Playoff Time, 2014

Posted on by farlane

Tigers Win by rudymalmquist

Tigers Win, photo by Rudy Malmquist

The Detroit Tigers kick off their fourth straight postseason appearance today vs the Baltimore Orioles at 5:30 PM at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. While the Tigers were almost everyone’s pick for the playoffs in 2014, the Orioles were definitely not. View the series preview right here.

Here’s some interesting post-season storylines that may be of interest to only me!

View Rudy’s photo bigger and click for more of his baseball pics.

Lots more Detroit Tigers on Michigan in Pictures!

PS: Take a moment to appreciate what a great job Rudy did of capturing the Detroit skyline in this shot and LET’S GO TIGERS!!

When Tall Met Long

Posted on by farlane

When Tall Met Long

When Tall Met Long, photo by Derek Farr

View Derek’s photo bigger and see more in his Renaissance Center slideshow!

More Renaissance Center photos and info on Michigan in Pictures.

 

$80 Million Michigan Central Station Makeover?

Posted on by farlane

Michigan Central Station, Detroit, MI 2013

Michigan Central Station, Detroit, MI 2013, photo by brian

The Lansing State Journal reports on Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Maroun’s plan for an $80-million makeover of Michigan Central Station:

Michigan Central Station, a well-known symbol of Detroit’s decay, is expected to get $80 million in renovations over the next three years, according to a top aide to depot owner Manuel (Matty) Moroun. The revelation was made by Moroun associate Dan Stamper as he went before the Detroit City Council last week to discuss alternative plans to the city selling land needed for a new bridge to Canada.

…At Tuesday’s council meeting, Councilwoman Saunteel Jenkins said she was happy to see Moroun’s associate promise to help that community.

“There is one building that you all have not demolished,” Jenkins said of the depot. “Whenever they show the demise of Detroit there are two buildings they always show — one is the Packard Plant, the other is the train station.”

“We are going to renovate the train depot,” Stamper replied. “It’s probably another three years to secure the building watertight.”

…Jenkins didn’t seem impressed with Stamper’s description of plans to renovate the train station.

“That’s a pledge that I’ve heard multiple times,” Jenkins said.

So the short answer: don’t hold your breath. Read on at the LSJ for more.

Brian shot this photo of MCS last September and suggests John Coltrane’s In a Sentimental Mood as the soundtrack. Put it on as you view the photo bigger or enjoy his b&w: land and city slideshow.

Lots more photos of Michigan Central Station on Michigan in Pictures.

Farewell Mr. Big Shot: Chauncey Billups announces retirement

Posted on by farlane

Billups has the sweet shot

Billups has the sweet shot, photo by Andrew McFarlane

Mark Spears of Yahoo Sports broke the story that Pistons great Chauncey Billups is retiring:

Billups was best known for his first stay with the Pistons from 2002-08. He earned the nickname “Mr. Big Shot” for his clutch shooting when he led Detroit to the 2004 NBA championship and another Finals appearance in ’05. He was part of the Pistons’ star foursome that also included Ben Wallace, Rip Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace.

Billups said the “best memories” of his career were with the Pistons.

“Before that, my career was in jeopardy in a few different stages,” Billups said. “I persevered, sustained and continued to work hard, and finally got my opportunity in Detroit, and I never turned back from that point. That’s what made it so sweet to me to win a championship after what I went through. I had to scrap and fight to get through it and to reach the pinnacle made it even sweeter.

“Winning the championship was the ultimate. I never set out to win the [Finals] MVP. Winning the championship was enough.”

…Billups averaged 15 points, 5.4 assists and made 38.7 percent of his 3-point attempts during his NBA career. He made the All-NBA second team twice, the All-NBA third team once and the All-Defense team twice. He finished with 15,802 points, ranks 39th all-time with 5,636 assists and sixth with 1,830 3-pointers made. He also had 1,051 steals in his career.

Read on for more, visit his NBA player page for stats & such, have a look at his top 10 Piston highlights from the NBA and definitely read this great feature on Chauncey Billups at Grantland by Jonathan Abrams.

I’m not sure if Billups will make the Hall of Fame, but he’s one of their all-time greats in my book! It’s rare when I use one of my own photos here – this one’s from a 2006 game at the Palace where I had a great time. View it bigger and see more in my Pistons v Grizzlies slideshow.

More Detroit Pistons on Michigan in Pictures!

The Detroit Flood of 2014

Posted on by farlane

DSC_0004

Untitled, photo by Michigan State Police Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division

On Monday, the city of Detroit was hit with over 4.5″ of rain, the second highest one-day total following 4.7″ on July 31, 1925. The rain hit during the afternoon rush hour and submerged freeways and neighborhoods.

There’s some photos and video from mLive, some pics from Twitter and Instagram put together by Oliver Darcy and more in this Huffington Post feature on the flooding with a bunch of photos and a few videos.

View this photo background big and see more in the State Police slideshow of the flooding.

More floods on Michigan in Pictures.

Sunset for the Ambassador: New Bridge Plan Coming Today

Posted on by farlane

This is Ambassador Bridge - connects the USA and Canada.( a view from Detroit side). Picture taken during the "blue hour" Please enjoy the view the way I did.

This is Ambassador Bridge…, photo by MaRia Popi Photography

Sunset, or at least twilight has arrived for the privately owned Ambassador Bridge. The AP is reporting that there’s now a deal for the long-discussed bridge between Detroit & Windsor:

Canadian Transport Minister Lisa Raitt and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder have called a news conference Wednesday about the planned new $2 billion bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

Snyder’s office said Tuesday that Raitt and the governor “will make an announcement regarding the New International Trade Crossing” at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Canadian Club Heritage Center in Windsor.

The governor’s and transport minister’s offices declined immediate comment Tuesday on the nature of the announcement.

Michigan and Canadian leaders have agreed to build the bridge over the Detroit River between Windsor and Detroit’s southwest side.

Officials say Canada would finance construction of the bridge, which would open in 2020.

Definitely view Maria’s photo background bigtacular for the full impact and see more in her Detroit slideshow.

Point of Origin

Posted on by farlane

The Heart of Detroit

The Heart of Detroit, photo by Maia C

The Point of Origin is located in Campus Martius Park in downtown Detroit. The park’s website explains:

In 1788, Campus Martius served as a drill ground for militia training. Campus Martius means “military ground” and was named after the Campus Martius at Marietta, Ohio, a 180-foot stockade.

After the fire of 1805, Judge Woodward was appointed to oversee the plan to lay out the streets, squares and lots with the assistance of the best surveyors from Canada. They placed their instruments and astronomical devices on the summit of a huge stone. He viewed the planets and meteors in order to determine “true North”. Today we still call this point the “Point of Origin” which is located in center of Campus Martius at the junction of Woodward and Monroe. It is from this point that the City of Detroit’s Coordinate system was created.

FYI, this photo appeared on Rolling Past 5000 on Michigan in Pictures, but only in a bit part as one of the zeros!

View Maia’s photo bigger and see more in her Downtown Detroit slideshow.

Happy 313 to the 313

Posted on by farlane

Detroit Mustangs

Happy 313th birthday Detroit…, photo by Buzz Click Photography

A happy (if one day belated) 313th birthday to the city of Detroit!

View Spike’s photo bigger on Facebook and head over to Buzz Click Photography for his photo for Detroit’s 313th!

Lots more Detroit photos and history on Michigan in Pictures.

The Moon and the Vortex

Posted on by farlane

Moon and the Ice Blob

The Moon and the Ice Blob, photo by Cherie

One of the cool things about having a Michigan photo group with nearly 200,000 photos to draw from is that I can find a photo for pretty much any post. Thanks all of you who share in the Absolute Michigan photo group!

Bruce McClure and Deborah Byrd have a nice feature on one of my favorite blogs EarthSky titled What is a Supermoon? It begins:

We in astronomy used to call them perigean new moons or perigean full moons, that is, new or full moons closely coinciding with perigee – the moon’s closest point to Earth in its orbit. But, in accordance with the rapidly evolving skylore of the modern world, we now enjoy calling them supermoons. The name supermoon was coined by an astrologer, Richard Nolle, over 30 years ago. It was popularized and came to be the accepted term for most people only in the past few years.

Are supermoons hype? In our opinion … gosh, no, just modern folklore. And they can cause real physical effects, such as larger-than-usual tides. The year 2014 has a total of five supermoons. They are the two new moons of January, and the full moons of July, August and September. Next supermoon: July 12.

Read on for more about tonight’s supermoon and supermoons in general.

Of course, the supermoon isn’t the only natural phenomenon enjoying hype this weekend, because our old friend the Polar Vortex is returning for an encore. Or not, according to Dr Jeff Masters of Weather Underground in the Freep:

It is not, however, the second coming of a polar vortex, something the National Weather Service says it regrets tweeting earlier this week.

Weather Underground meteorology director Jeff Masters says the weather pattern is similar to those dreaded words, but the key difference is that the chilly air mass isn’t coming directly from the arctic.

Masters says that Typhoon Neoguri in Japan altered the path of the jet stream and allowed polar air to spill out of Canada. That means next week’s temperatures will be as much as 15 degrees cooler than normal in the Midwest and could reach 90 in the normally temperate Pacific Northwest.

More at the Freep and also check out mLive meteorologist Mark Torregrossa’s take on the battle between El Nino and the Polar Vortex. He talks about El Nino’s chances to push the jet stream northward. If it’s not strong enough, winter 2015 could be ruled by the polar vortex again. Go El Nino, Go El Nino!

Cherie took this photo in February of 2009 on Belle Isle. See it bigger on Flickr and see more in her Belle Isle Slideshow.

More supermoons and more polar vortex on Michigan in Pictures!

Happy Fourth of July!

Posted on by farlane

Bombs of Smoke And Confetti

Bombs of Smoke And Confetti, photo by Ross Ellet

Happy 4th of July everyone!

View Ross’s photo background big and see more in his Night Photography slideshow.