Wow, what a terrible day in Detroit

Well, that might just cap the single most disappointing day in Detroit sports history. While the Yzerman retirement was hardly unexpected, the fact that he waited so long to announce it gave me some false hope. Hearing him hang it up today was a little bit of a letdown. Ultimately I'm happy that he's going out at the right time, with something left in the tank, the way it should be.

As for the rest of the bad news, on top of the Tigers losing, Ben Wallace has verbally committed to a contract with Chicago. So much for being blue collar, huh Ben? Being the highest paid Piston in history wasn't enough respect for you? I hope that this doesn't come off sounding too bitter, because I find it hard to care enough about basketball to be bitter. Still, the deal is something of a head scratcher for me. Why would the Bulls shell out 52 million dollars for a system guy with no offensive ability? Do they really think that Wallace will be able to replicate his success on another team in another system? Big Ben isn't getting any younger and I can't imagine that an extra $4 million is worth turning an entire city against oneself. Without the fans from Detroit, staunchly defending Wallace, it will be interesting to see in 10 years what his legacy is with regards to the brawl in the Palace. I don't know that there has ever been a superstar athlete more closely tied to the identity of his city who has up and left like this. Wayne Gretzky leaving Edmonton? Roger Clemens leaving Boston? In the end it comes down to Ben wanting to leave and I just can't come up with anything to compare this treachery to.

You can be the judge of whether I properly contained my bitterness, but personally I think I failed. Tomorrow I'll be back with some Red Wings offseason commentary and perhaps an early look at the upcoming season for the Texas A&M Aggie Football Team.