On October 2, 2007, I wrote about my 10 worst losses (as a fan) of all time. You can see it here. It was requested by several people at the time that I do a follow up blog chronicling my top 10 victories. I didn’t take them up on it right away, though, because for some reason it seemed like more of a daunting task. Why? I don’t really know why. I assume it’s because the victory is so fleeting. Winning a championship is exciting momentarily, but soon it’s over and you’re back to square one the next season. Odds are, your team won’t win the next season, and then you’re back to disappointment. I guess the sting of a bitter loss hurts more than the joy of a big win. We’ll get some Giants and Patriots fans together in twenty years and see for ourselves. I would bet the bitterness factor on the Pats’ side will far outweigh the exuberance from the NY fans. Therefore, for me, this top 10 victory blog was actually quite hard to formulate. All I can say is “thank God I don’t live in Philadelphia or Cleveland, or this blog would be impossible. I’d be better off just listing 10 – 20 on my most miserable defeats list.” Anyway, here goes.First some honorable mentions:

2006 ALDS Game 2 – After taking it on the chin to the tune of 8-4 in game one, and after the way the Tigers limped into the postseason (with a pathetic loss to the Royals in the last game of the season they lost the division to the Twins after leading the entire year), I was certain they were about to get swept by the experienced and superior Yankees. Then there was the rainout. Game 2 had to be rescheduled because of rain…rain that seemed to wash away the Yankees dominance and give Detroit new life. The Tigers 4-3 victory in game 2 gave me hope again. With this win, Detroit went on to win 7 straight en route to their first World Series appearance in over 20 years.

2004 NBA Eastern Conference Semi-Finals Game 6 – Joe Dumars said that the game 5 triple overtime loss to New Jersey (who were the defending East champions 2 years running at the time) at home was the most demoralizing feeling he’s ever had in basketball. (Consequently, that game almost made my worst loss list too). Game 6 was to be an even harder task. The Pistons, though, marched into NJ, down 3-2, and beat a talented Nets team on their home floor. This was just an absolutely gutsy performance by Detroit, and one that propelled them to finish the Nets off at home in game 7.

2005 Eastern Conference Finals Game 7 – Though Dwayne Wade had bruised ribs, a win is a win is a win, and it was still satisfying. The newly built Heat led by Shaq and Wade were the number 1 seed in the East, but Detroit was able to take care of business in Miami and make it back to a 2nd straight NBA Finals with a convincing win in game 7. I never really liked the Heat either, so it felt good to send them packing.

1990 Eastern Conference Finals Game 7 – Jordan and the Bulls were really knocking on the doorstep of a championship in 1990, but they weren’t there quite yet. Detroit beat the Bulls in game 7 to end a brutal series. And though I expected Detroit to win this series (they were the defending NBA champions), it just always felt soooooo good to remind Michael, Scottie, and friends that we still owned them when it counted.

2006 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals Game 6 – Lebron, Lebron, Lebron. After annihilating the Cavs in game 1, and squeaking out a win in game 2, James and Cleveland won three straight to put Detroit on the ropes in game 6. Detroit just barely escaped with a 84-82 win featuring balls rolling around the rim and about 17 offensive rebounds by Detroit in the finals seconds. I was watching this game at Glory Days and was looking for complete strangers to hug when it was finally over. Wheeew. That was a good game.

Now, the top 10:

#10. 1988 Eastern Conference Finals Game 7 – If you weren’t a Celtics or Pistons fan in the 80′s, you don’t understand, but “expletive, expletive, expletive” I hated those “expletives”…to put it bluntly. Like the Pistons were to the Bulls of the late 80′s, the Celtics were to the Pistons of the mid 80′s. To finally beat them in 88 and move on to the Finals was ridiculously satisfying. As Isaiah was walking off the court after the series win, him and McHale kinda stopped and gave each other a hard, five/hand shake as they both stretched out to reach each others’ hands. You could see the respect, yet disdain, they had for each other. You just don’t see that kind of rivalry anymore these days. Anyway, it was a great win.

#9. 2004 Eastern Conference Finals Game 2 – This was a pivotal, pivotal game for the Pistons. Indiana had the best record in the league, and were favored to win this series. Detroit gave game 1 away, and going into game 2 Rasheed Wallace issued his famous “guaransheed.” The Pistons led down the stretch, but the game again started to slip away in the waning moments, and when Billups lost the ball on a drive with under a minute left, and Reggie Miller headed down court for a seemingly uncontested game-tying layup, my heart stopped. Thankfully, Tayshaun Prince revived me with perhaps the most exciting block in a crunch time situation I’ve ever seen. It was just an unbelievable play…just amazing. Reggie was at the top of the key and Prince wasn’t even at half court, yet he still caught up at the last second to seal the game for Detroit. Winning this game for Detroit started to make a bona-fide believer out of me that the 2004 Pistons could go all the way. Man, that was just an incredible block…I’m getting chills right now thinking about it. I’m going to go watch it on youtube. You should too, right here.

#8. 1997 NHL Stanley Cup Finals – Today, 11 years later, I really don’t follow hockey much at all. At the time, though, I did. Sweeping the Flyers, this was the Red Wings’ first championship since the 1955, so it made it that much sweeter. I always felt that Steve Yzerman was the kind of guy that deserved to win a cup at least once too. Fittingly, he would end up winning three before calling it quits.

#7. 1993 Final 4 (Michigan – Kentucky) - I still vividly remember Jalen Rose standing on the scorers table celebrating after winning this OT thriller. Perhaps Michigan celebrated this one too much, for we all know what happened next. The reality, though, is that I thought this game was Michigan’s biggest test. Kentucky was stacked, led by Jamal Mashburn and Tony Delk. I really believed they were the best team in the country, and I honestly didn’t expect Michigan to win. They did, though, and I was elated. Expectations were high going into the championship game, and well…the results of that have already been written about once before. We’ll leave it at that. The Kentucky game, though, that was a nice win. I really loved that Fab 5 team.

#6. 1997 Michigan Football Season – This was a defensive masterpiece of a season led by Charles Woodson. A defensive masterpiece that ended up with a National Championship. Michigan won most games convincingly, and ended up 12-0 record on the year. The only thing that taints that season at all is that we had to share the national title with Nebraska. Booo. Bet you don’t know who the QB of this Michigan team was? What, cat got your tongue? That’s right, Brian Griese…the man that started ahead of Tom Brady, who incidentally, turned out all right too.

#5. 2006 ALCS Game 4 – If you want to get some chills up and down your spine, click here. The Tigers had not been to the World Series in 22 years (they hadn’t even made the playoffs in 19 years)…but here they were. They could taste it. Up 3-0 on the A’s in game 4, tied 3-3, bottom of the ninth, 2 outs, 2 men on. Up steps Magglio Ordonez, and he didn’t disappoint. His walk off homer to send the Tigers to the fall classic was as excited as I’d been as a sports fan in several years…for sure. It was a special moment.

#4. 1989 NCAA Basketball National Championship Game – Michigan over Seton Hall. Rumeal Robinson, Glen Rice, Terry Mills, Sean Higgins. This was a great Michigan basketball team. This was also a great game. Rumeal Robinson hit two free throws with no time on the clock to win this nail biter for Michigan (80-79). What is also a point of interest is that their coach, Bill Frieder, announced right before the tournament that he was going to Arizona State after the season. Michigan AD Bo Schembechler then quickly fired him saying, “a Michigan man is going to coach Michigan.” So in stepped Steve Fisher who coached Michigan to the first and only basketball national championship in university history.

#3. 1990 NBA Finals – Back 2 back. The theme music of the day was MC Hammer’s “Can’t Touch This,” as in, you can’t touch this trophy cause it’s still belongs to the Pistons. The Motor City still reigned supreme after disposing of the Portland Trailblazers. I still remember Vinny Johnson’s 14 footer to clinch the win in game 5, and I can still picture the horrified look on Rick Adelman’s face as Bill Lambeer hit his 6th three pointer in game 2. With Drexler, Kersey, and Petrovic, the Blazers were actually a very good team, but the Pistons were at their apex and there was no stopping them on their way to being only the third franchise ever to repeat as champions.

#2. 2004 NBA Finals – When a rag, tag group of castaways waltzed into the Staples Center and dismantled the heavily favored Lakers in game 1, Kobe, Shaq, Payton, Malone, and friends were forced to perk up and take notice. Unfortunately for them, it was too late. The Pistons were flat rolling, and it if weren’t for Kobe’s heroics at the end of game 2 (a game which also just barely missed the cut for my losses list), this would have been a sweep. Chauncey was the MVP, and rightly so, as he totally abused Gary Payton (aka: The Glove) throughout the series. As much as the Detroit players earned this title, Joe Dumars needs to be given credit too, as his deal which basically stole Rasheed Wallace at the trade deadline put Detroit over the top. When Ben, Sheed, Rip, Tay, and Chauncey started clicking, they were clicking. At one point, they held opposing teams to under 70 points for a record 5 straight games. In the Finals too, the D was stifling. Furthermore, I have always hated the Lakers, so it felt good to totally destroy them on the NBA’s biggest stage. It also felt extra good, because they beat them with no Laker players hurt…since I’ve been hearing the incessant whining of Lakers fans my whole life after Magic went down in the 1989 Finals. On that note…

#1. 1989 NBA Finals – Bad Boys, Bad Boys. There’s nothing ever as sweet as the first title. As recalled earlier, the Pistons had battled the evil Celtics for years in the playoffs and when they finally got past them, they lost to LA in an absolutely grueling 7 game series in the Finals of 88. 1989 would be different. This Pistons team was hungrier, more experienced, and better than every other team in the league. They took care of business in the East playoffs and waited on LA in the Finals. The result was a sweep and the first NBA championship in Detroit Pistons franchise history. If you weren’t a Pistons fan, and you grew up watching the NBA in the 80′s, these Bad Boy’s teams may have been one of your all time most hated teams. If you were and are a Pistons fan, it is just the opposite. Isaiah, Joe D., Lambeer, Dantly, Spider Salley, The Worm (Rodman), The Microwave (Vinny), Mahorn. This was the team that would push you down then kick you to make sure you stayed down. They didn’t take crap from the Celtics, and they wouldn’t allow LA to keep them down for long either. This was a tough, defensive minded, hard-nosed team that changed the style of the NBA. In fact, you could say that these Detroit teams really paved the way for Jordan’s dominance in the 90′s. After finally getting by Detroit in 1991, he never really would face another challenger that hounded him the way the Bad Boys did. Anyway, before I get too far off on a tangent, let me get back to the matter at hand…the 1989 Finals. It was a sweet, sweet victory. I still have Wheaties boxes with the Bad Boys on the cover. I still have a candy bar with Isaiah Thomas on it. I can hear the “Beat LA” chants. At the Palace, they would allow fans to come watch the away games on the jumbo-tron…I can still remember the riot-like cheers (as we watched one of these away games on Palace-Vision) when the media announced there were more fans at the Palace of Auburn Hills than there were at the Great Western Forum where the game was actually being played. Burned in my memory is the picture of Detroit fans paining the word “LA” on the sidewalks of Detroit and standing and sweeping over top of them with brooms during the victory parade in downtown Detroit. Ahhh, the memories.

You know, come to think of it, the top ten victories list wasn’t as difficult as I originally thought when I started. Once you get rolling, it just kinda flows…and I’ll tell you one thing…you feel much better when you finish than you do after reminiscing all the losses. Maybe I should have written this blog sooner? Oh well, for now, though, I’m going to soak it all up. Soak what up, you say? The thrill of victory, that’s what. Can you taste it?