Five sports shorts
By Jacob Teets
Pistons go streaking
From Oct. 29 to Nov. 24 the Detroit Pistons played the best basketball they’ve played in more than 20 years. The Pistons won 13 games in that span, tying their previous win streak and now own a record of 17-4. The last time they won 13 games in a row was during the 03-04 NBA season, which saw the Pistons then go on to win the NBA championship that year. This win streak saw multiple Pistons emerge as key contributors after injuries.
Point guard Daniss Jenkins and shooting guard Duncan Robinson were the most notable. Jenkins was a true breakout star during the week stretch he played, averaging 20.2 points per game. The win streak is a nice boost, but there’s still 60 more games to be played. If the Pistons want to prove everyone wrong, they need to carry the momentum from that streak into the rest of their season.
Saginaw Spirit woes
Almost two years ago, the Saginaw Spirit were on top of the Canadian Hockey League after winning the Memorial Cup in their house at the Dow Event Center. Fast forward to today and the Spirit are 9-12-3-3, placing them in eighth place in the Western Conference.
Looking at the 12 games they’ve played in the month of November, you can see the picture becoming clear; the Spirit are giving up a ton of goals. In six of those games they’ve given up more than five goals while usually only scoring around one or two goals. Goalie Stepan Shurygin has played a majority of the time in goal, giving up 3.68 goals per game. Shurygin, who was drafted to the Spirit in the second round of this year’s import draft, has room for improvement along with the rest of the team leading up to the end of the season in March.
Lions in the hunt
The Lions find themselves in a much different spot this year compared to where they were last year, sporting a 7-5 record after their Thanksgiving matchup against the Green Bay Packers. Detroit is in the hunt for a playoff spot and is currently a game and a half back of the final wildcard spot in the NFC. They’ve already lost both games to the Packers and suffered a loss to the Minnesota Vikings as well. Winning the division will be a longshot for Detroit this year, but a wildcard game isn’t out of the question.
Their final five games are against the Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers, Vikings and Chicago Bears.
Michigan college football roundup
The five NCAA teams in Michigan from the Big Ten and the MAC were all over the place this
year. You’ve got a team like the Michigan Wolverines who went 9-3, and on the other side you have the Eastern Michigan Eagles who went 4-8 and are not bowl eligible.
Starting with the good, Michigan will find themselves in a bowl game this year after finishing 9-3, improving their record by one win from 2024. The big one is the Western Michigan Broncos, who finished as the top team in the MAC and faces the Miami of Ohio RedHawks for the MAC Championship. The Central Michigan Chippewas finished 7-5 and will be bowl eligible too.
Moving to the bad we have Eastern Michigan, who went 4-8 and finished ninth in the MAC. The Michigan State Spartans who also finished 4-8. The Spartans started the year strong with three consecutive wins. When they got into conference play it was a full 180. They lost seven in a row before winning their final game of the year. The Spartans will look to bounce back next year.
Watching more hockey update
The NHL is two months into its season, and I have unfortunate news; hockey has been left behind once again. Football, basketball and postseason baseball have contributed to the NHL being left behind. Whether it’s NFL and college football or NBA and college basketball, I find myself watching those over hockey. I watched a few Detroit Red Wings games and nationally televised hockey games, eventually tuning them out completely and choosing to watch a different sport. Despite that, there’s still time to watch more hockey. The season is long, and with football winding down I have hope that I can still watch more hockey and get into it before this season ends.