(*sigh*)

So, my Tigers will be sitting out the playoffs, after having led their division since the middle of May (OK, so it was a lousy division; so what?), having had a 7-game lead with 21 to play, and a three-game lead with four to play. It ain't quite the '64 Phillies, or the '87 Blue Jays, but it'll join the list of egregious late-season chokes, for sure. Take nothing away from the Twins, though - they were relentless, and finishing 17-4 in their last 21 games is simply astonishing.

But, aside from being a Tiger fan, that was an amazing 12-inning game last night, with Never-Say-Die heroics on both sides, from the 7th inning through to the end. But come on, guys - twice, you had a runner on third with less than two out, and didn't score (and Curtis Granderson, what were you thinking, getting doubled off first base on a one-out liner in the 9th, when the lead run was on third in front of you? That was horrible. . .). But Rick Porcello pitched like a veteran, not a 20-year-old rookie (and since when are major-league ballplayers younger than my own sons, anyway?); and Ryan Rayburn throwing out the winning run at the plate in the 10th. . . that was take-your-breath-away dramatic.

(*sigh*) Maybe next year. . .

But hey, at least my Spartans beat the hated Wolverines last weekend (and you can trust me when I say that the Wolverines are hated in these parts); so we've finally beaten them in consecutive years for the first time since I was eleven years old. . .

And Molly left a monkey in my lunch today. . .

Final Four, Bay-Bee!

Sorry, I'm just a little bit excited that, for the seventh time in history (and fifth in the last 11 years - which just happen to coincide with the coaching tenure of Tom Izzo), my Spartans will be in the Final Four. And this time, it'll be just down the road, in Detroit. Good times! I had just gotten done with grad school when Magic Johnson and the guys won it all in '79; and the 2000 championship happened less than a month after we moved into our current house. . .

But - how 'bout that defense, eh? I almost felt bad for Louisville; they looked like they didn't know what hit 'em. . . But maybe, just maybe, they can play a little hoop somewhere besides the Big East conference. Maybe.

And it remains true that every player who has played four years for Tom Izzo has been to a Final Four (this year's seniors were on the hook, since the last time we were there was the year before they were freshmen). . .

Go Green! Go White!