Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • 54

MITCH ALBOM Why Wings will PREPS EXTRA I HOOP IT UP Don't miss our All-Metro and all-area girls basketball teams, paces u.ise. ntlDAY Dec. 10, 2004 College basketball 6' never be the same It is easy to imagine America without pro hockey. Look around. We are living it.

The NHL has been shut down for three months. Guess what? Life goes on. Golf 9 NBA 12 Outdoors 16 on WES www.freep.com raomc 313-222-6660 Section Tigers hope pMrsiiiit will pay off Even without Glaus, Finley, other pieces might jit By JOHN LOWE FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER word surfaced that centerfielder Steve Finley was ready to sign a two-. year contract with the Anaheim An-gels. The Tigers had offered Finley a two-year deal, believed to be for $14 million.

At his introductory new conference in Phoenix, Glaus didn't ex-; plain why the Diamondbacks who had the majors' worst record ap-I pealed to him more than the Tigers Please see TIGERS, Page 3E liever Troy Percival and subsequent high-priced free agents signed this off-season. The Tigers missed on one such free agent Thursday when slugging third baseman Troy Glaus signed a four-year, $45-million deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Then they appeared to miss on another when could help the Tigers post a winning record next season and perhaps compete for a division title in the same year they host the All-Star Game. Roll all that together, and the club could increase attendance by upwards of a half-million over last season's 1.9 million. The bigger gate would pay in large part for ace re ANAHEIM, Calif.

Tigers owner Mike Hitch appears to have decided that now might be an optimum time to pursue free agents. Under this line of thinking, a few free-agent additions this off-season Troy Glaus: New D'back Leader off pack? Favre is among NFL QB elite CURT SYLVESTER aocisted Prrca SCOTT AUOETTEA Here's the proposition: You get to pick one NFL quarterback to play one game. It's a big game, obviously. Let's Sports go on. Remember when people used to say "football, baseball, basketball and hockey" as if they were four equal slices of pie? Well, ESPN hasn't lost 25 percent of its content, newspapers haven't cut 25 percent of their space, and the idea hockey might constitute a large chunk of the U.S.

sports stage is now laughable. The fact is, with the exception of sports talk radio and a few lonely rinkside taverns, you have to search far and wide for anyone who is even complaining about hockey being gone. "There are plenty of other people who will entertain the audience if you pull yourself out of the entertainment market," said Red Wings forward Brendan Shanahan. Shanahan is smart. Trying to be optimistic, he gathered nearly two dozen players, referees, TV executives and hockey analysts in Toronto this week to talk about how to enliven the game once it comes back.

He knows this work stoppage is not about getting two signatures on a contract. At the heart of the NHL's problems is a more fundamental issue: The product isn't entertaining enough to be the business everyone needs it to be. And solving a labor dispute won't fix Talking but not listening On Thursday, the NHL Players' Association made some new proposals to the owners. Of course they were new. The sides haven't even spoken since September.

This is always the most infuriating part of a work stoppage, the game of chicken leaders play while those who employ them sit around, biting their tongues, silently stewing on the same question: "When already?" So far, the negotiations could be summed up this way: "If it doesn't have the words 'salary cap' in it, don't bother booking the hotel." Commissioner Gary Bettman says the owners won't answer the door unless they have "cost certainty." Sure, it would be nice if all businesses could say this, "We want cost certainty or we're not operating." They can't, because in the real world, you've gotta roll with the punches, supplies get pricey, an earthquake knocks out your plant, a competitor moves in across the street. But pro sports have never been real world, from baseball's anti-trust exemption to the NHL draft, which tells some kid in Russia what team he will be "allowed" to play for. So the owners want to be protected from their own greed, and the players don't want to give up that greed since it has made them all rich. The players have said they're willing to give back 10 percent of their current salaries. That won't fly.

If the system doesn't change, that money will come right back as soon as free agents are sprung from the cage. So the glum truth is this: some form of a salary cap, or no hockey. And for Red Wings fans, that means brace yourselves. Because your team will never be the same. The NHL's brave new structure Nick Cotsonika, the Free Press' hockey writer, pointed this out over the weekend.

It's teams like the Wings with their "sign 'em up, damn the costs" mentality that make the other owners revolt. If and when hockey returns, that's over. "The owners have been talking about a $31 million cap?" Wings center Kris Draper told me this week. "Well, if that were the case, our team would be Curtis Joseph, Nick Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan, Steve Yzer-man and maybe me. And that's it.

That's the whole roster." No more Fedorov, Yzerman, Chelios, Lidstrom, Hull, Hasek and Shanahan teams. No more buying Robert Lang with a month to go in the season. A hard cap would mean the team you've got is the one you go with, much like the NFL. It also would mean, most likely, fewer guaranteed contracts, which means more guys cut, which means less loyalty to fan favorites, which has long been the Red Wings' way. It would be fascinating to hear what Mike Hitch has to say about this, since he is both an owner and a source of owners' ob-, jections.

But Hitch and the other owners aren't talking. And until Thursday, neither was anyone else. At Shanahan's summit, TV execs sug-gested there be more interviews during the game, maybe mike the benches, go behind the scenes. Rules changes were discussed. So were ties and overtime.

But that's the kind of talk you have when your plants are humming and your smoke- -stacks are billowing. Right now, the pad- locks are on the gates. And like a grade high classmate, the sport is fading into "what-zisname" status. "I don't think hockey is strong enough to U-M receiver Braylon Edwards holds Biletnikoff Award. Edwards captures award Michigan senior named top receiver By JOHN ELIGON FREE PRISS SPORTS WRITER say it's the Super Bowl.

And let's keep it current. A quarterback who has played in the last 25 years. Your choice. You can go back to the late 1970s and early '80s. Terry Brad-shaw, Roger Staubach, Dan Fouts and Bob Griese all Hall of Famers were still playing in 1979.

Too far back? How about Jim Kelly, Joe Montana, Phil Simms, Dan Marino, Troy Aikman and Steve Young? They all played in the 1980s and into the '90s. If you really want to get up to date, there are a number of worthy candidates playing now Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Donovan McNabb and Steve McNair. And then there's the guy the Lions will face Sunday in Green Bay for the 26th time in 13 years Brett Favre. Please see SYLVESTER, Page 4E He's too cocky. He drops too many passes.

He can't dominate because he plays wide receiver. Say what you want about Braylon Edwards, but make sure not to forget one thing: He's the best receiver in college football. Edwards, a senior at Michigan, won the Biletnikoff Award at Thursday night's College Football Awards show in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The award recognizes the nation's outstanding receiver, and Edwards became the first Wolverine to win it since its inception in 1994. During the ESPN telecast, Edwards was asked if people could say he was the best receiver to wear the No.

1 jersey at Michigan, previously worn by Anthony Carter, Greg McMurtry, Derrick Alexander and David Terrell. "I think you can," Edwards said. "It's an honest assessment. The things I've done over my career, the players that I've played with, they've done nothing but push me every day in practice in the summer time. My game has elevated to another level because of it.

"I can honestly say that I feel that I'm the best receiver to ever come to the University of Michi-. LIONS VS. PACKERS Matchup: Lions 5-7; Green Bay Packers 7-5. When: 4:15 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Lambeau Field, Green Bay. TV: Fox (Channel 2 in Detroit). Line: Packers by 92. MOflRY GASHAMOdated Press Why is Green Bay's Brett Favre whom the Lions face Sunday a winning quarterback? He has the talent and the attitude, and shows no fear on the field. HOW BRETT FAVRE RANKS AMONG ALL-TIME QUARTERBACKS Passing yards Touchdown passes Pass completions Consecutive starts PLAYER YEARS YDS PLAYER TD PLAYER CMP PLAYER STARTS Dan Marino 1983-99 61,361 Dan Marino 420' Dan Marino 4,967 Brett Favre 201 JohnElway 1983-98 51,475 Brett Favre 368 Brett Favre 4,218 RonJaworski 116 Warren Moon 1984-00 49,325 Frank Tarkenton 342 JohnElway Peyton Manning 108 Brett Favre 1991-04 48,618 John Elway 300 Warren Moon 3,988 Joe Ferguson 107 Fran Tarkenton 1961-78 47,003 Warren 291 Fran Tarkenton 3,686 Dan Marino 95 P'ease see AWARDS, Page 7E 1 SANTA RIP FINDS IT GOOD TO GIVE miss an entire year, Shanahan said.

What's worse: Hockey isn't strong Detroit Central gets new uniforms from Pistons' top scorer Detroit Central art teacher Gloria Byers and i Markeith Allix pose" with the unfinished mural of Pistons star Richard Hamilton. euuugn lu liay an emu cm ciuici By KRISTA LATHAM FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER games," said Hamilton, 26. "I don't want to just go to one game. I want to be involved. I'm going to adopt the whole team, do the whole thing.

It's not just a one-time thing. I'm going to be a part of it. I want to be a big brother talk to them about life, school, basketball, the whole-nine yards." Why the big commitment? Why not just send a check and call it a -day? Consider it an appreciation of his roots. troit Central boys basketball teams this season and outfitted them with new navy blue-and-white warm-ups, uniforms and shoes. He made the donation to the varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams with help from his sponsor, Nike.

The total package cost about $5,000, said Central athletic director Roosevelt Green, but Hamilton won't stop there. He plans to spend some time with the Trailblazers players this season and get to know the entire Central community. "I'm gonna go to a couple Contact MITCH ALBOM at 313-223-4581 or albomfreepress.eom. He will sign copies of "The Five People You Meet in Heaven at 7:30 toniglit at Barnes Noble in East Lansing, at 11 a.m. Saturday at Borders Express at Somerset Collection in Troy and at 2 p.m.

Saturday at Barnes Noble in Northville. Catch "The Mitch Albom Show" 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WJR-AM (760). Players make salary concessions, but owners don't bite right away. Page 9E Richard Hamilton brought happiness to many Detroit area youths last spring while he helped the Pistons win the NBA championship.

Now he wants to give a few kids and a school a little extra love. Hamilton has adopted the De HUGH QRANNUMDetroit fn Press Please see PISTONS, Page 9E.