Have You Heard About The Lonesome Loser?

As I just caught the end of the Pistons blowing out the Pacers and now watch the Tigers tied in the fourth inning in their sixth game of the season, having won the previous five, I have to wonder what Lions president Matt Millen must be thinking right now.

The Pistons are about to close the regular season with the best record in the NBA. The starting lineup carries itself, both on the court and in the locker room, as if there is no doubt they will not stop until they reclaim the championship. Recently, bench players Antonio McDyess, Tony Delk, Dale Davis and Lindsey Hunter have been providing valuable minutes, thereby alleving fears that the starters would lose a step or two by the time June comes. There is also no fear that this is the last hurrah. The starters are all 31 years old or younger and none seems to have any inclination to leave. Veteran ex-Pistons like Jerry Stackhouse have openly talked about how nice it would be to return here as a reserve just so they can be part of winning a championship.

The Red Wings didn't miss a beat in adjusting to the new NHL collective bargaining agreement, which brought with it new rules and personnel shuffling. They are close to winning the Presidents Cup for the league's best record and have already clinched their fifteenth consecutive winning season. They have done so rather quietly, probably because anything less than second in the conference would be seen as a major disappointment. While certain key players, like Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan and Nicklas Lidstrom, are nearing the ends of their careers, they are still bringing their A games while mentoring future leaders like Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Jason Williams.

Now the Tigers are finally recapturing at least some hope from the faithful. I don't think there is a Tigers fan, including yours truly, who expects the team to be more than a playoff longshot. The season, after all, is only five and a half games old, with 156 left after today. Even so, the hope for this team extends beyond this season. They have four pitchers, Jeremy Bonderman, Jordan Tata, Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya, who all have great long term potential. All four have been showing great stuff and are 24 years old or younger. The team also has some great talent, most of it young, on offense. I'm not seeing shades of 1984 just yet, more like 1981. In any case, bless you boys.

That brings us to Millen. The Lions have picked in the top ten in the draft each of the last four years. They'll pick at number nine later this month. With all that access to talent and a checkbook to acquire veteran free agents, Millen has the team no closer to a winning record than they were when he arrived in town in 2001. He may be a nice guy and may honestly believe that he is doing what is best for the team. But he cannot have his head that high in the clouds that he doesn't feel pretty lonesome in the Detroit sports world.