The Novi Information Network
   By the People, for the People, since 1998

 

 Front Page
 News
 Opinions
 Sports
 Business

 
 Features
  
About Novi
  
Business Directory
  
Government
  
Images of Novi
  Interior Line (FD)
  
Inside Novi High
  
Lansing Connection
  
Local Links
  Mayor's Column
  
Off the Cuff (PD)
  
Restaurants
  
Schools

  
Speaking of Sports
  Worship Guide
 
 Website
 
About Us
 
Advertise
 
Contact Us
 
Donate
 
Help Wanted
 
Privacy Policy

 

Sports
 

Complete coverage of your Novi Wildcats

 

 

Sports News

Wildcat Soccer edges out Brighton Bulldogs 2-1
9/2/10  MORE

Freshman Football Loses First Home Game to WLW 25-32
9/2/10  MORE

Novi's Dustin Gazley and Trevor Nill lead State's hockey team
9/1/10  MORE

Wildcat Freshman Football Lose Game Opener to Harrison
8/30/10  MORE

Novi Men's Cross Country takes 2nd at South Lyon Invitational
8/29/10  MORE

Harrison defeats Novi Football in season opener 24-7
8/28/10  MORE

Novi CC runs over Dearborn Fordson 35-0 in season opener
8/28/10  MORE

Novi Soccer defeats Ann Arbor Huron 2-1 in season opener
8/22/10  MORE

Novi teen first since 1994 to make tennis nationals
8/12/10  MORE

Novi Varsity Football team size declines by over 50%
8/10/10  MORE

Local Karate kids (and Adults) receive some National Honors
8/10/10  MORE

Brandon Cigna finishes forth in Tournament of Champions
7/29/10  MORE

Novi resident Drew Bulbuk on the upcoming Detroit Lions season
7/20/10  MORE

Novi Pom Teams Grand Champs; Taylor Boron Earns Award!
7/1/10  MORE

Novi's Zach Trotman drafted by Boston Bruins
6/26/10  MORE


Novi Sports Links

Novi Athletic Boosters
Wildcat Team Schedules
 


Are your results missing? Want to add
photos? Email the info or pics to us.
We post everything we can find...
 

 

 

 

Speaking
of Sports

 

by Alex Prasad

 

A Belated Thank You
to Pudge Rodriguez

August 29, 2010

Thank you Ivan Rodriguez. That was my reaction to the news that Johnny Damon was invoking his no-trade clause, deciding to stay with the Tigers for the rest of the 2010 season instead of returning to the Boston Red Sox. Even though you had a maddening propensity for swinging at fastballs above you head with two strikes and runners in scoring position, thank you Pudge. Why thank Pudge? In many ways, he’s the one that started this recent era of Tigers respectability.

We all remember the Lions famous 0-16 2008 season. It was an embarrassing four months. The first winless team since the NFL switched to a 16 game regular season schedule. It got so ugly, the NFL blocked customers from buying a customized Lions jersey with the name “Owen” on the back and 16 as the number. As the losses piled up, the joke became more and more macabre.

But do you remember 2003? Specifically the six months from April to October? That was even worse. The Tigers went 43-119 that season, the worse season in American league history, and the second most losses ever, one short of the 42-120 mark the 1962 Mets set. Also in 2003 the Florida Marlins won the World Series, with Pudge Rodriguez catching for the young team.  The following offseason, Pudge shocked the baseball world: he took the money and ran. From the best team in baseball to the worst team in baseball, Pudge embraced the challenge (and money) of improving on a historically bad record.

Rondell White, Carlos Guillen (via trade and a resigning) and Ugeth Urbina followed. Soon other major stars followed in Rodriguez’s footsteps; the next year the Tigers traded for Placido Polanco, resigned him, and added Troy Percival and Magglio Ordonez to the fold. It all paid off for those players, all in dollars and for some, when they reached the 2006 World Series. The last few years haven’t been as rosy, but the Tigers are now considered a disappointment when they don’t contend for a playoff berth, a vast improvement in expectations over just three years previous when Tigers fans celebrated as the Tigers won their final game, and avoided the shame of sharing the title of worst team in MLB history.

Perhaps an even greater measure of how far the Tigers have come, and how much we owe to Pudge is Johnny Damon’s recent insistence that he stay in Detroit. He claims that he loves Detroit, and has “always” wanted to play here. I doubt Damon believed that before Pudge blazed the trail, but I don’t doubt that he believes it now. Neither does Scott Miller of CBSSports, who quizzed Damon extensively during spring training to see if his devotion to Detroit was genuine.

Detroit sports fans are a finicky bunch. We want our players to be loyal (see Brandon Inge), not necessarily talented (see Sergey Federov). We want our players to be passionate (see Rasheed Wallace), not too cool to practice (see Allen Iverson). We want our players to love us as much as we love them. Damon at least at this moment reciprocates that love, to the jealous chagrin of spoiled “we are the center of the baseball universe” Bostonians such as Dan Shaughnessy. Damon’s attitude has worn off on recent acquisition Jhonny Peralta as well.

Whether or not Damon gets to return to the Tigers next year comes down to dollars and cents, something not worth speculating about this early. We should however have the sense to thank Damon for his loyalty, something in short supply these days in professional sports.  But don’t forget to thank Pudge. It was he that showed this day was possible.


Other Recent Columns:
Sky's not falling on Novi Football
Spectacular Spring Ends With a Bang
Novi Track Wraps Up Successful Spring in Rockford
June 3, 2010 - a day that will be remembered
Novi Track sends huge contingent
Are We There Yet?  “LeBron Mania” is here to stay
Never say never, ever
Changing the Sports Media Landscape
We've seen this before
A Cliché Worth Repeating
Spring sports preview: Baseball and Track and Field
Spring sports preview: Women’s Softball; Men’s Golf
Bernie sends greetings from Vegas
Shawn Hunwick
Winter was still with Wildcats
Moving On Up: Blaszczyk and Egner
Why Hoosiers can't happen in Michigan
A new outlet for sports passion
Novi’s Gargantuan Sporting Footprint
The underestimated power of sports
Bernie's farewell
Shamrock radio
Never say never

Previous Columns


Alex Prasad is a life-long Michigan resident, a student at the University of Michigan and a 2007 graduate of Novi High School. He was the Novi.org school and sports reporter while he was at NHS. Alex was also a captain of the NHS Cross Country Team and Track Team under legendary coach Bob Smith. His passion for running continues to this day, as he trains for a marathon.

Alex is currently General Manager of WOLV-TV, the student run television station at UM, and produces shows on both the Michigan Football and Michigan Hockey teams. You can also see his work on Big Ten Network coverage of Michigan baseball and softball this spring.

You can see more of his work
here.