By Brian Rexroth

If you need a distraction from Lebronodrama 2010 maybe it’s time to catch up on your summer reading list?

Recently I came across SI’s list of the 100 Greatest Sports Books and was curious as to how many I have read.  Well, the answer was a bit disappointing to me as I have read only four of these titles.  On a positive note that gives me 96 titles to chose my next beach read from.  What’s on your Ipad or Kindle this summer?  What are you reading at the beach?  Do you agree with this list or do you have some to add to the list?

The books I have read from this list were all excellent reads and are as follows:

Friday Night Lights:  If you are into the TV series like I am this gave an excellent account of the real story of the 1988 Permian Panthers and how rabid Football really is in West Texas.

Shoeless Joe:  This was the book that was adapted into the movie Field of Dreams.  Enough said.

Eight Men Out:  I was always intrigued by this scandal and had not yet seen the movie based off of the book so I gave this one a try and was not disappointed in the least.  Riveting story from beginning to end.  Reading stories about Mr. Comisky and his ownership of the Sox makes you realize even more that you are glad you are a Detroit Sports Fan!

They Call Me Coach:  Shocker I’ve read two baseball books on this list and only one about basketball.  This book was more about living life the right way which is what Wooden taught us in his 99 years with us.  Read it and be inspired.

One book of local flavor made the list.  George Plimpton’s Paper Lion about a journalist who joins the Detroit Lions for training camp and an intersquad game in the 1970′s.  I would also recommend local titles including When March Went Mad about Magic and the MSU 1979 Championship Season against Indiana State University and one Larry Bird.  Franchise about the Pistons Back to Back Championship seasons and The Final Season a chronicle of the last season at old Tiger Stadium game by game as witnessed by the author.

Feel free to share your summer reading list and share your favorites in the comments section on this site or at our Facebook page.  Have a great summer everyone!

Posted 9:25 p.m.

By Brian Rexroth

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By Matt Pelc

I thought this was a great article by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports regarding LeBron James‘ televised decision.

STATE OF LEBRON: LIVE AT 9, FROM HIS EGO

The fact that James is using ESPN for his place to announce his decision is a match made in heaven as both facets of that equation are incredibly into themselves and more of an icon in the figment of their imagination than in reality.

For those hard core Matt Pelc fans out there, you may remember my first entry to the blog world was a LeBron James anti-fan site, which decried all the media attention a high schooler was getting.  I must admit, however reluctantly though, that LeBron has lived up to his hype and been a relative class act up until recently.

The ego began to rear its head with his refusal to shake the hands of the victorious Orlando Magic after last year’s Eastern Conference Finals and his failure to address the media following a loss when he is always front and center after a win.

Then came reports that he quit on his team in the pivotal Game 5 against Boston this year, following his mom and a teammate allegedly knocking boots.

But the final straw is the way he has made himself bigger than the game every step of the way in the year leading up to free agency and this free agency period. This organized stunt will draw an audience as any quote-unquote reality show would.

But while you are watching ask yourself this, why couldn’t he announce his decision when he made up his mind instead of organizing this self-love affair. Why does he need an hour to say something that will take 15 seconds?

Because its all about him.

Cleveland fans and Detroit fans can rarely agree on anything, however I feel for Cleveland’s fans.

Cleveland and Detroit are very similar. Each take hits from jokes and inaccurate facts by people who have never even set foot in any one of the cities and many times they have had athletes who have sought out the brighter lights of other cities and could not wait to get out of town.

Even if LeBron stays, Cleveland still loses. He has toyed with their emotions since the end of their playoff run against Boston and for a native son knowing the fragile mindset of Cleveland fan, James outta be ashamed of himself.

Not to mention this sets up a dangerous precedent as on the eve of the second Preseason NFL weekend, you will see Brett Favre giving a three-hour special on his decision whether or not to retire (and we all know what decision that will be).

Hosted, of course, by John Madden.

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Posted 9:39 p.m.

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By Matt Pelc

Kirk Gibson has made it known ever since becoming a member of Alan Trammell’s coaching staff in 2003 that he wanted to one day become a big league manager.

Of course, Tram and his coaching staff, Gibby included, were fired following the 2005 season and they all went their separate ways with Tram landing in Chicago to bench coach Lou Pinella’s Cubs and Gibby heading to Arizona to coach the Diamondbacks under then manager Bob Melvin.

At the start of last season, Gibby was passed over for manager by A.J. Hinch but remained on Arizona’s staff and now the sagging D-Backs have sacked their manager and named Gibby the interim manager for the rest of the season.

Freep story here

Let’s root on Arizona the remainder of the season so he gets the gig full-time for next season. And don’t be surprised if Trammell gets another opportunity in Chicago this season as the writing may be on the wall for the dysfunctional Cubs to fire Pinella and also bring in Tram on an interim basis.

Stay tuned….

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Posted 7:59 a.m.

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You can help decide this.

Go to this site: SB Nation: Final Four Best Sports Cities

It is between New York and Detroit. Vote for the D!

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By Matt Pelc

So what am I tired of hearing about this Monday morning?

Is it soccer? LeBron James news, including but not limited to what he is reading while going to the bathroom? Brett Favre news?

Sure I am tired of hearing about all that, but I am a little tired of hearing umpires apologizing for shitty calls against the Tigers.

Yahoo! Sports: Regrets: Umpire has a few…

How about ceasing the apologizes, stop missing blatant calls and do your effing jobs?

Novel concept, eh?

By the way, when is the apology coming for Brandon Inge not being rewarded first base in the 163rd game last season when a pitch hit his jersey with the bases loaded that might have won the game and the division for the Tigers?

Skip it.

Apologies don’t make up a two-game swing in the standings, change a terrific one-hit, shutout into a perfect game or reward a division title from nine months ago.

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Posted 12:07 p.m.

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By Matt Pelc

JLABANNERS.com is just about a year old and despite some paltry few months we’re back to provide new content to the site.

In the coming weeks you will see new features on the site. Trivia questions, facts and a couple of other things. We will be broadening our focus to non-sports pieces from time to time and will be looking to have fun and provide some fun to our readers.

The first such new feature is Did You Know? For the first edition of Did You Know? we will concentrate on one of the most iconic and best identification in all of baseball, if not all of sports, the Detroit Tigers logo/uniforms.

So here we go, some interesting facts you may or may not have known about the Tigers famous look.

Did You Know…

…the Tigers are the only team in Major League Baseball that has a color in their road uniforms (ORANGE) that is not including in their home uniforms.

…the Tigers are one of just two teams in MLB to not have an alternate jersey in use in 2010 (can you guess the other?  See below to see if you were correct).

THE TIGERS SHORT-LIVED ALT. JERSEYS

…they once had an alternate jersey. The team experimented with a Sunday jersey in 1995. It featured the logo the team rarely uses these days, (the tiger crawling out of the Olde English D) though it has never “officially” been retired. It was a navy blue jersey with orange, blue and white piping along the shoulders and sleeves. It was dropped after one Sunday at Tiger Stadium because owner Mike Illitch said it was not up to the “Detroit Tiger look” and the team has never worn an alternate jersey again (not counting the Negro league uniforms and an occasional road throwback).

…the team is also the only one to wear their home or away jerseys throughout Spring Training. Every other team either wears their warmup jerseys in every game or most games in the Spring. Even the other team in baseball without an alternate jersey (Did you guess it yet? See Below) wears warmups in Spring Training.

HOME JERSEY LOGO

HOME CAP LOGO

…the Tigers sport two different Olde English D’s as logos and even have two different ones when they are wearing their home jerseys and caps. I have been a Tiger fan since as long as I remember and I just recently noticed this–back in 2006 when UniWatchBlog talked about it.

1960

…the Tigers have worn the Olde English D on their home uniforms in some form or another every year since 1934 EXCEPT for one season. In 1960 they put the word “Tigers” on their home jersey. It was written in blue script and resembled the Los Angeles Dodgers jerseys but with a blue number instead of the Dodgers’ red. The Olde English D returned the next season and, thankfully, never left!

I hope you enjoyed the first feature of Did You Know?

If you have any feedback, suggestions on this or anything else on the site or what you would like to see on the site, please let us know!

By the way, the only other team to not wear alternate jerseys is the New York Yankees.

Were you correct?

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Posted 12:34 p.m.

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By Matt Pelc

I rarely enjoy Drew Sharp’s columns which are usually full up speculation and negativity, but when he praises a Detroit athlete, it’s worth a read.

Sharp: Many Overlooked Boesch but the Tigers found a gem

I am not sure if the Tigers can catch and beat the Twins this season. Heading into their series on Friday, they were 1.5 games back and winners of six-straight following two-straight sweeps. Though I am not convinced they have healed all wounds as they have beaten two of the worst teams in the National League.  They should keep the roll going against the last-place Diamondbacks this weekend.

Still I am so excited about their future. The rookies have been up and down this season, as will happen with a rookie-laden team, but one has been steady and that is Brennan Boesch.

The Tigers have cultivated an exciting crop of future stars in Austin Jackson, Boesch and a couple others in the field and of course the young and talented pitching staff.

So fear not if the Twinkies are celebrating again at the end of this season, the Tigers time is approaching.

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Posted 8:32 a.m.

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By Matt Pelc

FREEP: Bertuzzi Glad To Remain a Red Wing

Well good for him if he is glad to remain a Red Wing, I wonder how many fans would be “glad?” I for one am not.

Years ago when Sergei Fedorov left the team, I remember Damon “The Dog” Perry on WDFN saying, “No Sergei, no cup.” Of course they did win the cup without Sergei and the Dog is off who knows where.

With Bertuzzi, I feel the opposite, WITH Bertuzzi, no cup. This guy is a thug, and sometimes that’s a good thing in the NHL, but not this guy. He is the T.O. and the Milton Bradley of hockey, his teams just don’t win.

Your thoughts?

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Posted 8:16 a.m.

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By Brian Rexroth

Michigan State University Head Basketball Coach Tom Izzo proved to me and many of his fans that there still is character and loyalty in today’s world of sports.  Tough to pass up, I am sure, the dream of coaching at the highest level and double his salary in the process, Izzo yesterday announced his decision to stay at MSU and declared himself a lifer at the university.  He also showed his commitment by bringing up life lessons he learned from legendary MSU coach Jud Heathcote and said he could not leave a university where Magic Johnson, the best player to ever play the game, left his legacy.  Now, the last statement might be up for argument as there is another MJ that might be in the running for that title.  He stated that he might have given up an opportunity to coach one of the best players ever in Lebron James, but in my opinion James will prove to exhibit the same loyalty that 99% of his brethren do and leave the Cavs in the lurch in time.

Izzo believes in his recruits, believes in his kids, and believes in his program.  He stated his desire to make MSU the best athletic program in the country and even brought up the football program and Mark Dantonio in the press conference.  MSU Basketball this year might be odds on favorite to make it back to the promised land of the Final Four with almost all of the team from last year’s impressive run back for another season.  They will most likely have to fend off another Big Ten title contender in Purdue and last year’s champ Duke in the process, but as we’ve seen over the years, it’s never wise to count MSU out of the title hunt.

It is also nice to see someone committed to the state of Michigan given it’s economic woes of late.  This is Izzo’s home and he knows it.  He has lived and worked in this state his whole life.  He even teared up during the presser and seemed to truly be touched by the love from his fans and of everyone who supports him and MSU.  And, in my opinion, who would want to leave the great state of Michigan for Cleveland Ohio?

Did you see the press conference?  Do you think Izzo made the right decision?  Weigh in here on www.jlabanners.com.

Posted 10:40 a.m.

Brian Rexroth

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By Brian Rexroth

In our Grandfather’s time it might have been Ted Williams and other sports stars of the time giving up their sports uniform for that of the US Armed forces.  In our father’s time it might have been Mohammad Ali’s anti-Vietnam war sentiments.  But, what are some examples of patriotism in our generation?  Here are a few that I can vividly remember.  Feel free to share your own in our comments section or Facebook Page.

#5 The San Antonio Spurs having to wait two years for David Robinson to finish his commitment to the US Navy before beginning his pro basketball career.  He earned the nickname, “The Admiral”

#4 The 1999 US Women’s World Cup Team who defeated China in a shootout and were named Sportsmen of the Year by Sports Illustrated.  The celebration of the team including Brandi Chastain revealing her sports bra was a memorable event. For one blip American’s were interested in soccer.

#3 The 1992 Dream Team wins in Barcelona.  Yes, they were the greatest basketball team ever assembled, yes they won the Gold Medal Game by 32 points, and yes I am a little biased including two basketball events in my top five, but it’s my top five so get your own!  Patriotic and memorable nonetheless.

#2 Pat Tillman as our generations Ted Williams.  The man left a career in the NFL to serve our country and was killed in Afghanistan.  If he is not an example of patriotism, loyalty, and dedication to a cause than I don’t know what is.

#1 The New England Patriots win Super Bowl XXXVI months after the attacks of September 11, 2001 in the Louisiana Superdome  on a game winning kick by Adam Vinatieri.  The Pats were  introduced as a team at the start of the game and played as one to defeat the heavilly favored “Greatest Show on Turf”

Happy Memorial Day fans of JLABanners.  Hope you spend some time today thinking of all those who are currently serving overseas as well as those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve the freedoms and the country that we all enjoy today.

Posted 8:45 a.m.

By Brian Rexroth

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