Detroit Sports Thread

[ALinChainz]

The Pistons are on Chris Webber's list of possible destinations now that he has been waived by the Sixers.

I like it. Wouldn't have to carry the load and have always liked his interior passing game.

[ALinChainz]

Webber headed back home

By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports

January 11, 2007

The Detroit Pistons are close to reaching an agreement with free agent Chris Webber, sources close to the negotiations said Thursday night.

Webber, 33, who had the final two seasons of his contract bought out by the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, will return to his Michigan roots where he once starred for Detroit Country Day High School and the University of Michigan.

Webber, who's still clearing waivers, can't officially with a team until Monday. He is expected to sign for a pro-rated $1.87 million-a-season, 10-year-veteran contract.

All along, sources said, the Pistons were Webber's No. 1 choice upon leaving the 76ers. They would give him a chance to finally reach the NBA Finals and perhaps compete for his first NBA title.

[ALinChainz]

161 Tiger games to be televised in 2007.

Here is the telecast schedule:

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070130/SPORTS0104/701300406/1004

[4moreyears]

A whole thread dedicated to Detroit??? Whats next a Cleveland thread?

[redblkwht]

I hope they come back this year, this team was fun to
watch..should have won it all.

just keep the Rp's off the
x box 360' lol

[ALinChainz]

Lions sign DE White to 5-year deal

By LARRY LAGE, AP Sports Writer
March 4, 2007

DETROIT (AP) -- Free agent defensive end Dewayne White left the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a better opportunity and more money in Detroit just like his former assistant coach did last year.

White signed a five-year contract worth $29 million -- $13 million guaranteed -- on Sunday with the Lions to become a starter and reunite with coach Rod Marinelli.

"I believe 100 percent in coach Marinelli's philosophy," White said. "With that belief comes hard work and effort and all that is going to pay off. I believe that. That's why I came here."

Marinelli is entering his second year as Detroit's head coach following 10 years as Tampa Bay's defensive line coach, a job that helped White develop.

"The work ethic was there, he just forced the sense of urgency in me," White said. "And he just made me tough -- mentally tough, physically tough."

White fills one of the Lions' offseason needs, following a trade that sent defensive end James Hall to St. Louis for a fifth-round pick on Friday. White will likely start opposite defensive end Kalimba Edwards.

"We needed to upgrade the speed, the edge of our defense," Lions defensive coordinator Joe Barry said. "Quite frankly, we put a premium on pass rush. To run this system, to run this scheme, we've got to be able to rush the passer."

The 6-foot-2, 273-pound White made 14 sacks the last three seasons, playing in 16 games each year for the Buccaneers, and has 114 career tackles over four seasons.

"I think the sky's the limit for Dewayne White, just to look at where he's come from as a little young 21-year-old rookie to where he is now," Barry said. "That's what I'm excited about because he's really changed everything about him as a football player."

After backing up Simeon Rice and Greg Spires, he became a regular starter for the first time in his career during the second half of last season when Rice was injured.

White started just 13 of 60 games, but Barry said that fact is misleading.

"It was just circumstance that he was a young guy behind two veterans -- one guy potentially a Hall of Famer," said Barry, who previously coached Tampa Bay's linebackers. "We didn't look at Dewayne as a backup or the third end. Like this year when Simeon got hurt. We put Dewayne in and didn't miss a beat."

The Lions are hoping to add a wide receiver to play alongside Roy Williams and Mike Furrey, and free agent Kevin Curtis met with their coaches and front office on Sunday.

Free agent running back T.J. Duckett said he will fly to Detroit on Monday to meet with the Lions before visiting the New York Jets on Tuesday.

"I'm excited about having two visits set up, and having a few more teams interested in me," Duckett said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I know the Lions made a trade for a running back, so I'm curious what their plans are."

Detroit acquired running back Tatum Bell in a three-player, two-pick trade from Denver for cornerback Dre' Bly on Friday.

[ALinChainz]

Mulitalo agrees to terms on three-year deal with Lions

Posted by Tom Kowalski March 23, 2007 20:39PM

The Lions have reached an agreement with free agent guard Edwin Mulitalo on a three-year deal and an announcement will be made as soon as the documents are signed.

The addition of Mulitalo puts Damien Woody on even thinner ice. Woody, who lost more than 30 pounds and reported in good shape to the off-season workouts, has a cap number of $6 million for the 2007 season. The Lions could save $3 million in cap space this season if Woody is released after June 1.

The Lions are still hoping Woody will get his act togther and the combination of Mulitalo and a athletic and agile Woody would give the Lions some real strength on the interior of the offensive line. If the Lions like the way Woody is performing through the off-season workouts and training camp, don't be surprised if they go to him and try to restructure his deal to make his cap hit less brutal.

The Lions also signed free agent guard Zach Piller, who has starting experience in the league. The Lions now have a lot of depth at guard with Mulitalo, Woody, Piller, Barry Stokes and two young prospects Frank Davis and Stephen Peterman.

Mulitalo was a seven-year starter for the Baltimore Ravens before becoming a free agent in the off-season.

http://blog.mlive.com/lionsinsider/2007/03/mulitalo_agrees_to_terms_on_th.html

[Matt White]

Red Wings sign leading scorer Datsyuk to 7-year deal


The Associated PressPublished: April 6, 2007


DETROIT: Russian star Pavel Datsyuk signed a seven-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings on Friday, preventing the center with great hands and dazzling moves from becoming an unrestricted free agent this summer.

"Everyone in the organization wanted him to stay with us," said team owner Mike Ilitch.

"We felt it was extremely important to lock this player up for as long as we can," Steve Yzerman said at an afternoon news conference at Joe Louis Arena.

Datsyuk, who leads the Wings with 87 points — 27 goals and 60 assists — has got better each year since making his debut with the Wings during the 2001-02 season. As a rookie he tallied 11 goals and 24 assists in 70 games and raised the Stanley Cup at season's end. He managed 51 and 68 points the next two seasons, before playing with Moscow Dynamo during 2004-05 when NHL players were locked out.

In 2005-06, Datsyuk recorded 28 goals and 59 assists, but posted a disappointing three assists in a five-game upset loss to Edmonton in the first round of the playoffs.

"This contract was extremely important to me," Datsyuk said. "Especially since I have been a Red Wing since 2001."


Ahhhh...the CAPTAIN gets it done..

[ALinChainz]

Killer Matt ... was just on my way to do this. And you're right, the Captain already paying off in thr front office.

This from the Canadian Press.

=================================================

Red Wings re-sign star centre Pavel Datsyuk to seven-year deal

Canadian Press

April 6, 2007

DETROIT (CP) - The Detroit Red Wings locked up star centre Pavel Datsyuk with a US$46.9-million, seven-year deal Friday, making one of the NHL's top offensive players the club's centrepiece into the future.

Datsyuk, earning $3.9 million this season, leads the Wings with 27 goals and 60 assists in 78 games and would have been eligible for free agency in the summer.

Instead, he will remain Detroit's first-line pivot for years to come and earn an average of $6.7 million per season.

"Pavel really wanted to commit here for his career," general manager Ken Holland said of the longest contract extension in team history. "In the end we felt very comfortable with a long-term commitment to Pavel."

Datsyuk, 28, led the Red Wings in scoring last season with 28 goals and 59 assists. He also won the Lady Byng Trophy as the league's most gentlemanly player and represented Russia at the Olympics.

More importantly, he gave the Red Wings another dominant offensive presence on the top line reminiscent of the retired Steve Yzerman and departed Sergei Fedorov.

"Everyone in the organization wanted him to stay with us," said team owner Mike Ilitch.

Ilitch singled out Yzerman for his insistence that the Red Wings' management retain Datsyuk.

"We felt it was extremely important to lock this player up for as long as we can," Yzerman said.

Datsyuk's play has helped keep the Red Wings among the league's elite despite the recent turnover in its star-laden roster.

The Wings clinched their sixth straight Central Division earlier this week and one more point will secure its third consecutive Western Conference title, the first of the post-Yzerman era.

"This contract was extremely important to me," Datsyuk said. "Especially since I have been a Red Wing since 2001."

Datsyuk won the Stanley Cup during his rookie season in 2001-02 and broke out in 2003-04, when he set a career-high with 30 goals.

[ALinChainz]

McCown trade: Puzzling, but it's still possible

Posted by Tom Kowalski April 07, 2007 08:38AM

The rumors and reports of trade talks between the Lions and Raiders
concerning quarterback Josh McCown just won't die. And, while I
continue to maintain that it doesn't make sense, you only have to
remember the events from last year's preseason to believe it could
be true.

To me, trading McCown is a mistake. I understand that he'll become
an unrestricted free agent next season and the Lions might want to
get something for him before they lose him. But for a team that
hasn't won more than six games in six years, they should have their
focus on the 2007 season and do everything possible to get as many
wins as possible. The Lions have spent too much time worrying about
the future while they keep screwing up the present.

Yes, Jon Kitna took every snap at quarterback last year, but it was
the first time in the Lions' long and glorious history that that's
ever happened. The chances are that Kitna is going to miss some time
during the course of this season and it would seem their chances of
success would rest with an experienced quarterback like McCown who
has spent time in Mike Martz's system.

Then again, going back to last preseason, the Lions did everything
they could to give the No. 2 job to Dan Orlovsky. After a solid
outing in the final preseason game, though, McCown won the backup
job, but that doesn't change the fact the coaching staff -- and
Martz in particular -- believed Orlovsky could run the offense
effectively.

If Martz still believes that, it would open the door for McCown to
leave. I think it's risky to put the ballclub in the hands of an
unproven player, but I'm sure Martz is thinking that he heard the
same thing before guys like Kurt Warner and Marc Bulger took over.

Now, if you want to delve into some conspiracy theories, could it be
that the Lions really want to draft JaMarcus Russell and, by trading
McCown to the Raiders, they greatly increase their odds of that
happening? Or, is it possible that the Lions will dangle McCown for
as long as possible but never pull the trigger, putting more
pressure on the Raiders to take Russell? If that happens, the Lions
are believed to have a better chance of trading down.

Another possibility is that Lions president Matt Millen is trying to
acquire as many draft picks as possible to use as ammunition to move
back up into the first round and grab the player they really want --
Mississippi middle linebacker Patrick Willis.

As this draft draws closer, the intrigue continues to build.

http://blog.mlive.com/lionsinsider/2007/04/mccown_trade_puzzling_but_its.html

[Steve Savicki]

Pistons stifle James in victory

http://www.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUSSP14844520070409

[ALinChainz]

Johnson is just as advertised

Rookie receiver, who is not at 100 percent for up-tempo workout, shows skills

Mike O'Hara - The Detroit News


ALLEN PARK -- Calvin Johnson was a little under the weather and somewhat overwhelmed by the number of plays he had to learn in a hurry for his first practice with the Lions.

Even with that working against him -- combined with the high tempo demanded by offensive coordinator Mike Martz -- Johnson showed signs of why he was drafted second overall.

"He looked great out there," said quarterback Drew Stanton, drafted in the second round out of Michigan State. "He's everything advertised.

"It's a matter of us getting on the same page and me feeling comfortable with the offense. There are a lot of options for him to do great things."

Johnson's physical ability was evident during the first day of mini-camp Friday. He is 6-foot-5, 239 pounds with speed and exceptional hands.

One quality that stood out in drills that were open to the media was the way Johnson caught. Almost every catch was with his hands with his arms outstretched, as opposed to cradling the ball or trapping it against his body.

"He'll go up and make plays for you," Stanton said. "All those things you want in a receiver, he brings to the table."

Johnson, out of Georgia Tech, knew he'd be in the spotlight because of his draft status and the attention he received in the buildup to the draft. He said he was feeling the effects of a slight virus and isn't close to being in top shape.

But he was satisfied with his first day of practice.

"I knew everybody would have their eyes on me," Johnson said. "It comes with the territory."

Martz is famous for the volume of information he gives his players. The rookies had their first meeting Thursday evening and had to transfer the information to the field Friday morning.

"I'm trying to put everything we talked about in the meetings on the field," Johnson said. "It's easier said than done, trying to smooth everything out. There's a lot to learn. We've only done part of it so far. I'm pretty much catching on to it."

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for Johnson. He visited teams interested in drafting him and attended the draft in New York. It didn't leave much time for working out.

Johnson said he has done "a decent amount" of training, but he was perspiring heavily after the morning practice.

"We're a little winded out here, the first practice and everything," Johnson said. "We're busting our behind every play. That's another reason everybody's a little winded.

"As the week goes on, we'll get better. You can never simulate as fast a pace as the practice is."

Coach Rod Marinelli didn't expect Johnson or any of the rookies to be in top shape, but Johnson's raw ability stood out.

"The talent level and the skill is exceptional," Marinelli said. "The biggest thing for a lot of the guys is the pace and the tempo. We just want to get him in a groove about what this league is about, what the Detroit Lions are about."


QB grad school

As expected, Martz has started working on Stanton's mechanics.

"He's really a talented young man," Martz said. "We go back and strip him away from everything and rebuild him. It's hard -- very hard for him."

Martz is changing the quarterback's grip.

"He had a fat hand on the ball," Martz said, referring to the way Stanton lays the ball on his hand. "He kind of pushes it. He's got a live wrist. When he gets the right hand placement, the ball snaps out.

"He had great success doing what he was doing. We can help him even more."


Marinelli's touch

Marinelli spent time with defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis , another second-round pick. Marinelli thinks Alama-Francis can be a special player.

"He's very athletic," Marinelli said. "He's hungry. He's really a high-conditioned athlete."

Alama-Francis appreciated the attention.

"It's huge," he said. "He's just teaching me little things to focus on. I'm going to take those things every day and try to get better."


Personnel dept.

Sixty-eight players are participating in the three-day camp. There are two practices today and one Sunday.

In addition to the eight draft picks, 13 other players are under contract -- eight rookie free agents and five players who have been on the roster with the Lions or another NFL team. Northern Illinois quarterback Phil Horvath is one of the free agents.

Another 47 players are in camp for tryouts and are not under contract. Eleven are from Michigan colleges -- quarterback Josh Brehm (Alma); safeties Jon Horn (Northwood), Pacino Horne (Central Michigan) and Joe DiGeorgio (Saginaw Valley Sate); linebackers Taz Wallace (Adrian) and Charleston Hughes (Northwood); offensive lineman Courtney Ford (Eastern Michigan); and four players from Michigan, receivers Carl Tabb and Ron Bellamy , safety Willis Barringer and long-snapper Brian Bury .

http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070505/SPORTS0101/705050329/1004/SPORTS[/IMG] ]The Detroit News

[ALinChainz]

New Detroit Sports Forums at my site:

http://www.fantasyoutlaws.com/forum2/default.asp

Currently just forums, but will hopefully turn into a full site by the fall.

[chi-town324]

wonder if the Pistons will lay down for a game or 2 like they did against the Bulls?

[ALinChainz]

10 years ago, limo crash ruined Stanley Cup celebration

June 10, 2007

BY SHAWN WINDSOR

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

The tree isn't there anymore. It has been gone for years. It wasn't much more than a mangled stump when it was removed -- some fans had stripped pieces of its bark to keep as a kind of macabre memento.

Still, the tree served as a memorial at one point, its base a repository for flowers, hand-written notes of prayer, candlelight vigils and all manner of ritualistic expression of sorrow so often found on the side of our country's roads.

Now, on the grassy median that splits Woodward Avenue just south of Big Beaver Road in Birmingham, there is nothing. There is no reminder that this sliver of grass was the site of Detroit's most notorious limousine accident.

This Wednesday, June 13, 10 years will have passed since that crash, 10 years since this region spilled into the streets celebrating a Stanley Cup for the first time in 42 years, and 10 years since that celebration was stopped cold after a limousine carrying two Red Wings and the team's masseur hopped a curb on southbound Woodward, veered into a pole in the median and smashed into that tree, leaving two of them in intensive care.

"It's amazing that a decade has gone by," said Wings general manager Ken Holland, who was assistant general manager under GM Jimmy Devellano at the time of the accident. "You get caught up in your own life, in your job. Days turn into months, months into years, and then you are looking back: Where does the time go?"

That is a relevant question as the anniversary approaches. For some, life didn't change much. For others, it changed beyond recognition.

From glory to tragedy

In the days and weeks that followed the crash, news reports began identifying the victims in the same pattern. The team's massage therapist, Sergei Mnatsakanov, was always the last one mentioned. It was understandable. He had been with the team only a year. He spoke little English. And he wasn't a star player.

He was injured nearly as disastrously as all-world defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov; Slava Fetisov, the other player in the back of the limo, suffered minor injuries in comparison and was released from the hospital in less than a week. In fact, he played and helped the Wings win the Cup again the next year. Then he retired. Fetisov is now the minister of sport in Russia.

But Konstantinov was the story. He was a fearless, intimidating on-ice presence entering his prime. Known for his nickname, Vladinator, as much as his devastating open-ice checks, fans couldn't fathom their adopted hockey warrior in a coma and hooked to a ventilator.

Two questions seemed to dominate: Would Konstantinov live? And, if so, would he play hockey again?

Mnatsakanov's story became lost in the shadows. Partly that was the barrier of culture, partly of language. And partly it was the family's choice -- Mnatsakanov was nervous around the American media.

But the therapist has a backstory, too. It began with the family dog. At least from Elena Mnatsakanov's perspective.

The masseur's wife was walking the family dog late in the evening of Friday, June 13, 1997. Her husband had been out at the Orchards Golf Club in northern Macomb County celebrating the Wings' Stanley Cup, which the team had secured with a sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers six days earlier. The gathering at the golf club was the last chance for team members to see one another before scattering around the world to their off-season lives.

Mnatsakanov didn't have to go far to his year-round home in Grosse Pointe Woods. He had completed his journey the summer before, in 1996, when he and Elena and his youngest son, Art, traveled from their home in Russia to watch his oldest son, Max, play in the Little Caesars Amateur Hockey League.

The family stayed at a hotel in Roseville. During the day, Elena and Art would hit a tennis ball against the back of a nearby Sam's Club or walk to a mall. Mnatsakanov began hanging out at Joe Louis Arena, where the Wings were in the middle of a playoff run. He'd been invited by Fetisov, who knew the massage therapist from his hockey days back in Russia.

Fetisov asked Mnatsakanov to begin working on him and was grateful to reconnect with someone in the States familiar with old world techniques. Soon, the therapist was working out the kinks for much of the team. The next season, the Wings signed him to a contract and the family settled in Grosse Pointe Woods.

"Hockey was his life," said Elena. "He had reached the top -- the NHL. He was very happy."

His first year with the team was a historic one for the Wings and southeastern Michigan. The Wings, led by Steve Yzerman and the Russian Five -- Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Sergei Fedorov, Slava Kozlov and Konstantinov, broke through four decades of frustration by winning the Cup.

So the Detroit region was still electric the night the team convened at the Orchards Golf Club. Everywhere, cars were festooned with Red Wing flags. Vendors hawked championship shirts and other paraphernalia at makeshift stands on what seemed like every street corner.

Suddenly, Detroit was Hockeytown. Everyone wanted to party. And so on that night at the club, many of the players and other team employees had made arrangements to use a limo service. No one wanted to take a chance.

Elena knew the team had taken precautions that night. She didn't think much about it as she left to walk the dog. When she returned home, she noticed a strange car in the driveway. Inside was a Wings official.

'Live today, live tomorrow'

The story of that night, and the decade that followed, finds its way into conversation in the bowels of Joe Louis Arena to this day. Holland, for one, thinks about the crash frequently.

"Sometimes, we sit around and reflect internally," he said.

And they wonder?

"Where would we be if we'd had a healthy Konstantinov?"

How could they not? Human nature, right?

On some level, it's no different than wondering if the Wings would be planning another parade if they had held their 1-0 lead in the last minute of Game 5 against the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference finals this season.

Mnatsakanov has questions, too.

What if the limousine driver, Richard Gnida, hadn't allegedly fallen asleep at the wheel (he later told police he blacked out)? What if he'd heard the pleas and pounding from Fetisov and his comrades who had noticed Gnida had nodded off? What if Gnida hadn't been allowed to drive at all because of his suspended license?

Sometimes Mnatsakanov begins sharing these thoughts with Elena, wondering about that night. She always replies sternly.

"That door is locked," she tells him. "What happened is not for us to judge. Only for God. Live today. Live tomorrow."

That mantra helped Elena get through the night of the crash, when someone from the equipment department arrived in her driveway to tell her Sergei was in the hospital.

When she got to Beaumont in Royal Oak, the whole team was there. Her husband spent the night in surgery as doctors tried to drain fluid from his brain.

When he was wheeled into intensive care early the next morning he was in a coma. Elena didn't recognize his bloated face. She didn't need to. His hands were the same.

"Magic hands," she said, "he always had magic hands."

She reached out to hold one. It was soft and warm.

"That's when I knew he was still here with us," she said.

Ten months later, he was released from the hospital, using a wheelchair, unable to move anything but his right arm.

Moving forward

Coach Scotty Bowman had returned to his off-season home in Buffalo a couple of days before the farewell party at the golf club. He was worn out by the march to the Cup and wanted to go home and relax.

When he got the news, he hustled back to Detroit. That Saturday morning, he rejoined his team and their families at Beaumont Hospital. Outside, fans were holding a vigil.

"Everybody had planned everything the right way," he recalled, fixating on the preparation that drives so many coaches.

He paused, as if he still doesn't fully accept it.

"It's been a tough 10 years for Vladdie and Sergei," he said.

Yet the two men have their moments.

Konstantinov, 40, requires full-time nursing care, but he has become a fixture at Red Wings home games, usually as a guest of owner Mike Ilitch. He uses a walker now instead of a wheelchair, and he seems to remember more of his past.

Devellano, now the Wings' senior vice-president, said the two of them joke about the night he tried to persuade Konstantinov to defect from Russia.

"I'm happy to report that he doesn't seem bitter," Devellano said.

Mnatsakanov, 53, now spends his winters in Florida, where he sits on the beach and listens to the waves. Elena, 52, is planning to have a therapeutic pool built for next year.

He has no memory of the crash. But he remembers his life before, and he knows his life since. He enjoys following the hockey career his son, Art, now 23, pursues every winter in the backwaters of professional hockey -- last year, he played in Winston-Salem, N.C.

He is grateful his other son, Max, now 31, lives nearby and provided him with a granddaughter. Elan, who is 5, plays with her grandfather every morning.

And when she isn't around, Grandpa Sergei reads, or plays solitaire, or works crosswords, or watches his beloved Wings, barking at the television.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070610/SPORTS05/706100614/1053/SPORTS