Detroit Sports Perspective

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTOS BY CANDICE EBLING

I'll never forget the time when my longtime colleague and close friend George Eichorn asked me to write a few paragraphs about all of the Detroit teams when they were struggling in the late 1970's for the Detroit Monitor.

This happened to be the first time that I was published.

I impressed My Lakeland High School English Teacher Mrs. Ann Nozewski, who wanted every student to make an attempt to do this.

Fortunately, my second time getting published was a short story on the US Not Boycotting The 1980 Olympics, which President Jimmy Carter wanted us to Boycott The Olympics.

That would later backfire as the Soviet Union Boycotted the Olympics in 1984 at Los Angeles which I attended.

Nevertheless, lets move the clock forward to 2019 and while Nozewski certainly provided the impetus for me to get published, 40 years later, I'm still going strong!

Back in the 1970's all of the Detroit Teams were struggling.

Here in 2019, they are once again.

But at least during that time period there have been some championships along the way.

The Tigers 1984 Season produced a World Series Championship along with three Hall Of Famers. Those include Manager Sparky Anderson, Shortstop Alan Trammell and Pitcher Jack Morris.

The Pistons won three World Championships which has produced Hall of Famers and retired jerseys in the rafters. In the Bad Boys era of the late 1980's, those included Coach Chuck Daly, Guards Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and forward Dennis Rodman. Dumars was an executive when the Pistons won another title in 2004.

The Detroit Red Wings made it to the playoffs 25-straight years and won four Stanley Cup Titles.

The rafters are getting crowded with more retired numbers in addition to the championship banners. Two Hall of Famers and former Captains are Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom.

And the Lions....they've won one playoff game and Barry Sanders made it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

I enjoyed covering Barry from my Pontiac Silverdome Press Box vantage point watching him rise to being the third leading rusher in NFL History.

There was a period of time that I covered all 16 games at home and on the road.

To this day, I'm convinced that if Fontes was not fired and replaced by Bobby Ross, Sanders would be the all-time leading rusher as Barry viewed Wayne as a father figure.

Whether Calvin Johnson gets there remains to be seen.

The fans are waiting for QB Matthew Stafford to be surrounded by a good supporting cast that will at least get him a playoff win.

It's an eyesore when Sanders and Johnson retire in their prime because of the losing culture.

Unfortunately for Lions fans, they're one of two members in the 0-16 club and haven't won a championship since 1957.

Time will tell whether the Patriot Midwest Way anchored by Coach Matt Patricia and President/GM Bob Quinn can duplicate itself in a football starved town which is looking for any kind of success it can get.

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Now the present:

1. The Detroit Red Wings--living in South Florida, the Panthers made a coaching hire I hoped the Red Wings would have made in the Motor City by landing veteran coach Joel Queeneville.

The former Windsor Spitfires coach is second all-time in regular season wins with 890 and 118 more in the playoffs, plus three Stanley Cup Championships with the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Red Wings future just became much brighter when they hired Steve Yzerman as Executive Vice President and General Manager on 4-19-2019, Good Friday. 

The Columbus Blue Jackets made the obvious happen by sweeping Tampa Bay 4-0 in their opening round series.

Yzerman had successful stints as being an Executive Director for Team Canada and The Tampa Bay Lightning. 

There is no reason to think he won't be able to get the Red Wings on the right track in time.

Yzerman will have former GM Ken Holland by his side as he was named Senior Vice President as a major resource.

Holland does has a proven track record guiding the club to Stanley Cup Championships.
I hope his patience is rewarded as he extended Coach Jeff Blashill by two additional seasons.

I think it's smart that Yzerman will honor the Blashill extension.

He worked well with another young coach in Tampa Bay. That being Jon Cooper who led the Lightning to the President's Trophy.

There is no reason to think Yzerman won't work well with Blashill.

But the key to any turnaround while Detroit is in a massive rebuild, the Red Wings must continue to hit on their draft choices.

I respect them for not tanking in an effort to get the No.1 pick in the NHL Draft as they ended up sixth.

I'll continue to invest in the Center Ice Package hoping the younger players ultimately start maturing. But let's face reality, the 2019-2020 season will be the most pivotal one in the direction of this proud Original Six Franchise which owns 11 Stanley Cup Championships.

2. The Detroit Tigers--also owned by the Illitch family are also in rebuild mode.

We get the MLB Package and while the Tigers are trying to develop from within, they're slowly freeing up money from undesirable contracts.

For a team that has made it to the World Series twice under retired Skipper Jim Leyland only to come up short, can another veteran Manager Ron Gardenhire see this project through and reap from the benefits in the next couple of years?

Time will tell as to what comes up from the farm.

But like the Red Wings, patience is something Owner Chris Illitch doesn't seem to lack as he remains loyal to his key front office people.

The one thing about baseball is teams can turn their losing fortunes around in three years and go from worst to first quite quickly as we've found out from the success of the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs that ultimately led them to World Series Championships.

Just build a good young core of players and lock them up to long term contracts. Then keep building their farm systems.

The Tampa Bay Rays seem to make a lot out of nothing because of strong player development then find solid veterans to blend in.

3. The Detroit Pistons--had the distinction as the first team to play a playoff game in Little Caesars Arena (LCA).

During the regular season, the Pistons were swept 4-0 to the Milwaukee Bucks.

The same held true in the playoffs as Milwaukee won all four contests in the playoffs, all by double digits.

As a result, Detroit now owns the longest playoff losing streak in NBA History with 14.

Despite Griffin playing in two games, it never mattered, and after the season was over he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.

Milwaukee is considered favorites to win their first NBA Title since 1974.

But getting rid of Stan Van Gundy was a positive step last season. He trades the team's top draft choice to the LA Clippers who had a 48-34 mark in the Western Conference. Like the Clippers, the Pistons are the eight seed but compile a 41-41 mark.

Had Blake Griffin been healthy towards the end of the regular season, they wouldn't have drawn the match-up they ended up with.

Nevertheless, I do believe that Dwane Casey was a coaching upgrade over Van Gundy.

But until the Pistons get financial flexibility and start hitting on their draft choices, it wouldn't matter if they are playing downtown at LCA or the Palace Of Auburn Hills, the fans won't fill the stadium until they're convinced they're a legitimate entertainment option.

4. The Detroit Lions--There isn't much to say about this franchise except that I hope they don't waste away the career of another star player.

Contrary to what people say about Stafford, I do believe he's the best QB the Lions have had since Bobby Layne. He's the all-time leading passer in franchise history with 38,526 yards and 237 TD passes.

The team was relevant when Wayne Fontes was the head coach.

Does anybody remember the last QB to win a playoff game?

Erik Kramer.

He eventually left to play for the Chicago Bears.

In 1987, Jerry Vainisi was the Vice President of Player Personnel and when he departed to create and head the football operations of the World League of American Football (NFL Europe), the Lions haven't been relevant since in the front office.

He was a key contributor in the Lions success which produced a 38-6 win over the Dallas Cowboys as Detroit reached it's lone NFC Championship Game only to get clobbered on the road to the Washington Redskins 41-10.

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Unfortunately, I can't offer a guess as to who will break through and will create Metro Detroit's next championship wave of success.

If I was so smart, I would be working in the front offices of these teams.

So I'll hang out at the beach in sunny Florida and still cover these squads when they come here, when I'm in Metro Detroit, or if they play in a place I travel to get answers like the rest of us.

I do watch the Lions at Duffy's Sports Bar in South Florida.

In the meantime, I'll pull out my Rubik's Cube and try to conquer that puzzle.

But in the spirit of Mrs Anne Nozewski wherever you are, at least more people have heard about me because of my lengthy tenure in the media, my additional platforms, along with people trying to google my name.

Once upon a time at the beginning there was the Detroit Monitor. Now I've created an online publication, https://southfloridatribune.com/.

Now, I still have Eichorn around and there is Cyber Space which enables me to write on numerous platforms.

Stay Tuned.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com.

My Social Media:
Twitter--Scoop33333
Instagram--southfloridatribune
Facebook--Sports Exchange and South Florida Tribune Pages.

Sam The Man

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH


Three weeks ago, I just received word from my mother that the man who made My Journalist Passion a reality died on August 17, 2012 in Walled Lake, MI.

On December 29, 1979, My father asked me if I wanted to go see WXYZ Sports Talk hosted by Ron Cameron with a friend of mine. This 17th birthday present was made possible by a man that was a regular guest on the show named Sam Greenblatt.

Greenblatt (78) was the Manager of My Fathers sporting good store All Pro Sporting Goods in Oak Park, MI.

Sam spent over 30-years as one of the leaders in the Michigan Amateur Hockey Association. He was inducted into the Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation Hall of Fame in 2001.

Greenblatt has been in My Hall of Fame for 33 years.

Unfortunately, I saw him once at My Grandmother Sophie Morganroth's funeral in April of 2000 for five minutes after he departed All Pro Sporting Goods in the early 1980's.

It was too bad we couldn't talk longer because I was editing my grandmother's eulogy after taking a cross country red-eyed flight from Phoenix, AZ.

Still, I hope that over the years that Sam had a chance to see My Stories with the Detroit Monitor, the occasional work I did on the radio as well as the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association Blog.

I'll never know that.

But I do know that without Sam, there wouldn't be my first major interview with Tommy Lasorda, the Los Angeles Dodgers Hall of Fame Manager. There would be no opportunity to write about the greatest fighter of All-Time, Muhammad Ali.

Without Sam, I wouldn't have covered four Super Bowls and have seen the Final Game ever at Tiger Stadium in 1999.

I wouldn't have had close relationship with Ernie Harwell that began in 1983 along with the good times that I enjoyed with the late Joe Falls, who was a father figure to me.

I wouldn't have had the opportunity to write about all of Detroit's four major sports teams and the great relationships that were created with these classy franchises. There would be no great times at the Michigan International Speedway.

What was figured to be just a one-time visit to Sports Talk Show turned out to be a lifetime full of memories.

What occurred on December 29, 1979, was a dream that would shape my life both in Metro Detroit as well as on the National Sports Scene.

Besides the gift of doing what fans would dream of doing, that birthday gift enabled me to create the best relationship one could ever imagine.

My best friend and older brother George Eichorn and I have teamed up on an infinite amount of projects. We've had a blast doing it and continue to find more quality things to create.

Thanks to Sam, while this writer never had a chance to play high school, collegiate or professional sports, at least I had the opportunity to sit in numerous press boxes, at court-side and have been in plenty of locker-rooms.

I enjoyed listening to press box announcers telling us that we weren't allowed to cheer and to be professional otherwise we'd be removed from the premises. Though I wonder how many media people were paying attention at Lions games at the Pontiac Silverdome when Barry Sanders was carrying the football.

Thus far, this has been a tough year losing close people starting out with a woman named Doris Burks, a former housekeeper but great friend that was a mother figure that died at the age of 76. Pearl Zivitz followed on June 17 and now Sam is gone on August 17.

Yet, all of these individuals made their mark on me in unforgettable ways.

In Sam's case, the word legendary in my eyes, would be the biggest understated word on the planet because of the tremendous magnitude of the unforgettable moments that I've experienced.

There wouldn't be the nickname that Gus Pantelides tagged me with, "Scoop."

I would be a normal fan and after covering sports for so many years, I could never fathom being a fan having been a professional media guy for years.

All I can say is God Bless Sam and I hope you rest in peace. Thanks for everything and if you've ever Googled yourself, at least you know that I've never forgotten you and never well.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com.

Detroit's Four Major Teams

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

I'll never forget the first time I was published. Back in 1979, My best friend and adopted brother George Eichorn asked me to write a few paragraphs for the Detroit Monitor about the struggles of Detroit's Four Major Teams.

I did and was thrilled to see my name in the paper for what would be the first of many times during my 32-year tenure in the media. Every so often, when I get the opportunity to find an individual that gets published for the first time, it gives me warm feelings of when I started.

But in honor of my longtime colleague Eichorn, I'm going to talk briefly about all four of Detroit's sports teams in this story.

Last night, the Detroit Red Wings defeated the San Jose Sharks 3-1 at the Joe Louis Arena. On Thursday night, the Red Wings will attempt to do what only three other teams in the NHL have done and that's rally from a 3-0 deficit and win four straight to close out the Sharks.

The Red Wings are in this position due to the stellar play of their young goaltender Jimmy Howard, who figures to be the cornerstone of this franchise for a long time.

I love the headline and a key paragraph in a Sports Illustrated article by Adrian Dater.

The headline read, "Wings' latest, greatest rally could spell doom for crumbling Sharks." The paragraph I liked the most was "A match-up between a tested Original Six Franchise with four Stanley Cup Rings since 1997 against the Chicago Cubs on Ice"

Comparing the Sharks to the Cubs might be a little harsh since they began playing in 1991. The Cubs championship drought is 102 years. But I understand where Dater is coming from.

It would be great to see the Red Wings defeat the Sharks on Thursday night because it will energize a fan base which has been hit hard because of the economy. If they don't win, this group led by Coach Mike Babcock and General Manager Ken Holland will be back and better than ever next year. As much as I don't believe in moral victories, the fact that the Red Wings are playing when everyone counted them dead a week ago is worth feeling good about.

If the Red Wings can get past the Sharks, they'll earn all of their frequent flyer miles going through Phoenix, San Jose and then the Vancouver Canucks. If they're lucky enough to make it to the finals, there is another Original Six Rival, the Boston Bruins waiting. The purists and NBC would love this match-up! Otherwise, Wings legend Steve Yzerman can haunt his old team as his Tampa Bay Lightning are peaking at the right time.

If they don't win Thursday night, the fans still have many reasons to be proud of their historic effort.

On Saturday, Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander throws a no-hitter in the Tigers 9-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Canada at the Sky Dome. This was Verlander's second no-hitter in his career with his first occurring against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 12, 2007.

In 1984, Jack Morris threw a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox and the Tigers went on to win the World Series against the San Diego Padres. I'll be curious to see if the Tigers can duplicate the same success in 2011. Ironically, the Tigers started the season 9-0 which was the same score as Verlander's gem against the Blue Jays.

I'm glad that Tom Gores will be the new owner of the Detroit Pistons and they'll be playing at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

I don't expect to see Gores make many major changes during his first season as owner with perhaps just a coaching switch. I believe that Joe Dumars will have at least one season to get the team headed in the right direction, perhaps two at the most.

But I have a strong feeling inside that Gores will hire Earvin "Magic" Johnson to be another voice with the franchise either as Dumars future replacement or as a key part of the front office. In October of 2010, Johnson sold his minority ownership stake of the Los Angeles Lakers. Since Gores and Johnson are former Michigan State Spartans and have plenty of ties to the state of Michigan, in addition to them becoming millionaires in Southern California, this makes too much sense to see them work together.

With Larry Bird agreeing to stay with the Indiana Pacers and see his rebuilding project through, I could see Johnson and Bird working in the front offices of their respective home states trying to build elite teams. We all know that Johnson and Bird will always be linked to the Michigan State/Indiana State 1979 NCAA title game with the Spartans prevailing. Perhaps, we could see Michigan and Indiana in the limelight again but in Pro Basketball. Johnson and Bird in the same division intrigues me.

Finally, the Detroit Lions have created the "Monsters of Motown" when they drafted Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley with their first round pick, 13th overall. With last year's pick Ndamukong Suh coming back for his second season, this has the makings of a legendary defensive tackle combination.

I have two words for opposing quarterbacks. Good Luck! They better be fast to escape these beasts.

If Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford can stay healthy with his new offensive weapons, this team has a lot to look forward to, especially after winning their final four games in 2010.

Back in 1979, all four teams struggled. Nowadays, Detroit fans have much more to look forward to.

Scott Morganroth's blog can be seen at http://www.scottsports33.com/ and he can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com.

Best Detroit Team?

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

I'll never forget the first time I saw my name get published.

In 1979, my close friend and adopted brother George Eichorn asked me to write a few paragraphs commenting on what was wrong with all of the Detroit teams because at that time they were all struggling.

Eichorn was asking me to do him a favor and I did it.

A week later, "He Kept His Word" by publishing those comments that appeared in the Detroit Monitor and I was extremely excited!

By keeping his word, that taught me the one core value that has served me well in my lifetime and has built an unbelievable relationship with undoubtedly the closest person in my life!

Now 31 years later, we've seen the Detroit Tigers, Pistons and Red Wings win titles. The Lions haven't made it to a Super Bowl, but thanks to them and Eichorn, I've been to four.

Back in 1979, the economy was in lousy shape and nowadays, the Detroit area has been slowed due to the recession.

With that said, it's time to look at what Detroit team is headed in the best direction as I did in 1979 when I was an intern working with Eichorn at WXYZ Radio.

Despite their ouster in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Red Wings have been to the post-season 25 of the past 27 years, plus won four championships in 11 seasons. The Red Wings have made the playoffs for 19 straight years.

As evidenced by the contract extensions to General Manager Ken Holland and his assistant Jim Nill, the Red Wings are in excellent hands with their front office.

In Ken Holland, we trust.

If the NHL hadn't incorporated a salary cap, who knows how many more titles the Red Wings would have won? We know that Owner Mike Illitch has deep pockets and has used his checkbook well to acquire the necessary players to make the team winners on the ice as well as marketable on NBC plus a popular draw at opposing arenas around the country.

The Red Wings did win a Stanley Cup after the salary cap was implemented and reached the Finals in a tremendous two year stretch facing the Pittsburgh Penguins and star Sidney Crosby.

But as long as Detroit has Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, and rookie goaltender Jimmy Howard matures with experience to compliment the teams core players, the only problem the Red Wings will have is finding a first class facility to play their games. This is why former Pistons executive Tom Wilson was hired to coordinate this project and he'll continue to hire his former teams administrators to handle things in a first class manner.

After the departure of Curtis Granderson and Placido Polanco, I thought the Detroit Tigers would have a tough season.

But with the acquisitions of Austin Jackson, who has replaced Granderson in centerfield, Johnny Damon, Phil Coke all former New York Yankees, to compliment Miguel Cabrera, Brandon Inge, and Justin Verlander, there should be competitive baseball at Comerica Park this summer.

When the Tigers (25-19) signed Jose Valverde to replace Fernando Rodney, I knew this was a major upgrade.

As long as Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland remain in charge, the Tigers should be fine.

They looked good winning five of seven games during a recent home stand against the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. It helps that they play in the AL Central Division and not the AL East where they'd have to face the Yankees, Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays 18 times each.

When a team gets rid of its popular public relations director as it did with the recent dismissal of Matt Dobek, that's bad!

But the Detroit Pistons, coming off a 27-52 record and no playoff appearance, have some major work to do on and off the court.

This years draft figures to be interesting.

Former Coaches Flip Saunders and Doug Collins have the top two draft choices with the Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76'ers respectively. It's obvious that they'll draft a player the Pistons need.

Joe Dumars can't afford to make a mistake with the seventh overall pick. There can't be a repeat of not taking a Carmelo Anthony in favor of Darko Milicic.

If the Pistons regress further, it will be a sad sight to see the Palace of Auburn Hills 50% full. It's sad even thinking that there would even be discussions of them leaving this first class facility to move downtown. How do you leave a first class venue?

This team needs to be sold to an owner that cares ASAP!

If Dumars wants to keep his job, there better be some significant improvement immediately.

With the declining condition of the franchise, the new owner should be able to get a bargain basement price for the team and the Palace.

Late Pistons Owner William Davidson must be turning over in his grave at Clover Hill Park Cemetery.

Two victories in 32 games is embarrassing.

Despite the enthusiasm of the past two drafts, once these draft choices mature, plus Martin Mayhew and Jim Schwartz perform their "Complete Makeover" of the franchise, there will be reasons to be excited about the Detroit Lions.

If the Lions win at least five games, then the crowds will be 80-90% full.

Thankfully they're in Detroit because in any other sports market, their futility would lead to crowds of 50-60% attendance and a lot more local blackouts.

The Lions have to be fortunate that they at least are featured on Thanksgiving once a year and that this game hasn't been taken away because they started this tradition when no other team wanted it. But if they want to keep the game, they better improve and be competitive on this holiday.

More importantly, if they ever want to see more national telecasts on Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights, things have to change to get consideration from NBC, ESPN and the NFL Network.

Being one of four teams to not reach a Super Bowl plus having just one conference championship appearance in franchise history will hang over their heads until fortunes change.

For Detroit fans, hopefully it changes quickly. The Michigan Wolverines and MSU Spartans have shown over the years that Southeastern Michigan Gridiron Fans flock through the turnstiles.

Once upon a time, Barry Sanders and company filled the Pontiac Silverdome's 80,000 plus. It's time to see Ford Field get jammed and nobody will care about traffic on the Lodge Freeway, I-94 and I-75.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen on www.scottsports33.com.

Great Memories With FIU's Isiah Thomas

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

Whenever FAU and FIU meet in any sport, this is a nice intense rivalry between these two schools separated by an hour drive off the Florida Turnpike.

The Shula Bowl adds a nice ending to the football season while in baseball both universities have produced a lot of professional baseball prospects.

During the past two weeks, the basketball programs met and even though FAU defeated FIU both times, this series figures to get interesting in years to come.

On January 30, 2010, in Boca Raton, FIU Golden Panthers Coach Isiah Thomas made his first appearance in Palm Beach County.

For myself, it was an opportunity to be reunited with a guy that I worked with when I covered the Detroit Pistons for the Detroit Monitor during their Bad Boys era in the late 1980's and 1990's which won two NBA Championships.

Before the game, Thomas and I spent time talking about the good old days of how his team's defensive physical style of basketball changed how the game is being played today. We also talked about personalities like Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman and the battles Detroit faced at the famed Boston Garden.

It was a great reunion for us and the crowds were much bigger than they were on this night. At the Palace of Auburn Hills, 21,454 fans jammed the building and the electricity was tremendous.

The FAU Arena was buzzing as well but the crowd was considerably smaller. FAU sold the game out as 2,916 turned out, in addition to filling the suites, media requests which increased the total to nearly 5,000.

Before the game, Thomas and I talked about the difference in the two arenas and we both agreed that basketball is basketball regardless of how big the building is.

On this night, FAU Athletic Director Craig Angelos was gleaming because he knows that there aren't many occasions that an opposing coach will sign autograph posters to frame and exhibit in his athletic department.

Naturally, he was pleased with the attendance to watch an opposing coach who also won an NCAA National Championship at Indiana in 1981 for the legendary Bobby Knight.

As for the game, FAU won round one 106-88 and judging by the way the Golden Panthers were playing, I got the feeling that Thomas, the Hall of Fame point guard, was going to go to the FIU locker room and put on his No. 11 jersey to show his team how things needed to be done.

Oh well, it was nice to dream!

But it was evident that Thomas was out coached by FAU's high profile coach Mike Jarvis. Last year, Jarvis had to experience a difficult first season as the Owls finished the campaign 6-26.

While FAU has turned things around this season with a 14-13, 10-6 record and is 2-0 against Thomas, with the most recent win occurring in Miami on February 18, 77-74, despite Isiah's 7-22, 4-12 record, this rivalry figures to get better as both teams recruit better players.

Meanwhile, Thomas and Jarvis have found fresh starts in South Florida after their departures from New York.

Jarvis was fired by St. Johns University on December 19, 2003 due in part to a series of off-court incidents.

Thomas had an unsuccessful tenure with the New York Knicks from 2003-2009 as an executive and head coach.

Both have traded the limelight & subways for the sunshine to begin their challenges of turning mid major schools into regular NCAA Tournament participants. They've earned all of their millions and are now in the "Been There And Done That Club."

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be read at www.scottsports33.com.