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Hi, boys and girls. You may have been wondering where I have been. (Honestly, I suspect you are thinking "What a terrible blog", but that's not as self-serving. Nor does it make for as good a segue.) Well, I went on a little road trip. Where did I go? In order, I visited the Hockey Hall of Fame, Baseball Hall of Fame and Soccer Hall of Fame. Six days. Two countries. Three Halls. 1,400 miles (approximately).

I will discuss the road trip at greater length in my next post, unless something bigger happens between now and then. For now, though, I want to review some topics I may have addressed had I been sitting where I am now and not in Ontario or New York.

* First, Jim Leyland's hiring. It's hard not to like Leyland. He's seems like an honest guy. Although, I remain fearful of him bolting a sinking ship as he did Colorado. It's even harder to argue with his credentials. He is precisely what Alan Trammell was not-experienced. Success in two cities, Miami and Pittsburgh, should give him far more respect in the clubhouse. In theory, anyway.

What's not difficult to argue is the short-sighted way Dave Dombrowski approached the matter. I don't care if Bruce Fields and Juan Samuel were willing participants in the minority interview charade that took place, it's still wrong. It's also wrong not to interview, in no particular order, Jim Tracy, Ken Macha, Don Baylor, Cito Gaston (whose inability to land another job gives me great pause) and any number of other credible candidates.

At the press conference where Leyland was announced as manager, Dombrowski first said that many of those men became available "after" Leyland was hired. Well, if you would have waited say, oh-I-don't-know, maybe an hour after the season ended, perhaps, a larger base of candidates would have emerged. Wasn't every media source speculating that both Tracy and Macha were about to get the boot?

When pressed on the issue, Dombrowski claimed to "like" all the names brought to his attention, but liked Leyland better. Fair enough, but I have to think Dombrowski has put all his eggs in Leyland's basket. If Leyland fails for any reason, he will probably be the last Tigers manager Dombrowski names.

* For those fans who were always uncomfortable with a coaching staff that resembled a 1984 Tigers reunion tour, how do you feel about a Pittsburgh Pirates reunion tour at Comerica Park in 2006? Leyland, Gene Lamont (he's an ex-Tiger, too), Lloyd McClendon, Andy Van Slyke, Rafael Belliard and Don Slaught are on the Tigers coaching staff and are all ex-Bucs. Three ex-managers on staff does give this group tons of experience, but we will see if the results improve with all the ex-Pirates in charge of the ship.

* The Lions won. I didn't see or hear a minute of it. Nor have I read a thing about it, either. Anyone care to enlighten me on this one?

* I also know that Michigan lost to Minnesota. That's 3-3 on the year for Michigan. The Motor City Bowl gets closer and closer.

* Hockey is back. I was in Toronto for the Maple Leafs opener (no, I didn't go) and was impressed with the zeal the town had for their team. Why? Because I wonder if any other city, with any other sport would have been as keyed up as TO was after losing an entire season due to a labor/management dispute?

There are a number of people who still hate other sports, most notably baseball, for their lockouts/strikes. The majority of hockey fans in Toronto, at least from the impression I got, weren't anything other than happy to have their sport back. That's a limited perspective, I admit, but it was interesting to note the difference in tenor.

Finally, I'm happy to be back home. I'll bore you with a vacation slide show later. Bring lots of coffee.