Being the obnoxious sports fan that I am, I love sports lists. This being the case, after my long "Athletes by the Number" series, I'm still a bit stuck on this "lists" thing (you'd swear I write for Grantland or something). I decided that I would try going A-Z in my sports world. Here we go...
A - Ann Arbor: Home to me for 23 years and the University of Michigan for 175 years.
B - Brandon Inge: Has played for my favorite baseball team since 2001. He has caught, played third, and now is at second. Oh, and by the way, he's my Tiger.
C - College Football: I have lived for this sport throughout my life. Growing up down the street from Michigan Stadium will do that to you.
D - Detroit: Where my favorite professional sports teams play (or at least say they're from). From the Joe to CoPa, The D is where it's at.
E - East Lansing: Where Sparty is. Enough said.
F - ****: All I could say after this game...
G - Goalie Fight: Vernon vs Roy and Osgood vs Roy are forever engrained in my blood crazed hockey fanatic portion of my brain.
H - Hockeytown: Another name for The D. The Wings have won 4 Stanley Cups while I've been alive. Not bad eh?
I - Ice Cream Baseball Helmets: Raise your hand if you ever got one...
J - The Joe: Where the Red Wings play. Joe Louis Arena is certainly an older hockey venue. But, there is certainly a feeling of nostalgia when you walk up those stairs.
K - Vladimir Konstantinov: A great defenseman on the 96-97 Detroit Red Wings, the enforcer was in a car accident and became a rallying point for the next season's Stanley Cup winning team.
L - Lloyd Carr: Coach of the Michigan Football team from 1995 - 2007, Lloyd left some pretty big shoes to fill for Rich Rodriguez, who couldn't exactly fill them.
M - Block "M": An obvious symbol of the University of Michigan, Dave Brandon has pushed it even greater since taking over the Athletic Department. The Block M is as synonymous with the University as is the term "Wolverines."
N - Night Games: How cool was it Under the Lights last year?
O - Chris Osgood: Minded the net for the Detroit Red Wings for a large portion of my sports watching career. Many chants of "Ozzie! Ozzie! Ozzie! Ozzie!" were heard at The Joe.
P - Pioneer High School: Not only is it a high school with a ton of cool alumni from hockey player Jack Johnson, to Olympic swimmer Kara Lynn Joyce. From Iggy Pop to Bob Seger. And of course me! But it also is kitty-corner to a college football mecca and serves as parking and tailgating for many a fan.
Q - Quinnipiac: I don't really have anything for Q. Mike Silverman went there... hosted a sports radio show. I was on it once. Next...
R - Rose Bowl: The Grand Daddy of them All... Michigan hasn't been in it in a while. It has still produced some absolutely phenomenal games. As America's attention is drawn to Pasadena on New Year's Day (or close to), we all recover from staying up late (or that whole hangover thing) and watch some football.
S - Sugar Bowl: One of the BCS Bowls. Michigan won it this year. It was awesome. Brunette girls...
T - The Tigers: I have been a fan since birth. I have a game ball from 1989 signed by the team. Meeting Sparky Anderson was one of my favorite moments in life. I love going to games. I love watching games. Although I love it when they're good, I don't really care. I support them 100%.
U - Ugueth Urbina: If you don't know this former baseball player's story, I suggest reading it.
V - The Victors: Enjoy...
W - Wolverines: What the University of Michigan athletic teams call themselves. I think it is worth saying that I think that they should use it more frequently and predominantly as opposed to the Block M.
X - X-Games: One of the few times a year that I'm not watching ESPN. Absolutely 0 interest from this guy.
Y - Steve Yzerman: The Captain. Enough said.
Z - Zebras: They're just the worst. Unless they are Ed Hochuli.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. Feel free to tell me what you think. I love comments, both positive and negative. The game plan is to have a real writing piece here in the near future. We'll see how that goes. Until then, just remember...
"You miss 100 % of the shots you don't take."
- Wayne Gretzky
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Athletes by the Number: 90 - 99
This is my FINAL installment of "Athletes by the Number". I am excited to be done and start writing other stuff. I know I could have been writing other stuff the entire time... but... I just wanted to finish. Anywho... 90 - 99!
90 - Mike Modano: During his brief stint with the Red Wings, the Michigan native wore number 90. He wore the number 9 for his entire career with the North Stars/Stars organization. But, becasue Mr. Hockey's number is retired in Detroit, Modano added a 0 to the 9 and got 90. An honorable mention goes to Ndamukong Suh. If it wasn't for Mike Modano's star power, I probably would have said him.
91 - Sergei Federov: Much like Steve Yzerman, Cecil Fielder, Barry Sanders, Grant Hill, and Bobby Higginson, Federov was one of the sports-favorites of young Metro-Detroit fans in the 1990s. Many a young Red Wings fans had his poster in their room or dreamed of flying up and down the ice like Federov. On top of dating Anna Kournikova for a while, another fun fact about Federove is that he got out of the USSR by coming over to the United States to represent the USSR in the Goodwill Games and then never returned.
92 - Reggie White: "The Minister of Defense" was posthumously enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006. He played for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers (and the Carolina Panthers for one year). It has been said by many that he was the first "big-name" pro football free agent. He was in 13 consecutive Pro Bowls from 1986 - 1998 and had 198 career NFL sacks.
93 - Johan Franzen: The Mule. He has become a clear leader of the Wings. Franzen's red beard and grind it out mentality has helped him become a fan-favorite.
94 - Pat Massey: Played football at Michigan. His younger brother Mike played football at Michigan. He is honestly the only guy I can think of who wore 94. If I had some fun fact about him I would. But I don't. He was on the New York Giants roster in 2006 but never played.
95 - Richard Dent: Dent spent the majority of his career with the Chicago Bears. He also played for the 49ers, Colts, and Eagles. His claim-to-fame is that he was an 8th round draft pick who ended up being one of the greatest players at his position (d-end). He played in four Pro Bowls and was the MVP of Super Bowl XX.
96 - Tomas Holmstrom: Probably the greatest goalie-screener to ever play hockey, Homer has won four Stanley Cups with the Red Wings and will certainly go down as one of the greats.
97 - Jeremy Roenick: You either love him or you hate him. Those who had him on their team loved him. If he wasn't on your team, you hated him. Roenick played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Phoenix Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks. Roenick was the third American hockey player to score 500 goals. He retired in 2009 with 513 goals.
98 - Tony Siragusa: I'm going with him because I can. I guess he was good. I just think he's hilarious.
99 - Wayne Gretzky: Um... duh...
Well that is it folks. It is done. I did it. 0-99. All numbers have been covered. It was brutal, but it is done. Thanks for checking it out and I'll get back to some normal writing soon here. There is a lot to cover. I didn't talk about March Madness. I haven't talked about baseball being back. There is a certain baseball team doing pretty well. Anywho, I'll be back soon. Peace!
90 - Mike Modano: During his brief stint with the Red Wings, the Michigan native wore number 90. He wore the number 9 for his entire career with the North Stars/Stars organization. But, becasue Mr. Hockey's number is retired in Detroit, Modano added a 0 to the 9 and got 90. An honorable mention goes to Ndamukong Suh. If it wasn't for Mike Modano's star power, I probably would have said him.
91 - Sergei Federov: Much like Steve Yzerman, Cecil Fielder, Barry Sanders, Grant Hill, and Bobby Higginson, Federov was one of the sports-favorites of young Metro-Detroit fans in the 1990s. Many a young Red Wings fans had his poster in their room or dreamed of flying up and down the ice like Federov. On top of dating Anna Kournikova for a while, another fun fact about Federove is that he got out of the USSR by coming over to the United States to represent the USSR in the Goodwill Games and then never returned.
92 - Reggie White: "The Minister of Defense" was posthumously enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006. He played for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers (and the Carolina Panthers for one year). It has been said by many that he was the first "big-name" pro football free agent. He was in 13 consecutive Pro Bowls from 1986 - 1998 and had 198 career NFL sacks.
93 - Johan Franzen: The Mule. He has become a clear leader of the Wings. Franzen's red beard and grind it out mentality has helped him become a fan-favorite.
94 - Pat Massey: Played football at Michigan. His younger brother Mike played football at Michigan. He is honestly the only guy I can think of who wore 94. If I had some fun fact about him I would. But I don't. He was on the New York Giants roster in 2006 but never played.
95 - Richard Dent: Dent spent the majority of his career with the Chicago Bears. He also played for the 49ers, Colts, and Eagles. His claim-to-fame is that he was an 8th round draft pick who ended up being one of the greatest players at his position (d-end). He played in four Pro Bowls and was the MVP of Super Bowl XX.
96 - Tomas Holmstrom: Probably the greatest goalie-screener to ever play hockey, Homer has won four Stanley Cups with the Red Wings and will certainly go down as one of the greats.
97 - Jeremy Roenick: You either love him or you hate him. Those who had him on their team loved him. If he wasn't on your team, you hated him. Roenick played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Phoenix Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks. Roenick was the third American hockey player to score 500 goals. He retired in 2009 with 513 goals.
98 - Tony Siragusa: I'm going with him because I can. I guess he was good. I just think he's hilarious.
99 - Wayne Gretzky: Um... duh...
Well that is it folks. It is done. I did it. 0-99. All numbers have been covered. It was brutal, but it is done. Thanks for checking it out and I'll get back to some normal writing soon here. There is a lot to cover. I didn't talk about March Madness. I haven't talked about baseball being back. There is a certain baseball team doing pretty well. Anywho, I'll be back soon. Peace!
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Athletes by the Number: 80 - 89
Well, it has been over three weeks since I last posted. I suppose I can finally try and finish this darn thing...
80 - Cris Carter: One of the greatest wide receivers ever, the former Buckeye (vom) caught touchdown after touchdown after touchdown for the Minnesota Vikings from 1990 - 2001. He began his career with the Philadelphia Eagles and finished with the Miami Dolphins.
81 - Tim Brown: Another of the great wide receivers. Brown spent the majority of his career playing for the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders. He defined the black and silver throughout the 90s.
82 - Ozzie Newsome: Played tight end for the Cleveland Browns from 1978 - 1990. He was Pro Football Hall Inductee in 1999. He had 47 TD's over his career. Not too bad for a tight end who played in Cleveland.
83 - Andre Reed: I'm just on a roll with these receivers. Jim Kelly's main go-to receiver played in four Super Bowls and is only beat by Jerry Rice for most receptions in the Super Bowl. Reed set nine school records while playing for Kutztown University.
84 - Randy Moss: This video sums it al up. Honorable mentions go out to Chris Webber and his cup of coffee with the Pistons and Herman Moore.
85 - Marcus Knight: Played football at Michigan. I was a big fan. I really don't have much to say about him.
86 - Hines Ward: Recently retired, Ward was Pittsburgh for fourteen years. He was drafted in the third round out of Georgia and helped lead the Steelers to two Super Bowl Championships. Honorable mention goes out to Tai Streets.
87 - Johnnie Morton: A football player turned MMA fighter, Morton was drafted by the Lions out of USC and played well. Certainly was not a big name, but for a kid growing up in Southeast Michigan, he, along with Herman Moore, tore up the Silverdome.
88 - Eric Lindros: Taking a break from the football theme, Lindros was a member of the "Legion of Doom" for the Philadelphia Flyers. While certainly a goal scorer, Lindros played hard-nosed hockey. Unfortunately, his style of play also lead to multiple concussions, which also lead to the thend of his playing time.
89 - Alexander Mogilny: Mogilny scored 76 goals in the 1992-1993 season and was the original "Alexander the Great". During the 1988 Olympics, he played on a line with Sergei Federov and Pavel Bure. Some called it the most productive line ever.
Until next time... when I FINALLY FINISH THIS PROJECT OF MINE...
80 - Cris Carter: One of the greatest wide receivers ever, the former Buckeye (vom) caught touchdown after touchdown after touchdown for the Minnesota Vikings from 1990 - 2001. He began his career with the Philadelphia Eagles and finished with the Miami Dolphins.
81 - Tim Brown: Another of the great wide receivers. Brown spent the majority of his career playing for the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders. He defined the black and silver throughout the 90s.
82 - Ozzie Newsome: Played tight end for the Cleveland Browns from 1978 - 1990. He was Pro Football Hall Inductee in 1999. He had 47 TD's over his career. Not too bad for a tight end who played in Cleveland.
83 - Andre Reed: I'm just on a roll with these receivers. Jim Kelly's main go-to receiver played in four Super Bowls and is only beat by Jerry Rice for most receptions in the Super Bowl. Reed set nine school records while playing for Kutztown University.
84 - Randy Moss: This video sums it al up. Honorable mentions go out to Chris Webber and his cup of coffee with the Pistons and Herman Moore.
85 - Marcus Knight: Played football at Michigan. I was a big fan. I really don't have much to say about him.
86 - Hines Ward: Recently retired, Ward was Pittsburgh for fourteen years. He was drafted in the third round out of Georgia and helped lead the Steelers to two Super Bowl Championships. Honorable mention goes out to Tai Streets.
87 - Johnnie Morton: A football player turned MMA fighter, Morton was drafted by the Lions out of USC and played well. Certainly was not a big name, but for a kid growing up in Southeast Michigan, he, along with Herman Moore, tore up the Silverdome.
88 - Eric Lindros: Taking a break from the football theme, Lindros was a member of the "Legion of Doom" for the Philadelphia Flyers. While certainly a goal scorer, Lindros played hard-nosed hockey. Unfortunately, his style of play also lead to multiple concussions, which also lead to the thend of his playing time.
89 - Alexander Mogilny: Mogilny scored 76 goals in the 1992-1993 season and was the original "Alexander the Great". During the 1988 Olympics, he played on a line with Sergei Federov and Pavel Bure. Some called it the most productive line ever.
Until next time... when I FINALLY FINISH THIS PROJECT OF MINE...
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