Catching up in to the lull in Detroit sports & recapping the canoe trip

I haven't posted since May 22, mainly because it's kind of dead around here. The Pistons aren't in the playoffs and the NBA Draft isn't for another week yet, the Wings got bounced in round 1 and predictably named Blashill their new HC. There is little going on with the Lions & U of M right now, and the Tigers are basically grinding until they get healthy. There's a little to talk about there, but I'd rather lump it into one post instead of trying to stretch it into something weekly or bimonthly.

First, los Tigres. Verlander finally got healthy(ish) and pitched ok on Saturday (5 inn, 5 walks+hits, 2 ER, 2 Ks, no decision). My expectation is that Verlander becomes Detroit's #2 starter and solidifies the rotation, not that he becomes a second ace. He's older, still kind of recovering, and the decreasing velocity on his fastball is well documented. He'll be an upgrade over Lobstein and the pu-pu platter of fill-ins that were spot starting in Verlander's spot. He'll stabilize the rotation and probably give the Tigers an extra 6 wins that they wouldn't have gotten with replacement-level starters.

At this point, they're waiting for Alex Avila and Victor Martinez to return, neither of whom is on a firm track to get back soon. Without Victor, there's not a lot of pop in the lineup. Only Cabrera, JD Martinez, and Cespedes have more than 4 HR on the season. Avila, for all of his offensive shortcomings, is SORELY missed for his game calling (ESPN recently rated Alex Avila as the 2nd best catcher in baseball for calling pitches). James McCann is a bit better on offense, but not nearly as good on defense. As infuriating as it is to watch Avila stand next to the plate and watch strikes pour by, I'd really like to see him behind the plate watching strikes pouring in.

Last Tigers thing - the MLB All Star Game. All Star voting has been a crock for a long time, especially in baseball. While fan voting has tipped the NBA from time to time (hello, Yao), there's a long history of undeserving candidates getting voted into the Mid-Summer Classic (hello, Jeter). Still, it comes as a bit of a surprise that Miguel Cabrera, best hitter in baseball, might not start in the All Star Game. This is the problem with fan voting - if one particular fan base (in this case, Kansas City) decides to vote for all of their players, regardless of merit, it skews the results. The Royals have a decent case for maybe 2 of the 9 players currently slotted to start in the game, catcher isn't one of them. So vote early, vote often, vote Cabrera. You can resubmit your vote up to 35 times total, and voting ends 7/2/15 at noon.


My AL Ballot
C - S. Vogt, OAK
1B - M. Cabrera, DET
2B - J. Kipnis, CLE
SS - X. Bogaerts, BOS
3B - J. Donaldson, TOR
DH - N. Cruz, SEA
OF1 - Mike Trout, LAA
OF2 - Yoenis Cespedes, DET
OF3 - J. Reddick, OAK


I could've voted a Royal for OF (Lorenzo Cain), but screw them for messing with the voting process. Omar Infante, really? This is a guy who his own team is looking to replace at 2B, he's that bad. I could've slotted JD Martinez at that 3rd OF spot, but I didn't want to be too much of a homer. My NL ballot was more cursory, but I had Posey at C, Goldschmidt at 1B, Panik at 2B, Tulo at SS, Frazier at 3B, and Harper, Stanton, and Pollock all in the OF spots.

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The Pistons made a sort of under-the-radar move, acquiring Milwaukee Bucks PF Ersan Ilyasova for Caron Butler and Shawne Williams, 2 guys that Detroit was probably going to cut anyway. Ilyasova right now is a much better player than the other 2 guys in the deal, so this was a straight salary dump for Milwaukee. As far as Detroit is concerned, Ilyasova provides a MUCH better complement to Andre Drummond than Greg Monroe did, although Monroe is a better player. Ilyasova, shoots the three, and well, although his 3P% can fluctuate. Despite not being as good as Monroe, I expect the Pistons' offense to flow much better with him at the 4. Plus, he may be a backup or a 6th man, depending on how the draft and free agency go.






Speaking of free agency, you would think that taking on an $8M/yr would hurt Detroit's chances at landing a top FA, but not so. The actual impact of this move on the Pistons' salary cap is fairly minimal, giving them enough room to sign 2 or 3 quality FAs, their draft picks, and to match whatever Reggie Jackson is offered (if anything). I'd like to see Detroit get a couple of SFs, at least one of whom should be a pretty good player, another PF, and a backup C. This would be through a combination of free agency, the draft, and a possible sign & trade that sends Greg Monroe some place like NY.


There are some movings and shakings going on with the draft, but that deserves its own post, so I'll save that for next week some time.


For anyone who wishes the Pistons had taken the road to rebuilding that Philly is on (I'm not one of those people), apparently it's a bad strategy to draft dudes with injury troubles. Embiid might end up ok, but this is the risk they took. I'll feel bad for Embiid if he turns into Greg Oden, but I'd experience some serious schadenfreude for Philly.


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My wife's brother is getting married, and this past weekend was his bachelor party. The bachelor party consisted of a camping & canoe trip up north, on the Pine River. It was all good times, with good food, a little bit of drinking, and some games like horseshoes, bocce, and a thing called Kan Jam, which was pretty cool. But let me get to the canoe trip.





This isn't me, but this is the stretch of river we canoed. Actually, we did about half of this stretch. Anyway, it was kind of chilly (I'm guessing mid-low 60's) and the water was COLD (we were told 57 degrees). Additionally, the river was a foot high due to rainfall during the week, and it was even faster than usual (the Pine is the fasted river in the LP). This made for a very interesting trip.

Side note: if you're canoeing a river with any kind of rapids, get a plastic or fiberglass canoe. Both my paddling partner & I were more familiar with aluminum canoes, so that's what we went with. This was a bad idea.

The people at the canoe livery strongly suggested water rafts for everyone. Half our group went that route, but not I. Three guys opted for kayaks, which I have no experience with, and four of us chose canoes, 1 plastic and 1 aluminum. The livery guy kind of shrugged at the aluminum canoe, which should've been a sign. 


Anytime we hit any kind of rapids (which was often), anytime either of us shifted in the canoe or dug deep with our paddles, or anytime somebody else (usually the guys in the other canoe) pushed our boat, we rocked like crazy. The body of the canoe was too stiff and we were sitting up too high. We ended up dumping in the river 3 times. Finally, we sat on our knees and managed to navigate some pretty rough water without much difficulty. I'm convinced we would've stayed out of the river had we either used a plastic canoe or paddled the whole river on our knees.


Regardless, we got soaking wet in freezing cold water, we got banged around by logs, rocks, and the canoe itself (I'm still sporting a bruise on my arm 4 inches long), and it was loads of fun. I'd have preferred to stay out of the river, but I still loved the experience. I wouldn't attempt this river in a canoe unless you had some experience (I can claim some canoe experience, not a TON) and you're paired with someone who has some experience. Otherwise, take a raft and enjoy yourself.