I returned from my gloomy sports weekend in Pittsburgh and jacked my little weenus all day Monday (not at the table, Carlos!) trying to figure out how/when I would start writing again. It was a tough weekend for my ego, my liver, my knuckles, and this blog:  Being in Pittsburgh drinking away my sorrows and punching in dry walls while two of my esteemed sports teams decide to lose three out of a possible four to the very city I'm visiting does not bode well for any of the aforementioned things (by the way, thanks to John for picking up the slack with a few great posts, as usual).  Anyway, it's late Monday night and I'm finally feeling up to the task, I think.  I just popped two tylenols and I'm ready to kick this little hangover to the curb.

Despite the losses, I left the city of Pittsburgh with my head held high.  Most city's have teams that are completely irrelevant, so it still felt good knowing Detroit would have a first place MLB team and an NHL team that most would still refer to as being a dynasty in the past 12 seasons win or lose against Pittsburgh this past weekend.  I will admit that Sunday bruised the ego a little as the Penguins were at PNC with the Stanley Cup and the Pirates were commemorating their 1909 World Series victory over the Detroit Tigers by having the two teams wear throwback jerseys.

At any rate, I'll take my city of Detroit teams over Pittsburgh's any time of the week and twice on Tuesdays.  I don't care if the Steelers win Super Bowls and the Penguins won this year,  we're Detroit4lyfe for a reason.

The next big move for the Red Wings will almost undoubtedly concern the future of Marian Hossa.  After losing the Stanley Cup to the team he denied an extension from, Detroit has a big decision to make as to whether or not they will re-sign him longterm.  While it was almost a guarantee before the playoffs, Hossa's inability to put the puck in the net in the latter stages of the playoffs might have the Red Wings reconsidering how badly they want to lock Hossa up for multiple years. Personally, I think the Wings would be crazy not to want him back and they should, by all means, get him to re-sign.  If seeing the team you rejected a contract  with walk away with the Cup you so desperately wanted when signing with Detroit isn't enough motivation for Hossa to play out of his mind during next season's playoffs, then I don't know what would.  Re-sign the man and let's get him the Cup in 2010.

As for the Tigers, they cling to a three game lead over the Minny Twinkies in the Central Division after dropping two of three in Pittsburgh.  I can't say I was excited about the pitching match ups for Saturday and Sunday's games seeing as Armando Galarraga and Dontrelle Willis were on the bump.  They disappointed as most are beginning to expect from the two and, sure enough, the Tigers lost.  It will be interesting to see what Detroit decides to do with the latter 2/5 of their starting rotation.  It's looking more and more like Zach Miner might get another shot at starting while Willis either accepts a Minor League option or gets clipped for good.  No matter what the Tigers do, something desperately needs to change there.  If I were Dave Dombrowski, I would be on the horn, around the clock, trying to figure out if there are any trade options available.  I have to believe there is something out there that's better than letting the animated Willis run out there every five days and fail to hit the broadside of a barn, pitch after pitch.  I love his energy, but I like pitchers who throw strikes a lot more.

Thankfully we won't have to see either of those two when the Tigers have their three game set that begins Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.  Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson, and Rick Porcello are all scheduled to pitch for the Tigers this series.  If they pitch as well as they have lately, the Tigers will almost certainly be sweeping their way back to Comerica Park.  In the three's last 61.1 IP (spanning their last 9 combined starts) they have a combined 2.20 ERA and a 5-1 record.

General State of the Blog Update:

With the Red Wings being finished now, this blog will start to look a whole lot more like a strictly Tigers blog.  We will be having Tigers live blogs, analysis, and cinnamon because Tigers love cinnamon, but don't feel discouraged if the Tigers are not your bag.  As other stories develop with the other Detroit teams and creative ideas come to mind those will be posted as well.  Stick with us on it, though.  If you'd like to discuss the state of the Pistons (draft coming up), Red Wings, Lions, or Michigan's fine college sports teams please feel free to bring up your thoughts, ideas, etc. in our Forum. You can also discuss general sports stuff in the forum as well, so take advantage of that luxury.  Do it....Do it.

And finally, for some comedic relief, here's the (UK) trailer to the hilarious movie The Hangover. I plan on seeing it for a second time sometime this week.

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