I think by Duggan starting his recent campaigns outside of downtown (like making the announcements about seizing blighted property in the Marygrove neighborhood) was a signal that the rest of Detroit is open to business.

The important stuff's in the neighborhood city services. Cops, EMS, DFD, lights, trash, etc. One other interesting data point is that I saw the Mower Gang have to ask in social media for suggestions of places to mow because the city had already mowed all the parks they were planning on hitting this past weekend.

The problem with this is that the spiritual, cultural, geopolitical, and historical reasons for Brazil losing yesterday don't exist. They are not "facets of the game" that can reveal truths about "national identity or athletic skill or whatever else." They shape how fans feel about the loss; they shape how Writerers …

The Muller goal was a great finish by a player who should never have been able to get to the ball. The defending was atrocious. Even Schurrle's final goal, which was a beautiful finish, was due to no one tracking a throw behind and then no one being close to him. He took a really heavy first touch and was still given…

He was also really good at car commercials:

Simply astonishing. My father is blind. My parents (who have been married for 38 years) raised me to adapt and try to understand his reality. I was given the responsibility to be his eyes as young as 6 years old. He and I walked to the hardware store to buy such things as a saw and sized screws, rode the bus and…

You (and so many others) completely missed the point. It was suggested that the reason why the Pontiac Silverdome was vacant was because of Detroit's economic problems. The simple fact is that a new stadium was built and the old stadium was left to rot. The old stadium is not in Detroit, and therefore immune to…

The thing about writing a piece in which you lay out the reasons why you appreciate a player even though there are legitimate criticisms to be made of him is that you see a dumbfuck comment like this and get exasperated over just how stupid a lot of sports fans are, and just how little point there is in writing…

Both Mike Milbury and Chris Ford lived in my hometown in the early '90s. They once organized a fundraiser where literally every single Bruin and Celtic signed autographs for hours. We got Polaroids with Parish and McHale (who my brother claims said, "Don't be shy, I don't bite."), but the only thing that I can find…

Darren McCarty v. Claude Lemieux

I've always been fond of photos of Craig MacTavish, when he was the last player skating without a helmet. He seemed like a vestige of an entirely different sport, something mostly theoretical to me.

No, it's just a stupid, poorly-written (but possibly effective) headline.

Bill - In your research have you ever come across anyone advocating the use of a REIT (real estate investment trust), or a similar real estate structure to own/operate these stadiums? If you structured this as a "sale leaseback" transaction with the team signing a 15 - 20 year lease at a 5.0% cap rate (which is what…

That may be true, Mister, but money is fungible and government money particularly so. If you don't have to spend $10m out of one fund, you can easily transfer it to some place where you can spend it.

Great article Bill. I'm a Red Wings fan and also a metro-Detroit resident and quite honestly this scenario is revolting.

The Ilitch family deserves all the criticism sent his way, and more. They have never done anything that wasn't to line their own pockets, while others, including Pete Karmanos (owner of the Carolina Hurricanes) have been much more benevolent. In addition to moving his company (Compuware) downtown, he oversaw the…

How does the fact that it is "benefiting his portfolio" somehow reduce the impact he has had to the city?