The BF Sports Minute:

"There was a time when you could count on the sports section for news that was at least conclusive. Somebody won and somebody lost. One player was the hero; another the goat. And, in the golden days of sports writing, you could find prose that would transport you and give you that sublime feeling that comes with understanding something true about the world. There are still gifted writers working the sports pages. But something has happened to the sports pages. You don’t get the old feeling of clarity when you read them these days. Maybe it is because the games are all on television, and even if you miss them, the scores are there on ESPN, where you can catch up on who won and lost while you are shaving. So the stories on the sports pages are now about this other stuff... Michelle Wie had fired her agent, The University of Miami football team was also in the news. But not for its blowout win over Florida International. Seems that during the game there had been a brawl that was ugly even by Miami standards... Vastly more time and ink was spent covering the brawl and its aftermath than was devoted to the actual game. There were, of course, other stories on the sports page. A pitcher for the Chicago White Sox was being questioned after a shooting in the Dominican Republic. And, the cops were considering arrests after a brawl at the end of the Dartmouth/Holy Cross football game. It was enough to make the old-fashioned fan long for one of those feel-good stories about steroids. "
- Geoffrey Norman, "National Review"

I was told that nothing happened in the world of sports on a daily basis, so thus I have decided that I'm going to bring back this particular feature just to bring up the point that there is almost always something going on in the world of sports that is discussion worthy.

The idea behind the BF Sports Minute are short takes that can lead to discussion. I will quite often be focusing on topics that are much more timely, but there will also be some random tangents that I think you will enjoy as well.

Feel free to post any opinions, disagreements, etc.. in this thread. Let's get this section going again.
-SpaceDominator
 

April 8th, 2008
BF Sports Minute # 1
The Final Four In Detroit: A Melodrama In The End
Author: SpaceDominator

I will admit that as a native Michigander, any time that a large scaled event such as the Final Four is hosted in your area of the woods, you're going to have a bit more interest and are going to follow the scene just that much closer. Then throw in the fact that you had this campaign where Michigan State was uniting the citizens of the completely depressed state of Michigan and you had yourself an interesting drama. The only problem was that North Carolina finally on this particular night really put everything together again and won their national championship and successfully completed the purpose of their team coming back.

There is no doubt in the minds of anyone that this North Carolina team was very talented. However, the most impressive aspect of that team was the way that nailed every shot in transition and really managed the pace of the contest easily in every game. Throughout this particular tournament, North Carolina wasn't even really pressed too much except for LSU in the second round. The way that UNC nailed their shots was just wicked and really Michigan State could do nothing again, despite the fact that they had 60,000 of the record 72,000 there at Ford Field behind them.

Congratulations to UNC for ruining me yet again in my own college basketball pool.

Let's get a couple of other things straight though. First off, I read an article complaining about the fact that the final four was in Detroit because the city was too big and it snowed. Go cry me a river and jump into the Hudson while you're at it. Second off, I read that Michigan State being in the final four was "bad" for the city. Right... if it was so bad, then why did this particular Final Four set attendance records? I actually would even venture to be so bold, that the Final Four would have had record crowds had Michigan State NOT been there! Why? Simply put, the state of Michigan gets behind its sports and the city of Detroit is the BEST Sports City in the entire country, regardless of what arguments anybody else puts out there.

So congratulations to the final four for being damn successful in Detroit and to all of you nay-sayers who like to criticize the city, I have one thing to say. "We know already, move on."
-SpaceDominator
 

have you seen green bay on game day? streets are vacant, it's a fucking ghost town, either people are at the game or at the bar watching the game.

detroit is not the best sports city in america, michigan's best team, the wolverine football team, isn't even from detroit.
 

Say what you want about the NHL, but the Wolverines have absolutely no right to be called the best team from the state of Michigan. Not even close.
 

really? i mean they only have 11 national championships and 42 conference championships and are 1/2 of the greatest rivalry in all of sports.
 

Michigan Football historically I'll agree is right up there at the top of the line. However, admittedly though when all but one of those national championships is before 1948, it's tough to say they've really been a huge power nationally. Sure, in the 90's, Michigan won the Big Ten 5 times and have won it three times since 2000. There is no disputing the fact that Michigan is right up there. Also you cannot dispute the fact that Michigan has produced a ton and I mean a ton of great pro's in the NFL and the Wolverines have(up until last year) been perennially a high ranked team. However, I think if you asked a lot of fans in this area, has Michigan really met the expectations of the quality of the teams that they have had here, I think a lot would say that they have underachieved. While I think this is unfair, I still will say that the Wolverines are only second in this state.

However, if we're looking at best team in the state in I'd say the past 10-15 years, I think if you asked any sports fan from the state of Michigan, you'd have to go with the Detroit Red Wings. Sure, I'll admit that this isn't as impressive of a stat as it really could be, but did you know that the Wings have won their Division Title every year since the 1998-1999 season? That is 9 straight. If you don't include the '97-'98 year, that streak would go all the way back to the 1991-1992 season. The Wings have won in their history 11 Stanley Cups, but more importantly have won 4 in the last 12 years('96-'97, '97-'98, '01-'02 and last year). I think you have to pay attention to the here and now as well when you're talking about what is the best "sports" team in the area. Notice how good the year of 1997 was for Michigan fans.

If you actually want to think about the U of M, I think you could even make a better argument for their hockey team being even more dominant. The Wolverines have made the NCAA Tourney every year since 1990-1991, and have been to the Frozen Four 10 times in that time frame including winning the whole thing twice. The Wolverines also have won the most NCAA Titles out of any school in the NCAA and have produced a ridiculous number of pro's in the NHL. Just for the record, there are currently 22 Wolverines and 2 Goalies playing in the NHL at this point.

I'd give the edge to the Red Wings though. Michigan Football I would put second though. You do also have to remember too that both the Pistons and the Tigers have also had their moments in the recent past here too. Pistons, NBA Champions and the Tigers making the World Series. Even harder to forget is that when Barry was here and Coach Wayne Fontes was coaching the Lions, the Lions perennially got in the playoffs on a yearly basis. Sure, they got eliminated in the first round most years but still... I guarantee most Lions fans would kill for that type of record now.
 

Ohio State / Michigan is definitely one of the best rivalries in all of sports. I'm biased to stuff like Boston/Montreal and Boston/NYY, but they're all at the top of the list.

The Wolverines have a great history but they've played like absolute garbage the past few years and I don't think it's going to get better soon. The Red Wings are a better team right now, and I think they'll continue to prove that in the next couple of weeks. If you say the best team from Michigan all time, it's probably the Wolverines. Right now it certainly isn't.

Tigers have been underperforming for several years and I don't think the Pistons are going anywhere this year.
 

I just came here to say UNC didn't even have to play near the top of their capability to take that tourney. MSU finally fell down to their usual game quality in the final game, which was unfortunate. Reminds me of IU against Maryland a few years back.