It seems like just yesterday that Pistons fans were celebrating a Championship.  It doesn’t seem that long ago that Detroit had a starting five that were familiar, solid, loved and envied league wide.  It really was just a short time ago that we continually got ready for a long playoff ride filled with joy and anguish.

There are highs and lows with every team, in every league, but as Pistons fans we have come to expect excellence and comfort.

Comfort in a style of gritty play, comfort with the one of our own running things,  and comfort in an owner that we knew loved his team above all else.

Last night I sat in wonderment at the Palace of Auburn Hills as my team took on the Boston Celtics.  This would normally be a huge game, even without the fact the Rasheed Wallace was returning to Detroit, in green for the first time.  Instead the place was littered with empty seats and quite a few that were occupied, were donned in green.

I watched my ailing team, in heart and body, pull off a pretty inspiring win.  A win that they not only dearly need for the sake of moral and pride.  I watched a reborn Ben Wallace take charge on the defensive end and Rodney Stuckey do what he needed to do to lead his team to victory.

The highs of the big game come with bittersweet sadness as I watched Mrs. Davidson have a mini press conference at halftime in front of her very familiar courtside seat and announce that she’s looking for a buyer for the team.

It’s her team and she can do with it what she wishes.  We as fans shouldn’t judge her, we just have to hope that she hands over the team to someone who loves it as much as Mr. D did.

I may be a bit sentimental, but I can still see him sitting in his seat with his beige windbreaker enjoying his team.  I see him with a mini television in front of him watching his hockey team on their way to a Stanly Cup, while he was watching his Pistons win a championship.  I can see him standing on court with Ben, Rip, Chauncey, Tay and Rasheed as they raised his banner in the rafters at the Palace.

I can still see his face as he was getting doused in champagne in the locker room by Isiah Thomas during the Bad Boys Championships.

I watched him embrace Isiah on court, when it was clear his health was failing at the All Time Pistons Ceremony.

One of my favorite memories is looking at his face in 2004 when they were presenting the team with the Larry O’Brien Trophy.  He may not have been able to hold that beautiful gold piece of hardware over his head, but his team made sure he could.

And how can we forget his very “Detroit” styled parade speech.

He may not be with us anymore, but he will always be remembered.  The Hall of Famer was a pioneer in professional sports and in love for his team.   If the new ownership has one tenth of the love that Mr. D had for The Pistons, things will be just fine.

Now I don’t know why Celtics fans feel the need to take a few jabs from this extremely NON Celtics fan, but they do.

I will be on live with Nick from North Station Sports, along with Brandon and Travis, from Hardwood Houdini at 11:00 PM Sunday the 10th.

Cant we all just get along? Sometimes we can …. but most of the time I get in the way of that.

If you can’t listen live, no worries the show is available at North Station Sports or at Hardwood Houdini to listen to at your leisure.

I will never forget how he took that loss to San Antonio in the finals. Sitting there heartbroken on the bench when the Pistons let that trophy slip right out from under their fingers. Most people don’t know he didn’t even go to the locker room that night, he headed straight to his car in his uniform and drove home. That’s how hard it hit him.

His quest for a Championship continues, and I for one am pulling for him… No matter where he may be.

If you missed his interview with Greg Kelser before the Pistons game on Wednesday night, take a moment and watch it. If you can’t feel his emotion when he talks about Detroit then there is something wrong with you. He almost brought me to tears.

I will also never forget what happened when I took my nephew to the Pistons Season Ticket Holders Night and asked Dyess to take a picture him.

Video Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons

I Remember the game vividly because I was at the Palace that night. I remember Johns Salley’s performance and I distinctly remember the celebration of being the eastern conference champs getting ready to head off to the NBA Championship for the second season in a row. (Back2Back I still have that t-shirt)

I also had a memory of two player that you may or may not remember. William Bedford and the Bulls B.J. Armstrong.

Bedford turned out to be of the biggest disappointments, a 7 footer with much potential and two NBA championship rings (thanks to Detroit) who sadly squandered his talents because of a drug problem.

B.J. Armstrong was Michigan bred and went the Birmingham Brother Rice high school.  I will always remember how small he seemed to me (6″2)  on court and always amazed in the fact that he was right across the way while I attended school.

Any special moments you remember distinctly?

I have also been going through old footage I have saved on the hard drive.  I found possibly my favorite little clip ever.

Add some cowboy hats and a classic soundtrack and you would swear you were in the old west. Bad to the Bone…that’s what they were.

Looking back…Dumars wears the white hat, Isiah, Laimbeer and Mahorn would be donning black.

That team of journeymen who soared to great heights over accomplished according to NBA standards. Chauncey, Rip, Wallace X2, Prince, Memo, Elden, Corliss etc… started something that didn’t suddenly come to an end.  A little bit of that special something died when the Pistons lost to the Spurs, when it looked like they were going back to back.  A little more so when Ben Wallace bolted for Chicago and the final straw was the Chauncey Billups trade.

We should have seen right then that it was over, but that’s what we do as fans.  We root and hope and we stand by our team even though we know the ship is sinking.

I remember another sinking ship called The Bad Boys.  It first started taking on water when the Pistons lost to the Bulls in the first round of the playoffs after winning back to back championships.  The release of Vinnie Johnson started the take down, and the rest is what it was, the end on an era in Detroit Basketball history. This video will bring it all back….

As we hope NOT to repeat history of years of mediocrity, we have a common thread that may keep us afloat.  Joe Dumars was there through it all, let’s hope he will do whatever he can to right wrongs and start a new trend instead of following an old one.

We don’t have much longer to wait to see just what we as Pistons fans have to look forward to.

1. Suicidal Thoughts – Notorious B.I.G.
2. Bad Day- Daniel Powter
3. Life’s a Bitch – NaS
4. Say Goodbye – Chris Brown
5. All Falls Down – Kanye West
6. Heartbreaker – Led Zeppelin
7. Dazen and Confused – Led Zeppelin
8. Karma Police – Radiohead
9. You Shook Me – Led Zeppelin
10. I’m On A Boat – The Lonely Island-Feat T-Pain
11. Say Goodbye Hollywood – Eminem
12. Same Song and Dance – Eminem
13. Walk and Don’t Look Back – Peter Tosh
14. Cry Baby – Janis Joplin
15. Dead and Gone – TI
16. Move Along – All American Rejects
17. Boulevard of Broken Dreams – Green Day
18. Come Sail Away – Styx
19. New York City Boy – Pet Shop Boys
20. Dancing Queen – ABBA
21. King of Pain – The Police
22. American Idiot – Green Day
23. Human – Human League
24. Big Girls don’t cry – Fergie
25. Black Superman – Above the Law
26. Selfish – Slum Village
27. Bittersweet – Kanye West
28. Its over – GhostFace Killah
29. Losing My Mind – The Black Crowes
30. Misunderstood – Common
31. Someone Saved My Life Tonight – Elton John
32. Waitin’ For A Superman – Iron and Wine
33. Cinders And Smoke – Iron and Wine
34. Ordinary People – John Legend
35. When The Levee Breaks – Led Zeppelin
36. A Conspiracy – The Black Crowes
37. Stop Crying Your Heart Out – Oasis
38. Knives Out – Radiohead
39. Don’t Panic – Coldplay
40. Bullet Proof … I Wish I Was – Radiohead
41. Climbing up The Walls – Radiohead
42. Don’t Cry – Seal
43. Lost My Faith – Seal

What’s on his iPod right now??? Looks like Don’t Cry by Seal!

Thanks to all of you for the suggestions for LeBron, I had a blast adding mine (most of which are at the bottom of the list). Feel free to keep them coming. And in case you were wondering…this really got to Cavs fans.

Photo/Getty Images

1. King Nothing – Metallica
2. King Without a Crown – Matisyahu
3. Kryptonite – 3 Doors Down
4. Heartbreak Hotel – Elvis Presley
5. New York, New York – Frank Sinatra
6. The Takeover- Jay-Z
7. Sucks to be You – Prozzac
8. Lose Yourself – Eminem
9. Loser – Beck
10. Cruel Summer – Bananarama
11. A New York State of Mind – Billy Joel
12. Help! – The Beatles
13. Close But No Cigar – Thomas Dolby
14. Alone Again (Naturally) – Gilbert O’Sullivan
15. I’m Going Slightly Mad – Queen
16. You Got Another Thing Coming – Judas Priest

I blew up the picture so we could clearly see his iPod and from the looks of it on track 3.

Good job El Patron!

If know of any additions to LeBrons playlist, by all means leave them in the comments and if you didn’t get a chance to read this little piece on the “King”, by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports….I suggest you do so.

• A beautiful day in Michigan, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and Orlando took down Cleveland at home.
• Terrance Williams works out with Detroit and Matt Watson of Detroit Bad Boys interviews the possible Piston.
• Our good friend Matt Dery of WXYT is reporting that the Pistons are working out Gonzaga’s Jeremy Pargo.
• How many Mock Drafts can you really read? SI thinks Detroit will use their #15 pick to snatch Ohio State Center B.J. Mullens. All for a big man, but is Mullens proven after just one year in college?
• Possibly a PG with the pick?
• I wouldn’t mind TY Lawson.
• Will Rodney Stuckey have a breakout season?
• I’m so close it hurts.
• I need Pistons fans help with this one! I got an email from an Old Schooler like myself who needed a hand with some Bad Boys Pistons trivia. “There is a song from back in the day when the bad boys won the 89-90.  It is not One Mission, but it was a Rap song that had Laimbeer, Thomas, Mahorn’s name in it.” Now I remember the song vaguely but for the life of me I couldn’t tell you who did it or what the name of it was. Here is where you guys help us out if you can.  It’s going to bother me until we get the answer!
• Don’t forget about the Kimmel Show Friday night…someone has to win the limited edition EMINEM shirt.
• FYI, I added a feature in the comment section of the site. You can now directly reply to a specific comment in the section and it will appear right below it.
• Great YouTube Tribute to Daddy Rich.

As we watch the Playoffs from a different angle this post season we can only hope that our old friend Mr. Big Shot keeps doing what he’s doing.

We said goodbye to two great men in Pistons owner Bill Davidson and Bad Boy legend Coach Chuck Daly. Which is not just sad for everyone who knew and loved these great men, but it reminds us of their legacy.

I started on the Pistons bandwagon at a very young age (pre Bad Boys). Now I didn’t follow the team the way I do know in the early stages, come the time Trader Jack drafted Joe Dumars I was completely hooked. Isiah and Tripuka may have sparked my basketball love, but The Bad Boys birthed my addiction.

So when I was thinking of the loss of Davidson and Daly instead of mourning, I looked back at the good times they gave us. Two true innovators that cemented what we know now as Detroit Basketball. I was looking though old Pistons specials I had taped (since it’s May and I not used to not seeing the Pistons play) and I came across some good times.

Good Times, and more to come.