As always, The Detroit Pistons 2009-2010 Detroit Pistons Introductions followed by a very heartfelt dedication to Pistons owner and Member of the Basketball Hall of Fame Bill Davidson.

Ben Wallace with a HUGE ovation and being there I can tell you that he had to have felt the love in the building.  Ben Gordon, who started in place of the injured Richard Hamilton got a nice ovation, but overall I was impressed by the love for Will Bynum….BYNUMITE.

No Sheed, no post intro dance, that I missed.

As you know I pass my offseason days by watching old Pistons videos whether they be epic playoff battles, championship glory or simple videos.  Today I was reminded of painful memories as a Pistons fan, something I care not get into on this beautiful day in Michigan.  Then I came across this video in my vault and if brought out joy and pain.

Despite the fact that this video was put together pretty recently, it seems like lifetime ago.

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Video courtesy of The Detroit Pistons and myTV20 Detroit

I would like to get your take on the matter…does it put a smile on your face or cause you pain over what was, and maybe what could have been if things didn’t go the way they did last season?

I’m going to be giving something away via my Twitter account. No details here on Need4Sheed.com..find out at 12 Noon EST Monday August 10th what I’m giving away and what you have to do to win it!

You can Follow me Here.

UPDATE: It’s not so secret anymore, but you can win this if you follow me and enter via Twitter.

You know I always catch something when it has to do with Sheed, so when this popped up in the Detroit Free Press this morning it had me asking this question.

Why Does Brian Scalabrine think he’s good at Basketball?

“I’m loving Rasheed Wallace,” Celtics small forward Brian Scalabrine said last week

“I’m incredibly psyched,” Scalabrine said. “Winning championships is something I want to continue to do.” Via The Detroit Free Press

Really Brian? Really?

Not only did he contribute less than nothing to the Celtics Championship run but he looks awful in green and the dude has no sock on…come on.

Maybe it’s the same reason Robert Swift thinks he hardcore.

Put it this way Pistons fans…it’s like saying Darko Milicic saying the same thing.

Literally…

I don’t know if you remember Sheed taking us on a tour of The Pistons newly renovated practice facility last season, here is the video just in case you missed it.

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One thing Rasheed failed to mention before the tour started was that you needed to leave your guns at the door. Lucky I left my glock at home that day or else I wouldn’t have been able to get inside the building. As I passed the sign the first thing I thought in my head was….was this here before Allen Iverson was? If you click on the picture to enlarge it….you can see the fine print at the bottom of the sign. Do they really need to have the sign…probably.  My guess is things got heated one day after a friendly game of H-O-R-S-E.

Though Sheed is gone, I still get a kick out of the video I made of Sheed vs. Stewie.

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We have to keep ourselves busy with something while Joe D is working on what this team is going to look like.

Thanks go out to Need4Sheed reader Dominic Mirabella who made my day with his post on my Facebook page.

Dominic Mirabella: “Funny story… this was the tagline of my buddy’s Facebook status at 9 AM this morning. Thought your follower’s would get a kick out of it”

Steve Schaefer:

“…just ate breakfast at a coney island with 2 police officers, 3 regulars, and Rasheed Wallace…now that’s a morning crew. Rasheed was whistling to “Everybody Wang Chung Tonight” on the radio…unreal.”

And that’s what we will miss….SHEEDTastic!

Calling all Pistons fans, (and Need4Sheed fans for that matter) I will be Live on air from 9 P.M EST to about 10 with Celtics Blog RedsArmy on their BlogTalkRadio Call in Show The Two Man Game.

Don’t think I’m switching sides, I will be there to talk Sheed and REP the D!

Tune in and call in, I may need you to get my back.

When they asked me to be on the show I told them I am who I am and that I would bitch slap Robert Parish to get my point across if I had to.  And if they even mention Scalabrine I’m hanging up without notice.

It should be SHEEDtastic!

I’ll start off this post by telling you that Rasheed Wallace has agreed to play for the Boston Celtics.  According the Boston Herald the contract is for 2 years at the midlevel exemption of $5.8 million.

Photo/Getty Images

Nothing shocking, it was only a matter of time before one of the teams that were wooing him got what they wanted, but to most of us here in Detroit, having Sheed in a Celtics uniform is not easy.

“The Enemy” to some.

“Traitor” to others.

Some will even give you the obligatory “You can launch your three’s and not play in the paint for another team, thanks for mailing in the last season Sheed.”

But to most Pistons fans we are thankful to him for putting our team over the top in 2004, allowing us a Championship we wont’ soon forget.

Rasheed Wallace is not a Detroit Piston anymore, and to be honest…..I’m surprised he made it this far.

After each season when the dominant Pistons got ousted from the Playoffs everyone called for his head. But how do you give up on a player that can dominate a game the way he can?

The man can be SHEEDtastic at the drop of a hat.

He can make the impossible seem possible.

He’s a Joker!

He’s very tricky..

But he also comes with hair pulling frustration.

I cant count the number of times I sat in my seat at the Palace hoping no one was paying attention to me as I was talking to Sheed from my seat while he was busy arguing on the floor. “Don’t do it Sheed, your going to get another Tech and get tossed, that will be 16 and I don’t think Joe D will be able to get that rescinded. We need you, you’ll be suspended. STOP!!!!”

I may not have lost sleep, but it eats at you when you have so much invested in a team.

That I won’t miss.

I will miss his Sheedisms, his dominance and the fact he made the team fun to watch in more ways than one.

The dancing was a sight in itself too.

He may work well with Boston playing a smaller roll since he NEVER wanted to be “the guy” when he clearly had the talent to be put into the category of one of the best Power Forwards in the game. He’s even got a special relationship with Kevin Garnett going in.

One thing that’s funny to me is all the Boston love for a guy that was the enemy of all enemy’s to Celtic fans.

As for Celtics and their fans…. I come in peace here, but I have been pushed over the edge way too many times by Celtics fans, I do however respect and enjoy some of the many Celtics blogs out there, so when Loy’s Place shot me an email asking me to answer a few questions for them I was just fine…until they ended the email with this…

Thanks!  And welcome to the Celtics family!!!

On to the next part of this post.

I will never ever, ever never be a Celtics fan and I take offense to the mere thought of being a part of that family, because I am not.

I will (until I stop breathing) bleed the red, white and Piston blue, that is one thing you can put your money on.

I will NOT change this website nor my allegiance to the Detroit Pistons.

As you can see from the new addendum to the banner on the site, I rep the “D” regardless of Sheed.

If you followed this site from it’s inception I have stated that fact on more than one occasion. I have be asked the question hundreds of times….”What will you do when Sheed is gone?”

I will do this, nothing changes.

“Will you change the name?”….as of right now, no.

You see, this site was never supposed to be.  I started it as a lazy way to share my cartoon screensaver to my friends across the country. You see even when you leave the “D” you still represent it.  So as a way share my wallpapers, screensavers and videos (pre YouTube days) this website became more than I ever envisioned it to be.

Now….I’m Need4Sheed.

Funny, but I can’t change it. It may be a name to all of you, but it’s almost part of my identity at this point. When you get introduced as Natalie of Need4Sheed instead of your last name things change.

You see, it never really was about Rasheed. Sure there is plenty of Sheed here, he brings a lot to any team, but it is and always will be about the love of the Detroit Pistons.

So Sheed is gone, we all knew it was going to happen at some point. I wish him luck, but I can’t say I will be rooting Boston, but I will be rooting for him.

This is Need4Sheed where we represent the Detroit Pistons..thank you for your time Mr. Wallace and thank you for allowing me to hold this in my hands.

Onwards and upwards….DEEETROIT BASKETBALL.

I’m starting off by saying this is stricktly rumor. It’s coming from J. Gamble, the same guy that said Sheed would Retire if he didn’t get 8 million a year. Until his “sources” are confirmed, take this for what it is.

“My sources say that Rasheed Wallace and the Cavs are beginning talks on a two-year deal worth about $10 million per for the services of the former Piston. The move and negotiations were inspired by Dwight Howard’s dominant performance over Cleveland’s big men in the Eastern Conference Finals.  And Wallace will be brought in for that very purpose, to neutralize Dwight Howard next season and help the Cavs get over the hump.” Via Slam Online

Did you know Sheed wears football helmets during practice? Me neither, but thanks to a Tweet from my favorite  NBA correspondent Elie Seckbach we do now!

A small snippet from Slam made quite a splash and as we know the “close personal friend” route can never be confirmed.

“SLAM contributor J. Gamble [making his debut with us next issue] hears from a close personal friend of Rasheed Wallace’s that unless Sheed gets $8 million to play next year, he’s going to retire. If that’s true, we’ve probably seen the last of Sheed in the NBA.”

It was a buzz on local sports radio yesterday as well as chatter I heard from Sheed fans via email. I’m with Detroit Bad Boys on this one, if 8 million is the true price tag you have seen the last of Sheed in a Pistons uniform (although I didn’t see him coming back either way).

Dave Dial with his expertise of the Salary Cap over at MLive also weighs in:

“As for the $8 million dollar price tag, that will be tough for Rasheed to get next season. The Mid-Level Exception was set at $5.585 million for the 2008-2009 season and is expected to decrease next season. So teams that are over the salary cap can’t offer Rasheed the $8 million he wants, even if they wanted to pay him that much.

There will only be a handful of teams that have cap space this summer. OKC, Memphis, Portland, Detroit, Atlanta and Minnesota will all have significant monies under the salary cap.

I think you can rule out Portland and Detroit, for obvious reasons. I doubt Rasheed would want to spend his last year or two playing for Memphis, OKC or Minnesota. The losing and having no chance at winning a Title would get to him too much. That would leave only Atlanta, which would only have the cap space required if they renounce Mike Bibby and let Marvin Williams and Zaza Pachulia walk.

Which leads back to Rasheed deciding to just retire, or maybe the Pistons would include Wallace in a sign and trade deal with a team that is over the cap. The Spurs, Mavericks, Cavaliers, Bobcats and Celtics have all been rumored to be interested in Wallace. If Rasheed wants a one or two year deal at $8 million per year, it probably wouldn’t scare off all of those teams. With the summer fast approaching, we will know for sure if this rumor is true or not.”