Breaking News

Sports columns

Peterson: Today’s Tigers lineup a mystery

There was a time when I could readily tell you the starting lineup of the Detroit Tigers. Take the 1968 World Series champs: Don Wert at third; Ray Oyler at shortstop; Dick McAuliffe at second; and Norm Cash at first base; Al Kaline, Mickey Stanley and Jim Northrup in the outfield; and Bill Freehan at catcher. Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich were the pitching mainstays. Or even the 1984 Tigers, one of the best teams never to repeat as champions. But aside from Miguel Cabrera, who might or might not be healthy enough, at designated hitter, I really couldn’t come up with the ...

There’s a new game going on in the National Football League these days: It’s called Quarterback Search and it’s hot in practically every league city. It’s not that quarterbacks haven’t always commanded their share of attention. Names like Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr, Joe Namath and Joe Montana are still household names. But with the large number of big-time QBs retiring (notably Drew Brees and Philip Rivers) and an even large number apparently ready to get a pink slip, the rush is on to find a signal caller who can get you to the promised land, much like Tom Brady did in ...

Peterson: Rambling in a very rambling year

Since it’s been such a rambling year in every respect, I figured I would ramble through the sports of the past week. First off, how about that North Central High School 8-man football team? The Jets — the most successful sports small school in the Upper Peninsula — continued to impress with a big 70-48 state title win over Portland St. Patrick. The amount of offense against a very solid team had to make points with all observers. The fact that it capped an unbeaten season and was the third overall for the Jets was just icing on the cake. North Central also has a couple of ...

‘Bama coach should be in NFL

A wise man once told me that if you want to know what the future is going to be, simply study the past. In the case of college football and it’s national championship series, that old saying holds true. Alabama has dominated the history of the big game. In fact, ‘Bama has won six national crowns in the last 15 years. The easy victory that Alabama scored over Ohio State this week clearly illustrated that domination. An observer got the idea that the Crimson Tide could have named the score if it wanted to. Ohio State, while a fine team itself, was outmatched in nearly every ...

Niemi: Capitol rush an attack on democracy

I’ve never been more ashamed to be an American citizen than Wednesday. Seeing the images of President Donald Trump supporters breach the U.S. Capitol, interrupting the democratic process as Congress was in session, immediately made me think of the service members who have fought and died for our country while protecting our constitution. I wonder what those fallen soldiers would say about an improvised explosive device being found in the Capitol building after it was breached for the first time since the British did it in 1814. Germany was a democratic nation before being ...

Peterson: Bowl season gets a little muddied

The college football bowl season got underway the last couple of weeks with only a glitch or two. One of the messups came in the Tulsa — Mississippi State game when both teams mixed it up in as good a brawl as you’re going to see in football. This took place at, of all places, the Armed Forces Bowl. There were many punches (some of the sucker variety) thrown. And even a karate kick by one MSU player that could have been in the same category as Cobra Kai. To make it even worse, the Mississippi State Mike Leach said he told his players to “cut it out” while he was being ...