Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Problems in Detroit

Before I delve into a serious issue in the Motor City, let me just say TAKE THAT BRAZIL!!

USA! USA! USA!

Sure it was only a four point victory, and yeah Carmelo Anthony and possibly Dwayne Wade got hurt, but a win is a win.

On to the topic at hand.

This has not been a good summer for the Pistons.

First they lose Ben Wallace to the Bulls and replace him with Nazr Muhammed. Let's just say Pistons fans are not handling losing the heart and soul of their championship team well.

But how will they feel when they lose the heart and soul of The Palace of Auburn Hills?

From the Willoughby News-Journal:

''The Cleveland Cavaliers will not be extending Ronnie Duncan's contract as our in-game public address announcer for the 2006-07 season,'' Cavaliers president Len Komoroski said in a prepared statement. ''Our agreement with Mr. Duncan was a one-year contract, which expired at the conclusion of the past season. The Cavaliers will launch a search immediately to hire a new announcer.''
One person it won't be is Pistons' PA announcer John Mason, a team spokesman said, even though his contract has expired at The Palace of Auburn Hills and he recently left his radio job in Detroit.
But it doesn't mean they didn't try to transform Duncan into Mason Jr.''They made me a robot,'' Duncan said. ''Dan (Gilbert) would interject things during the games, like "Cleveland basketball' (sung to the tune of "Detroit basketball'). They wanted Mason. Maybe Dan should have bought the Detroit Pistons.''

I'm seriously not sure which story is more important here. If anyone heard Ronnie Duncan work last year, there's no question he was told to be Mason. If you don't believe me, listen to the difference between a LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEBRRRRRONNNNNNNNNNNNNN James bucket and a Luol Deng basket ("dang").

With that said, is the bigger story here that the pre-eminent public address announcer in the NBA appears to be a free agent?

Without Mason screaming DEEEEEEEETROITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT BASKETBALLLLLLL every nine seconds, will the Pistons still have their identity? Is this something they can bounce back from? Will they still be ballerz?

And, not to frighten Piston fans, but what if Mason does go to Cleveland? Is a pairing of LeBron and Mason too much to overcome?

With Ben Wallace already joining Central rival Chicago, and Mason possibly (probably not, but it's fun to think about) heading to Cleveland, what other move could shake the balance of power in division this summer?

There's only one that I can think of off the top of my head.

The Bananas kid heading to Milwaukee.

That would send shockwaves through the league like never before.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

As for the injuries, it looks like Carmelo is more than OK. Good news for Team USA. And you know that D-Wade doesn't 'really' get hurt. Didn't you see that Converse commercial? As for the PA story, that would be great! If Mason went to Cleveland, that could shift the casual NBA fan's center of hatred right onto the Cavalier franchise. Could we seriously hear Mason's constant yapping on the mic while we have to watch LeBron chew his fingernails? Awesome! That could be the big free agent signing of the year, but it probably doesn't propel the Cave to the top spot in the East.