Editor's Note: This post is officially certified to be free of any spelling errors. Spelling geeks of the world, unite! Our event is now officially a phenomenon. The 79th Annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee finals takes over the primetime airwaves tonight on ABC (8-10 PM Eastern, 7-9 PM Central & Mountain). Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined the event achieving such status and acclaim. Yesterday's rounds whittled down the record-size field of 275 to fewer than 100 as 4th-round action picks up live on ESPN at Noon Eastern (10 AM Mountain). Colorado's Kayla Hudson is still in the mix. For the primetime finals, 10 to 15 competitors should be left standing. The question is: how many Americans will be watching? No, … [Read more...]

If April is any indication, 2006 figures to be a happier baseball season at Mount Virtus than in the dismal climes of the Northern Alliance or the deluded braggadocio of Hugh Hewitt. Here are the American League Central standings as the regular season's first month has come to a close: Chi White Sox 17-7 (-) Detroit 16-9 (1.5 GB) Cleveland 13-12 (4.5 GB) Minnesota 9-15 (8.0 GB) Kansas City 5-17 (11.0 GB) Prognosticators and pundits may start to get a little uneasy, though a lot of baseball remains to be played. My Detroit Tigers, however, have given every evidence of finally turning it around this season with new manager Jim Leyland at the helm. After their best April since the historic 1984 championship season, the team … [Read more...]

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 … [Read more...]

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. … [Read more...]

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 … [Read more...]

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 … [Read more...]

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 … [Read more...]

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 … [Read more...]

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 … [Read more...]