Rick Liblong: Some selected short subjects 

Sometimes I have a few things to share with readers that don’t fill a complete column so I’ll combine several “short subjects” together. 

WMU/U-M football game 

The Western Michigan University Broncos outplayed the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday, Sept. 4, for 59 minutes and 59 seconds. They led 12-7. The final play, a Michigan Hail Mary pass, was out of the end zone as the clock read 0:00. The whole country, and everyone in the stadium saw it. It was replayed dozens of times. The NBC crew called it. The TV graphic read “Final.” Western won. Right? Wrong. 

There’s a room under Michigan Stadium with a special clock only visible to Wolverine officials that assured them that there was one second left for U-M to go for the win. I’m sure that if that Hail Mary had failed, the refs would have thrown a penalty flag and given them as many chances as it took to score. Can’t have Mighty Michigan and the Big Ten (Big 18) lose to a lowly Mid-American Conference team in the “Big House.” Shame. 

Uniforms 

It used to be, if I remember correctly, that sports team uniforms were, well, uniform. All players wore them the same way. Baseball players, for example, wore the pants just below the knee with their stirrup socks showing. Now some guys wear them all the way to the shoe tops or somewhere in between. Football players now look like they wear painted-on Bermuda shorts for pants. No knee protection anymore. 

In the grand scheme of things, this is not a biggie but, still, uniform should mean uniform. 

Nicknames 

Nicknames have always intrigued me. How do they come about? I can sort of see how you get Rick from Richard but Dick from Richard? Bob from Robert, Jack from John, Jim from James, Bill from William? And my favorite, Peggy from Margaret. How did they figure that one out? 

Ervin (Johnson) became “Magic.” Dwight Eisenhower became “Ike.” Eldrick (Woods) became “Tiger.” 

Do you have a nickname? 

Motor City Cats 

The Detroit Lions are playing in their 97th season. They won titles in 1935, 1952, 1953 and 1957. Since winning it all in ’57 (with Tobin Rote as QB), the Lie-downs have had 21 head coaches, at least 41 quarterbacks, 10 Heisman Trophy winners, 23 Hall of Famers and one owner, the William Clay Ford family. 

There have been 60 Super Bowls. Detroit has never been to one without buying a ticket and two of them would have been home games. They came close in 2023. They led the San Francisco 49ers 24-7 at the half of the NFC Championship game but, following the familiar script, they lost 34-31. Don’t hold your breath for the streak to end. 

They are 1-1 this season and have given up 71 points in two games. Not Super Bowl caliber defense. 

Our Tigers let us down as well. Losing season again. Why is A.J. Hinch still there? Trade most of ‘em and start over. 

There. I feel better now.