I thought I saw this at Borders Books last night, so I checked Amazon.com and indeed it is true. Someone has written a book about the always relevant (only, NOT!) and always thrilling (also, NOT!) football rivalry between Indiana and Purdue.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1418413739/qid=1151676210/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-3890499-4563163?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Now, a book on Purdue vs. Indiana basketball would make sense, since both schools have a rich tradition of success in that sport. Purdue-Indiana football, on the other hand, means little to anyone who is not a fan of either the Hoosiers or the Boilermakers. Indiana has not had much success on the gridiron since 1967 when they made their most recent Rose Bowl appearance. Purdue has fared somewhat better, but still tends to be known as an upstart team that occasionally pulls off an upset (hence the "Spoilermakers" moniker) and not as a true perennial contender like Michigan, Ohio State, or Penn State.

The Detroit Shock's six game winning streak ended last night as Indiana won 66-56. The Shock now are in third place with a 10-5 record, one game behind both Connecticut and Indiana. They play at Connecticut tonight, and a win there would pull the Shock even with the Sun at 11-5.

Indiana is 12-5 with their next game on Saturday against none other than Connecticut. So things are getting very interesting indeed at the top of the WNBA Eastern conference...stay tuned for further developments.

In Major League Baseball, the Detroit Tigers had the day off yesterday and open a series at Pittsburgh today. They are currently two and a half games ahead of the White Sox in the AL Central.

The Detroit Shock pulled out a close win at San Antonio last night, in the process moving into a second place tie with Indiana and raising their record to 10-4.

Cheryl Ford had a huge game for Detroit, scoring 22 points and grabbing 19 rebounds.

Swin Cash scored 13 points and had a team-high five assists.

Plenette Pierson did fine work coming off the bench, with 10 points and six rebounds.

Deanna Nolan did not have one of her better games, but did make good on a key three point play (two point basket and a foul shot) with time running out to give the Shock some breathing room.

The Shock's next two games are against the Indiana Fever (who the Shock are tied for second place with) and the Connecticut Sun (who the Shock and Fever trail by a half game). Needless to say, these two games are very important and represent an opportunity for the Shock to gain momentum and the upper hand in the Eastern conference race.

Today's Song of the Day is by the Beatles, specifically John Lennon:

"living is easy with eyes closed
misunderstanding all you see
it's getting hard to be someone, but it all works out
it doesn't matter much to me

(chorus)let me take you down, cause i'm going to
strawberry fields
nothing is real
and nothing to get hung about
strawberry fields forever

no one, i think, is in my tree
i mean it must be high or low
that is, you can't, you know
tune in, but it's alright
that is, i think it's not too bad

(repeat chorus)

always know, sometimes think it's me
but you know i know when it's a dream
i think i know what i mean
oh yes, but it's all wrong
that is, i think i disagree

(repeat chorus)"

Let's try something new at the Sports Desk, and let's call it "Song of the Day." Which will be something of a misnomer, as I am certain not to post a song every single day. But let's see how this works out, anyway...

Today's song is "Both Sides Now," by Joni Mitchell...and it just really expresses the way I am feeling at this juncture in time...

"rows and flows of angel hair, and ice cream castles in the air
and feather canyons everywhere
i looked at clouds that way
but now they only block the sun
they rain and snow on everyone
so many things i could have done
but clouds got in my way...

i've looked at clouds from both sides now
from up and down, and still somehow
it's clouds' illusions i recall
i really don't know clouds, at all...

moons and junes and ferris wheels
the dizzy dancing way you feel
as every fairy tale comes real
i've looked at love that way
but now it's just another show
you leave them laughing when you go
and if you care, don't let it show
don't give yourself away...

i've looked at love from both sides now
from give and take, and still somehow
it's love's illusions i recall
i really don't know love at all...

tears and fears and feeling proud
to say 'i love you' right out loud
dreams and schemes and circus crowds
i've looked at life that way
but now old friends are acting strange
they shake their heads and say i've changed
but something's lost and something's gained
in living every day...

i've looked at life from both sides now
from win and lose, and still somehow
it's life's illusions i recall
i really don't know life at all..."

In the 1968 World Series Rematch(TM), the Detroit Tigers won all three games from the St. Louis Cardinals and are now a remarkable 51-25 on the season. The second place Chicago White Sox remain not far behind at 49-26. These two teams are the best in the Major Leagues right now.

The Detroit Shock are also on a roll of late, having won five in a row to move to 9-4 for 2006.

The last two wins came this past weekend. On Saturday, the Shock won a high scoring contest by a 92-86 final over Washington. All five Detroit starters scored in double figures, led by a rejuvenated Swin Cash with 19. Deanna Nolan and Cheryl Ford were not far behind with 18 each, then came Katie Smith with 17. Ruth Riley added ten, and Plenette Pierson had six off the bench. Making her first major contribution to the Detroit cause was Sabrina Palie, who tallied four points and a rebound. The leader in rebounds was Nolan with eight, Smith led in assists with nine, Ford in steals with two, and Riley had her team's lone blocked shot.

Sunday brought the Charlotte Sting to the Palace, and they went back to Carolina with a 71-61 loss. The Shock recovered to have a good second half after scoring only five points in the second quarter and 26 in the first half. Their 25 third quarter points almost eclipsed their entire first half output.

Deanna Nolan was the big scorer with 26 points, including three of six from three point land. Cheryl Ford did her typical excellent job of rebounding and finished with 18 boards. Cheryl also scored 13 points, as did Swin Cash. The leader in assists was Katie Smith with five, Cash led in steals with three, and Riley in blocked shots with two.

Indiana and Connecticut both lost, so Detroit now is in second place in the Eastern conference, only a half game behind first place Connecticut.

Next up is a three game road swing with games at San Antonio and the aforementioned Indiana and Connecticut. This would be a great opportunity for the Shock to get into first place and really make a statement.

Strolling through Downtown Flint, Michigan today, down one of the several "alleys" that are named like streets, I saw in a window of what must have once been a bank branch a poster for the long-gone (taken over by a bigger bank) National Bank of Detroit or NBD.

The poster is still there, signifying nothing now but the passage of what passes for time in These Postmodern Days. More and more it seems like it is so easy to step through tears in the time/space continuum and end up somewhere other than where you thought you were...I don't think we are in 2006 anymore, Toto!

And then in a blink of your eyes you are back in "2006" again...or are you????

I was away from here for a while so I'll be jumping all the way ahead to the end of today's Shock game...final score from Charlotte is Shock 86-Sting 74.

Cheryl Ford 24 points and 14 rebounds to lead in both of those categories...

Katie Smith with 16 points...

Deanna Nolan with 14 points and a team high five assists...

Swin Cash and Ruth Riley each with 10 points, Riley also with nine rebounds and three blocked shots...

Kedra Holland-Corn showing more of the great bench production she gave the Shock in 2003, with eight points, three assists, and two steals.

All in all, a good win for the Shock and one that pulls them a bit closer to the top of the Eastern conference standings.

Things have gotten close in Charlotte, as the Shock's lead is down to four points with 23 seconds in the half....and 23 seconds later it is still 42-38 Detroit. Deanna Nolan is the leading scorer for the Shock with nine points, and Cheryl Ford has six rebounds.

Two more points for Deanna!!! And the Shock lead 40-27!!!!!

Deanna Nolan now has seven points and the Shock are up 38-27...four and thirteen in the second quarter.

Five and twenty six on the second quarter clock and the Shock lead 35-27. Deanna Nolan now has five points.

With an even seven minutes till halftime the game has gotten a bit closer, 30-24 Detroit.

Now Charlotte has closed it to 28-21 with 8:17 in the second quarter.

Second quarter just under way in Charlotte and it is now Detroit by a 28-16 count. Holland-Corn is now the leading scorer with eight points.

For whatever reason I can't quite fathom, the WNBA decided that today's Detroit Shock at Charlotte Sting game should have an 11:30 am tipoff. So, with the first quarter already over, the Shock are ahead 25-15.

Katie Smith leads Detroit with six points, and Kedra Holland-Corn has come off the bench to score five.

As usual, the leading rebounder is Cheryl Ford with three.

How about a little bit of General Major League Baseball commentary, then? No, I am not going to go so far as my Journalistic Role Model Hunter S. Thompson and call for ELIMINATING THE PITCHER! or anything like that (more on Thompson's truly bizarre but nonetheless interesting ideas for baseball some other time)...

anyway, enough of that gibberish for now...

The Detroit Tigers saw their winning streak broken by the former Seattle Pilots (the Milwaukee Brewers) today. The Tigers and Chicago White Sox continue to win quite a bit more than they lose and are neck and neck in the race for the American League Central title. Chicago plays later tonight and can move to within a game of Detroit with a win over St. Louis. The Cardinals are not a bad team at all (currently in first place in the National League Central and with the second best record in the entire NL...nevertheless this did not stop the White Sox from laying a 20-6 (yes, 20 runs!) drubbing on the Cards yesterday.

Both West Divisions are looking mighty weak at this juncture in the 2006 campaign, with Oakland and Texas tied for first in the AL West despite being only five games over .500. In the NL West, first place San Diego is just four games over the break even mark. All five teams in the NL West are over .500, with just one and a half games separating first place San Diego from the last place logjam of Arizona, Colorado, and San Francisco.

Boston and the NY Yankees are in a close race in the AL East, with Toronto not too far behind in third place.

In the NL East, the NY Mets have the most comfortable lead of any division leader at this time, nine and a half games ahead of Philadelphia.

Finally, in the NL Central, the aforementioned St. Louis Cardinals currently have a five game lead over second place Cincinnati.

Still plenty of regular season to go, so who knows how it will all shake out in the end. Only time will tell and all that.

Once again, a late night or early morning, as the case may be, dispatch from the Sports Desk where your intrepid Gonzo Journalist just returned from the Palace of Auburn Hills...

it was another happy evening for the Detroit Shock and their fans as the Shock won their second consecutive game, beating the Houston Comets 71-55...

Deanna Nolan won player of the game honors for her 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. She played all but one minute of the game.

Cheryl Ford also had another MVP-like performance, finishing with 18 points and 12 rebounds. As was the case the previous night, she did not miss any free throws and I once again have to give her lots of credit for improving that part of her game.

Ruth Riley had 10 points, Swin Cash nine, and Plenette Pierson added eight off the bench. Katie Smith had three steals to lead Detroit in that category, while Pierson and Riley each blocked two shots.

And so the Shock gain some much needed momentum and raise their 2006 record to six wins and four losses. They now need to build on this positive energy and keep winning, and in the process move up from where they currently sit in fourth place to a higher spot in the Eastern conference standings.

On a more personal note, this Gonzo Journalist was able to get a copy of his book "Worst to First, Or, a 'Shock'ing tale of women's basketball in Motown" into the hands of Deanna Nolan. I sure hope she likes it!

Late night report from the Sports Desk...dateline Friday June 16, Auburn Hills, Michigan...the Detroit Shock beat the Indiana Fever at the Palace by a final of 71-63.

The teams played to a deadlock after one quarter...this being the new format in the Women's NBA...four ten minute quarters instead of two twenty minute halves...same game time just divided up differently now...also only 24 seconds to shoot now in the WNBA, same as in the Men's NBA...

anyway, back to tonight's game which is actually officially last night's game since it is now past midnight here in Gaines, Michigan where this Gonzo Journalist sits typing this gibberish...

Cheryl Ford led Detroit with 15 points and was as usual the Chairwoman of the Boards with 18 rebounds. Cheryl has, as I mentioned in my previous post, also improved her free throw shooting greatly over last season and was a perfect three of three Friday night...

Katie Smith tallied 13 points including three of five three point field goals...

Swin Cash had 12 points and led the Shock in assists with eight of them...

The Pride of Flint, Deanna "Tweety" Nolan, scored 11 points and was second in rebounds with eight and also second in assists with three...

Detroit held Indiana star Tamika Catchings to a mere three points on one of ten from the field...

And so, the Shock await their next opponent, the Houston Comets, who they will face Saturday night at the Palace...this Gonzo Journalist will be there and will provide another dispatch from the front lines...stay tuned!!!!!!!!!

Go Shock!!!!!

The Detroit Shock have had six days since their last game, to practice and ponder how to get things back on track again in this 2006 WNBA season. The Detroiters were 4-2 and looking like contenders, before losing back to back games at Los Angeles and Phoenix.

Tonight they face Indiana at the Palace. The Fever beat Detroit in the Shock's season opener at Indiana, and are currently in second place in the WNBA East at seven wins and three losses. Detroit, with their four and four record, is in where else but fourth place. Saturday's game is against the Houston Comets, a perennial contender and current leader of the West at 7-3.

This would be a great time for the Shock to get a couple of key wins against quality opponents, putting themselves back in the race for first place in the East and also gaining much needed momentum.

Looking at the eight game stats for the Shock, Cheryl Ford is having a fine season so far, averaging 14.7 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 1.33 blocked shots a game. Her free throw shooting, while still not as good as it could be, is much better than last season.

Katie Smith is second in points per game and first in assists per game. She is also the top three point field goal shooter on the team so far.

Swin Cash is steadily returning to her pre-injury level of effectiveness, tallying an even 12 points a game while also contributing six rebounds and 2.6 assists each contest.

Last season's big star, Deanna Nolan, has had a bit tougher time of it so far in 2006. Still, she has put up solid numbers including 11.4 points a game, 4.25 rebounds, 3.4 assists and a team high 1.38 steals per game.

Ruth Riley struggled to play with any kind of consistency last season, and has still not quite gotten her best game back yet. She has had some definite promising moments so far, and her numbers of 9.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game are good.

That takes care of the usual starters for the Shock...what about the bench?

Plenette Pierson has the best statistics of the reserves at this juncture in the 2006 campaign. She is averaging 7.4 points and 3.6 rebounds a game and has also brought some assists, steals, and blocks to the table.

Kedra Holland-Corn was the ace "sixth woman" for the Shock during the 2003 championship season, and has returned to Auburn Hills after playing elsewhere for a while. She is having a hard time finding her shooting touch in the early going, but has at least shown some of the spark she provided in her previous stint with the Shock.

Reserve center Kara Braxton had a promising rookie season, but seems to be suffering through a sophomore slump as her numbers are down.

Angelina Williams came over from Phoenix and has had one good game for the Shock so far, against Connecticut.

Jackie Batteast is another second year WNBA player who is in her first year with the Shock, having played for Minnesota as a rookie. Her playing time has been somewhat limited and so have her other statistics.

Irina Osipova and Sabrina Palie, a 6 foot five center and a five foot seven guard, have only seen a combined 17 minutes of game time so far and thus it is hard to evaluate them at this point.

I have commented in past posts on Genesee Towers, a decrepit 1968 vintage high rise office building/parking garage in downtown Flint, Michigan. For some time now, the sidewalk around this sad piece of architecture has been blocked off...because of concern that parts of the run-down building may fall off and injure or kill someone.

I believe it was somewhere in one of Fredric Jameson's writings, or maybe one of the other Postmodern critics, that I encountered the phrase "the city's fallen fabric." Perhaps no more literal illustration of the phrase exists than Flint's own Genesee Towers.

The Detroit Shock lost last night at Phoenix to fall to four wins and four losses on the 2006 season. The 2004 and 2005 seasons saw them finish right at and just under the break even mark in the regular season, and eliminated in the first playoff round both times.

Once again, as I did last season, I am afraid I will have to get the "Fire Bill Laimbeer" bandwagon rolling. There is just too much player talent in Auburn Hills for the Shock to be struggling so badly for two plus seasons now.

Yesterday, I strolled down Saginaw Street in Flint to get some lunch, but had no pen and paper and so was not able to write down what Flint's resident Dadaist Graffitist had written on a towel (yes, a friggin' towel!) which was then wrapped around the bottom of a public phone. Alas, today said towel and its cryptic message were gone.

But I did find these choice Bits O'Gibberish...

"NEWS REPORTS LISTS BUILDERS UNBUILDERS CREATEDS UNCREATEDS DAILYZIB COOOOO" with each word stacked on top of the next.

"ALL THE SYWYKS 'INFILTRATEDS' STATISTICS GOD!?! (complete with the punctuation, but as usual lacking any coherent meaning)

"MEN DO USE ALL PLANETOLOGY TECHS!" Oh really??? They do???

On the same building we have "SEXY SEWER MEN!" No thanks, I really do not want to know about this.

Finally, on a Flint Journal vending box: "U.S.O.A. AREA JOURNALS TODAYS!" Yet another nonsensical initialism, which is part of an equally nonsensical pseudo-sentence.

See also: my earlier postings about this person, whoever he or she is.

Northwestern fell short in their bid to make it two Women's College World Series titles in a row for the Big Ten conference, as Arizona shut them out in two consecutive games. Despite this, it is still remarkable that the last two seasons have seen two Big Ten teams make the NCAA softball finals, with Michigan winning last season and Northwestern coming in second this time around.

By the way, this year's finals matchup was the Wildcats vs. the Wildcats, as both Arizona and Northwestern go by that nickname.

The Detroit Shock came up just a bit short in Los Angeles as the Sparks won 86-78. This drops the WNBA Detroiters to 4-3 on the season with another West Coast road game coming up Friday against the Phoenix Mercury.

In baseball news, the Tigers lost to Chicago, enabling the White Sox to pull within a half game of Detroit in the AL Central.

Miami defeated the Pistons in game six, ending the Pistons' championship hopes. Strange but true factoid...in the last three games of this series, the losing team scored exactly 78 points. In general defense dominated in this series, as no team managed to score 100 or more points in any game.

The Shock split two road games over the weekend, losing badly at Washington and defeating Chicago. They are now 4-2 on the season, with a trip to Los Angeles next.

The Tigers lost to Boston, but remain two and a half games ahead of the White Sox as the White Sox also lost.

In NCAA softball, the finals matchup is set and once again it involves a Big Ten team. Last season it was my favorites, the Michigan Wolverines. This time it is Northwestern, who faces Arizona in a three game championship series.

That's all from the Sports Desk for now. Tune in later for more.

It was quite a good Thursday night for Detroit sports.

The Tigers beat the Yankees 7-6, breaking a four game losing streak and gaining a 2 and a half game lead on second place Chicago.

Meanwhile, just up I-75 at the Palace of Auburn Hills, the Shock won a close one by a final of 64-63. Deanna Nolan tallied the winning score with 1.4 seconds to go, then the Detroit "D" held off New York's final attempt. The Shock are tied for second place with Connecticut, a half game behind Eastern Division leading Indiana.

The Pistons face the Heat at Miami tonight in a must-win Game Six of the Eastern finals. It should be a great game.