SECTION C


July 28-Aug. 3, 2010


Johnson’s unique style acknowledged Detroiter keeps ‘rising and firing’ as announcer


By Leland Stein III Basketball is a fast-moving game and De-


troiter Gus Johnson is proving to be just as fast in recounting and presenting the rhythm and flow of the hardcourt’s action as any an- nouncer on the national stage. Great moments become memorable and extraordinary with Johnson at the mike.


There is a large and growing body of basket-


ball aficionados who would say Johnson is ar- guably the most entertaining play-by-play man in sports. He could make watching grass grow compelling and enjoyable.


COMMENTARY I’ve been around every aspect of basketball


— as a player, coach, fan and now a writer and I think I qualify as an enthusiast and connois- seur I can truly say Johnson brings flavor to my ear with his unique style, and I’m not alone in feeling that way.


“He’s got a great voice and it is custom made


for basketball,” CBS basketball color man Clark Kellogg told me. “He captures the rhythm and flow of a basketball game in a very unique way. Every vibe I’m getting is that people really love his style.”


Added Greg Kelser the Pistons and Big Ten


Network play-by-play man: “He makes the game exciting and he has a great set of pipes. Plus he is always prepared and he has excellent energy. I enjoy just listening to him.”


Kelser


Kellogg and have


Gus Johnson


worked with Johnson and each told me he is easy to work with and has a special way that makes feel


them like they BILL RAFTERY (left) and Gus Johnson doing EA Sports video.


are at home sitting on a sofa, drinking a soda and talking about the game.


There is a growing body that feels just as


Kelser, Kellogg and I, and surely they are the ones that matter, as CBS Sports, Showtime, Madison Square Garden Network, the Big Ten Network, and the Detroit Lions Television Net- work have all enlisted Johnson’s pipes.


Johnson, 42, is among a long list of men


from the Detroit area that are out on the na- tional basketball stage as announcers and ana- lysts — Jalen Rose, Chris Webber, Grant Long, Steve Smith and Kelser, to name a few.


Johnson told me in our interview that he


thinks being an athlete has helped him un- derstand and appreciate what it takes to com- pete at a high level both on the field and in the booth.


A product of Detroit St. Cecilia from grades 1


through 8, Johnson then went to Detroit Jesuit High School, where he displayed his athletic prowess as an All Catholic League quarterback,


What’s wrong with doing the right thing?


By Leland Stein III I am out on an island by


myself? Recently at ESPN’s annual sports awards cer- emony the ESPY Awards Tigers pitcher Armando Galar- raga and umpire Jim Joyce appeared together to give an award.


Now I’m all for teamwork


and fair play, but what is fair about wrong? Instead of Galar- raga going down in history, the umpire is the one who is on the national stage for being wrong. How is that right?


Yeah, it’s been since June


2 when Galarraga tossed that perfect game and Spain has been crowned World Cup champion, but I still have issues. I think it is safe to say technology has improved the quality of life for everyone in the world. Who among us will proclaim, “Let’s not use tech- nology to make airplanes safer or cars more efficient?” No one


Armando Galarraga – Dan Grashcuck photo


their collective sports. Now that the FIFA can look


back at all the horrendous calls and umpire mistakes, it is time to change the offi- ciating of one of the world’s greatest sporting events. That offside’s rule need to go the way of the Black Plague – gone forever.


I know it has been almost


two months for MLB to fix Galarraga’s perfect game. But there still is no action by that holier than thou MLB organi- zation to correct the mistake and it will never be.


I do not understand what In the Game By Leland Stein III


in their right mind I suspect. Technology has changed


the world in every way, except in Major League Baseball and the Federation of Internation- al Football. For some strange reason the hierarchy of both these older than Methuselah governing bodies are stuck in the so-called good old days of the 1950s in relation to their attitudes about


is wrong with right? Why is it wrong to be right? The Merri- am-Webster Dictionary defines right as: 1). acting or “judging in accordance with truth or fact,” 2) being in a “correct” or proper state, and 3) put things right. When will FIFA and MLB accept Merriam-Webster definition of “truth and fact”? Aren’t those honorable char- acteristics?


Instead of Detroit Tigers


pitcher Galarraga celebrating his earned perfect game, the first one in the Tigers’


long improving


history and only the 20th per- fect games in MLB history, umpire Joyce goes down in


Horne was in seventh place


history and is the story. Wow! Joyce later said it was the


biggest call of his career, and he got it wrong. “I just cost that kid a perfect game,” he said.


Isn’t that just great, an apol-


ogy makes it all right because wrong has been certified as right. Instead of MLB Commis- sioner Bud Selig stepping up and doing the right thing and certifying Galarraga’s perfect game, he sits back and holds on to some outdated 1950s good old boy ideology. There is no doubt the call at first base was wrong, even Joyce said so.


Selig and his cronies need


to join the 21st century and give Galarraga his perfect game, something that has only been done 20 times in the his- tory of the game.


In South Africa during the


2010 FIFA World Cup, referees continuously disallowed per- fectly fine goals. In that sport where one goal wins a game, how can the FIFA sit by and let wrong be right? Letting a bad call that affects the outcome of a games played every four years is preposterous!


A bad call almost cost the


USA a spot in the round of 16. Landon Donovan told reports after the game, “I don’t know how they stole that last goal from us. I’m not sure what the call was. He (the referee) wouldn’t tell us what the call was.”


Fortunately, Donovan’s


goal in the 91st minute gave the USA a 1-0 victory over Al- geria, 1-0. If the US would have lost they would be on their way home.


To MLB and FIFA, I’d say


there is nothing wrong with doing right. And as Webster noted “putting things right” and “correct” is the right thing to do.


Leland Stein can be reached at lelstein3@aol.com.


Horne earns 14th place At NCAA East Regional An unbelievable Titan


career came to an end on Friday as senior Brittany Horne (Okemos, MI/Okemos) took 14th place in the hammer at the NCAA Preliminary Round East Regional in Greensboro, NC. She just missed advancing to the NCAA Championships as her throw of 56.12m/184’1”, achieved on her first attempt of the day, was just .31m (a foot) behind 12th place, with the top 12 moving on to Oregon.


after her first throw, but fouled on her second as she slid to ninth. Her third toss was for 53.92m and she ended up foul- ing on her fourth and moved to 14th place. Her fifth throw came in at 54.12m, which maintained her 14th place status. In her final attempt, the Titan reared back for that extra effort but would end up fouling and standing pat for 14th.


The event marked the end


of a great career in the red, white and blue as Horne leaves UDM as the record holder in the hammer and outdoor shot put. She was named the Hori- zon League Outstanding Field Event Performer just a few weeks ago after winning the discus and the hammer at the league outdoor meet, the latter in a conference and school record (61.30m/201’ 1”).


guard on the basketball squad and as a first baseman and catcher on the baseball team.


Johnson told me he had a little game. I say he


had more than a little as he went on to Howard University and played catcher on the Bisons baseball team. He graduated from Howard with a degree in political science in 1990 and was a four-year letter winner on the baseball team. However, being the next senator or Elston Howard was put on hold after he graduated.


Johnson’s ascension was not entirely by ac-


cident as he told me that he was the student body president for the Liberal Arts College, worked in the sports department for the Hill Top school newspaper and worked in Howard’s affiliate television and radio mediums.


Feeling his passion as a sports announcer


after leaving Howard, Johnson was more than ready to endure the circuitous route it takes to elevate oneself to the level he now enjoys. First to Waco, Texas, working at KXXV-TV, then Huntsville, Alabama, to Winston-Salem, North


Carolina, and so it went. “I paid my dues,” Johnson said. “Since I was


young I was always put in positions to speak in front of groups. So it became natural to me and I decided that it would be wise to use the gifts God gave me after leaving Howard.”


Known in the basketball community as a


demonstrative and colorful announcer, John- son knows his style is not appreciated by all, noting, “There will always be haters no matter what you do, but you cannot pay attention to that. You have to just be you and let the chips fall where they may.


“When I first started, I had a friend tell me,


‘Let that little Black boy from Detroit out of its cage and you will find your voice as a broad- caster.’ I love Detroit and it is my home, so I thought about that and made a decision to just be me. I tell you, working in New York (Knicks radio for 14 years) you have to have thick skin, especially since the team is not doing so well lately.”


Johnson, who also is known for his play-by-


play coverage of CBS Sports’ March Madness, said he is extending himself as a businessman, too. He is venturing into an apparel company, “Rise and Fire,” and has a production and pub- lishing group called “Big Red Robot.”


Said Johnson: “I’m a Detroiter and my goal


is to have an impact on this community. This is where I got my drive to go for what I dreamed about and not be afraid to do it.”


Along with joining the Big Ten Network


for their basketball coverage in 2008, he also became Showtime Championship Boxing’s lead blow-by-blow caller, the play-by-play man alongside Bill Raftery in EA Sports NCAA Bas- ketball 10 and in 2010 it was announced that Johnson will be the first African-America play- by-play announcer for EA Sports Madden NFL 11.


“Man, I am thankful to John (Madden) that


I was chosen for the most popular video game in the country,” he said. “I suppose being that little boy from Detroit was a good thing for me.”


Leland Stein can be reached at lelstein3@ aol.com.


Touch’em All: Tigers Weekly Review


By Michael Niziolek “Obviously this isn’t the


way we wanted to start the second half,” Jim Leyland said.


The Detroit Tigers came out


of the All-Star break by drop- ping six straight games, which included four straight losses to the last place team in their division (Cleveland Indians). During the stretch the Tigers simply didn’t execute — they made numerous miscues in the field, on the base paths and at the plate.


Making matters worse? A


serious injury to one of their key everyday players.


Tough break, Brandon Inge


to miss time with hand injury. Tigers starting third baseman will miss four to six weeks with a non-displaced fracture of the fifth metacarpal bone in his left hand.


“I don’t like taking a day


off, four to six weeks is going to crush me,” Inge said.


The 33-year-old suffered


the injury after he was hit by a pitch last week (July 19) by Texas Rangers starter Scott Feldman. After hearing the diagnosis, Johnny Damon ad- mitted it wasn’t going to be easy replacing him in the line- up.


“There’s not to many play-


ers that can play third base like Brandon,” Damon said. “We knew his bat was going to come around soon and it’s just a tough break.”


Inge’s power numbers were


down this season after hitting 27 home runs in 2009 (tying a career high), but off-season surgery on his knees contrib- uted to his early season strug- gles. He said his legs were just starting to feel 100% for the first time this season before suffering the setback.


“It’s funny, Steve Carter,


one of our trainers, goes, ‘I bet your legs don’t hurt anymore, do they?/” Inge joked.


The Tigers called up Scott


Sizemore from Toledo and will platoon Sizemore, Don Kelly and Ryan Raburn at third for the time being.


No negativity here, play-


ers confident things will turn around. “Obviously we don’t like the way we started the second half, but we know we’re a good enough team to bounce back,” Damon said.


The Tigers outfielder con-


ceded the team has some things to work out, specifi-


BRANDON INGE WAS hitting .263 with six home runs and 40 RBIs before breaking a bone in his hand that will keep him out for at least a month.


cally, hitting better with run- ners in scoring position, but Damon thinks they will re- spond quickly and get things back on track.


The positive attitude in


the clubhouse had Brandon Inge confident that even with setbacks like his and Joel Zumaya’s injuries, Detroit wasn’t going to let the poor play snowball further into the summer.


“I think this is a stretch


that can take you in two dif- ferent directions and I know we’re not going to go in the negative direction,” Inge said. “This is one where we’re all going to mesh and come a little bit closer together as a group.”


Rounding the Bases


• First – Scott Sizemore was on a tear in the minor leagues before getting called up. He had a nine-game hit streak going. Tigers fans hope he can


bring that kind of lumber now that he is back in the bigs.


• Second – Miguel Cabrera’s 20-game hit streak that ended shortly after the All-Star break was the longest of his career and the longest of any Tiger batter this season.


• Third – It’s not even August and Miguel Cabrera has almost as many RBIs through the middle of July (83) as he did all last year (103). Cabrera is putting together one of the all- time best single season offen- sive performances in Tigers history.


• Home – Home is definitely where the heart is for the Tigers, through July 22 the club had the best record (33- 15, .688 winning percentage) in the American League at home.


Comments? Questions?


E-mail Michael Niziolek at mniziolek@ymail.com.


MIGUEL CABRERA, suiting up in the on deck circle, continues to put up crazy offensive numbers for the Tigers.


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