Articulated Vulgarities

Dead Things

Another year, another loss to the San Jose Sharks.  I think it's time Red Wings fans face the facts that they just ran into a better team, plain and simple.  The Sharks outplayed the Red Wings for the majority of this series.

But there are still going to be those "fans," most of whom call into sports radio to give their "expert analysis," who place the blame squarely on the shoulders of one player and one alone - goaltender Jimmy Howard.  These people are what are referred to as "WingFans"; they know nothing about hockey outside of their blind love for their home team.  Anyone with two eyes and half a brain could see the Wings were outplayed as a whole this whole series.

I'd like to know what happened to our so-called high powered offense in the first two games?  Where were goals from Zetterberg, Franzen, Filppula, Cleary, and Hudler in San Jose?  People can blame injuries all they want, but if you're that injured that you're a detriment to your team, you should be taken out of the lineup.  Jiri Hudler was so afraid to shoot the puck, he dumped the puck right out of the offensive zone tonight instead of just sending it towards the net, and ended up scoreless in the series.

While Hudler was out there being useless, veteran Mike Modano sat on the bench.  I wonder what an impact he might have had on this series had he been allowed to play in lieu of one of the non-performers. 

Detroit's penalty kill was the worst of any team in the playoffs, and their power play also hovered near the bottom.  In tonight's elimination game, they had four powerplays and not a single shot on goal in any of them.  I suppose that's Jimmy Howard's fault, though.

They scored only one goal in the first two games, so unless your expectation is that Jimmy Howard should put up a shutout every night, that isn't his fault.  In fact, anyone who watched the games in San Jose knows that Howard gave his team every chance to steal them both, particularly the first heartbreaking overtime loss.  How many goals were the result of defensive breakdowns, such as the game-winning goal tonight which left a man wide open on a 3-on-2?  WingFan is always quick to blame the goalie, but they say nothing of missed assignments or Jiri Hudler standing idly by while his man buries the puck in the net. 

Howard, or any goalie, can only do so much.  Considering the goal differential in each game was only one, does that mean that Antti Niemi sucks too?  He gave up nearly as many goals, including an incredibly soft long-range backhander from Todd Bertuzzi in game four.  That was as ugly as anything Howard let it and I'd be willing to bet there were plenty of Sharks fans calling into their local sports station when the series was wrapped up at 3-3 ready to throw him under the bus.

To be fair, and to show that I'm objective, Howard DID let in some soft goals in game three and one in game four.  Yes, it is his job to be the last line of defense, but I'm not foolish enough to expect him to be perfect.  You hate soft goals from any goaltender, but every goalie in history has given them up, and it strikes me as odd that NHL analysts are all praising the kid, while Detroit "fans" are ready to hang him out to dry - just like they did with Curtis Joseph, Chris Osgood, and Mike Vernon.

In all honesty, I can't be too disappointed about this year's playoff loss.  It was expected, not because I have no faith in my team, but because the Red Wings dug themselves into a deep, deep hole with their horrible performances in games one and two, where they were dominated by the Sharks.  There's a reason only three teams in the history of the NHL have come back from 3-0 series deficits, but I'm sure WingFan will still cite Jimmy Howard as the reason we failed to become the fourth. 

All things considered, the Red Wings had a nearly insurmountable task, and they put forth a valiant effort, but it shouldn't take three losses before you wake up and start playing hard.  If they'd played with the determination they had in games four through seven in even one of the first two, this series would have had a different outcome.  If they hadn't taken stupid penalties at the most inopportune times, or their powerplay had been effective in the least, they'd be the ones celebrating right now, and to suggest otherwise or to blame a single player is both incorrect and illogical, as anyone who knows hockey will tell you. 

The problem is that WingFan has the unrealistic expectation that the Wings are SO GOOD that they should win every year, and when they don't, it can ONLY mean the goaltender wasn't good enough.  It was the same thing Chris Osgood went through, and to some degree still does from people who just love to hate him.  Unfortunately for those of us who live in the real world, we realize that no one team is going to be a perennial winner.  Sometimes you just get beat. 

I'm still surprisingly proud of my Red Wings for the nail-biting comback they fought hard for, and fell just short of, and I take comfort in the fact that I know the San Jose Sharks will follow their playoff tradition of bombing out once more.  In the meantime, I'll be rooting hard for Steve Yzerman's Tampa Bay Lightning who, since going down 3-1 in the first round, are undefeated and swept the #1 seeded (and grossly overrated) Washington Capitals in the second.  Could they be a team of destiny?  Let's hope so, for Stevie's sake!

Here's a towel, Marian

Marian Hossa came to Detroit for less money than Pittsburgh offered him because he felt he had a better chance to win a Cup here.

After 7 games with zero goals and three assists, he sits on the Detroit bench watching his former team celebrate their Stanley Cup with egg all over his face.  And Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland wants to sign him to a reported 7-year deal? 

Not to put all the blame squarely on Hossa's shoulders.  Defenceman Brad Stuart all but handed the game to Pittsburgh early on in the first period with an idiotic slashing penalty right in front of the referee, but it was his giveaway in the second period that ended up right on the stick of Maxime Talbot, Pittsburgh's clear hero tonight who scored both of their goals.  Talbot wasted no time putting the puck in the back of the net before Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood could react, then burned him again on a 2-on-1 where he chose to shoot rather than pass.  That was ultimately the game winner.

Knowing Detroit, I'm sure sports radio talkshow hosts, callers, and newspaper writers will blame Chris Osgood, but the simple fact is that when you score two goals in two games and show an inability to win on the road, as the Red Wings did in this final series, you don't deserve the prize.  For all the so-called superstars on this roster - Marian Hossa, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, and Nicklas Lidstrom - it was aging center Kris Draper and rookie defenceman Jonathan Ericsson who scored Detroit's final two goals of the series.  In two consecutive games Detroit was held to under 20 shots in the first two periods of play.  It's hard to win when you don't shoot the puck.

Penguins' goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was spectacular in the final do-or-die games as well.  After an embarrassing loss in Game 5 where he was chased from between the posts after giving up five goals, Fleury showed incredible resolve and bounced back, practically standing on his head and stifling the Red Wings at every opportunity - and those opportunities were rare.

Pittsburgh was able to accomplish their victory with help from their supporting cast as well.  Jordan Staal was outstanding throughout the series, showing remarkable offensive skill, as was Maxime Talbot.  Pittsburgh's defense was impenetrable in the last two games, effectively cancelling out Detroit's dump and chase plays with ease.  Sidney Crosby was held to only a single goal and two assists in the series, but Evgeni Malkin stepped up in his stead, becoming the series' leading point-getter. 

Detroit looked like a team who were overconfident.  After Game 6, where the Penguins thoroughly dominated Detroit on both ends of the ice for nearly the entire duration of the game, Red Wings forward Mikael Samuelsson said to the media that he didn't think Pittsburgh outplayed his team.  It was that same attitude, that same lack of urgency that cost them the Stanley Cup tonight.  Detroit looked like a team who didn't realize they were playing in a Game 7.

I don't want to take anything away from what Pittsburgh accomplished by piling heaps of blame on the lethargic Red Wings, however.  Pittsburgh earned their Cup, winning four of the last five games of the series - the final two in such dominating fashion that the outcome of the series never seemed in doubt for the young team.

If there's anything to take away from this bitter defeat for Red Wings fans, it's the stellar play of their younger players who were thrust into the fire and gave it their all.  They rose to the occasion and played with wisdom far beyond their experience and if players like Darren Helm, Jonathan Ericsson, and arguably Justin Abdelkader - who scored two goals against Pittsburgh before inexplicably being nailed to the bench for the final four games of the series - don't have a permanent spot on the roster next year then there is something seriously wrong with the player management in the organization.

Unfortunately, they'll have to contend for playing time with the far less deserving Marian Hossa and aging retreads like Kirk Maltby and Tomas Holmstrom, whose nickname "The Demolition Man" can officially be changed to "The Invisible Man" after this playoff run. 

Much has been made of the Red Wings being one of the oldest teams in the NHL, though they have slowly been adding some youth to their roster, but I truly do not believe it was aged that played a factor in these Finals.  The Red Wings were, quite simply put, outplayed, outhustled, and outworked by the Pittsburgh Penguins and they just didn't deserve to win.

Congratulations to the Pens and their fans.  Enjoy it while you can, because next year you'll have 29 other teams making a run for it and you'll have the bullseye on your backs.  Hopefully my Red Wings will be one of those teams.

It's that time

The NHL Playoffs have begun.

More than any other sport, hockey playoffs are the most exciting.  Not just the NHL, but even the minor and junior leagues.  There is a level of intensity in every game that cannot be equaled by any other sport.  I know the Superbowl is the most watched television program year-in, year-out, and even I won't deny that it's exciting - but the long-standing rivalries in hockey and the fast-paced nature of the game itself make for thrilling television.

It doesn't matter what teams are playing.  In truth, I have often found that my own home team's first round series is the most boring of them all.  The Red Wings certainly won in convincing fashion against the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight, but it was the Boston/Montreal game that I was most interested in. 

Of all the rivalries in all of sports, the Boston Bruins/Montreal Canadiens is one of the fiercest and oldest.  Players may change, generations may pass, but one thing never changes: these two Original Six teams absolutely hate each other, and their fans echo their teams' sentiment.  I never thought I'd be rooting for Boston, but I too hate the Canadiens.  Their unsportsmanlike, crybaby, sore-loser antics near the end of tonight's game are a perfect example of why as they attempted to start fights after Boston scored the empty net goal that sealed the deal, and after the final whistle.  To Montreal I will say what I have shouted at many sporting arenas over the years:
TAKE YOUR LOSS AND GO HOME!

I don't care how many Cups you may have won in the past, you haven't won shit in 16 years.  In sports you are only as good as your last season.  Anything other than a championship means you lost; you were second best or worse.  You cannot ride on your accomplishments from decades ago forever.  If the Red Wings fail to defend their Stanley Cup this year, guess what?  They won't be the best team in hockey.  See how that works?  That's from A to B.  Now, if the Canadiens haven't won anything in 16 years, what does that make them?

Getting back to the topic of the Red Wings, they played an excellent game tonight.  One thing about Detroit is that is tends to be a very fickle city.  When you're having success, everyone jumps on the bandwagon and supports you, but when you lose they're ready to throw you under the bus.  In some cases, it's justified.  I have always been of the opinion that Dominik Hasek is a horribly overrated goaltender.  I've never liked him.  Not when he was with the Sabres, and not when he wore a Red Wings sweater.  I was incredibly happy to watch him get chased out in the first round last year and replaced by Chris Osgood, a goaltender who has faced more than his share of adversity in this town and continues to.  For every "Ozzie" chant the fans at Joe Louis start up, there are a few dozen morons who call into the local sports radio station - as well as a certain friend of mine - who refuse to give Chris Osgood any credit for his accomplishments, claiming it's a byproduct of the team he's on.

Ozzie didn't have to do much work tonight, but the only goal he let in was more the fault of a boneheaded play by defenceman Brian Rafalski than the netminder, and you could see it on Rafalski's face after he hit the bench.  He came up big when the Wings needed him though, making key stops, including a beauty early on off a juicy rebound. 

Will the Red Wings repeat this year?  I don't know.  Both Osgood and Ty Conklin have shown flashes of brilliance as well as tepid goaltending.  Detroit's defence hasn't been very solid all year, but the playoffs are always a whole different game.  Are the Blue Jackets capable of an upset?  You bet.  They're a good, physical, rather young team and they've got a great coach in Ken Hitchcock.  Arrogance has been the downfall of the Red Wings in the past, and it is often displayed by Wings fans who see the team as indestructable.  Are the Red Wings the more talented team?  Definitely.  On paper, they have some of the most dynamic players in the league.  Games aren't played on paper; they're played on the ice.

All I know is that I'm looking forward to the next several weeks of playoff hockey.  There's even the potential for an epic Western Conference Finals series between the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks, and I'm sure hockey fans all across the country (all 10 of you - sorry, I couldn't resist - I love hockey, but let's face it, it's not exactly topping the Nielsen ratings) would love to see that.

The Dream Becomes Reality!

The Detroit Lions are the first team in NFL history to go 0-16!!

Congratulations, boys!  I knew you could do it!  I believed in you all along.

Let me explain: Though I am from Detroit, I hate the Detroit Lions.  I hate football in general.  I think it's the stupidest sport on the face of the planet with its idiotic players, fans, and rules that appear to be made up over the course of the game. 

For years I have been predicting an 0-16 season for the Lions, who are consistently one of the worst teams in football.  Every year, my friend Chris argues that it's easier to go 16-0 than 0-16 and it would never happen.  Every year he tells me why this season is going to be different for the Lions and why they're going to have a respectable record, or maybe even slip into the playoffs.

Every year, I'm right and he's wrong, and this year my dream came true.  The dream of 0-16 has become a reality and marks yet another historical moment in an already historical year!

I couldn't be prouder of the Lions.  There's simply no way they can top this wonderful performance, but I'll always remember 2008 as the year they lived the dream. 

Life's little pleasures

Being on the cusp of football season, the time has come once again - the time to annoy Chris.

Let me make this clear: I hate football.  I hate it with a passion.  I think it's one of the the stupidest sports in the world, next to NASCAR and golf.  I also hate the Detroit Lions, my hometown team.  I take great pleasure in watching them lose year-in, year-out, and even more pleasure watching the disappointment on the faces of their idiotic fans who convince themselves that every year is a fresh start and a chance for the team to redeem themselves.

Chris is one of those people.

Every year he tells me why the Lions will be good, and I look like a perennial genius when they end up with a below 500 record and miss the playoffs.  I take great pleasure in mocking them for the sole purpose of irritating him, but even more than that, I take even greater pleasure in denying him his joy when they have any degree of success.

Case in point: The Lions went 4-0 in the pre-season.  At first, I claimed that pre-season games were meaningless, but in the face of the statistic that no team has ever gone 4-0 in the pre-season and missed the playoffs, I have changed my tune.  I am now behind the Lions 100% and always have been.  All morning long I have remained in character, pretending to be a life-long Lions fan who bleeds Honolulu blue and silver, much to his chagrin and growing irritation.

What follows are excerpts of the e-mail exchange we've been having:

Matt: "More important than the DNC or Obama's speech though was the OTHER event this week that I don't believe we discussed.  4-0, baby!  WE'RE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!  16-0!  WOOOOOO!  GO LIONS!  I've been behind 'em all the way.  Restore the Roar!  I BELIEVE IN NOW!"

Chris: "It needs to be said, every team that has EVER gone undefeated in the preseason has made the playoffs.  In fact the lions have done it twice, both times they went all the way to the NFL championship, and they even won it once.  Now I dont think they will get that far, but I dont think winning the division and getting a home playoff game is out of the question."

Matt: "They're winning the Superbowl.  I'm telling you, they will go 16-0 and they will win it all.  I've been behind them 100%.  The Lions are MY team.  Always have been, always will be.  I bleed Honolulu blue and silver, and occasionally black when they wear the FEARSOME black jerseys.  I'm tired of all the naysayers.  This is the year!  The Captain will lead us to the promised land and we'll be holding a parade down Woodward in February"

Chris: "Sometimes I wish I could hate you to death."

Matt: "Why?  I'm just proclaiming my love for my Detroit Lions!  You know what a huge fan I've been for the last 9 years."

Chris: "I hate you and I will stab you in the eye with a chicken wing tomorrow night."

Matt: "Why all the hate?  I guess you just don't love the Lions the way I do...  Marching down the field..."

Chris: "You know what I find amusing?  When they go 4-0 in the preseason you can't point out fast enough how the games are meaningless and dont translate to the real season....but when they go 0-4, you are right there to use that as evidence of how bad they suck."

Matt: "I don't know what you're talking about.  I have been a Lions fan my entire life.  I'm sitting here telling you that they are going to the playoffs after an undefeated season to win it all.  Don't you know the statistical evidence?"

Chris: "No, because there is no evidence of that...at all.  All you are doing to trying to irritate me...which you are....and eventually I will break down and start making fun of you and your tiny penis...and then you will get pissy and proclaim you are not talking to me for the rest of the day."

Matt: "There isn't any evidence of a team going undefeated and winning the Superbowl, but the Lions will make history."

He cannot win in this situation.  If the Lions lose, I will make fun of them endlessly just to irritate him.  If they win, I will hop on the bandwagon and pretend to support them just to irritate him. 

You can't mess with the master.

The Olympics are boring

Hey, have you heard about this Phelps person?  Something-or-other Phelps?  I'm not quite sure who he is or what he does.  If only there were some place where I could hear about him non-stop...

I haven't watched a single, solitary second of the 2008 Summer Olympics, and yet I have had to endure ENDLESS discussion about Michael Phelps.  Every news site has a top story about him.  Every local news channel runs a story about him.  Every paper prints a story about him.  Did he cure cancer?  Did he solve the hunger crisis in a third world nation?  Did he eliminate our country's deficit?  No, he just swims well.  Big deal. 

The Olympics are an outdated tradition; a relic of days past.  They hold absolutely no weight on the world stage and are purely for entertainment purposes, like any other sporting event.  It's just an excuse for a nation to gloat that their team is the best at some particular event.  Congratulations, Michael Phelps, you won a bunch of gold medals.  Now melt them down and give them to the Federal Reserve to help alleviate the recession.

So he swims fast.  Maybe I'm just a cynical poo, but I say you throw a live shark in that pool and if he escapes THAT, then I'll be impressed, not to mention far more entertained.

You can't tell me the 100 meter dash wouldn't be far more exciting if there were a rabid grizzly bear or a hungry cheetah chasing the runners.  Archery?  Let the competing teams fire arrows at EACH OTHER instead of at targets.  Survivor wins.  Gymnastics?  Cover the floor in poisonous snakes.  I'll bet the athletes won't fall off the bars then.

Those are the Olympics I, one day, want to see.

And the Grammy goes to...

"Tell me how my ass taste"? Really? I'm not sure that sounds as cool as Shaq thinks it does.

Also, rhyming a word with the same word is not actually a rhyme.  "Think about that.  It ain't about that."  That's not a rhyme - that's repeating the same words.  It's pretty obvious why his rap career failed.

The Gayest Picture Ever Taken

'Nuff said.

Sippy Cup

The Detroit Red Wings are one win away from winning Lord Stanley's Cup.  It's feasible that Monday night, hockey fans all over Detroit will be celebrating - all 10 of us. 

After a dismal start in the series, Pittsburgh looked like an entirely different team at home.  Tonight's loss is their first at Mellon Arena in the playoffs, and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury's first loss at home since November.  I thought they dominated Game 3, and they put forth a valiant effort tonight, but it just wasn't enough.  As bad as the Wings played in Game 3, they still only lost by one goal, and it only took 2 to come away with the victory tonight.  Neither team has been spectacular on the power play, but Pittsburgh's woes were compounded when they had a 5-3 in the late stages of the third period for almost a minute and a half, but they still couldn't get one past goaltender Chris Osgood.

Perhaps that's because defenceman Evgeni Malkin is simply too tired and/or lazy to put forth any kind of effort.  After complaining about how he didn't like playing the point on the power play because he was too tired, Malkin's lazy passes into the offensive zone tonight resulted in easy clears for Detroit.  Even Don Cherry just called him a dog only seconds ago on CBC's postgame broadcast.

Speaking of which, what was with Channel 4, the local affiliate, cutting into NBC's broadcast the instant the game ended?  Not only that, but Detroiters were greeted with Devin Scillian and Carmen Harlan?  Not exactly the pinnacle of hockey expertise.  In fact, Devin Scillian is best known to me for being called "Debbie" by a drunken Chris Osgood after he won his first Stanley Cup in 1997-98 - much to his chagrin.

Thankfully, we in Detroit are blessed enough to receive CBC, so we simply flipped over to their coverage to see Pittsburgh acting like a bunch of crybabies and trying to rough things up as Detroit celebrated.  Crosby showed not only immaturity, but poor sportsmanship, by yapping at various Detroit players.  Take your loss and get off the ice, kid; it's not your year.

As I said in my last NHL-related post, the Penguins had a great run this season and they've got a superb young team.  I believe they'll be right back in the playoffs next year as well, but they simply ran into a superior team in the Detroit Red Wings.  Detroit finally has everything necessary to win the Cup - finesse, outstanding defense, grit, toughness (when Pavel Datsyuk is one of your leading hitters, you know the message about toughness has been driven home), great goaltending, and an experienced coaching staff.  Barring a colossal meltdown, it looks like it's just Detroit's year.

Hopefully they'll get the week off to a great start with a Stanley Cup victory on Monday, but Pens fans should still be proud of what their team has accomplished.

Another Year, Another Loss

At this point, the Pistons are on the verge of elimination by the Boston Celtics.  There are 2 minutes and 33 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Pistons are down by 7 after blowing a 10 point lead earlier in the quarter.  They lot Boston go on a 9-0 run.  Rasheed "Mr. Fun Time" Wallace is 2-10 in the game with a whopping 4 points - an ELIMINATION game, and that's the best he can muster.

This doesn't surprise me.  This is typical of the Pistons for the last few years.  Everyone knows that NBA Commissioner David Stern wanted the Lakers and the Celtics in the Finals this year, but Detroit has had plenty of beneficial calls tonight and they've just come up short.  When key players like Wallace don't show up to play, this is what happens.  When you blow a lead like that in game of this magnitude, you deserve to lose.

I'm a Pistons fan and I always will be, but I'm also objective enough to point the finger at my favorite team and hold them responsible.  This wasn't the refs helping Boston out or any big conspiracy.  Yes, they certainly had help in Game 4 where they scored nearly half their points at the free throw line to keep the game close, but tonight was all the Pistons going through one of their customary lulls.  Great teams don't do that, especially not on their home court in a win-or-go-home game. 

Pistons coach Flip Saunders doesn't get any respect in this town, and I've been harsh on him in the past as well, but this isn't his fault.  He'll shoulder the blame, as all coaches in the NBA (and most sports) do, but he has actually coached this series pretty well.  He stuck with rookie Rodney Stuckey in the closing stages of Game 5 when the Pistons made a huge run after being down 17 points, realizing that Stuckey was a key figure in that comeback effort.  He's made blunders here or there, like playing Theo Ratliff who has been nothing short of brutal this series, over Jason Maxiell, but when it comes right down to it, the players are responsible.  Richard Hamilton is playing with a hyper-extended right elbow (which is his shooting arm).  Chauncey Billups is playing on an injured hamstring.  What's Rasheed Wallace's excuse?

The refs.

Rasheed blames the refs.  He takes no responsibility for himself.  I hate to break it to you, Mr. Fun Time, but the referees didn't make you shoot a pitiful 20% from the floor.  The referees don't have you standing outside the three point arc when you should be down low, posting up.  Rasheed Wallace just doesn't have that hunger anymore.  He's more concerned with being friends with Kevin Garnett or singing along to the songs on the public address system than he is with playing the game.  You could see it all night in his lazy, uninspired performance in the biggest game of Detroit's season. 

I appreciate what Rasheed Wallace brought to this team.  You don't win a Championship in 2003-2004 without him.  However, much like Ben Wallace, he has become nothing more than malcontent and he has overstayed his welcome.  He and Flip Saunders have butted heads off and on all season, and his act of needing to get angry before he decides to start playing hard is an old bit.  If you can't get up for the Playoffs anymore, you shouldn't be playing - plain and simple. 

I'm sure David Stern is thrilled that he's got his dream match-up for the Finals, but the Pistons have no one to blame but themselves for this, their third consecutive Eastern Conference Finals loss.  Now I'm forced to root for the L.A. Lakers, which I loathe to do, but I simply cannot root for the fraudulent Boston hype machine.  This isn't sour grapes - I'd root against Boston even if Detroit didn't even make the playoffs.  I'm sick of hearing about them and the double-standard they're the benefit of.  When Detroit had the best record in the entire NBA a few years ago, people scoffed and wrote it off because they beat up on a bunch of weak teams in the Eastern Conference (which generally contains weaker teams than the West does).  However, when Boston does it, they're hailed as one of the greatest teams in NBA history, despite the fact that the Eastern Conference was SO BAD this year that a below .500 team actually made it into the playoffs - a team that took Boston to a 7-game series.

I'm not saying Boston isn't a good team.  Good teams are SUPPOSED to win those games.  You're supposed to beat weaker teams.  Boston is obviously the better team than Detroit this year, because if the opposite were true then Detroit wouldn't have blown tonight's game or gotten blown out on their own home court in Game 3.  However, I find it ridiculous that the Celtics get praised for an accomplishment that the Pistons were slagged off for a few years ago and, quite frankly, there isn't a single player on Boston that I like in the least. 

That said, congratulations to Boston and their legion of "loyal" fans, who I'm sure were all behind them last year when the Celtics were 24-58 and didn't even make the playoffs.  They played harder and made the big plays when they had to; the Pistons didn't and that's why they deserved to lose once again.  Now it's time to look ahead to next year for Detroit.  The first order of business should be moving Rasheed "Mr. Fun Time" Wallace at all costs.  Our younger players, like Stuckey and Maxiell, are only going to get better as they continue to play, so the Pistons still have a bright future, but Joe Dumars needs to look into replacing players who don't want to play with ones who do.

I'm disappointed, but I'll still be back to watch them next year.  I can never turn my back on the Pistons, no matter how bad they are.  Don't believe me?  I own TEAL jerseys.  We went to more games during the dreadful teal years than any other, simply because tickets were so affordable and we loved basketball.  Who willingly goes to watch a horrible team except die hard fans?  It just so happened that shortly after the switch back to their classic red, white, and blue colors, the Pistons began winning playoff games and we were there for those too.  I've been a Pistons fan for as long as I can remember, through thick and thin, and I will continue to be - no matter how frustrated I can get with their half-assed effort sometimes.  That's what being a true fan is all about and that's the type of emotion only true fans can feel.  Blindly rooting for your team doesn't make you a real fan - that makes you an imbecile.  Getting angry because you expect better from your team, feeling every loss, shouting vulgarities at your TV - those are the reactions of a die hard fan.