Poll | 07/07/2008 12:00 am

What is your favorite summer spectator sport?

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I love to go tubing, Josie. I also like to be on power boats, anything near the water.

By James the Game on 07/07/2008 10:02 am

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Lily: I left a message for you on the Lily/ Jane Fourth of July thread.

By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 07/07/2008 5:19 pm

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Dear Lily of the Valley, Are you a Canadian? and are you also Suzanne de Cornelia?>

By Sandra Robinson on 07/08/2008 9:08 am

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sitting at a sidewalk cafe drinking coffee or wine (depending on the time of day) and watching people go by.

By Chrome Toe on 07/07/2008 9:10 am

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I’m with you Kelly Kelly. Want some company?

By kermie b on 07/07/2008 2:06 pm

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My favorite sport to watch?? Horse shows!!!! My favorite sport to participate in? Horse shows!!! Of course you have to love horses to find this sport enchanting..but the beautiful part is, anyone of any age who has a sincere interest in this sport can participate..from the 3 year olds in the lead line class, to the over 65 crowd in the Pleasure riding classes. And these folks can participate in the US Nationals at the Arabian Horse Nationals. I love to drive fancy horses. Perhaps this method of transportation will be making a comeback if gas prices keep climbing.

By G T on 07/07/2008 9:35 am

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I like to play golf, and I played baseball all the time as a kid, but I love to watch the Detroit Tigers. I’ve been doing so since 1968, when, at age 6, I sat on my dad’s lap as the Tigers won the World Series. That was the last year a major-league pitcher won 30 or more games in a season, as Detroit’s Denny McClain posted a 31-6 record. The first major-league game I attended was in Milwaukee’s County Stadium in August 1971. Detroit won 2-1 on a two-run single to right field by Jim Northrup. Joe Niekro was the Tiger starter. In Aug. 1974, I attended my first games at Tiger Stadium, a double-header versus Baltimore on a Sunday afternoon. My dad, who had a booming voice, would yell “Whoa -ooooo!” every time Mike Cuellar (QUAY’-ar) of the Orioles wound up to pitch. He got the entire first-base side of Tiger Stadium yelling that chant. 34,000 people at that wonderful 1912-built park. And in 1976, Mark “The Bird” Fidrych - he who talked to the baseball - was the American League’s starting pitcher in the All-Star Game. 50,000 people would watch him pitch at Tiger Stadium; it was absolutely electric! I remember pacing in the house, pumping my fist in ‘76 with each strikeout by The Bird, as I listened on the radio. Utter magic. Last week, the city of Detroit started taking the wrecking ball to Tiger Stadium. My Dad, as a teen in the 1930’s, used to watch the games from the roof of the Checker Cab Co. across the street from the stadium, before the upper deck was built up. It was the place where Al Kaline used to roam right field, where Ty Cobb slid in second base, spikes up. Where Reggie Jackson hit that legendary shot off the lighting fixture atop the right-field roof in the ‘71 All-Star Game. Last week, the city started taking the wrecking ball to the Grand Old Lady. 90-year-old Hall of Fame announcer Ernie Harwell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Harwell) - who began broadcasting games in the 1940’s - is leading a civic group’s last-ditch effort to save a section of Tiger Stadium as part of a retail center.

By James the Game on 07/07/2008 9:49 am

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It’s a shame all of these old stadims are coming down. They are so much more than just a building, they hold memories of lifetimes. My husband, who is 18 years older than I am, played for a Yankee’s farm team out of high school, never made it to the Majors but does he ever have to the stories. I asked him once what he got for a “signing bonus” thinking of the millions nowadays. He said he was able to buy his mother a refrigerator, a fancy item in those days.

By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 07/07/2008 11:54 am

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Without doubt, Sandbee. I love the smell of a baseball glove, the crackling of a bat, the aroma of hot dogs in the stands. It’s discouraging that you never see kids - or anyone - playing baseball on the sandlots, anymore. In the 1960’s/’70’s, when I grew up, baseball was the biggest sport in America. Now, it’s only played in schools and professional leagues, or so it seems. Almost every day during the summer, about 14 of the neighborhood kids - and often-times, adults, too - would play on a field we mowed on Roth Street. I played in Little League. Kids would run home from school in October to watch the playoffs. I love football, basketball and hockey, but it bums me that baseball just isn’t played much anymore by kids. Even in the major leagues, it’s dominated by Latin Americas and Japanese players now. Nothing against them, but baseball has been in decline in America for many years now. A lot of it has to do with funding, the fact it takes a lot of people to get teams up, can only be played in warm months up north, and kids have so many other distractions nowadays.

By James the Game on 07/07/2008 11:33 pm

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Lily, that magical season of ‘84 is forever etched in my mind. Detroit started off 35-5. Stop and think about that for a minute. 35 wins, 5 losses….best 40-game start in history. Yep, Tram was the World Series MVP that year, Jack Morris pitched a no-hitter in the regular season, and Willie Hernandez converted 32 of 33 save opportunities. I met Lance Parrish several years ago at a pre-game media event hosted by the West Michigan Whitecaps, the Tiger’s Class-A minor-league affiliate in Grand Rapids. He’s nice, Todd Jones was great, as was Brad Ausmus, the catcher who later went back to Houston. I met Jeff Weaver up in the press box. I was a sports announcer/producer for WBBL at the time. You’ll dig this. Prior to one game, I got to do an interview with Al Kaline down by the batting cage. I brought along Kaline’s second-year baseball card from 1955. It had his autograph on the bottom. I asked Al to sign his name in black marker right below the factory autograph! A great gent. I’ve also spoken to Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey on the telephone a few times. Wonderful gents!!

By James the Game on 07/07/2008 11:41 pm

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Great Wimbleton finals. Both women’s and men’s. Great tennis.

By Lauren Gough on 07/07/2008 10:20 am

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Reading through the threads on wOw is a pretty invigorating spectator sport!

By Maurine H on 07/07/2008 11:13 am

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My Dad was a Tiger fan and since I like the music from the Chicago radio stations I tended to listen to the Cubs games more and really got hooked. They have been my team ever since. I even did a tour of Wrigley Field a few years back and it was awesome!

By Chris Broersma on 07/07/2008 11:20 am

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Ah, you listen to WGN 720 AM, then. That’s a 50,000-watt clear-channel station, meaning you can hear it in about 38 states at night-time. I like the play-by-play announcer, but Ron Santo wears on me as the color commentator. A great third baseman he was, though. The Tigers, for years, were on WJR, the 50,000-watt blowtorch in Detroit. Now, they’re on 1270 WXYT, which barely blasts out of metro Detroit. I listen to the Tiges on network affiliates WKZO AM-590 out of Kalamazoo, or WLAV-FM 96.9 in Bland Rapids. I used to enjoy listenig to Jack Buck on KMOX-AM out of St. Louis.

By James the Game on 07/07/2008 11:48 pm