The Sporting News named the best sports city in America for 2007 and Detroit came out as #1. The Lions probably helped make things a lot closer between Detroit at 1st and New York at 2nd, but regardless, I think we all have to thank the Tigers, Pistons, Red Wings, and Shock for this title.
All year long sports in the Motor City are going on and draw a ton of interest. Since the Tigers have became a great team last year, Comerica Park is filled for every home game and the atmosphere is great. The Pistons have a sell out streak that is unimaginable right now at the Palace. Then the Red Wings still maintain the description of Hockeytown even though the NHL's popularity is down.
This is a great title to receive as a sports city overall. Just look at how much success each team has had minus the Lions. For the first time in over 20 years, a World Series was played in Detroit thanks to the Tigers. Although the end result wasn't what everyone hoped for, we still got to see a magical run. In basketball, the Pistons made it to a 5th straight Eastern Conference Final, and if it weren't for LeBron's unbelievable series and the slump the Pistons appeared to be in, we would've seen them in the Finals again. Staying on the hardwood, former bad boy Bill Laimbeer coached the Detroit Shock to a WNBA title, which is the second one for that franchise. Finally, moving to the ice, the Red Wings were in the Western Conference Finals before being eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup champions.
As you can see, there is a lot of success by sports teams in Detroit that should continue into the next year. Each of the teams mentioned above should be right where they were in the previous season again, meaning we will hopefully see another championship or two come to the Motor City.
The only thing missing from all of the great stories talked about above is winning on the football field. The Lions helped Detroit win its first title as best sports city in 1998 with Barry Sanders creating so much excitement, but now is the time to make catch up to the other pro teams in this city. Each year, us Lions fans come into the season with expectations, mostly not very high, but still, we have some optimism. The hope always seems to be there that one of these times we will see a breakout season just as the Tigers had in 2006. However, that never happens. I mean, eventually you think it would, but something always goes wrong. How about in 2007, the Lions do their part to help Detroit defend this crown to truly make it the best sports city in America in all 4 of the major sports.