So the Titanic sunk this past weekend...100 years ago

Since blogging is still fairly new to me, I'm trying to incorporate some sort of schedule so there are some consistencies with my posts. Monday posts will be "Weekend Recap" where I touch on all 4 sports and give a little rant about each. I also am going to incorporate more pictures and links to videos pertaining to my posts. So without further adieu...

As I mentioned, the grandest ship of them all sunk 100 years ago on April 15, 1912. On that same day, 100 years later we watched the Detroit Red Wings playoff hopes sink with the same shock and awe as they squandered a chance to reclaim home ice advantage. It's really a shame too because this isn't even quality hockey to watch. This team is good, but not great and what's even worse is that Nashville isn't much better because otherwise they'd be up 3-0 right now. The Wings are a 1 man team. They should be called the Detroit Datsyuk's because he's the only guy that is playing anything remotely close to Detroit Hockey. Franzen, Homer, Filppula, Hudler, Bert, even Zetterberg have all been non-factors in this series so far and it's extremely frustrating to watch, especially when you have the Flyers/ Pens and Rangers/Senators Circus. Now those are perfect combo series where they are high scoring (Wings have scored 7 total goals in 3 games and the Flyers have put up 16 in the last 2 games) and violent games. Big hits+Fights+Goals = great NHL game. And for all you hockey elite out there, save yourself the trouble and don't tell me that the Wings/Preds series is a great watch because it's real hockey. That's a load of crap and you all know it. This team needs a big shakeup this off-season regardless of what happens the rest of this series and beyond. They've made the playoffs 21 straight years having the same team year in and year out. Ken Holland will have to make some tough decisions and I hope we say goodbye to some familiar faces because this team has become too cozy. Tomorrow is a make or break and I don't need to go into that because it's pretty obvious. Get it together Wings or you'll be hitting the golf course much sooner than you want. I'm ready to hop on the Stamkos train - Stevie Y we're coming for him!

Moving on, well this will be short and sweet. I'll revisit the Lions as draft time approaches. It'll be non-stop speculation until then so I'm going to take time off from blowing that team up in smoke. Oh wait, the Lions has already been. (I know, corny joke that's been told over and over but hey, I wanted my opportunity)

Ah I'm just going to skip over the Pistons. I mean what's the point, the team sucks, the NBA sucks and until they realize that tanking is the only way to get better, this team isn't going anywhere. It'll also take a franchise player (found in the draft) to get this team back on David Stern's radar and ultimately back in the NBA.

Tigers, Tigers, Tigers. They take a 5-1 home stand to start the season and then blow 2 of 3 against the White Sox because they...couldn't score runs and couldn't play defense (Thanks Delmon Young but this isn't Dancing with the Stars). I guess they're starting pitching hasn't been too bad but considering that none of their starters (sans Por-cheezy) has a decision, I suppose there may be cause for concern. Verlander goes tonight against the Royals so things are looking up and with the tornado's in the Kansas City area, even Brando Inge could hit one out (scratch that, he'd just strike out, like he did yesterday). And so here it is, my big Inge-tirade. It's on the radio enough and its in the news enough that I don't need to beat the dead horse...again and again but I will say this. I thought it was funny today on the radio when I heard that another player for another team that had some rehab starts to start the year went something like 8-13 with 3 home runs and 7 RBIs in a could minor league games and good ol' Inge went 1-9 in the same span. All of these at bats are against kids, has-beens and never haves and all Ingey says is that they're aren't throwing him anything to hit. What a joke. Ilitch wants him to play because he's supposedly good at defense and Leyland plays him at DH and then to make matters worse, when was the last time any of you watched a MLB game and saw the DH get pulled with the bases loaded. It's become an embarrassment. Ryan Rugburn better start hitting or they better start playing Santiago more. A team with World Series potential cannot be dealing with Inge throughout this season. I say ship him over to New York so Inge and Tebow can have joint press conferences. Now how crazy would that be??

There's no whining in hockey

So playoff hockey is upon us and our Detroit Red Wings start another quest for the cup. Round 1 is against Nashville, a team that I wanted to avoid since the trade deadline. They've done much more to their lineup than the Wings and this is their one shot at really making a run for the cup. Nashville is going all in now because if they don't the next time they have a shot at the cup will be when they're playing in Quebec (fingers crossed). The Wings on the other hand have dealt with injury after injury and honestly their lineup just isn't that great. They have too many "role-players" and not enough plain talent. The drop off from Pavel Datsyuk to Danny Cleary is huge and sure, I like a player like Darren Helm but he's nothing more than a younger version of Kris Draper.

The matchup with the Predators is all wrong. Aside from the experience factor, I think the Pred's have a better line-up than the Wings. They're bigger on defense, better in net and their forwards may not have the street cred that the Wings have but look at the series right now, 1-0 Nashville. The bottom line is the Wings should have avoided this first round matchup at all costs. If Pavel doesn't score the game tying goal in the last regular season game, the Wings are prepping for the Coyotes, a team they've dominated in the playoffs.

Game One last night was a garbage fire of a game, not only for the Wings but for the NHL. You've got referees calling every ticky tack play, disrupting the flow and making for an overall poor showing on the NHL's behalf. I know Bettman was in the crowd, CBC and FSD telecasts both made note of it but that doesn't mean the game is meant to suffer. 13 penalties called, no momentum, no flow, just a tough watch.

But this is what Wings fans wanted. They wanted Nashville, they wanted to not have to travel to the left coast, they wanted Datsyuk to tie the score in the final game of the season to secure the fifth playoff spot. This is what you all wanted and that is why I don't want to hear any of the excuses for why the Red Wings lost that game last night. Don't blame it on Bettman, don't blame it on the officials, don't blame it on bad luck - no blame yourselves.

I don't like picking against my own teams, but I can read a scenario and know that facing Nashville in the first round with a Red Wings team that's been fighting injuries and just isn't as complete as the Predators is an uphill battle. The Wings need to buckle down and play Detroit Hockey. Tomorrow's game is a great chance to steal the series as it heads back to Detroit this weekend. Play hard, play fast and play smart and after tomorrow the next time the Wings play in Nashville they could be a game away from advancing to the second round.

Hit me up on twitter or check me out on facebook, I'm going for a run - I'll check you guys tomorrow.

-Cooper