The Sports Scene

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTOS BY CANDICE EBLING

There is hope for the Chicago Cubs as long droughts do come to an end.

Ask LA Dodgers Outfielder Yasiel Puig, as he became the first Dodger with three triples in a game in 103 years.

Puig accomplished this feat in the Dodgers 8-0 thrashing of the San Francisco Giants Friday Night at AT&T Park in The Bay Area. He went 4-5 with his other hit being a double.

Puig's three triples in one game tied a modern major league record held by 44 other men.

Just to name a few, these players include Hall Of Famers Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Joe DiMaggio, Ernie Banks, Nap Lajoie, Charlie Gehringer and Earl Combs.

Shoeless Joe Jackson also recorded three triples in one game.

The Greatest Broadcaster of All-Time is returning for his 66th season in 2015 for the Dodgers.

Vin Scully named Puig "The Wild Horse" and this is one of the reasons This Great American Broadcasting Treasure is returning.

When Scully began with the Brooklyn Dodgers, there were only 16 teams playing Major League Baseball with two reaching the playoffs. Now there are 30 teams with more multiple tiers to reach the World Series.

There aren't enough words to describe Scully's return, but I'll use a few: Unbelievable, Tremendous and Awesome Baby!

From two LA Story lines to a third.

I'm glad that Shelley Sterling was able to defeat her Racist soon to be ex-husband Donald in the courtroom Monday, which paves the way for the Clippers to be sold for $2 Billion to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

The NBA was smart to stay in the background and patiently wait until the legal process played out. The NBAPA also did a nice job remaining low-keyed and not pressing the matter.

I don't need to pile on and hammer Donald Sterling because he hung himself.

But one thing which infuriates me was how he had the nerve to drag Magic Johnson into the controversy.

I've always believed that Magic Johnson was one of two players that saved the NBA when he entered the league in 1980 after winning an NCAA Championship for the Michigan State Spartans.

He's an LA Icon and was the Ringleader for The Showtime LA Lakers which won five championships.

He's part of the LA Dodgers ownership group and has succeeded in many other business ventures.

I've always been told that you have to know when to pick your battles.

Sterling shouldn't have picked a battle with Johnson and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made this clear when he banned Donald for life and also apologized to Johnson for Sterling's thunderous tongue.

I'm very delighted that LeBron James decided to return to Cleveland.

Writing an essay to Sports Illustrated instead of holding a Press Conference or TV Show was a great move.

Whether Cleveland wins it's first championship since 1964 when the Browns celebrated remains to be seen. Winning a championship will definitely get him a statue in multiple places.

I have no problem with James wearing his No. 23 Jersey because that's what he's known for. I actually hope that the Cavaliers charge more money for his jersey, especially to those knuckleheads that burned it before when he signed with the Miami Heat.

In an ESPN.com article, James tried to justify to Michael Jordan about wearing the No.23.

Jordan took the high road and didn't care.

James said, "There would be no LeBron James, No Kobe Bryant, No Dwyane Wade if there wasn't Michael Jordan first."

Part of this is true, but LeBron needs a History Lesson because without Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird, there would be no Michael Jordan.

Has LeBron ever heard of the words Tape Delay?

The NBA Finals were broadcast on Tape Delay on CBS before Magic and Larry entered the league.

I remember watching these games after work when I was employed by The Highland House Restaurant in Michigan during the late 1970's.

I remember a segment on Mike and Mike In The Morning on ESPN 2 about Cities With Long Championship Droughts.

Somehow, Milwaukee was brought up because the Bucks won a title in 1971.

For some reason, I think Milwaukee should be left out of this for a couple reasons.

First, years ago, The Green Bay Packers used to play a few home games at the now demolished County Stadium.

Second, the Packers have an office in Milwaukee and have season ticket holders from the Metro Area.

The Green Bay Packers are the team for All of Wisconsin.

Finally, Speaking of the Bucks, they had a great pick by snapping up Duke's Jabari Parker, No. 2 overall in June. There is no doubt in my mind that new Bucks Coach Jason Kidd will do an excellent job mentoring Parker, who apparently tanked a workout so Cleveland wouldn't draft him.

Parker wanted to play in Milwaukee which is 1 1/2 hours north of his hometown of Chicago. He got his wish! Parker will have company in Milwaukee, as former Duke Assistant Coach Steve Wojciechowski is the head coach of Marquette. I have a feeling that Parker will get some practice time with his former coach which can only add to his support system as he launches his NBA Career.

Now he's the cornerstone of the franchise, which needs a desperate shot in the arm.

This team needs to win quick to build enthusiasm so it will make it easier for the new owners to get a stadium built.

I don't see many young or veteran players that are clamoring to play in Milwaukee. Back in the early 1970's Kareem Abdul Jabbar wanted to leave and play in a major market.

It will be interesting to see if James and Parker can utilize their skills and drawing power to make these smaller markets appealing to recruit other players. Winning, not major markets can also lead to landing future endorsement opportunities.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.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.