Stories like this break my heart. Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Matiss Kivlenieks died Sunday night after a fireworks mishap at a Novi holiday party at the home of former Red Wings goalie Manny Legace. An initial autopsy report determined Kivlenieks, 24, died from a “percussive injury,” the extreme force from the powerful blast of exploding fireworks, Novi police confirmed Monday afternoon. The force of the blast caused chest trauma, and Kivlenieks suffered major damage to his heart and lungs, according to the autopsy report from the county medical examiner. In Michigan we never read about stories like this until recently when we relaxed our fireworks laws. Such a young and promising life lost. Unfortunately, this will not be the last story we will hear like this.
Phil Mickelson continued to show his class during the Rocket Mortgage as he donated $100,000 to the Detroit Children’s Foundation. During Sunday’s round, an airplane flew high above Detroit Golf Club with a sign that read: “Phil, come back in 2022,” signed by Stefan, Dominic, John and Jeff. Golf Channel showed the banner on its pregame coverage. The story went national when Mickelson decided to respond. “I enjoyed my time here,” Mickelson said following Sunday’s round, before taking some socially distanced photos with fans and hopping on a plane for Tuesday’s made-for-TV exhibition match with Bryson DeChambeau, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers in Montana. “The people were terrific. “I didn’t play as well as I wanted to … but I really enjoyed the people.” With Tiger out of the picture, Phil is still biggest draw on the PGA tour as evidenced by the increase in ticket sales the day he announced he would be playing in the Rocket Mortgage. Nearly a week later, I cannot understand why the Detroit News felt it was necessary to publish the article last Wednesday. It was further compounded by Nolan Finley’s classless remarks in his blog on Friday. Phil Mickelson has been nothing but a positive force on the PGA tour for over 30 years. He stays and signs autographs. He interacts with the crowds. He always has time for others and he is a strong family man.
The Tigers are starting to get noticed. In their last 51 games they are 29-22. This compares to their first 33 games when they were 9-24. They’re beating top teams, winning tight games and finding new pieces worth keeping.They had back to back winning months in May and June for the first time since 2016. As reported by Bob Wojnowski, the Tigers aren’t winning with a bunch of home runs, but they’re winning a bunch of ways. On Sunday they beat the White Sox to take a series from the Sox for the first time since 2018.They scored in the first off Lucas Giolito when Baddoo led off with an infield single, stole second, took third on a groundout and scored on a groundout. Baddoo is hitting .281 after enduring a rookie slump, gaining confidence by the day. For the first time in 5 years they are fun to watch. A.J. Hinch should be the hands down winner of the Manager of the Year Award if they keep this up.
With Katy and her family in Petoskey with us for the Fourth of July weekend, we attended the Bay Harbor fireworks on July 3 and the Petoskey 4th of July parade. As usual, we all had a great time, especially the grandkids. The highlight of the parade is always the Petoskey high school band. They perform as a marching band in the beginning of the parade and then when they get to the end of their march they beat feet to go back to the rear of the parade and load onto a big tour bus and perform as the Petoskey Steel Drum band, where the band members totally transform themselves from precision marchers to free-wheeling musicians and vocalists. If you have never seen the Petoskey Steel Drum band you are missing out on some real entertainment.
In watching the parade, I realized I was not in Washtenaw County anymore. The Emmet County Democratic Party float and marchers arrived to our vantage point and there was nothing but silence. Ten minutes later the Emmet County Republican Party float and marchers arrived, which included a man carrying a large Trump 2020 flag and many MAGA signs. People cheered, clapped and whistled loudly in support of their fellow Republicans.
Stay safe. Wash your hands regularly. Social Distance. Wear your mask properly. Schedule your vaccine.
Orchid of the Day: Phil Mickelson, one more time.
Onion of the Day: U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain who was at the southern border Wednesday with a group of House Republicans for an event with former President Donald Trump, casting votes remotely by proxy citing the “ongoing public health emergency.” McClain cast roll-call votes by proxy both Tuesday and Wednesday, saying she couldn’t attend in person in the House chamber because of the pandemic, according to records filed with the House clerk. Her proxy votes came weeks after McClain, a freshman legislator from Bruce Township, had criticized seven Michigan House Democrats for using the proxy voting system while they participated in an event with President Joe Biden in Dearborn. Did she think no one was going to notice?
Quote of the Day: “Our baserunning will show off our athleticism and our awareness. That puts pressure on the opponent. Any time we can distract the pitcher from his attention to the hitter, that’s an advantage for us. I just like how aggressively we can play defense and run the bases, and how our guys have bought in that 90 feet matters.” Tiger manager A.J. Hinch.