Detroit's Eastern Market - June 2009

WOW Detroit - Not very wow when it comes to Versus HD and Fox Soccer Channel!!

Well that says it all - Why don't they broadcast Fox Soccer? And, now during Hockey playoffs, why not broadcast Versus on High Def???

Detroit Tigers Opening Day 2009 - Comerica Park

Friday was home opener for the Tigers. In Detroit, Opening Day is like a combination of all the holidays with a little baseball thrown in - or, as I call it, a blast!



People all over the place were having fun, bars were packet with lines outside. Tailgating was in full swing, and someone even invited the dreaded bagpipers!


Miller Lite? I knew it!!




Bobblehead guy posed for a photo




The Elwood Bar. Look at the line!


Jazz band at one of the ballpark entrances.


The Big Glove!


Pre-game scoreboard welcoming us there. It felt great being there - the weather was nice - not too warm but certainly not freezing. I've heard tales of snow on opening day - not today!


The Texas Rangers (the other team that was there - apparently there was a game involving another team!) were first to get introduced, followed by the entire Tigers team and staff.



4 F-15C's flew by straight after the national anthem - took us by surprise as they came from over left field. Very cool and very loud!


With the Auto industry in tatters, GM had to pull its sponsorship. However, Mike Ilitch, instead of removing GM entirely from the home run fountain, chose to accompany GM with Ford and Chrysler signs. Nice gesture - after all it's a lot of those who rely on these companies to survive (direclty or indirectly)who buy tickets to come see games like this one.


Reinforcing the support of the Big 3, instead of having a celebrity throw the first ball, a representative worker from each of Chrysler, Ford and GM each threw out 1st balls.

Warm-up was underway...




More welcomes and a crowd anticipating a fun season. Well, at least one better than last year!




And The 2009 Detroit Tigers take the field!!!!!!!! GO TIGERS!!!!!!


Through the 1st inning there were the normal outfield beach balls tossed around through the crowd, attracting the attention of security, who managed to catch and kill said balls. Then, from somewhere above us descended what you see below!!!


It was tossed around with great amusement. Apparently Mike sucks, if you believe what was written on the side of it.



Anyway, security managed to get a good hold on it, and kill it.

Meanwhile there was a baseball game in progress.


The crowd waited in anticipation...



A few runs were score, bases loaded..... then......



Miguel Cabrera hits a Grand Slam!!!

Celebrations! Happy People Everywhere!


Believe this. Someone actually bought a beer!


In fairness, there were more drunk people at the game than I've ever seen there before. It was Opening Day! Amateur day!
One thing I'd not seen before, not even during the playoffs (remember that?), what the staff not allowing people to return to their seats while a batter was up - Red Wings game style. Not a bad idea - it's annoying when people keep walking in front of you during play.

Anyway, the game went great, Galarraga pitched his heart out for 7 innings, giving up just a run, Perry relieved nicely, and Bonine closed but gave up a more-or-less meaningless run. Final score: Tigers 15, Rangers 2. Fantastic!!!!





Happy Tigers!!! Let's keep on winning!!!


In case we didn't know, the Tigers won/...


So, it was a slow walk out... nobody seemed in a big rush.



Above and below... joviality at its best outside the park. Nice to see the guarding tiger without his Carhart coat on - Spring, welcome to Detroit!!!



Now, we needed another beer - look at the line into Hockeytown!! We chose to avoid.



A great day, great fun, great weather, great result. Couldn't be better!!!!

From there, we wandered past a few bars with big lines, seen a kid who drank too much want to fight the world, and eventually made it to the not-too-crowded Foran's Bar!

Myers Motors - North American International Auto Show Detroit 2009 (NAIAS)

The amount of entries I have started and not finished is getting out of hand. This was one....

Myers Motors - according to their website, they are the first to come through with an affordable Lithium-powered highway speed vehicle. These days, it's harder than ever to define "affordable".

We seen the car in the "electro-basement" at the NAIAS. The car is TINY! Highway indeed - could ya imagine looking through the window at one of the hubs of a 26-wheeler? Man, I thought the Smart ForTwo was small!

I was interested in it - it looked like it had aspects of about 5 different decade in it. Unfortunately there was no-one near to ask about it.

Here's the pics:






The above pic pretty much sums up this year's auto show!

From Myer's website comes this one:


So the question is: Do you roll a bowling ball at them or take one home to the kids?

I shouldn't be that critical - I know very little about them and in fairness - best of luck to ya Myers!

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2009

Tigerfest 2009 at Comerica Park. The Detroit Tigers are BACK IN TOWN!!

Spring must be on the way! There’s baseball activity – the Tigers just signed a reliever – Brandon Lyon to help the bullpen, and Tigerfest was underway today.


The guarding tiger at Comerica Park reminded us that it was still cold with his winter coat on.

Ice sculpturing was underway – no chance of it melting in the 16 degree Fahrenheit temp.

Miguel Cabrera immortalized in this fine statue. Immortalized until it warms up that is.

Unfortunately, what was as close as we got to seeing him today.

The look of the ball park would send a shiver down yer spine today. Hey, here’s an idea. Why not have a hockey game at a ball park in the winter?? Wait…