A very solid game from the Red Wings tonight and the pressure is now on Marty Turco to play the best game of his life on Saturday to help the Stars win and show they can do it at the Joe.

Dandelions are an impressive weed. Imagine if we could somehow convert dandelions into gasoline....

Being sick is not enjoyable.... blech.

After listening to satellite radio a lot, it's very very very hard to sit through multi-minute commercial breaks on free music radio.

I wouldn't want to be a school principal these days.

I'm tired and don't feel like typing any more tonight...........

Boy the patting on the back was in full bloom after the Tigers swept the New York Yankees last week. Only thing is, that now seems like a lifetime ago following five straight losses to the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox. The scariest part of this losing streak is that it looks exactly like the funk the Tigers were in to start the season. Pitching- stinks. Defense- stinks. Hitting- non-existent.

A blog entry I wrote on March 28, Are the Tigers ready for prime time?, unfortunately seems to have been accurate in a couple of areas. First, the Tigers are not going to be a .500 team after 40 games unless they snap out of this current funk and win the next 6 straight. I'm not banking on that. Next, the pitching has stunk, not only the expected troubles from the bullpen but the starters have been way too inconsistent (other than when it comes to giving up runs). I didn't address team defense in March - but that has suffered and now Leyland has Sheffield playing left field and moved Guillen to the everyday 3rd base spot. Ugh. Finally the hitting has been atrocious, except for Curtis Granderson. Most of the Tigers hits have come at non-key times in these losing streaks - and if I don't see another double play for a month it'll still be too soon.

So what to expect next? My fear is that these losing streaks are going to be an all-too common thing for this team, completely destroying any momentum they build up. Just like what we've seen this week after the miracle in the Bronx.

There have been plenty of calls to move Inge back to 3rd base and have Guillen be the teams DH. That lineup tonight produced all of 3 hits and 0 runs. Not quite a success.

On May 6 the talk has already started... wait 'til next year. While I don't totally agree - yet - someone has to find something to wake this team up, and quickly. Being a baseball fan in Detroit this year is maddening.

The Dallas Stars are a hockey team I have a hard time working up any hate for. Maybe its the local ties with Mike Modano and the fact that Marty Turco was a star for the University of Michigan hockey team. Or that just like the way the Stars play the game. So while it's very easy to root the Red Wings on against Dallas... it won't stink nearly as bad should Dallas win the series.

I don't have a strong feeling for this upcoming series other than it will not nearly be as easy for Detroit like it was against the Avalanche. It should be a 6 or 7 game event and there will be plenty of times when Wings fans will get frustrated and even worried about the way things are going.

The wild cards for both teams- the goalies. Turco has traditionally struggled against the Wings and he'll have to do something he's never done before, win at Joe Louis Arena, if the Stars are to advance. Hopefully Osgood will remain steady for the Wings - I've not like any of the games Hasek has played coming off long breaks.

Can't wait for Thursday evening!

Despite various efforts to salvage some kind of presence in the Oakland Press and/or its sister papers the Macomb Daily and Daily Tribune, today is the first time the On the Radio column isn't being published by a newspaper. The up side is of course the freedom to write as much or as little as I see fit and to start backing off the news reporting and take the feature in a more column-like fashion. To me, that doesn't mean its going to be open season because I'm generally not that kind of person. Being free of a mid-week deadline will also be nice.

Anyhow, today I touch on the winter ratings for sports station WXYT, the Drew and Mike situation, and what's become my favorite morning show.

Read Michiguide.com's On the Radio here: XYT afternoon hosts dominate; What will Drew do.

Well, actually, it was a Saturday in the Village. As in Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI for our annual visit with Sir Topham Hatt during a Day Out With Thomas. It's hard for us to believe, but we've been taking rides on Thomas the Tank Engine since a snow-flurry filled day back in 2002. Everett, our oldest son, has pretty much outgrown Thomas and all his buddies, but his brother Daniel was still visibly excited by today's events. There's just something cool about seeing a life-sized "toy" pulling a real train that even parents can appreciate.

One thing we did note about this year was that the crowds were smaller than in any of the previous years. The lines were shorter and there were even tickets still available for rides. That definitely was not the case the first few years we visited.

Although it's not the cheapest choice for entertainment, we hope that the memories and pictures of these outings will bring smiles to our kids years from now- making the expense well worth it.

Red Wings sweep the Avalanche out of the NHL playoffs. Check.

Pistons move on to the second round by defeating Philadelphia in 6 games. Check.

Tigers sweep the Yankees in New York for the first time since 1966. Check.

Not a bad week of work, all of it culminating last night with all three teams on the road. We've been very fortunate in recent years here in Detroit with the successes of especially the Wings and Pistons and the return of the Tigers to being competitive. But there aren't very many evenings where all the good things lineup simultaneously. Obviously, there is much more to be accomplished for all three teams, but there's nothing wrong with us fans taking a little time to enjoy things along the way.

As for both the Pistons and Wings, the way both of those teams closed out their series' is somewhat encouraging for the next round. The Pistons should get a good challenge from Orlando, but should still be able to move on to the Eastern Conference finals in another six game series.

Right now it looks like the Red Wings will play Dallas in the Western Conference finals -- that'll prove to be a tough task and I'm guessing that even as well as the Wings looked against the devastated by injury Colorado Avalanche things are going to be much, much tougher against the Stars -- or the Sharks for that matter if they somehow mount an amazing comeback. The most intriguing thing about a matchup with Dallas is what to expect from Stars' goalie Marty Turco. He's struggled against the Wings in the past... but I bet he relishes the opportunity to help push his team past Detroit and into the Stanley Cup Finals.

I'll be watching.

Anyone that has known me from my high school days knows about 'The Shoes'. So its always a requirement to pay attention to stories like this from today's Detroit Free Press:

Weird 'shoe tree' in northern Michigan.

Now I know what we'll be doing on our next vacation! ;)