People in Detroit are out celebrating. All three of Detroit’s professional sports teams that played today have won their games. The Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees 6-4 in the first of a three game series held at Yankee Stadium. The Detroit Pistons took on the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA playoffs at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Pistons won 98-81 and they lead the series 3-2. Turning to the NHL, the Detroit Red Wings also won a playoff game today in Colorado. They lead the series 3-0 against the Colorado Avalanche after winning 4-3. Yes, it was a good evening in Detroit.

There was some brutal playing in Colorado. The Red Wings had the advantage with the Avalanche’s leading scorer, Paul Stasny, out with a knee injury within the very first period of the game. The Red Wings gave em hell and the Avalanche were violent, as Mikael Samuelsson got sticked in the face by Peter Forsberg and ended up losing a tooth in the process. Forsberg got a four minute penalty.

Forsberg at first said he didn’t hit him, and then he said he didn’t know he hit him that hard, in a statement he made after the game.

“I didn’t realize I hit him. But I guess he was bleeding so I guess I did hit him, so I have nothing to say. If he’s bleeding, it’s four minutes. I didn’t think I hit him that hard.”

Then he went on to point out how Samuelsson exaggerated his injury.

“Definitely. He’s laying there on the ice and I barely touched him.”

The first goal actually went to Colorado, in the 1st when Cody McLeod scored. However, that was soon followed up by a goal from Pavel Datsyuk for Detroit. Johan Franzen scored a second goal for Detroit before the teams headed to the 2nd period with Detroit in the lead. Pavel Datsyuk scored a second goal (for himself) in the 2nd followed by a Colorado goal by Andrew Brunette and finally a Detroit goal at the end of the 2nd by Henrik Zetterberg.

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They lost one, they won one, they lost one. The Detroit Tigers went 1-2 against the Los Angeles Angels after sweeping the Texas Rangers. Both series were played at Comerica Park. After clinching his first victory of the season against Texas on April 22, Justin Verlander returned to the mound to take on the Angels. Unfortunately, Verlander hasn’t had a very productive season. He lost his first four games, and unfortunately this game made it number five. The Angels manage to get the best of Verlander as the Tigers lost 2-8.

Justin was able to keep the Angels from scoring throughout the first three innings. The Tigers looked dry the entire day, with very little in the way of hits or any productivity in both an offensive and defensive manner. The first inning had both teams going down 1-2-3. Justin managed to go 5 2/3 innings and his opponent, Jared Weaver went 6 1/3. The only difference is Justin gave up some runs and Jared was more interested in giving up walks.

In the second, Jared walked two Tigers after Justin shut down the Angels (allowing just one hit before retiring three) though the Tigers weren’t able to capitalize on this or even get a hit. The third had Justin walking one though he retired three without much trouble. The Tigers had two walks and both Curtis Granderson and Jacque Jones were out when Granderson was picked off on base and Jones was caught stealing.

In the fourth, Torii Hunter hit an RBI triple, sending Casey Kotchman home to score. Justin was able to keep the score 1-0 in that inning, but not for long. The Tigers got their first hit in the fourth, when Miguel Cabrera singled. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to do much more than that. In the fifth, a sacrifice fly by Erick Aybar led to Maicer Izturis coming home and the Angels now led 2-0. Jared Weaver was able to retire the Tigers in a 1-2-3 inning, in the bottom of the fifth.

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It was a big past two days for six former Michigan Wolverines. With ten Wolverines listing themselves as eligible for the draft, six of them have been chosen in the seven round draft. Out of 252 newly drafted NFL players, six of them played for Michigan last year. The ten who applied for the draft were Jamar Adams, Adrian Arrington, Shawn Crable, Brandent Englemon, Chris Graham, Mike Hart, Chad Henne, Adam Kraus, Jake Long and Mario Manningham.

The first pick of the NFL draft went to Jake Long. Long was the first man to join a newly reformed Miami Dolphins team. The 6 ft 7, 313 lbs. Offensive Tackle was announced as the first pick of the draft four days before the draft officially began, so his selection was no big surprise. It was the rest of the Wolverines who would have to wait a surprisingly long time to find out who would be the second to go that were chosen by unpredictable teams.

While Jake Long wasn’t viewed as the best overall pick of the draft, he is filling in a position the Dolphins, the worst team of the 2007 NFL season, needed filled. Long is a competent offensive blocker and seeing as he has experience playing with the Dolphins’ newest quarterback, he’ll know exactly how to cover him in order to be successful on the field.

Speaking of QBs, the second Wolverine to go also went to the Dolphins. The choice of Chad Henne as a QB was to be expected after Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco and Brian Brohm went to Atlanta, Baltimore and Green Bay. I have to say that if Henne went to one of the four teams I’m glad he went to the Dolphins. They can use a dependable QB with a strong arm and the confidence Henne possesses that led him to the Rose Bowl in his freshman year at Michigan.

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In a bit of NBA playoff news, the Detroit Pistons came back from a 14-point deficit to beat the Philadelphia 76ers and tie tie series up at 2-2. The Pistons were able to take the lead back from the 76ers in just 12 minutes. In that time, Forward, Tayshaun Prince scored 23 points to bring the final total to 93-84 clenching the win for the previously struggling Pistons. Prince was named the MVP of the game for the Pistons. He went 11 for 12 with 6 rebounds and 2 assists.

The first half was a devastating mess for the Pistons who were down by ten at the half. While the Pistons perform well under pressure, Pistons Guard, Chauncey Billups said what all of the Pistons fans were thinking. While the Pistons perform well when they have to, they shouldn’t keep putting themselves in this situation. Either way, the pressure on them worked and the team rallied together to take the win away from the 76ers with the last few seconds winding down in the Pistons favor, as the 76ers tried fervently to regain the lead.

Rasheed Wallace also helped his team out, especially in the second half. The Pistons Forward went 5 for 12 with ten rebounds and three assists. Billups was 4 for 16, but he had six rebounds and seven assists. Other Pistons players who did a decent job include Guard Richard Hamilton, who was 7 for 22 with five rebounds and seven assists and Forward Antonio McDyess who went 5 for 8 with four rebounds.

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For a minute or more, it looked like Dale Earnhardt Jr. would be winning yet another at Talladega. With Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart vying for first place, it wasn’t long before a series of problems would plague the two and prevent them from getting anywhere near the lead. While Stewart had car damage early on, it looked like he was out of the race, despite driving as best as he could. Earnhardt Jr. was weaving his way back up to the front with less than 30 laps to go when he got hit in the back, causing him to drop from the top ten into 29th place, virtually unable to get anywhere near the front again.

As it was, this is the 20th race that Stewart has lost at Talladega. He has yet to win a Sprint cup series race here though he did manage to win the Nationwide series, Aaron’s 312 at the track yesterday; his first win ever at the elusive, Talladega track. Another racer, who has found Talladega to be elusive actually won the race. Kyle Busch, who is too aggressive and harmfully cut throat a racer to gain my respect (he likes to hit people almost purposefully and cut them off to keep his lead) had been a lap down before making his way to the top. Having caused more than one crash at Talladega today, Busch was victorious at the expense of his fellow drivers, one of whom was his brother, Kurt.

Kurt was a part of the crash that dented up Earnhardt Jr.’s backside and Tony Stewart, already partly injured in his car, was a victim of that crash, as well. This one put him in the garage, and Stewart was unable to finish the race. Still, Busch’s success came from a last minute, last lap crash, that actually helped Earnhardt Jr. by getting him into 10th place. Juan Pablo Montoya tried desperately to get past Busch, but was unable to as any draft he could have used was lost in the crash behind him.

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Well, Armando Galarraga has done it again. The young pitcher is 2-0 with 1 no decision in his first three starts with the Detroit Tigers. He pitched a no hitter through six innings earlier today and only received a no decision because he gave up three runs in the seventh before being replaced by Aquilino López. The relief pitchers for Detroit have done their job well. In this Saturday afternoon game at Comerica Park, against the Los Angeles Angels, the Tigers relied on López, as well as Denny Bautista and closer, Todd Jones, who helped to get the job done.

Galarraga doesn’t seem too upset at his no decision though and that is because he helped his team to win their 11th game of the season. With the AL Central in a cut throat to maintain a lead, the Tigers are now back in the bottom of their division, yet they’re only four games down from first place. In the next month, anything could happen. It’s been nice to see the best offense in the AL come to life, and that’s exactly what they’ve done in their past few games. Despite losing 4-3 yesterday to the Angels, the Tigers played extremely well and held their own. It was a close game, especially since the Angels have played well enough to shut down the Red Sox, just before they came to Detroit.

The top of the first inning lasted longer than expected due to an error by Edgar Renteria, which would have been an out otherwise. Luckily, Galarraga and the Tigers were able to keep it scoreless. In the bottom of the first, the Tigers offense quickly got to work against Angels pitcher, Dustin Moseley, who went five innings. The fun started when Placido Polanco singled and then stole second. Magglio Ordonez hit an RBI ground rule double and Polanco scored as the Tigers took a 1-0 lead.

In the second, both pitchers had 1-2-3 innings and Galarraga had a 1-2-3 in the third. As Brandon Inge tried to get something going in the third for the Tigers, with a single, the next three hitters went down 1-2-3 again. The fourth was another 1-2-3 inning for Galarraga, but Moseley walked two, though the Tigers weren’t able to capitalize on this.

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This is a live action announcement. As the draft is happening, the winners will be announced, and we’ll have them listed within a few moments after they’ve been chosen.

#11 - Buffalo Bills - Leodis McKelvin

The Bills took Cornerback Leodis McKelvin from Troy. This is a pretty interesting pick since Troy isn’t one of the biggest schools out there, but the Bills could use a good Corner and McKelvin is one of the best in the country.

#12 - Denver Broncos - Ryan Clady

The Denver Broncos choose an Offensive Tackle from Boise State. While Clady is a great player, he has the size and speed to turn the Broncos into the kind of tackle they need to improve their team.

#13 - Carolina Panthers - Jonathan Stewart

The Panthers chose a running back, this one from Oregon, to help improve the team’s offense. While he’s had some problem with injuries in the past, he’ll be ready to go once the NFL teams enter their training camps.

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When it came down to it, it was a play for who would be the top. Set to take #1 and #2 with less than ten laps to go in the Nationwide Series Aaron’s 312 race, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. patiently waited for the last minute caution to be over. Soaring ahead with two laps left, Stewart avoided a take over as Greg Biffle tried to work the outside and Earnhardt Jr. eventually tried to pass Stewart and his beast of a Toyota in the very last lap.

In the end, Stewart would maintain the lead to win for the first time ever at Talladega while Earnhardt Jr. dropped down into 7th place as a group of cars, meant to help him with a draft, swarmed around and overtook him. In a shot of good luck, for Stewart that is, he broke the winning streak of Kyle Busch, who would have tied with Sam Ard for the most wins in a row (with four). Unfortunately, Kyle didn’t make it, which is a shame…for him.

The top ten for the Aaron’s 312 is as follows:

1. Tony Stewart
2. Mike Bliss
3. Jason Leffler
4. Dario Franchitti
5. Brad Keselowski
6. Clint Bowyer
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
8. Kyle Busch
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This is a live action announcement. As the draft is happening, the winners will be announced, and we’ll have them listed within a few moments after they’ve been chosen.

#6 - New York Jets - Vernon Gholston

The Jets have had a relatively successful past few years. Right now, the selection could be just about anyone. After LSU got selected, OSU had their first man go. Vernon is a Defensive End and the Jets fans seem to be excited. Of course, I’m a Michigan fan and don’t like the Jets so they can have him!

#7 - New Orleans Saints - Sedrick Ellis

The Saints had success choosing Reggie Bush from USC a few years earlier. They go back to USC to choose Defensive End Sedrick Ellis. The Saints traded up their #10 spot with the New England Patriots. The Saints could really use some help on the defensive end and the assistance of Ellis should help improve the team greatly.

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This is a live action announcement. As the draft is happening, the winners will be announced, and we’ll have them listed within a few moments after they’ve been chosen.

#1 - Miami Dolphins - Jake Long

There was no big surprise that Michigan Offensive Tackle, Jake Long, would be the first pick of the draft. The Miami Dolphins announced their choice of Long four days prior to the draft picking. As the first draft, Long feels incredibly honored. He made it clear that he plans to go out and prove he was worth being the first pick of the draft. The Dolphins, who had the worst season of any NFL team, could use plenty of help to turn their losing record around. Jake Long won’t be able to do it alone, so hopefully their additional 2008 picks will compliment their choice in him. I’d hate to see Long go to a team he can’t do anything with, since he’s such an amazing player as it is.

#2 - St. Louis Rams - Chris Long

There was a lot of speculation into who would go second. Since Jake Long was taken, the list of hopefuls include Chris Long and Glenn Dorsey. The Defensive End from Virginia was said to be shoe in for the selection by the Rams and that is exactly what happened. While it was said that the Rams initially wanted Glenn Dorsey, in the past week, they settled on Long and after some last minute deliberations decided to go with Long, after all.

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