2009: Detroit Sports Year In Review

The year, 2009. The city, Detroit. The subject, sports. 2009 will go down as one of the most disappointing years in Detroit sports history. I've only been around for about 25 of those years, and not really an avid sports fan for the first ten or so of them, so forgive me if I'm being overly dramatic, but 2009 was the worst sports year of my life.

It all started at the end of 2008, in November. I know this is supposed to be about 2009, but I'm providing you with a little bit of context. The Pistons traded away my favorite player, Chauncey Billups (and Antonio McDyess), to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson (whom I can't stand). At the time, a lot of people were excited about the trade. And I'm not a huge basketball fan or anything, but I wasn't happy about the trade at all. More on the Pistons later though.

Also in 2008, at the end of December, the Detroit Lions did the unthinkable. After going 4-0 in the preseason, the Lions finished the regular season 0-16. A perfect season, only in reverse. In a league where the expression any given Sunday reigns supreme, where a bad team can sneak up on a mediocre/good team and stumble into a victory on any given Sunday, the Detroit Lions couldn't even do that once. If Detroit sports fans only knew that this was just the beginning of their year of discontent.....

Fast forward to the end of April 2009. The Detroit Pistons were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the NBA playoffs. After going to the Eastern Conference Finals for six straight years, the Pistons were bounced in the first round of the playoffs. Like I said, I'm not a big basketball fan, so this wasn't really all that disappointing to me, but I'm sure it was to a lot of fans around Detroit. And what's even worse is the Pistons currently. They have lost 13 straight games, with their last win occurring on December 12th, 2009. When will the suffering end?

Moving on to more pain and disappointment. It's the middle of June 2009. The Detroit Red Wings are in the Stanley Cup Finals again against the Pittsburgh Penguins, looking to repeat. With the first two games in Detroit, the Wings jump out to a 2-0 series lead. Then they travel to Pittsburgh for two games and the series is tied 2-2 after that. The next game is in Detroit, and Detroit wins it, so the series is 3-2 Wings now. Then they go to Pittsburgh again for a game, while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads. And by sugar plums, I mean Stanley Cups. But no, they lose that game, so the series is now tied at 3-3. If you've been paying attention at all, you might have noticed a pattern by now. The home team seems to be winning all the home games. So it stands to reason that since the next game is in Detroit, the Red Wings win game seven. You would be wrong. After not showing up for the first two periods of game seven, and allowing some guy named Maxime Talbot (a guy whose name sounds like something a woman would put between her legs during that time of the month) to score two goals, the Red Wings finally decide to show up for the third period. Too little, too late though. The Wings score one goal, and almost tie it up with seconds left, but don't. The Detroit Red Wings lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins in game seven of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals. Somebody shoot me please.

But that was just the midpoint of a year that had more disappointments in store for the fans of Detroit. It is now the beginning of September 2009. After sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays in Tampa Bay, the Detroit Tigers have a seven game lead over the Minnesota Twins in the central division. With 27 games left, the Tigers have a seven game lead over the Twins. It's looking good, right? Wrong. With seven games remaining, the Tigers lead the Twins by two games, with an important four game series against the Twins coming up next. Well, the Tigers somehow split those four games with the Twins, and their lead is still two games with three to play. So the Tigers either have to win two games, or win one game and the Twins lose one game, or hope the Twins lose two games for the Tigers to win the division. A virtual lock, right? Wrong. The Tigers can only win one game against the lowly Chicago White Sox, and the Twins sweep their last three games against the Kansas City Royals, so the regular season ends with the Tigers and Twins tied for the central division title. As you may or may not know, in baseball, there is a one-game playoff to determine the division winner. And if you had no rooting interest in the game, it was truly a great game. However, it was not a great game if you were a Tigers' fan because the Tigers lost the game in extra innings. I was going to post more about how big of a fuck up Miguel Cabrera was during that series against the White Sox, but I don't think my blood pressure can handle it at this point.

Could the year get any worse if you are a fan of the Tigers? You obviously haven't been paying very close attention to this post if you think it can't get any worse. On December 8th, 2009, a day that will live in infamy, at least in my mind, the Detroit Tigers traded away one of their best players, Curtis Granderson, to the most hated team in all of sports, the New York Yankees. Is this really happening? Please tell me I'm dreaming or on some sort of Bizzaro world where the sky is green and it rains skittles. Actually, that wouldn't be so bad. But really? Did the Tigers really just trade one of their best players to the Yankees? Yes, in fact, they did. And I already dedicated a post to this, so please scroll down and read that if you missed it, because I don't think I can handle reliving that again.

And finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the 2009 Detroit Lions. It is January 3rd, 2010, the day of the last game played by the Detroit Lions. I know that their last game wasn't played in 2009, but for all intents and purposes, it was the end of the shitty sports year that was 2009. The Lions finished the year with a lose to the Chicago Bears, and their final record was 2-14. So yes, the Lions still blow. Nothing more to say about them really, other than that. They weren't as bad as the 2008 Lions, but how could they be any worse than 0-16? And hey, even if they did go 0-16 again, at least Matt Millen is gone. That at least gives me some hope that the future is...not as dim as it once was.

Well, that was my post detailing the 2009 year in sports for Detroit. I hope you enjoyed it, and even if you don't like sports, I hope it at least gave you some perspective of what it was like to be a Detroit sports fan in 2009. Here's hoping 2010 isn't as bad as 2009, but it's not looking too hot right now....