ouch.

from the comments section on a Freep article about my slumping and woeful tigers:

"**inappropriate joke alert** The Tiger offense is showing as much life as Eight Belles. Thanks, I'll be here all week."

which brings up two important sports questions. first, whats wrong with the tigers!? second, whats going on in horse racing?

the tigers made some good trades in the off season that kinda smelled like the yankees. i was supportive at the time. it sounded like wed be playoff bound. but now, the tigers are 14 and 20 and have dropped 4 straight after nearly climbing back into a respectable 500 position. this whole thing now reeks of an attempt to buy a pennant when it seems to me that the tigers had been cultivating good talent through drafts and farm systems and the occasional trade. that strategy got them into the world series a couple years ago. this strategy seems to have bought them a dismal record and cost future prospects. i liked the old Dombrowski plan better than this one. only time will tell... this is after all a team the swept the yanks in their home park, but also lost their opening home series, no was swept, to the royals. your guess is as good as mine.

this whole eight belles thing make me wonder what the hell is going on with horse racing. barbaro last year, now this. perhaps breeding has gone too far. if a horse injures itself running, something thats as natural to a horse as breathing, to the point that it must be put down, something is amiss. its not like the horse fell, or crashed, or was attacked by wolves, it was slowing down after the race and both front ankles gave out. i think something needs to be assessed there. perhaps they need to take a look at mixing up that gene pool a little or something. im not knowledgeable enough on the subject to say what the fix is, but when in big races in consecutive years horses sustain life ending injuries, something needs to change. if ball players died in the world series in one year, you know theyd take a hard look at that...