I'm Back and the Wings are too

Sorry it's been so long everybody (and by everybody I mean the four people that might actually read this). You can attribute my long break from writing to forgetfulness and laziness. From now on I'm going to try to keep my posts shorter, as opposed to writing the 6 page anti-Bettman manifestos that make up my previous work.

First - gotta talk about the no goal call. I was so mad I couldn't sleep for hours, but after some thought and watching the replay in the morning, I'm not as upset. The ref was in the right position, and made the right call to blow it dead. What really burns a hole in my pantyhose is that the call was not reviewable. The other on ice official should be able to overrule such a call if he had a better angle, and all those cameras should have been put to use in Toronto. I still think hockey is the most difficult game to officiate, so much respect to the refs. However they're human, they make mistakes, and they should be able to review goal calls like this (for the love of God though, do not use replay for penalties and other stuff, just goals.)

Second - glad to see the Wings finally show up and start playing hockey again for three periods. I saw glimmers of hope in that third period in game three, but for the first time the Winged Wheelers had their foot on the gas the whole game. They finished their checks, set the tone for the game, and more importantly they crashed the net. During the past couple games, the Wings turned into the hockey equivalent of a jumpshooting basketball team. Sure they got a bunch of shots on Hiller, but they were weak and easy for him to see.

Third - really happy to have Marian Hossa going now. You could see the "about time" look of relief on his face while he celebrated his first goal. In Rod Allen terms, he had been scuffeling all series, and maybe was starting to press a bit. It's good that he got the scoreless in this series monkey off his back, and I hope Datsyuk with his eyes by Dr. Rahmani gets it going soon too.

Quick Hits - So most of the actors from the Mighty Ducks have not gone on to win Oscars, but you still see them around. The Captain Charlie Conway, played by Joshua Jackson, has gone on to play Pacy in Dawsons Creek and now has a part on Fringe. Jesse Hall, played by Brandon Quintin Adams, also appeared in one of the greatest baseball movies ever, The Sandlot (he's the pitcher that throws the heater.) You even see Goldberg in that Castrol commercial where he orders fries and a shit ton of oil falls on his car. However, the imdb connection that stunned me was realizing that my beloved Connie Moreau, played by Marguerite Moreau, grew up to play the call girl Vicky in Mad Men (Season 2, ep. 4, Three Sundays.) Connie got hot.

Playing for Pride

Drew Sharp wrote an interesting piece today in the Detroit News about what this weekend (Celtics on Friday, Cavs on Sunday) means for the Pistons. Basically, Sharp wrote that this weekend means nothing, since the Pistons have no shot at a title this year (which I agree with) and are already ramping up for a revival in 2010. On the surface, this isn't a terribly earth-shattering statement, but take it a step further, and Drew Sharp seems to be advocating giving up on the rest of the season. He is saying that, if success is measured by championships, then this season is already a failure (again, I can't argue) and as a result, the results of the rest of the season don't matter. If the Pistons are going to make the playoffs and lose in the first couple of rounds, who cares if they are a 4-seed or an 8-seed? My answer: The players...I hope. One of the most important, yet oft overlooked factors in team success is pride, and the rest of the Pistons' season is all about pride.

Take a look at the 2008 Boston Celtics. They didn't win the title last year because of the play of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce. They won the title because of the play of Kendrick Perkins, Rajon Rondo, James Posey, and the rest of their supporting cast. They won because Perkins went from bust to beast in the span of one season, Rondo tapped his potential to be Tony Parker on offense and Tim Hardaway on defense, and Posey latched on to the opposition's best offensive player every night like a rabid bulldog. Why did these players suddenly take their games to the next level? Pride. Garnett instilled an attitude that anything less than your best on every play was unacceptable. The whole team embraced this attitude for the entire season, bringing the same effort against the T'Wolves as they brought against the Lakers. Perkins and Garnett defended the rim relentlessly, swatting away opponent's shots even after the whistle blew.

Why am I bringing this up? The Celtics' example is the reason why the Pistons cannot tank the rest of this season. Bad habits die hard and there is no worse habit in sports than giving less than 100% effort. More than anything, I am worried about Rodney Stuckey. No matter who the Pistons acquire in the summer of 2010, Stuckey is going to be the foundation of this team for the next 10 years. If he learns that it's ok to stop showing up for every game this year when the Pistons aren't so good, why would he magically start playing his balls off every night in 2010 when the Pistons become contenders again?

Editor's Note: Just to clarify, I have no reason to think that Stuckey will stop showing up for every game, I'm just painting a picture of the worst-case scenario.

Need another example? Look at the 2003/2004 Pistons, that team was fueled by pride and a commitment to leave everything on the floor, every night. After they won the title, the Pistons collectively throttled back and lost some of that pride; that's why they have turned into the NBA version of the Philadelphia Eagles, looking great in the regular season and flaming out in the conference finals. They thought they could "flip the switch" and only bring their best effort on nights when they really needed it. The hard truth is, the "switch" only works in one direction. Once you turn it off, no matter how many times you flick it back on, that light is never going to burn as brightly as it once did. Maybe they need to lose a pick-up game to some kids in South-Central LA, ala Team USA in D2: The Mighty Ducks, but whatever it takes, if this Pistons team has any hope for being successful in the future, they need find a way to restore the pride they had in 2004.