DETROIT – If you’re a Detroit fan and you’re reading this, congratulations! It means you survived one of the most miserable sports weekends in recent memory.
Just a few days ago, the Lions had the best record in the NFL, the Tigers were a game away from the ALCS, Michigan football was ranked in the top 15, and Michigan State had a winning record.
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Poof. Gone. All in a few short days.
Tigers lose in 15 innings
It started Friday night, when the Tigers had superstar Tarik Skubal on the mound with a chance to clinch a series victory over the Mariners and advance to the ALCS for the first time in 12 years.
Skubal was fantastic, striking out 13 batters in six one-run innings. But as has been the case all too often over the past month, the Tigers couldn’t get the offense going.
Other than a two-run homer by Kerry Carpenter, the Tigers were shut out for the entire game. And it wasn’t just nine innings. That would have been bad enough. But no, it took 15 excruciating innings before Tigers fans were put out of their misery by a Jorge Polanco walk-off base hit.
It’s a game people will be talking about for years, and the Tigers were on the losing end. An even more painful way for a once-promising season to come to a close.
Michigan State upset by UCLA
The last few weeks haven’t been great for Michigan State, but there’s no shame losing competitive games to USC and Nebraska on the road.
But what happened on Saturday took all the air out of the Spartans’ sails.
Michigan State hosted a UCLA team that -- even coming off an upset of Penn State last weekend -- had a 1-4 record, including losses to UNLV, Northwestern, and New Mexico (that last one by 25 points).
Well, on Saturday, the Spartans were the ones who came up 25 points short. UCLA out-gained Michigan State by over 150 yards in East Lansing and left town with a 38-13 win.
Now Michigan State is 0-3 in Big Ten play. Fortunately, once they’re done with a trip to Indiana this weekend, the final five games on the schedule don’t look nearly as daunting as they did in the preseason.
Jonathan Smith is definitely feeling some heat.
Michigan trounced by USC
In perhaps its most pivotal game of the season in terms of College Football Playoff hopes, Michigan went out and laid an egg against USC.
The Wolverines were ranked No. 15 in the nation and looking to finish the first half of the season strong. Instead, they surrendered 489 yards of offense and got run out of the Coliseum, 31-13.
With the Ohio State game looming at the end of the year, Michigan has already used both of its playoff mulligans and must now win out to make the playoff. It’s a bad spot to be in in the middle of October.
And it’s the second year in a row for Sherrone Moore.
Lions fall to Chiefs on Sunday Night Football
Then, for the cherry on top of this weekend’s disgusting sports sundae, the Lions went into Arrowhead Stadium and watched their four-game winning streak end at the hands of the Chiefs.
Detroit had another beautiful trick play called back by a delayed penalty. The reliable Amon-Ra St. Brown dropped a key fourth-down pass. And Aidan Hutchinson committed a backbreaking personal foul during the comeback attempt.
It was an incredibly frustrating game, and to make matters even worse, Brian Branch sparked a brawl during postgame pleasantries by refusing to shake hands with Patrick Mahomes and hitting JuJu Smith-Schuster in the helmet.
Even DCFC couldn’t salvage the weekend, getting shutout at Keyworth. At least the Red Wings got their first win Saturday against Toronto.
So if you see your coworkers dragging a little bit more than usual on this Monday morning, Just know they’ve been through it.
It can only go up from here, right?