The fella in the green shirt in mid-applause is this week’s guest, Rob LaCommare. Yes, he’s attending a Major League Pickleball match in Columbus. (Photo courtesy of Rob LaCommare)
I graduated from high school an unfathomable 41 years ago.
While I had a few good friends from the Class of 1985, I may have had more in the Class of 1986. One of those friends is this week’s guest, Rob LaCommare.
As will occur, time changes those friendships, folks enter and leave our lives, and Rob was – to some extent – one of those.
That said, in mid-June, we found ourselves at a high school graduation party for his niece (and my wife’s good friend’s daughter), and the stories, well, they flowed.
Eventually, an invitation to appear on Conversations was extended (and accepted), and we agreed upon a time to record.
So, in this episode, I invite you to eavesdrop on a pair of longtime acquaintances talking sports, life, and, um, pickleball?
Yes, in addition to discussing his opportunity to see Brazilian soccer club CR Flamengo play a home match, knock off countless arenas and stadiums thanks to his work travel, Rob sneaks in some pickleball talk, which just might be a first in Conversations’ 277 episodes!
This week’s Conversation is with Nick Schroeck, Dean of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.
My guest in this week’s Conversation is Nick Schroeck. A metro-Detroit native, Nick completed his undergraduate studies at Elmhurst (IL) College before going on to earn his Juris Doctorate from the Wayne State (MI) University College of Law.
Today, Nick is the Dean of the University of Detroit Mercy’s School of Law where he also serves as a professor. His area’s of expertise include – among others – Environmental Justice and Environmental Law, so I took full advantage of our time together to discuss how athletic competitions are, perhaps, at risk due to the ever-evolving climate throughout the world. (We used the recent Club World Cup as a jumping off point.) We also discuss the environmental footprint major sporting events and venues have on the planet.
Oh yeah, we also discuss memories of his hometown Detroit Lions, Tigers, and Pistons during our time together as well as the opportunity he had to take in a Six Nations rugby match while he studied abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Are we not flipping out over this year’s MLB post-season action?
It’s been a decade now and it’s still too fresh for many Detroit Tigers’ fans. Detroit led Boston 1-0 in the American League Championship Series after stealing Game 1 in Fenway Park and led the Red Sox, 5-1, with two outs in the eighth inning of Game 2 when David Ortiz came to the plate with the bases loaded and faced closer Joaquin Benoit. The rest is history or ignominy for Tigers’ rightfielder Torii Hunter who was posterized along with one of Boston’s finest in the Red Sox bullpen.
Boston wound up walking off Game 2 and went on to win Game 3 in Detroit. The Tigers’ knotted the series at 2-2 in Game 4 before losing Games 5 and 6. This moment, however, was viewed as pivotal in the series.
Detroit Tigers’ rightfielder Torii Hunter went all out to try and nab David Ortiz’s game-tying grand slam during Game 2 of the 2013 ALCS in Boston.
Just to review, The Fan Teaser comes courtesy of longtime buddy, Pat Schutte. The cropped photo below and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.
Sparks flew that one day at Comiskey Park … quite literally.
Detroit Tigers’ catcher Alex Avila had a nasty habit of taking foul balls off his face mask. This one, at Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field (always Comiskey Park in our hearts!) on September 13, 2011, drew sparks.
By the way, the visiting Tigers prevailed, 5-0, earning soon-to-be American League Cy Young Award winner, Justin Verlander, his 23rd win of the season.
Just to review, The Fan Teaser comes courtesy of longtime buddy, Pat Schutte. The cropped photo below and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you by the early kickoff on Sunday.
Just in time for Opening Day 2023! When the moon landing was televised… for the second time.
On an otherwise unremarkable mid-July Monday night in Detroit’s Tiger Stadium in 1990, the hometown Tigers won in walk-off fashion behind future Baseball Hall of Famer Alan Trammell‘s 2-run 9th innning homer. That might have been the only noteworthy thing to occur during the game if it were not for Chicago White Sox utility player Steve Lyons. Lyons, whose nickname during his 9-season MLB career was “Pyscho” was bunting for a single in the 5th inning and slid headfirst into first base. And then, inexplicably, he dropped his pants before the nearly 15,000 fans in the stands to shake out the dirt he took on during the slide.
Enjoy the video of the moment below and you check out the boxscore here.
An embarrassed Steve Lyons can’t believe what he just did at first base in Detroit’s Tiger Stadium.
Just to review, The Fan Teaser comes courtesy of longtime buddy, Pat Schutte. The cropped photo below and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you by the early kickoff on Sunday.
I’m a bit tardy with this dispatch today and it’s with good reason.
I took advantage of the extended holiday weekend to visit my father in Indiana and it turned out to be a fairly epic sports viewing weekend for the two of us.
Saturday
3-5 p.m.
We discovered the University of Michigan’s baseball team was playing UC San Diego in the MLB Desert Invitational in the Phoenix area and the game was airing on the MLB.com app. It became readily apparent the Wolverines were coming from the north where outdoor practices have, quite likely, been things of fiction. The Tritons wallopped the Wolverines, 11-2. Each of four Michigan pitchers hit a batter, they combined for six walks, and yielded 12 hits. It was not a thing of beauty but it was baseball.
5-6:30 p.m.
For nothing more than background noise, the Villanova at Providence game was airing during time preparing and eating dinner. I can’t say as though I paid much attention to the game, though I did notice the Friars were in control much of the way (between spoonfuls of vegetable soup, that is).
7-8 p.m.
Just because the TV was still tuned to FOX, we got sucked into the documentary, “Back to School with Gus Johnson,” which focused on the FOX Sports broadcaster’s semester studying at Harvard University as part of its Advanced Leadership Initiative. Johnson and I are the same age, graduated the same year from high school, both enjoy sports, and the similarities pretty much end there. He was a 3-sport star the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and graduated from Howard University before moving into the world of sports broadcasting. I once took a course at Harvard online and earned an executive certificate, but it was no where near as challenging as what Johnson faced. It was a terrific exploration into Johnson’s work as a broadcaster and his humanity. I enjoyed it even more than I believed I would.
8-10:30 p.m.
Less-than a week after the shootings on campus, Michigan State University returned to game action in this primetime game at rival U-M in Ann Arbor. I was disappointed more of the pre-game honors were not shared by FOX Sports, but I’m also not surprised. Mass shootings are now so frequent they almost feel like yesterday’s news a day later. Still, I have two nephews and several of my son’s friends who attend MSU and I felt I owed to them and myself to watch as much of the game as I could stay awake for. Turns out that meant all of it! It was a back-and-forth game throughout that had overtime written all of over it, especially after MSU tied it at 72 with just under 2:30 left. Then, the Spartans didn’t score again. Michigan won, 84-72, and also won by how caring the entire university was for its grieving rivals to the north.
10:45-11:15 p.m.
Drifting off to sleep I dialed up the Detroit Red Wings at Seattle Kraken game as the resurgent Wings’ went for their sixth straight victory. It’s also nice to listen to my old pal – and Season 1, Episode 21 guest on “Conversations with Sports Fans” – Ken Kal and Paul Woods call a late game. I was long into slumber by the time Detroit lost, 4-2.
Sunday
9-9:30 a.m.
Even when we were not seeking sports fan moments they seemed to find us out. Breakfast at the Corner Cafe went quicker than anticipated so we decided to visit the local cemetery to pay our respects to several family members. As we were leaving my dad spotted a massive monument that caught his eye. It was placed there by John E. Fetzer, owner of the Detroit Tigers from 1961-83. Fetzer, it turns out, was born in my hometown, Decatur, IN, and moved with his mother and sister following the deaths of his father and brother six months apart a couple of years later.
The Fetzer Family Monument placed in a Decatur, IN, cemetery by John E. Fetzer.
11:15-11:45 a.m.
Even following a church service, sports talk is in order. Visiting with one of my father’s friend, Gerry, during fellowship time after church, we discussed the pending full opening of Spring Training this week, the state of his favored St. Louis Cardinals, and the World Baseball Classic. An old classmate, Scott, even stopped by to tell me he’s ready to talk about the “We Are Family” Pittsburgh Pirates on an episode of “Conversations.”
2-4:15 p.m.
There’s nothing quite like a live sporting event. Especially when it’s in a venue you’ve never been to before.
That’s where dad and I headed on this afternoon. The Wright State University Raiders were visiting the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons in a Horizon League matchup of lower division foes.
As we walked from the parking lot to the fieldhouse my dad commented that he was hopeful of two things: “A good crowd and a close game.”
Some of the sites from the Purdue Fort Wayne vs. Wright State game on Sunday.
Well, Senior Day helped with the crowd. While it was not packed to the rafters, there were enough folks there to make some noise and it felt like a proper Division I college basketball game.
As for the close game … PFW led from the outset until WSU’s Trey Calvin hit a turnaround baseline jumper with a couple seconds left. Then the magic ensued and senior Damian Chong Qui took the inbounds pass, dribbled a couple times and drained a 40-footer to seal the walk-off victory. You can see the play unfold here.
Many thanks to my buddy Mike for capturing this imageof my dad and I during as Chong Qui prepared to shoot.
Mercifully, there was not an overflow crowd to navigate while leaving, but as we walked out, I asked my dad if that game was close enough for him.
“Yes, it was.”
5:30-7 p.m.
By the time we made it home, there were two events drawing to a close playing out on opposite coasts. In Los Angeles, Spaniard Jon Rahm was putting the finishing touches on the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational at Riveria Country Club. In Daytona Beach, FL, the NASCAR season-opening Daytona 500 was in the final stage.
As noted in Season 2, Episode 9 of “Conversations with Sports Fans,” my vow this year is to become more than a casual NASCAR fan. Heeding the advice from my guests Frank Burger and Kevin Hickerson, I reviewed the field and believe I’m a Ford fella (hey, my last two cars have been Fords) and have a special place in my heart for Brad Keselowski (I once wrote a story about his late father, Bob). I also am familiar with the Penske Racing Team from its work in Indy Cars, so I decided Austin Cindric is another I can get behind. As a happy bonus, his primary sponsor is also a Michigan-made Company, Discount Tire.
Having said this, I was delighted to tune in fairly late in the race and see both among the top 10. Shoot, Keselowski led for a good chunk of time, before the race wound up going to overtime (a foreign concept to me that necessitated a few texts with Frank and Kevin). In the end, Ricky Stenhouse, won the race which is pretty cool because his is the only car the race team puts out there … and among the team’s owners is former NBA standout, Brad Daugherty.
7-8:45 p.m.
I’ve no idea how or why, but as I was spinning through ESPN+ we wound up settling on the Stanford at Cal State Fullerton baseball game. It was the top of the 9th when we tuned in and Fullerton led by three, but Stanford had a pair of runners on. The Cardinal ultimately scored seven runs that inning and took a 2-run lead heading into the bottom of the 9th. The Titans tied it with a 2-run homer in the home half of the ninth. Stanford then scored eight runs in the 10th and wound up winning, 21-13. The game lasted a whopping 4 hours, 42 minutes, and I’m pretty sure we saw close to two hours’ worth over only two innings.
8:45-9:30 p.m.
Wait, there was more baseball to be seen. It was Wright State University (remember it from earlier in the afternoon:-) playing at the University of Hawaii. The vistas were pleasing to the eyes but the baseball was … so-so. Hawaii gave up five runs over the final two innings, but still won easily, 16-7. We did hear on the broadcast that prior to heading to the island, Wright State had been able to practice outside a total of seven times this spring. That might help explain the six walks, four wild pitches, and five hit batters – not to mention the 14 hits – the pitching staff gave up.
9:45-10:15
The NBA All-Star Game, or shall I say NBA All-Star Showcase, helped send me off to slumber. The tones of Marc Kestecher are not nearly as soothing as those of Ken Kal, I can assure you.
I probably enjoyed far too much of baseball’s post-season action over the weekend, but as I reflected on the four major American sports post-seasons, the one that I’ve been able to engage in person the most frequently has been Major League Baseball. So, it’s really not shocking that I found myself hopelessly distracted by the Rays-Guardians’ 15-inning marathon Saturday afternoon or the Mariners’ stunning comeback against he Blue Jays that followed the Cleveland game in short-order.
Tim, Brett, and I at the Cubs-Nationals’ 2017 NLDS, my most-recent MLB post-season game (Photo by Random Fella)
I’ll begrudgingly give MLB credit for the additional Wild Card teams and the decision to make the Wild Card round a best-of-3 at the higher seeded site. That said, I’m mystified why a reseed would not occur following the Wild Card round. Shouldn’t Philadelphia, the final National League qualifier, get the No.1 overall seed Los Angeles Dodgers and all the perils accompanying cross-country travel, extreme changes in climate, etc.? Instead, the Dodgers will see the Padres for the 20th, 21st, and 22nd times this season (at minimum). Los Angeles won the season-series, 14-5, if you’re scoring at home.
Of course, MLB couldn’t get out of its own way with the Divisional Series, granting the ALDS a random day off following Game 1. If there was a desire to keep baseball on the airwaves every day from now until the conclusion of the Divisional Series round, why not start the ALDS on Wednesday rather than Tuesday? Regardless of when it starts, there is going to be one day early in the series where all four games are played on the same day. Rather than cutting the AL teams a break by having an off-day immediately following Game 1 and then another for travel following Game 2 (creating a T-Th-Sa schedule), just have it play Wednesday and Thursday and again on Saturday?
Enough with the ranting, here’s a look back at my in-person experiences with the MLB playoffs. Unsurprisingly, it tracks closely with my hometown Detroit Tigers’ post-season appearances but the most-recent playoff appearance I made was, of all places, Nationals Park in Washington, DC.
Detroit Tigers Joel Zumaya and Brandon Inge celebrate with the fans down the rightfield line following their elimination of the New York Yankees in 2006. Somewhere above Zumaya’s Champagne bottle are my wife and I. (Photo by Getty Images)
1984 World Series, Games 3 & 4, October 12th & October 13th, Tiger Stadium: In this simpler time, I recall sending away a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope with a check inside for World Series tickets. My envelope apparently got pulled and I was fortunate enough to secure lower deck bleacher seats for both Games 3 and 4 of the Tigers’ first World Series appearance in 16 years. My father deferred the opportunity to attend to his younger brother so my uncle Paul traveled up from Indiana to accompany me to the Friday night and Saturday afternoon Tiger victories. Both games were great, but Game 4 was especially fun as future Hall of Famer Alan Trammell belted a pair of 2-run homers to provide all the offense fellow future Hall of Famer Jack Morris needed in the 4-2 win. I then sat in the comfort of my childhood living room in nearby St. Clair Shores the next night and watched Kirk Gibson‘s monster blast against a stubborn Goose Gossage (seen here) that sealed the World Series Championship over the San Diego Padres.
1987 AL Championship, Game 5, October 12th, Tiger Stadium: The details surrounding this game are a bit fuzzy, but I seem to recall going with a couple of buddies from college and just walking up and buying bleacher tickets at the box office the afternoon of this game, which is the only winner-take-all baseball playoff game I’ve ever attended. It ended with a colossal thud, as trade deadline acquisition Doyle Alexander (who was as responsible as anyone for Detroit even reaching the post-season (9-0 with a 1.53 ERA over 11 starts) couldn’t get out of the second inning and Minnesota’s improbable run to a World Series Championship continued with a 9-5 win. Adding insult to injury, of course, was that the Tigers traded some minor leaguer named John Smoltz to the Atlanta Braves for Alexander. Ouch!
2006 AL Division Series, Game 4, October 7th, Comerica Park: This was during the era our family had a mini-season ticket plan to Tigers’ games. As such, we had access to purchase post-season games for this season that came out of left field for Detroit. My wife, Carol, and I chose this one – a Saturday afternoon game – because a Friday night, 8 p.m. start, would have presented several logistical challenges. Also, fearing the worst (a shellacking at Yankee Stadium in the first two games) we figured Game 4 might not even be played and we’d save a bit of money. Wrong! And boy were glad. Pitcher Jeremy Bonderman was unreal and Magglio Ordonez and Craig Monroe each homered during this 8-3 Tigers’ rout. The biggest highlight of that afternoon, however, came following the game when the lockerroom celebration occurred on the field. The champagne came out and players ran around the field spraying the fans. Truly a magical moment.
2012 World Series, Game 3, October 27th, Comerica Park: The Tigers came into Game 3, down 2-0 having been swept by the Giants in San Francisco. The Giants beat up on Justin Verlander in Game 1 and rode a strong Madison Bumgarner performance to the victory in Game 2. I worked a connection I had with a friend who was a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America and had access to World Series tickets to secure the seats in the upper deck behind homeplate for me and my father, Jerry (heard in Episode 2 of our podcast, “Conversations with Sports Fans”). It was my father’s first trip to a World Series Game. That wound up being the overwhelming highlight of the night. It was a raw 47 degrees with a stiff breeze that made it feel much colder. The Tigers’ offense, despite the fact that Frank Robinson presented Miguel Cabrera with a Triple Crown Award prior to the start, remained in hibernation, getting beat 2-0 and running its scoreless streak to 18 innings.
2017 NL Division Series, Game 1, October 6th, Nationals Park: The Chicago Cubs were beginning defense of their 2016 World Championship in our nation’s capital and it so happened I was in town for a NEA Board of Director’s Meeting. My friend Tim Parker (heard in Episode 3 of our podcast) secured Standing Room Only tickets for me, him, and our fellow education leader, Brett Smith. It was a delightful night and we took in the game from as many vantage points as we could access. It turned out to be a pitcher’s duel between the Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks and Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg and the Cubbies came out on top, 3-0. Chicago went on to win this NLDS, 3-2.
Some of our many vantage points of the Cubs-Nationals’ 2017 NLDS Game 1 at Nationals Park. (Photos by Doug Hill)
