Good Night and Good Luck, Chicago

Mark the date, September 24th, 2006. For today is the day the streak has officially ended. Let's recap what has transpired since the painstaking streak began:

1. The Detroit Pistons have won 3 NBA Championships
2. The Detroit Red Wings added 3 more Stanley Cups
3. Both the University of Michigan football and basketball teams won a National Championship
4. The Michigan State Spartans hoisted a basketball National Championship

All these classic moments have been soaked in by Detroit area sports fans since that wondrous fall day, back in 1987, when Frank Tannana pitched a 1-0 shut-out gem on the final game of the year against Toronto to complete an improbable late season comeback and playoff berth for the 1987 Tigers. That was the last time this city has sniffed playoff baseball.

And now, today, it is back.

This piece is not to rip the White Sox or its fans. In fact, it's quite the opposite.

To the Sox we'd like to say thank you and bid you good luck with your post season ambitions from today forward because it no longer impacts the October plans of the Detroit Tigers.

Thanks to the Sox for showing the baseball world last season that hard work, sound pitching, and a bunch of regular Joe's working as one, can accomplish great feats. No longer does a team need high priced free agents to taste post season glory. No, the 2005 White Sox taught us believing in a common goal can overtake talent, at times.

The 2005 Sox also taught us not to get distraught when watching a huge Division lead get whittled away in the last month of the season. Instead of a complete collapse, composure and confidence were key attributes of the 2005 White Sox team, which is now evident in our Tigers who have clawed themselves out of a disasterous ending - instilling 2 nails into the White Sox playoff coffin just a couple of weeks ago.

The baseball world was watching Chicago and the Detroit Tigers learned a thing or two from it. In fact, the Tiger's season has vast similarities to the 2005 White Sox, hopefully it can have the same ending.

And as we head into the final week of the season, we don't know if the Chicago White Sox will be around next Monday to defend their throne; however, we do know that for the first time since 1987, Detroit Tigers baseball is back and playoff bound.

These improbable overacheivers shocked the baseball world this year, only 3 years removed from the 2nd worst season in baseball history. The 2006 Tigers are one of the greatest turnaround stories in all of sports.

Let's hope there is a couple of more chapters to their story.

From here until this wonderful ride ends, cherish it, because 19 years is longer than you think.

DP