This is Chris’ Detroit Sports web page.

As of May 7, 2000, my, uh, beloved Detroit Tigers are a miserable 9-21. The pitching is, well, suspect, but we knew that anyway. The problem has been a severe lack of hitting on the part of our "much vaunted offense." We were supposed to put up numbers that would off-set our pitching. Not only has this not been happening, we were shut out for 24 strait innings.

One problem has been the lack of production from our blockbuster trade of the off-season. Juan Gone has put up poor numbers so far. He was supposed to be our anchor. I know the season is still young and that he is a streaky hitter that can single-handedly win five or six games in a row for a team, but I don’t think he was what we needed. Furthermore, if we sign him, that would be about 17 million dollars a year dedicated to one sometimes streaky player. We now have a large ballpark and we need one dominating pitcher. That would cost us about 11-15 million per year. Can this market afford to tie up two players for 30 or more million dollars? I’d be pretty safe in assuming that there are only three or four teams that could afford that kind of a commitment and still be able to have a competitive team behind their stars. We would be much better suited to spend the 17 million on a 10 million dollar pitcher and a seven or eight million dollar hitter.

Having said all of that, I still have to remind myself that the season is far from the half-way point. There is still a lot of baseball to be played, no matter how much this season feels like déjà vu.

I’m going to be very frank off the bat. I love the Lions. I know, it’s sad. Do me a favor and DON’T e-mail me with condolences. I know the name of my pain. I sat through another draft and I’m once again convinced that the selection of this year’s draft picks will put us over the top. I just can’t help but be excited about the possibility of having a dominating offensive line. That, coupled with the free agent signing of James Stewart will give us what we lacked last year; a potent running game. Also, could you imagine Charlie Batch actually having enough time to throw the ball? I can’t, but I guess I’ll get my chance next year. That will give us an opportunity to actually see how good our receiving corps can be. I know I’m jumping the gun and I know that I’ve said this before, but this, I think, is going to be our year. Go Lions!!!

I just don’t know what to think right now. The team lost four games to one to the dreaded Avalanche. We’ve outplayed them in three out of the five games. We just can’t seem to solve the dreaded Patrick Roy. I know I can’t give up, but right now it looks like curtains for this club.

Since we lost the series, expect Ken Holland to disassemble his cast of talented but aging players and start again. Don’t worry, Illitch has deep pockets and he’ll buy us back into contention before next season even starts. I just can’t see owner Mike standing pat with a team that lost to the Nordiques two years in a row in the playoffs. Even if we do somehow pull a miracle out of our hats, I still think we’re going to get considerably younger before next year. I can see us losing most or all of our Russian players, because it seems that they seldom play to potential and ironically enough have the highest trade value. (pro sport GM’s are fascinated with "potential.") I wouldn’t mind losing Federov and or Koslov to get some young twenty-year-old that Illitch can afford to pay for his entire career.

I know you’re going to think I’m bandwagon, but I just expect more out of the Wings than close to the best. Maybe I’ve been spoiled. If we go out in the playoffs two years in a row to our arch-rivals with an aging cast, I just don’t see things turning around. Also, if Holland breaks up the team, look for Bowman to retire. Ouch!

We’ve become first round casualties again! Well, look on the bright side. We didn’t get embarrassed with our best team on the floor. We were without Grant, who is better than any other two Pistons. Hey, I’ve got a good idea, lets try again next year and go through this all over again!

This year is a huge free agent signing year for the team. We have to keep Grant Hill and at the same time get a big man. Keeping Hill is our main priority, as it should be. But we have to pray for a miracle to get a good big man. In other words, don’t hold your breath or start staking out the airport in search of Tim Duncan. I just hope we don’t botch the Grant Hill signing like we did with Alan Houston. Wouldn’t our team look good with Houston and Theo Ratliff still on our team? Can you say contender? Even if we do get the big man we need, I still don’t think it will be enough to contend. Well, unless it’s Duncan.