Busy, busy, busy days

So life's been pretty busy lately, but that's not really a bad thing. I've barely had time to sleep, let alone write in here. Here are just a few quick hits on the weekend and random sports over the past week or so.

The Good
- Halloween is always fun. I hope some day, when Michelle and I have kids and are in a house of our own, we can have a neighborhood that's as busy as Tim and Colleen's on Halloween. Michelle and I had a lot of fun out there this weekend with all the trick-or-treaters and their neighbors who went all out on their front yard decorations.

- The Red Wings managed to go 2-2-1 on their West Coast/Canada trip the last couple weeks. Not a great record, but I'll take it for a team hurt by injuries and the flu bug recently. With Franzen and Filppula (possibly the Wings most consistent player so far this year) out with significant injuries, and then Rafalski and Ericsson out with the flu, the Wings really aren't at full strength at all right now. On top of that, no matter what they say, their early season trip to Sweden throws off the whole first couple months of the season (it does it for everyone that travels to Europe early in the year, just see last year's New York Rangers for proof).

- The World Series goes on, and I'll be the first to admit I've barely watched any of it. I have an interest in who wins, but I'm not really sure I feel like watching a 4 hour baseball game between two teams I don't really care about. As much as I don't think it's going to happen, I'd love to see the Yankees blow their 3-1 lead and the Phillies win games 6 and 7 in New York City.

- The NFL still continues to surprise me every week. New Orleans and Indianapolis are as good as we thought. The Giants are probably not as good as everyone thought. I still can't stand Brett Favre wearing purple. I wouldn't want to play Tom Brady and the Patriots in the playoffs.



The Bad

- The officiating in the Big Ten seems to always find a way to get in the middle of a Michigan State football game, and not in a good way. If there's anyway that wasn't a catch and a fumble in the 4th quarter against Minnesota Saturday night, I don't know what is. It never should have been that close in the first place, but there's no reason for the officials to miss that call with instant replay.

- The Big Ten Network is charging people $2.99 to watch Big Ten teams play exhibition basketball games against Division II and Division III teams (i.e. MSU against Northwood University and Grand Valley State University). They're then replaying the games on regular television at 4 AM the following morning. Is the "classic" football game they're showing at 4 PM on Sunday really a bigger draw than a live men's basketball game? Thanks, but no thanks Big Ten Network. I'll tape the 4 AM coverage and watch it the next day over paying for an online stream that doesn't even have a clear picture half the time.

- The Detroit Pistons opened their season 1-2 against 3 teams that probably won't make the playoffs (the team former known as the the Sonics might make a playoff drive behind Westbrook and Durant). I don't see it getting much better. They don't play any defense. They don't have any inside offense (Charlie Villanueva spends as much time outside as he does inside and you can't rely on Ben Wallace or Kwame Brown to ever score more than 4 points per game). Their two best players (Rip Hamilton and Ben Gordon) play the same position and don't really fit together well on the court at the same time. Their top draft pick from last year (Austin Daye) plays the same position as their 29 year old prospect who has never really gotten better since his first two years in the league (Tayshaun Prince, who will never be better than a 13,5, and 3 guy) It's going to be a long year for Piston fans.


The Ugly

- I don't remember there being this many bad teams in the NFL in one year, maybe ever. The Browns, Rams, Lions, Bucs, Chiefs, and Raiders are just not very good football teams. I haven't seen attendance and television blackout figures lately, but it's hard to believe people in the cities of Cleveland, St. Louis, Detroit, Tampa, Kansas City, and Oakland are actually paying to watch those teams play.