When I was with the Knicks and the Sixers you travelled to “Detroit” for road games, but you never went to Detroit. You went to Auburn Hills, where the team played. Motown? Miles away never to be seen. The city has undergone quite a renaissance since my NBA road days, and I have always wanted to see, listen and learn more about the goings on, catch up with friends helping lead that change, and better understand what sports and entertainment can do for a community…as well as some of those college stops you hear of but rarely get a chance to embrace.
So, when I looked at the calendar…there were two cities I wanted to better understand this year, Detroit and Austin (that one is still TBD)…I rolled the schedule dice in September and won the timing lottery. If all worked out, I could spend a Friday visiting friends in East Lansing, spend a Saturday with one of my mentees in Ann Arbor, a Sunday learning and watching all the Lions do on a gameday, a Monday with meetings and seeing old friends and finish with a Tuesday visit a few blocks away learning about the business of Little Caesar’s Arena and those teams and get to see the grandeur of all the Tigers have done with a Tuesday night game.
Reflections of the Community: Reflective, Resilient Grit was what kept coming to mind as I went from East Lansing to downtown Detroit, with the eclectic side of Ann Arbor away from The Big House mixed in. While the Lions sell apparel with the word “Grit” appropriately mixed in, the conversations you have with coaches, with fans, with staff, with clergy and so many others have a unique pride and engagement that you don’t always see in cities or in populations today. Maybe it’s because Detroit was so far down, and it’s still reflected in the blocks of vacant land where single family homes once stood, or in the urban gardens that have now sprung up around the city, or in the revitalized neighborhoods like Corktown, where Tiger Stadium once stood. There is a deep pride that doesn’t seem manufactured, it seems very genuine, and while there are still lots of edges to be polished, every experience, every encounter seemed to be met with a good amount of fun, a little humility, and gratitude by all those who were in the moment at games, events and other stops.
Embracing The Little Elements Of The Past: Detroit was once of the grandest cities in the world during the manufacturing boom, and with it came a glorious history of sport. While sometimes we polish over the past for the glitz of today, the city, and its teams have taken great strides in many ways to make sure the influx of the current knows where things came from. Examples…the original sign from the Olympia Stadium now hangs in Little Ceasars Arena, while downtown almost every maintenance box is decorated with the short history of sports legends past, from Joe Dumars to Gordie Howe to Barry Sanders to Hank Greenberg. Comerica Park, like Little Ceasars, is a nuanced living history museum not just to the stars but to the memories and traditions of the teams that played there, and the same can be said of Ford Field for the Lions. While we like new and noteworthy, ties to how we got here…teachable moments are also invaluable.
Also worth noting on elements of the past, kudos to the Tigers who righted a long forgotten wrong this past week, gifting Randy O’Neal, a short but valuable addition to Detroit’s World Series team, a long overdue World Series ring. Little things matter, and a great read on the how, here.
Can’t Tell The Players Without A Scorecard: So many professional teams have gotten away from at least a cursory tangible way for fans in the stands to know whose playing, but not the Lions or the Tigers. Both offer fans printed roster sheets and the Tigers offer a scorecard as well for a small price. It’s a sponsorable piece of tangible goods in limited supply that can make fans know just a little more about those on the field. Now Michigan does now. When we asked, we were told the program is “online.” Really? It was surprising, especially on Parents Weekend, to hear the number of people asking for roster sheets, even those from visiting Central Michigan trying to again have a memento to take home of the game. You can…and I did…buy a simple Michigan football guide with their roster…but how hard would it be to print lineup sheets in limited numbers. Missed opportunity, especially if you want people paying attention to what’s going on and not looking at their mobile device.
Didn’t This Used To Be? Detroit from a facilities standpoint has undergone a renaissance in the past 25 years. Gone are Cobo Arena, The Olympia, and Joe Louis Arena, so I went on a quest to see if those historic spots still were recognized. While Cobo and JLA were a few blocks apart on the Detroit River, not much is left…you can actually see the outside of Cobo and I walked into the main ballroom where the arena floor was, and if you stretch the imagination you can see where the Knicks Bernard King dropped all those points on the Pistons in a playoff series in the ‘80’s…the apartments where JLA was even more recently? Nary a sign other than Steve Yzerman Way, and that’s a loss that needs to be corrected. Give us a mural or a historical marker. Then there is the Field of Dreams in Corktown where Tigers Stadium stood. It’s now youth fields, with the history, the dugout locations, the center field flagpole, the bullpens, even Kaline’s corner carefully and subtly persevered. The beautiful Monday night I stopped by had kids playing on the field…both soccer and baseball, while parents watched. It was easy for me to see what once was, and what a treasure that was created for generations to come. A great example…albeit a rare one…of preserving the history with useful intention.
City Team; While they didn’t have a match during my stay, it was interesting to listen and see how Detroit City FC has built and thrived on their sense and belonging to community in scale. The club, which plays in the USL Championship division, started as a community group playing and growing as an amateur organization and has evolved into one of the better success stories in pro sports. They have outgrown their current home, Keyworth Stadium which is located in the community of Hammonton, and was made out of shipping containers converted into stands and entertainment spaces, and will soon have a new home near downtown that will not sacrifice the price and the sense of belonging that Detroit City has built. Sure they have a cool retail space downtown which doubles as a community meeting space, and their merch is first quality, but what is most important…and you see this in every Motown team, is commitment to the city and understanding the values that their supporters bring. It was great to listen and see how they are balancing the ledger sheet without losing their sense of culture.
Having all these elements come together isn’t easy and doesn’t always work as we balance life, commitments and all else we have along the way. But the few days speak to showing up, listening and learning while reconnecting with friends and colleagues from the past and seeing their joy…and their work…reflected on a grand scale.
A great Michigan learning experience…Austin, let’s see what’s next?
Caps Open The Closet; Fans Win.