While Gary Bettman continues to prove his ineptness through his unique vision of Stanley Cup Finals scheduling and player/media availability, some interesting numbers are coming out regarding ratings.

 The NHL’s ratings for Game 3 on NBC was up over 250% compared to last year’s Game 3 OTT/ANA Cup and the numbers look great for the VS network as well. It’s easy to write off the ratings success to Sidney Crosby and the enormous popularity of the Wings but if you look even deeper, Detroit may be at the forefront of a growing trend. The Pistons scored a 18.2 rating locally vs the Pistons’ 16.2 rating on Wednesday night. Personally, I would love to see an NBA Eastern Conf Finals game on ESPN go head to head with a Stanley Cup Finals game on ESPN2 to get a good look at where the national attention is. Of course the NBA ratings would win but my gut feeling is that the NHL would be pleasantly surprised at how much ground they have gained since the lockout. People want to watch again (or begin watching), I can only hope that Gary Bettman can take whatever momentum he can out of this post-season and parlay it into a TV deal that all sports fans deserve.

I know it sounds crazy but I think there are a lot of Red Wing fans who are happy that the Wings lost Game 3 to the Penguins. They’re happy because now they think the Wings will be able to close out the series in game five which will be played in Detroit. A lot of these fans have gone as far as thinking the Wings loss the game on purpose!

I’m not gonna lie I would love to see the Wings win it on their home ice but to be happy they loss or to even suggest that they threw the game is insane. If you have a chance to sweep a team you do it no matter where your playing. A championship is a championship. When people look back they don’t care how many games it took or where it was played. All that matters is that you won it. So what happens if they lose game 4 or 5, should they “throw” another game so they can win it in seven at home? I don’t think so. So for those of you who are glad the Wings loss and now have a chance to win the Stanley Cup on home ice shame on you…man I can’t wait for game 5!

The biggest criticism of the Detroit Pistons is that they take nights off. This even includes games during the playoffs. They’ve been know to have the mindset that they can turn it on and off whenever they choose. That they will occasionally take nights off for no reason at all. This is not true of Antonio McDyess.

Antonio McDyess is the only member of the starting five that has not won a championship and it shows. McDyess runs down loose balls, dives on the floor and plays with so much emotion it’s clear he leaves everything he has on the court. He plays as if hes trying to win a championship. No one on that team takes a loss harder than McDyess…no one. I don’t know about you but if the Pistons end up losing the series to the Celtics I’m in favor of letting him play for Boston just so he gets another chance at the ring he’s working so hard to get.

So it finally happened! What we’ve all been waiting for. A Jim Leyland blowup! It took a while but man was it worth it! He finally erupted like a volcano and no one was absolved from blame including himself. First he takes a shot at former Tiger Jason Grilli then he goes after Guillen and Inge.

My only problem was that it took a newspaper article to ignite this. The Tigers needed this a while ago but better late then never. Now the only question is whether the Tigers respond or not? I think they will. I think the players will rally together and go on quite the tear. Don’t be surprised to see all these All-Star caliber players finally play up to their capabilities. And it’s all thanks to Mount Leyland finally erupting!

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