Sports Poets Society

https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2025/09/15/detroit-pistons-announcer-george-blaha-had-great-day-at-hall-of-fame/86109659007/ Coty M. Davis The Detroit News Detroit — George Blaha took to the stage at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut on Sept. 6 as one of four honorees to receive the 2025 Curt Gowdy Electronic Media Award by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Blaha's recognition comes just before he begins his 50th season as the Detroit Pistons' broadcaster . Since 1976, Blaha has called more than 3,400 regular-season games and over 260 playoff games. His career also includes being the voice behind several memorable moments in franchise history, highlighted by witnessing each of the Pistons' three championship titles (1989, 1990 and 2004). The Curt Gowdy Electronic Media Award is the latest acknowledgement that recognizes Blaha's legendary career. The Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association awarded Blaha with the Tyson Award for Excellence i...

https://www.hourdetroit.com/sports-topics/george-blaha-50th-season-detroit-pistons/ A chat with George Blaha as he begins his 50th year as the Pistons’ play-by-play announcer By  Bill Dow  - October 22, 2025 On Sept. 5, George Blaha was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.  // Photograph courtesy of the Detroit Pistons On Oct. 23, 1976, at Cobo Arena, 32-year-old George Blaha completed his first play-by-play calls for the Detroit Pistons as the team lost the home opener to the Washington Bullets 98-97. The night before, President Gerald Ford and Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter had held their third presidential debate. A half-century later, Blaha will, remarkably, begin his 50th season with the Pistons this month. He has called more than 3,700 regular-season games, over 260 playoff games, three Pistons world championships, and five NBA Finals . Blaha is the longest-tenured play-by-play announcer in Detroit sports history , having surpassed Ernie Harwell’s 42 year...

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/how-weight-lifting-became-an-important-aspect-of-ben-wallaces-success-in-the-nba-i-looked-out-there-and-he-had-every-weight-that-he-could-find-on-the-bar How weight lifting became an important aspect of Ben Wallace's success in the NBA: "I looked out there and he had every weight that he could find on the bar" Years before playing in his first NBA game, Ben Wallace made his presence felt in the weight room where his former coach and teammates were able to witness firsthand his desire to be the best WILL STARJACKI JUL 28, 2022 5:18 PM EDT DETROIT PISTONS START CONVERSATION Wallace knew he was undersized, so early in his college career, he worked on getting his body in top physical form by spending most of his time in the weight room © Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports Ben Wallace is considered one of the best defensive players of all time, and rightfully so. Big Ben made a name for himself by playing tenacious defense and using al...

L’imam: «Non conosco nessuno che sceglierà Kamala» Nei sondaggi - I rilevamenti riservati del partito mostrano che la vicepresidente è «sott’acqua» 21 Oct 2024 - Corriere della Sera di Massimo Gaggi © RIPRODUZIONE RISERVATA DEARBORN E SAGINOW (MICHIGAN) «Non è una questione di polarizzazione. Qui c’è sempre stata. Negli anni Venti a Detroit erano forti i comunisti e anche l’estrema destra: per pochi voti non fu eletto un sindaco del Ku Klux Klan . Qui, nella Saginaw industriale, il sindacato Afl-cio per il quale faccio proselitismo è democratico. Eppure molti dei nostri voteranno Trump. Si sentono impoveriti e delusi dopo mezzo secolo di amministrazione democratica: di nuovo un clima da forgotten men , come nel 2016». In questa città industriale decaduta nel nord del Michigan, Carly Hammond, sindacalista e candidata democratica alle elezioni municipali, disegna un quadro allarmato per le prospettive del suo partito. Confermato da Evan Allardyce, dirigente di Ibew, il sindacato dei lavo...

https://www.benzinga.com/markets/24/08/40517773/how-nba-bad-boy-vinnie-johnson-turned-5-million-in-career-earnings-into-a-500-million-fortune?utm_campaign=partner_feed&utm_source=yahooFinance&utm_medium=partner_feed&utm_content=real_estate by Eric McConnell , Benzinga Staff Writer August 22, 2024 5:00 PM | 4 min read | NBA fans under 40 may not recognize Vinnie Johnson, but he was an integral member of the great Detroit Pistons teams of the 1980s. Known as the "Bad Boys," they won back-to-back championships, largely because of their notoriously physical play. Benzinga looks at how this high-scoring guard parlayed $5 million in career earnings into an estimated $500 million net worth in retirement. The Bad Boys Younger fans of today's NBA would probably not recognize the game if they watched a tape of an NBA basketball game from the late 1980s or early 1990s. Professional basketball was incredibly physical at that time, so much so that "noncontact sport...

https://alumni.web.baylor.edu/person/2013/vinnie-johnson Brooklyn native Vinnie Johnson remains one of Baylor's greatest basketball players of all time. A two-time NBA champion with the Detroit Pistons , his hard work and dedication to the people of Detroit has remained long after he completed his career as a professional athlete. Vinnie left his mark on the Baylor record books, averaging 24.1 points per game from 1977-79 . The two-time All-American and All-SWC player holds the Baylor record for most points scored in a game and is a member of the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame. A top-10 NBA draft pick dubbed “the Microwave” for his ability to heat up fast, Vinnie helped the Pistons win it all in 1989 and again in 1990. When his playing days were over, Vinnie was determined to return the love that had been given him by the people of Detroit. He opened a business in inner city Detroit's Empowerment Zone to help improve the lives of those in the community. As CEO of Piston Autom...

Isaiah Thomas speaks during the funeral for the late Aretha Franklin  at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit on Friday, August 31, 2018. RYAN GARZA, DETROIT FREE PRESS https://eu.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/aretha-franklin/2018/08/31/isiah-thomas-aretha-franklin-funeral/1162149002/ MARYANN STRUMAN | Detroit Free Press For NBA great and former Detroit Piston Isiah Thomas, Aretha Franklin was like a surrogate mom. He was introduced to her by his own mom, Mary Thomas, in 1981 when he first joined the Pistons at age 20, Thomas said Friday, recalling his relationship with the Queen of Soul at her homegoing service at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit. His mother and Franklin "somehow connected through music." "In the 60s and 70s, my mom would sit in the windowsill humming the words, I say a little prayer for you," Thomas recalled. "My father had just lost his job, so the music, I say a little prayer for you, meant a lot to us in the household. "Aretha foun...

https://hoopshd.com/2020/11/13/happy-draft-iversary-hoopshd-interviews-former-hampton-star-rick-mahorn/ Posted on November 13, 2020 by Jon Teitel With the 2020 NBA draft taking place next week we will spend the days ahead taking a walk down memory lane with a choice collection of players who are celebrating an awesome anniversary this year. From the 1st player in NBA history to score 2000 PTS in a season (70th anniversary) through the 2000 Pac-10 POY (20th anniversary), these stars have all seen their dreams come true in past drafts. We continue our series with Rick Mahorn. He led all of D-2 in RPG in 1980, was a 3-time All-American, and won an NBA title with Detroit in 1989. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Rick about the 40th anniversary of getting drafted. - You averaged 6 PPG/6 RPG as a freshman at Hampton, then averaged 22+ PPG/12+ RPG over your next 3 seasons: what changed after your freshman year that allowed you to become a star?  I just learned how to play basketbal...

https://vault.si.com/vault/1982/12/13/the-hitman-becomes-the-hit-and-run-man A RENOWNED SLUGGER TURNED BOXER, THOMAS HEARNS SEPARATED WILFRED BENITEZ FROM HIS WBC SUPER WELTERWEIGHT TITLE PAT PUTNAM Sports Illustrated - December 13, 1982 TABLE OF CONTENTS ORIGINAL LAYOUT It has been the lot of Thomas Hearns to be regarded solely as a cannon , something to be rolled into a ring to reduce an opponent to rubble. Last Friday night, against Wilfred Benitez in New Orleans' Superdome, Hearns finally showed that he brings more to boxing than a big bang. Fighting with only his left hand from the eighth round on after hurting the right on Benitez' head , Hearns outboxed the master boxer and lifted the Puerto Rican's WBC super welterweight (154-pound) championship on a majority decision. One judge ruled it a draw, the two others had Hearns the winner. "When I fight, people expect to see a knockout," said Hearns, known as The Hitman, beforehand. "Well, they're only ...

Detroit City Council member Roy McCalister Jr., left;  NBA champion Rick Mahorn ; Pistons Vice Chairman Arn Tellem;  and two-time NBA champion Earl Cureton cut the ribbon Thursday  on the refurbished basketball court in Palmer Park,  one of 17 courts refurbished by the Detroit Pistons in Detroit.  DANIEL MEARS, THE DETROIT NEWS https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2019/10/17/renovated-basketball-court-palmer-park-detroit/4009849002/ EVAN JAMES CARTER  | The Detroit News Detroit — The basketball court in Palmer Park had became cracked and there were times in the past decade that the rims of the hoops didn't have nets. That changed Thursday as members of the community watched as the Detroit Pistons and the Ralph Wilson, Jr. Foundation unveiled a renovated court. The city's Parks and Recreation Department will continue maintenance of the court. The first of two of the Pistons sponsored courts is entirely covered in a mural. The unveiling ma...

di AA. VV.  DIZIONARIO NBA 2021 Se a Cleveland si consolano nella propria miseria pensando che, tutto sommato, sull’altra sponda del lago Erie si sta peggio, in quella che una volta era conosciuta come Motor City ci si aggrappa al ricordo delle tante cadute e delle altrettante rinascite.  Per molti versi, la storia di Detroit potrebbe essere considerata come paradigma di quella dell’intera nazione.  Autentica capitale mondiale dell’industria automobilistica nella prima metà del ventesimo secolo, meta di immigrazione proveniente soprattutto dagli stati del sud, Detroit ha vissuto i decenni successivi sulle montagne russe dei cicli economici.  La delocalizzazione dell’industria pesante ha messo in ginocchio la città a fine anni sessanta e poi, in modo ancora più grave, nel 2013, quando l’aggregato urbano più importante dello stato del Michigan è stata la prima città di grandi dimensioni a dichiarare la bancarotta.  L’opera di ricostruzione del tessuto cittadino, i...

https://www.slamonline.com/the-magazine/st-cecilia-pistons-slam-241/ For this season’s City Edition uniforms, the Detroit Pistons are paying homage to St. Cecilia’s gym, a community staple whose history dates back over 50 years and that has seen some of the biggest names in the game play on its floor. “Anybody that was anybody passed through St. Cecilia’s,” says Earl “The Twirl” Cureton, a two-time NBA champion (1983, 1994) during his 12-year playing career. Cureton, who is now a community ambassador for the Pistons, grew up in Detroit and first hooped at St. Cecilia’s legendary gym (“The Saint”) in the mid-’70s.  “It definitely was the proving ground,” he says. “That’s the place where you had to go play. If you didn’t come through there, then you weren’t real.” In the wake of the devastating 1967 Detroit Riots, Sam Washington—the athletic director at St. Cecilia’s—was determined to create a safe place for kids to play basketball. Washington opened up the doors to St. Cecilia’s gy...

https://www.udiscovermusic.com/in-depth-features/detroit-music-history/ A history of Detroit music is wider-ranging than almost any other city’s. Everything from blues to soul and techno calls Motor City home. Published on July 9, 2022 By  Martin Chilton Few cities in the world match the musical heritage of Detroit, the home of Motown. Though the flagship city of Michigan state is renowned for its soul music, the history of Detroit music is also rich in jazz, blues, gospel , country, rock, techno, and, more recently, rap. “There was a jambalaya of cultures in Detroit,” says native Don Was , the guitarist who co-founded Was (Not Was) and is now president of Blue Note Records . “We were exposed to everything – without judgment.” The birth of Detroit music When construction began on the celebrated Orchestra Hall in June 1919 – a venue that is thriving again as home to the world-famous Detroit Symphony Orchestra – there were just under one million residents of a bustling port city tha...