SECTION C

April 7-13, 2010

All about pitching for Tigers

By Leland Stein III

One of the most anticipated Detroit Tigers

opening days in recent memory is about to happen this Friday.

There are so many questions, concerns,

hopes and possibilities it is like rolling dice in a Detroit or Las Vegas gambling hall. You have no idea how it will all turn out. Will we see a glorious return to the magnificent 2006 campaign? Or will the Tigers produce another break your heart season?

Question, questions and more questions is

how I see the 2010 season unfolding. I’m a help- less optimist and I can only personally project that the Tigers will “work it out” and give us a real run at Major League Baseball glory during the upcoming season.

It all starts Friday where the Tigers can begin

to erase the sour memories and taste they left in the mouths and hearts of their faithful fol- lowers last year.

The Tigers took all on a magic carpet ride

last year that fell out the sky inches from the hoped for destination. Their effort had all on the edge of their seats as they went down to the wire with Minnesota. Eventually they lost a close one-game elimination season-ending contest to the Twins.

Most were enraged that the Tigers squan-

dered a large lead. I do not feel that way. In my humble opin- ion no one even expect- ed the Tigers to contend. Sure, when a team gets that

close

In the Game

By Leland Stein III

and blows it, it leaves them open for in- terrogation. I tend to look at last season as an over- achievement, e s p e c i a l l y with all the

injuries to the pitching staff. We have seen what baseball is all about and

it will not change this year. It will come down to pitching and more pitching. It will be all about the starters and the relievers. Sure we need the batters to come up with clutch hits and timely at bats. A good team needs both hitting and pitching to challenge for a MLB title.

However, it will rest on the uncertain pitching

staff that the Tigers have kept on it’s opening day 24-person roster to carry the major burden of its hopes for a title contending season.

DONTRELLE WILLIS made the five-man starting rotation. – Dan Graschuck photos

“I’m confident with the roster we have that

this team will produce on the field,” manger Jim Leyland told reporters. “The pitchers have shown that they are big league players and if that holds true they will give us the kind of starts that will give us a chance at a win each night.”

The starting five pitching staff is set with

Justin Verlander as the team’s would-be ace, sophomore Rick Porcello is set as the number two man, and newly acquired Max Scherzer has become a third man in the rotation.

The fourth and fifth starters, Dontrelle Willis and Jeremy Bonderman, both are huge

Kennedy named team MVP

Senior Thomas Kennedy (Detroit,

Southeastern) was strong and steady for two years in a Titan uniform and on Thursday, the Detroit native was named the team MVP as the Titans celebrated a successful season at the annual team banquet. The event was held at Buddy’s Restaurant Pizzeria in Farmington Hills.

Kennedy actually took home two

awards on the night as he was the recipi- ent of not only the Robert Calihan Most Valuable Player, but also the Frank R. Gerbig Sr. Sportsmanship Award. He av- eraged 11.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting over 45 percent from the field and 70 percent from the free throw line. He was the only Titan to start all 34 games this season. In his career, Kennedy averaged 11.4 ppg., playing in 64 games with 63 starts, with his only re- serve role coming in his first game in a Titan uniform when he netted a team-high 18 points at nationally ranked Purdue.

“He is a great guy with high charac-

ter,” said head coach Ray McCallum. “He is a winner and he has played a huge role in getting this program back on top. He came from a great junior college program where he was an All-American on the court and his leadership, the way he car- ries himself and the respect he has from his teammates, coaches and staff make him an All-American off the court too.”

Sophomore Chase Simon (Detroit,

Community) earned the John R. Kirwan Leading Scorer Award after he led the Titans with 14.0 points per game en route to being selected to the All-Horizon League second team as well as to the All- Newcomer team. Simon finished 10th in the league in scoring and third in scoring (15.6) in conference games alone. He tal- lied double digits 26 times and had eight games of 20+ points, including a pair of 30+ point explosions. He had a career- high 33 at Milwaukee, the third highest scoring output in the HL this season and the highest in league play, as well as 30 against Loyola.

“He is a guy that can score in so many

ways and we saw that this season,” said McCallum. “He can shoot the three, he can go to the basket and he can get to the free throw line so that is what you want out of your top scorer. He really displayed his offensive ability in Spain, where at times he just took over and scored in bunches and we saw that in a few games during the regular season.”

Sophomore Donavan Foster (Chicago,

Curie) was tabbed the Dave DeBusschere Most Improved Player after the guard was one of the top Titan reserves. Foster posted 4.2 ppg., but the difference could be seen in his play as he had more assists than turnovers on the year, and improved his shooting from 32 percent as a fresh- man to 41 percent this season, which in- cludes his 3-point field goal percentage,

THOMAS KENNEDY on the court.

going from 21 percent to 44 percent. “We saw his development over the

summer in Spain and once we got back to campus. He is confident and competed so hard for us as a sophomore, a season where a lot of times guys take a step back- wards,” stated McCallum.

The William Ebben Academic and Ath-

letic Excellence Award was given to soph- omore Jordan Fee (Grove City, PA/Grove City). Fee once again proved his worth off the court as the walk-on guard provided valuable work ethic and energy through- out the season to every practice, while earning high marks in the classroom.

“Jordan does all the work that no one

gets to see,” added McCallum. “He heads up our scout team and really does a tre- mendous job in learning our opponents and making the team better in practice with his hard work.”

The final two honors of the night went

to sophomore Eli Holman (Richmond, CA/ Richmond) as the Titan center earned the Norm Swanson Top Newcomer Award as well as the Larry Doyle Most Dedicated Titan accolade. Holman averaged 11.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game while coming away with 11 double-doubles on the season. He was in double figures in scoring 22 times, pulled down double digits in rebounds 12 times and recorded

three or more blocks 14 times. He is the conference leader in two single game sta- tistics with his six blocks against Shaw- nee State and at Loyola and his 18 re- bounds vs. Milwaukee. His 2.5 blocks per game led the Horizon League, while his 77 total blocks were the fourth most in a single season in UDM history.

“He was recognized by the coaches in

this league with his selection to the All- Newcomer team and he had just a great season for us,” said McCallum. “He has waited patiently for almost two years to start his college career and he handled that well. The success he had this season, especially at the end of the year, shows how hard he has worked and how far he has come.

The evening started with an Invoca-

tion by University President Fr. Gerard L. Stockhausen, S.J. After dinner, Director of Athletics Keri Gaither opened the pro- gram.

Coach McCallum continued the night

by recognizing all of his support staff before handing out the team awards. The seniors then had time to reflect on their career with the annual Senior Speeches. Coach McCallum talked about the Titan season and the promising future ahead before Gaither concluded the banquet with some final remarks.

question marks. Both were basically out all of last season with assorted injuries, but they were at least serviceable during spring training. With these two men the direction of the team is heavily weighted on their shoulders.

The starters must flow through the game

for at least six innings, while giving up three or fewer earned runs. Anything less will be a disaster for the team, because this team in its present form will not overwhelm anyone with its bats. That’s why the backend of the rota- tion, Willis and Bonderman, are the keys to a season full of questions.

On thing for sure is the Tigers will look like a

very different team in 2010. Gone is fan favorite and All-Star center fielder Curtis Granderson, 28, along with starting pitcher Edwin Jackson, 26. Taking Granderson’s place is a rookie with no big-league experience, Austin Jackson, the new center fielder and leadoff batter.

All-Star second baseman Placido Polanco

was allowed to leave via free agency to the Philade phia Phillies. His replacement, Scott Sizemore, has no more experience in the

MAGGLIO ORDONEZ needs to hit around .300.

majors than Jackson. Who knows what he will do for a 162 game Big League season?

Also sent packing was reliable pitcher Nate

Robertson, who was dealt to the Florida Mar- lins.

Also important will be the effort of the relief

pitchers. Will Joel Zumaya finally produce on all that potential? Can he be the closer that Fer- nando Rodney was last year? Rodney is gone, so it’s Zumaya or bust.

Questions and more questions are what the

Tigers face in this 2010 campaign. Opening day will not answer them all, but it will give us a glimpse of what we will have to endure over the next 161 games.

Leland Stein can be reached at lelstein3@

aol.com..

Metro Detroit Bowling Leagues

By Arvis Perry

It was a beautiful day in

Motown, Tuesday, March 16, 2010…62 degrees, bright sunny skies and “Thunder,” that’s right folks “Thunder.” I am speaking of the thunder of bowling, and it all went down at Bronco Lanes. I was lucky enough to witness an old school brawl between the “Hot Rods” and “Wilcox Snow Re- moval.” This was the last two weeks of the Bronco Mixed Traveling Bowling League.

The action started shortly

after 6 p.m. with neither team giving an inch. It was quite a joy watching them go after their rivals. Each team was ex- hausted and seemed relieved that they wouldn’t have to bowl against each other for a while. The team captain of the Hot Rods, Denise Thompson, had recently rallied her team to first place after being nudged out by Wilcox Snow Removal. Team captain Donald Wilcox of Wilcox Snow Removal was serious and looking to regain his teams first place seating.

As the battle continued I de-

cided to not be a distraction to the softshoe gladiators, know-

ing how serious some bowl- ers can be. It was a fun-filled night and I wanted to take in all of it. I spoke with the owner of Bronco Lanes, Leroy Shep- herd, who has been the owner since 2007. He says they have league bowling at Bronco Lanes seven days a week and has over ten teams competing. The Hot Rods gave it their all, but, being that Donald Wilcox has been bowling most of his life and has an average of 223, he and his team came out the victors within one pin.

Wilcox Snow Removal took

two games with a total score of 2615 combined, and the Hot Rods trailed with 2614. The first place winning team of Wilcox Snow Removal con- sisted of Donald Wilcox, Tina Wilcox, Nisha Wilcox, Darryl Wilcox and Earl Moore. The second place team consisted of Denise Thompson, Lauren McGee, Kenneth Walker, Stacy Thompson and Ronnie O’Neal with their scorekeeper Thomas Robertson.

Until next time, keep your

bowling ball in the alley and your mind out of the gutter. See you next time, bowling fans.

Golfweek acquires wire services

Golfweek magazine – the

publication preferred by se- rious golfers – recently an- nounced its acquisition of three Golf Press Association wire services: The Golf Wire, The Apparel Wire and The Tour Van. Effective April 1, the deal places Golfweek at the helm of the golf industry’s most-read news distribution services.

While the structure and ev-

eryday operations of each news agency will remain unchanged, the acquisition brings about

significant growth, both for the wire services’ reach and for Golfweek’s rapidly bur- geoning multimedia portfolio.

By leveraging Golfweek’s

extensive print, digital and mobile networks, custom pub- lishing operations, events and research assets, the newly ac- quired news agencies will be able to substantially expand their subscriber-bases and provide even better coverage of the U.S. and global golf mar- kets.

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