Sports
My Teams
For as long as I can remember, sports
have been my main interest. As a kid I was a fan of many
different players and teams, but as I grew older, I began to narrow
those down to mainly the local teams. Now I follow the Detroit
Tigers, Detroit Pistons, Indianapolis Colts, and Tennessee Volunteers,
as well as my own schools athletic teams, the Grand Valley State Lakers.
Detroit
Tigers
After
watching the Tigers for over a decade and suffering losing season after
losing season, the Tigers finally made it to the World Series!
Unfortunately, they were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals.
This year, the Tigers have added Gary Sheffield in the hopes of
reaching the Fall Classic once again. The rest of the team
remains largely intact, with the only departure being reliever Jamie
Walker. The road to the World Series will be much more difficult
this time around, however, considering they will be playing with a
target on their back for the entire season. The most amazing part
of the Tigers recent success is the turn-around they made in a matter
of 3 years. In 2003 the Tigers finished the season with 119
losses, a total that earned them the second worst record of
all-time. The only team that had a more miserable year was the
expansion Met's in 1962. Jim Leyland has turned this ball club
into winners once again, and they will attempt to make another run at a
pennant and hopefully a World Series victory.
Detroit Pistons
If I had a
choice of any team to work for, it would without a doubt be the Detroit
Pistons. The Pistons went through a rough stretch in the 90's,
but they are back on top. Currently 1st in the Eastern Division,
they are now attempting to reach the NBA Finals after barely missing
them last year. In 2004 Detroit defeated Los Angeles for the tile
in 5 games, although most experts agree it could have been a clean
sweep. The following year they lost to San Antonio in a
heart-breaking 7 game championship series. Last year, with new
coach Flip Saunders, the Pistons fell to eventual champs Miami in the
Eastern Conference Finals. The new-look Pistons of 2007 have one
goal and that is to regain the trophy. Ben Wallace, a long-time
staple of the team, left for Chicago, and although the Bulls won the
season series against the Pistons, Detroit stills holds first place and
the top seed in the playoffs. Chris Webber was added to the team
midway through the season, much like Rasheed Wallace was during the
2004 season. General Manager and former Piston great Joe Dumars
is hoping that Webber can add the same kind of spark to this team and
return to the Finals. The Pistons also won titles in 1989 and
1990. They play in one of the greatest basketball stadiums in the
country, The Palace of Auburn Hills. If I could choose any team
to work for after college, it would without a doubt be the
Pistons. Nothing compares to watching a game at the Palace.Tennessee Volunteers
The Tennessee Volunteers are a division
1 college and a member of the South Eastern Conference. I began
following them early in my life, as all of my family members are also
Volunteer fans. I've been to a number of games, including 2 SEC
Championship games. Tennessee has a storied tradition in college
football. The Vols play in one the 3 largest stadiums in the
country, Neyland Stadium. In addition, they have won many SEC
Championships, have sent countless players to the NFL, and won the 1998
National Championship. They are also competitive in many other
sports. The women's basketball team won the National Championship
this year, while the men's team made it to the Sweet 16. Their
most famous athletic alumni is without a doubt Peyton Manning, the
quarterback that I grew up watching. I became a fan of the
Indianapolis Colts the day he was drafted.
Indianapolis Colts
The
Indianapolis Colts are the NFL team
that I follow. They have been extremely competitive the past 8
years, mainly because of the aquisition of Manning. He led the
offense to multiple playoff appearances, but could never seem to make
it to the Super Bowl. That finally changed this year when the
Colts beat the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI. Manning received
the Super Bowl MVP in that game. During college, Manning was
criticized by many for the alleged inability to "win the big
game". In his 4 years at the University of Tennessee, he was
never able to defeat arch-rival Florida, or win a National
Championship. He did come in second in the Heisman voting once,
and won multiple SEC Championships. He is still regarded as a
hero in Knoxville. After being drafted in 1998, Bill Polian built
the team around Peyton Manning, equipping him with many weapons such as
Marvin Harrison, Edgerrin James, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, and a
superior offensive line. But, for the first part of his career,
the Colts were still unable to reach the big game. It appeared as
if Manning had run into a new "Florida" in the New England
Patriots. The Colts and Patriots routinely met up in the
playoffs, and every time Tom Brady led New England to victory.
The 2006 season gave Manning and the Colts the opportunity to rid
themselves of all their negative labels, and they did just that by
defeating New England on route to their first Super Bowl in over 30
years.