Detroit vs. Cleveland

There's some big games involving professional sports teams from Detroit and Cleveland coming up. The Pistons and Cavaliers are already in the midst of the NBA Eastern Conference finals; the Pistons are up 2 games to none following their victory over the Cavs last night, 79-76, which was also the score of their victory in game 1. I wish I could tell you more about it, but I watched none of these games. My interest in NBA basketball has almost petered out entirely, as it is an almost impossible game to watch. I can name some of the players, but as I wrote about a few weeks ago, the days when I watched every second, as I did with the Bad Boys back in the late eighties, are long gone. I still hope they win, though.

The Tigers and Indians of Major League Baseball meet for the first time this season. They are neck-and-neck atop the American League's Central Division. The Tigers are in the midst of a tough stretch, facing division leaders Boston and Los Angeles (or Anaheim, or whatever), but have still managed to find themselves in a precarious one-half game lead over the Indians. Sorry to say that here on the East Coast none of these games will be televised (I get Phillies-Braves instead). The Tiger bats are thumping, and Magglio Ordonez has moved ahead as the A.L. RBI leader and is a legitimate MVP candidate.

Detroit and Cleveland would be natural rivals, due to the relative proximity of the cities. Back in the fifties, the Lions and Browns were major rivals, playing in a few title games. Both of these teams have been down so long (the Browns even disappearing altogether for a few years) that that rivalry is unlikely to ever be reborn. The Tigers and Indians could get a nice mutual hatred going, though. However, I think this may be the first year they've ever been both good at the same time. The Indians had been long fallow until the mid to late nineties, when the Tigers were in a decade-long funk. Here's hoping a bitter yet friendly rivalry heats up, with Indian fans ultimately suffering disappointment (The Tribe has not a World Series since 1948. Only the Cubs have better excelled at futility).