Close Call

If you recall, during Memorial Day weekend last year, my dad and I were involved in a car accident. Well, it wasn't over the weekend, but today I came pretty darn close to being involved in another one. Granted, you can argue that when you drive in Detroit, you're always on the brink, but I was very, very close and very lucky today.

I'm driving home from work, going west on Grand River approaching Beech Daly when a car pulls slowly out of a parking lot in front of traffic. The woman was talking on her cell phone and was paying no attention to the fact that it was still a green light and that she basically blocked the two right lanes of traffic (I guess she thought she was important enough that we were going to stop for her). I slowed down, but didn't hit the brakes because it appeared she would turn into the lane next to me. But no, she kept coming, still talking on her cell phone and I literally braced for impact. I thought we were going to touch. I hit the brakes and coasted, somehow by her without hitting her. I looked behind at her to make sure we didn't touch, and there she was driving, talking on her cell phone as if almost getting in a wreck wasn't as important as her cell phone conversation. That is the reason why when my family comes up for my cousin's wedding in a couple of weeks, I'll be doing the driving because they have no idea how incompetent drivers are up here.

Oh, what can we talk about tonight:

• This is a great sports town, but they've become a little bit spoiled. First, the Red Wings, the NHL's best team during the regular season, lost in the 1st round of the playoffs (although Edmonton has reached the Stanley Cup finals). Now, the Pistons are on the brink, trailing the Heat 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Pistons were one of the best offensive teams in the league during the regular season, thanks in part to new coach Flip Saunders who is a good offensive coach and let the players have more freedom on offense. But, anyone can have a great offensive regular season, but it takes a truly great offense to be just as successful in the playoffs with the increased intensity on defense. The Pistons just aren't that good of an offensive team, and they're realizing it now. Pistons, defense was your calling card. You won because of your defense the last couple of years, not because you were great offensively. The last couple of years, there were stretches where it looked like the Pistons' opponent wouldn't score. That isn't the case anymore. And what's Coach Flip doing when going to a 3-2 zone? The 3-2 zone is the EASIEST zone defense to score against. Flash a guy from down low to the foul line, dump it to him, then post the other big guy down low, or kick it out to the guard who floats from the top to the wing for a jump shot. Flip didn't win anything with good talent in Minnesota, he's not going to do it in Detroit. But it's not all his fault, the Piston players need to stop being full of themselves and actually do what they claim to do, which is "go to work".
• The 2nd best studio team is the TNT team of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley. They are knowledgeable and entertaining. It's too bad they come on so late most of the time, I'm already asleep when they're on. BTW, the best studio team is, of course, the ESPN College Gameday crew.
• The French must look at the French Open as sweet revenge against the Americans since we either don't show up or aren't around for very long. ESPN's Brad Gilbert made a great point yesterday. He pointed out, the Euros and South Americans that grow up on clay, are taking those skills and applying them to the other surfaces (green, hard), and are getting better on those. The Americans only know how to play on hard courts and grass, don't learn how to play and move on the clay, therefore not gaining any extra skills they can use on the clay and the other surfaces like the rest of the world. So is it a coincidence then that the best tennis players these days are NOT coming from America??? I think not.
• Ben Affleck going to the hospital because of a migraine was newsworthy on the Detroit local noon news. First of all, is it that slow of a newsday here? I guess since the search for Hoffa has been called off, they needed something. And second, what a woos!!!! Terrell Davis played most of Super Bowl 32 (and won MVP) with a migraine, while poor Ben went to the hospital.

Have a good one.