Mount Virtus

If you love a good college football game, I believe you saw one of the best last night… though for awhile it seemed like it would never end. Penn State’s 26-23 triple overtime victory over the courageous Florida State Seminoles (after a combined 5 missed kicks) was one for the ages - literally.

The Nittany Lions’ 79-year-old coaching legend Joe Paterno - after a couple of truly abominable campaigns - won redemption with a Big Ten title, an 11-1 record, and the Orange Bowl crown, by defeating 76-year-old Bobby Bowden’s squad. The two men have combined for 713 coaching victories (more than some Division I-A programs have earned in their entire history), but determining who would win No. 713 was in great suspense throughout as the Lions and ‘Noles battled intensely for field position & first downs.

PSU’s freshman kicker Kevin Kelly also won redemption after missing potential game-winning kicks in regulation and the first extra session. When he narrowly slid the 29-yard field goal through the uprights in triple overtime, the exhilaration that the game was over (at last) and that Penn State had won brought a big smile to my face.

A PSU alum (where I earned my masters degree) & State College resident for 2 years, I know just how much the life of that area revolves around Paterno and Penn State football. Hope springs eternal in Happy Valley, and today after a long and excruciating contest, all true fans raise their voices and sing:

Hail to the Lion, loyal and true,
Hail Alma Mater, with your white and blue,
Penn State forever, molder of men,
Fight for her honor, fight, and victory again!

Congrats to both sides for a well-fought struggle and to JoePa, senior QB Michael Robinson, injured All-American LB Paul Posluszny, and all the Nittany Lions for enduring to emerge victorious.

But for most fans, it’s just the prelude to tonight’s long-awaited BCS National Championship game.

It’s finally come to this: an organized fan protest of the Detroit Lions and general manager Matt Millen. As a native of southeastern Michigan, I can sympathize with their plight. While there certainly are much worthier causes to march for - if marching is in your blood - you know the Lions franchise has lingered in the depths for too long.

When you read this account from the Detroit Free Press, however, you realize just how pathetic an attempt the fan protest was. All you can say is… wow. It’s embarrassing to think that Super Bowl XL comes to Ford Field in seven weeks. One might suggest the timing could hardly be worse.

On this day before the ultimate rivalry in sports, many thanks to Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News for for his sociological analysis of Buckeye fans. All true sons of Michigan could read such passages as the following with a mixture of pride, delight, and amusement:

I’m here to study the Buckeyes, not denigrate them. Remember, this whole Michigan-Ohio battle started way back in 1835 when the states actually fought over Toledo, true story. Ohio won but took Toledo anyhow. In exchange, Michigan got the Upper Peninsula, Charles Woodson, Desmond Howard and four free passes to Cedar Point.

It’s really not surprising that so many Ohio youngsters, such as Heisman Trophy winners Woodson and Howard, dream of coming to Michigan. This year’s Michigan roster lists 11 kids who escaped Ohio, while Ohio State has one from Michigan. We won’t mention his name in case his family doesn’t know.

To be fair, when the Buckeyes got sick of losing, they did turn to quarterback Craig Krenzel, from Michigan’s Utica Ford High, to lead them to that completely untainted national title. See, we can help each other, once we understand each other. That’s why I’m here, to educate.

For instance, in case Ohioans didn’t know, these are the three biggest industries in Michigan:

• Making automobiles.

• Pretending to fix the roads.

• Repossessing automobiles.

In case Michiganians didn’t know, these are the three biggest industries in Ohio:

• Giving out speeding tickets to Michigan drivers.

• Recycling tobacco tins.

• Fixin’ their trucks.

There. Doesn’t it feel like we’re getting along better already?

I hope that all my friends who hail from “south of the [Toledo-Monroe] border” - including a certain nationally-syndicated talk show host of certain misguided athletic allegiances - can see it that way, too, and really begin to prepare themselves for a heavy dose of Big Blue and “Hail to the Victors” tomorrow.

As Major League Baseball’s 76th All-Star Game makes its appearance at Detroit’s Comerica Park tomorrow evening, the spotlight turns on a city still haunted by the echoes of urban decay. Motown’s battle for a fairer perception opens a new chapter. For many old enough to remember it, the words “Detroit” and “baseball” together conjure up a glorious 1984 World Series victory overshadowed by deplorable behavior - vandalism, fires, destruction.

How far has Detroit come since then? Progress has been made, for sure, but not a lot. Michigan’s largest city, the once-thriving world capital of automotive production, has a lot to prove. The Tigers, the wearers of the proud Olde English D, have a lot to prove as well. No World Series since 1984. No playoff appearance since 1987. No winning season since 1993.

Now there’s a chance to forge a new era in the history of Detroit and of Detroit baseball. This native Michigander says it can’t come too soon. The 2005 Tigers have shown flashes of brilliance but have struggled with inconsistency. Now 42-44 at the All-Star break with a resurgent offense that has overcome bouts of injuries, hopes are as high as they have been for this team in years.

All eyes are on the All Star Game at Comerica Park and the surrounding festivities. To read the finest example of resilience among Detroiters and their sports fans, take a gander at Mitch Albom’s “Meet the Real Detroit” in today’s Free Press (with the telling subtitle of “All Star guests, listen up: We’re good folks and we love our baseball”. Amen.

In a startling development that may have had something to do with one malodorous world leader’s derogatory comments about a neighboring country’s cuisine, London edges out Paris for the 2012 Summer Olympics bid, in spite of a failed grassroots protest. Joyful Brits take to Trafalgar Square to celebrate the city’s first Olympic Games since 1948. How ’bout some fish’n'chips and a toast to Mr. Chirac?

Excited by the prospect of an early Friday game likely to end by sundown, Joshua was planning to be at Coors Field this afternoon for the game between the Detroit Tigers and Colorado Rockies. Knowing my deep dedication as a Tigers fan, he invited me along to today’s game. I was thankful he thought of me but am tied up at work and have a 5:30 appointment besides, so I had to decline.

Besides, I have tickets to attend the Saturday (with my friend Steve) and Sunday (with the lovely Mrs. Virtus) games.

But the skies had opened and the rains had come earlier today, pushing back the starting time from 3:05 to 4:00. I hope Joshua found another companion to go to the game with - and if he did, I hope the contest speeds along enough so he can arrive home safely and timely for Shabat.

But maybe he decided to stay high and dry instead. We’ll have to wait for his report.

Oh yeah… go Tigers!

Memo to Hugh and other Cleveland Indians fans: it looks like my Detroit Tigers are calling out your team for a little mano e mano:

“Forget the other teams,” [Tigers designated hitter Dmitri] Young said to the strains of “Cripple Creek,” “it’s going to come down to us and Cleveland. No disrespect to the Twins and White Sox, I just feel that club, the doggone Indians, is going to be the thorn in our side.

“That’s our rival,” he said. “There are a lot of parallels between us. We’ve progressed the same.”

I’m not sure I’m ready yet to subscribe to Dmitri’s assessment: the conventional wisdom has me leaning towards believing that the Minnesota Twins are the team to beat in the American League Central. But the long baseball season has scarcely begun, and the outspoken Tiger hitter may prove correct after all.

And hey, I like the idea of a two-team contest for the division title between my boys in blue and the latest incarnation of “The Mistake on the Lake.” Such a pennant race could bring out the best - and the worst - in this baseball fan.

Yes, Detroit lost the first 2005 installment of the rivalry, sandwiching a dominant 11-1 victory performance between heartbreaking 4-3 and 7-6 losses during the past weekend’s series.

And, yes, it is true the Tigers may have lived in Cleveland’s shadow for a long decade-plus stint, but I have one question for Mr. Hewitt, two decades my senior: which of us can remember our respective team winning a World Series crown in our lifetime? (Unless Hugh wants to claim childhood remembrances of the famous “Dewey Defeats Truman” headline - 1948 was Cleveland’s last world championship - I think we all know the answer.)

A heated pennant race between my Detroit Tigers and those pesky Cleveland Indians this year? In the words of Vietnam veteran John Kerry, who also is a United States Senator: “Bring it on!”

It’s days like this I miss being a sports editor. Without the broadsheet pages on which to print my thoughts, I hope you will kindly forbear as I indulge in a bit of nostalgia.

We Detroit Tigers’ fans have been in the doghouse for more than a decade. It’s been a long, dry, painful spell for those loyal to the Olde English D - especially long to someone like me who was a junior in high school the last time the Tigs finished a season with more wins than losses, a prepubescent 5th grader the last time they went to the playoffs, and a mere 7 years old during that magical 1984 World Series run that seems like ancient history now.

In 2002, hope that a true turnaround was coming started to take shape as Detroit hired Dave Dombrowski as general manager, then brought my childhood baseball hero Alan Trammell on board to take the helm in the dugout. After the 2003 debacle, when the franchise appeared to hit rock-bottom (an embarrassing 43 victory total), Tigers owner Mike Ilitch made a serious pledge to open up his pocketbook and build a winning team again.

Fan optimism took a giant step forward with a revitalized offensive lineup stepping up in 2004. And now with an improved bullpen and maturing pitching rotation in 2005, Tigertown is believing what not long ago seemed like a distant delusional dream: our boys in blue have a serious chance not only to break .500 but also to play for a pennant. Sure, the Tigers aren’t the favorites in the American League Central (give that justly, but grudgingly, to the Minnesota Twins), but a highly plausible case at last can be made that meaningful late September baseball games could be played this year in Motown.

The Detroit Tigers kicked off the 2005 season this afternoon with a convincing and confident statement: we are for real again, and we are ready to pull this storied franchise out of its pathetic malaise. Sure, it was the lowly Kansas City Royals they defeated. But the Tigers beat them in resounding fashion, 11-2, showing that they aren’t in the Royals’ lowly class any more. Twenty-two year old phenom Jeremy Bonderman looked every bit like the ace and Cy Young contender he will soon become, with seven dominant innings; and Dmitri Young slapped around Royals pitchers, going 4-for-4 with three home runs and five RBIs.

The record Comerica Park crowd was on Cloud 9 today. The baseball season is long, and there will be ups and downs. But that old feeling has started to return: enthusiasm is soaring, and the voices of cynics are lightly regarded.

This could be the most enjoyable summer in The Motor City in many years.

This may be way off topic for most readers of my blog, but I thought I’d throw in this quick tidbit.

Former Indiana University basketball star and current assistant Dane Fife, 25, was just named the youngest NCAA Division I head coach when he was hired yesterday by Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne (IPFW). Serious basketball fans will remember Dane from the 2002 NCAA Final Four when he was one of the key contributors to a scrappy underdog Hoosier team that shocked Duke and Oklahoma to make it all the way to the finals against Maryland.

Why do I make note of Fife’s hiring? Because we both share the same hometown of Clarkston, Michigan. He’s the youngest of three sons to Clarkston High School basketball coaching legend Dan Fife - his oldest brother Dugan played at Michigan, his other brother Jeremy played at DII Grand Valley State. But Dane excelled them all and won the state’s Mr. Basketball award in 1998 before shocking many with his announcement that he was heading to Bloomington to play for Bobby Knight.

May this be the beginning of a successful head coaching career for the pride of Clarkston. Congratulations, Dane.

(Hat tip to my sports writer friend Elden.)

Was it really 25 years ago today that a once ragtag band of amateur US hockey players coached by Herb Brooks turned the international sports world on its ear with an amazing 4-3 medal round victory over the invincible Soviet machine?

You can almost hear the echo of Al Michael’s voice: “Do you believe in miracles??? YES!” For a brief while in February 1980, the United States most certainly did believe in miracles. 25 years ago….

Forget the groundhog. News like this stirs the baseball lover’s heart that spring is coming very soon: the Detroit Tigers‘ pitchers & catchers report to training camp in Lakeland, Fla, today. The boys of summer are emerging from hibernation. Another season of America’s game looms over the horizon.

For the first time in a dozen years, this Tigers team has a serious chance at a winning record and playoff contention - enough to bring a big smile to this longsuffering fan’s careworn face.

While we’re on the subject of sports, I think somebody ought to point out to Hugh that ESPN has released its annual ranking of major professional sports franchises, based on extensive surveys and statistically rigorous criteria.

Who’s sitting in the absolute basement of the 92 franchises (NHL excluded for obvious reasons) for 2005?

Answer: Cleveland Browns.

Ouch! Let’s just say the Broncos fared quite a bit better.

So… pro hockey fans, anyone out there shocked to learn that the National Hockey League has pulled the plug on the entire season?

Yes, it’s a first for any major North American professional sports league, to cancel an entire season. MLB, the NBA, the NFL, they’ve all lost parts of seasons to labor disputes, but nothing this radical. Anyone taking bets on the future status of the NHL?

Now, admittedly, I write as one who has scarcely noticed that the NHL season was “on ice” (or “off ice,” depending on your fondness for metaphors). I usually tune in around the time of the playoffs. The whole quest for the Stanley Cup can be interesting, and I would watch several playoff games a year. But not much of a time or interest investment. For me, therefore, not much has been lost. March Madness and baseball season will carry my sports interest through the springtime.

Think about the long and difficult reluctance of baseball fans to come back to the ballpark in comparable numbers after the 1994 strike. That’s America’s game, with a rich and deep history. Now think about American sports consumers in places like Charlotte, NC; Nashville, TN; Phoenix, AZ… what’s it going to take to get them (or even the diehards in markets like Detroit, Boston, or Denver) back to the rink in the 2005-2006 season (that is, if the owners and players come back together in time for that to happen)?

But look on the bright side. Possibly, some of the easiest (yet trickiest) sports trivia questions have just been birthed, such as:

1. Who was the leading NHL scorer in the 2004-2005 season?
2. Which NHL team had the best regular-season record in the 2004-2005 season?
3. Which NHL goalie had the best goals against average in the 2004-2005 season?

Don’t strain your brain cells too hard…

For what it’s worth, taking my pro-Tom Brady bias into account, here’s my prediction for Super Bowl XXXIX:

NEW ENGLAND 27
PHILADELPHIA 13

Or, as you can envision the headline on Monday’s sports pages…

“PATS BEAT PATSIES”
New England claims dynasty mantle with 27-13 Super Bowl win

Another sign of the Bowl Championship Series’ imminent demise? Every true college football fan - and every lover of decency and good order - certainly hopes so.

It’s not often this blog gives its kudos to the Associated Press. Savor the moment.