigan Whitecaps won their league title.  They took the deciding game of the Midwest League Championship about a week or so ago.  [Detroit Tigers Weblog]
• Curtis Granderson joined Willie Mays and Frank Schulte as the only players in MLB history to post at least 20 homers, 20 triples, 20 doubles, and 20 steals.  [Mack Avenue Tigers]
• Justin Verlander is the first MLB pitcher to have at least 17 wins in each of his first two seasons since Dwight Gooden in the mid-1980’s.  Jack Morris was the last Tigers pitcher to have 17-win seasons back-to-back.  [Beck's Blog]
• After many trips around the roller coaster, veteran closer Todd Jones has tallied his 300th career save by holding on during the ninth inning in one of the games against the Twins.  [Tigers.com]
• On Friday, Ivan Rodriguez caught his 2055th game, which tied him with Gary Carter for third on the all-time list.  Pudge has two more seasons to go before he can catch Carlton Fisk or Bob Boone at the top of the list, but at age 36, we could certainly see him around for a few more years.  Even with lower numbers this year, the Tigers are handcuffed and will likely pick up Pudge’s option to play in 2008.  [Tigers.com]
• After it appeared as though he would be shut down for the season, Jeremy Bonderman looks ready to take the mound on Tuesday.  I would just feel better if he took the rest of the season off now that the Tigers are out of the playoff race, but if he goes out on a high note, I suppose it would not be a good morale boost for 2008.  [Beck's Blog]
• If you want to buy your own seats from Tiger Stadium, or perhaps a urinal, head over to the auction action that’s going down.  Bidding action ends on October 13th.  Anything unsold by that point will just be tossed aside from what I understand.  There are plenty of signs from inside the stadium, though much of the memorobilia is quite expensive, which is to be expected in a niche auction such as this one.  [Motown Sports Forum]

Phoenix Tops Detroit, Takes Title

The Shock are not the WNBA’s first repeat champions since the early 2000’s after falling to the Phoenix Mercury 108-92 earlier today.  For Phoenix, Penny Taylor led the team with 30 points. Finals MVP Cappie Pondexter scored 26 points and tallied 10 assists, named Finals MVP.  Diana Taurasi had 17 points for the visitors, who made over 50% of their field goal and 29 of 30 free throws.   The Shock were led by Deanna Nolan’s 27 point effort, but it simply was not enough.  Cheryl Ford did play off of the bench, though was relatively ineffective through 11 minutes, with just four points and two rebounds.  It marked the first time in WNBA history that a championship was won on the road.

MVP Pondexter Leads Mercury to First Title  [WNBA.com]

For All of the Marbles

With the best-of-five series knotted up, it is time for the decisive game five.  Flint-native Deanna Nolan and the Detroit Shock will host Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury in the deciding game five the WNBA finals today at 4:30pm.  Tickets are likely still available, but the Shock did set a WNBA record for attendance by selling out the Palace of Auburn Hills in their clinching game against the LA Sparks a few years ago.

Dominant post player Cheryl Ford is definitely an X-factor for Detroit — the team seriously needs her physicality and rebounding ability in the paint; however, with her ailing knee, her effectiveness is questionable.  The Shock lost game four by just a single point, setting up this game for all of the marbles.  Be sure to tune in — this one will be a dandy.