Now in my eyes, there is no comparison between the two captains of the most successful Detroit teams (Detroit Pistons and Detroit Red Wings) although the Detroit Tigers have gone 5-0 to start the season (a miracle).If you live in Detroit or its suburbs, you know that Detroit Pistons fever is sweeping southeastern Michigan. A recent Detroit News article talked about the possibility of Detroit becoming Hoopstown now that the Pistons have better ratings on the regional Fox Sports Net than the Wings. From personal experience, attending Detroit Country Day for high school was awful from that standpoint. From April on, all anyone could talk about was the Pistons. And they just blew the Wings off - very upsetting, indeed.
Anyways, last night at the Palace of Auburn Hills, captain Ben Wallace snapped. According to the Detroit News, this is what happened:
After being taken out of the game with a little under 8 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter (and the Pistons down by 8), Wallace “stormed to the end of the bench uttering a torrent of unprintables directed at Saunders.” After head coach Flip Saunders explained why he took Wallace out (perhaps that he had played the entire second half at that point), Wallace waved him off. When asked to go back into the game, Wallace refused to “even look at Saunders” and firmly sat in his seat. When the Pistons had an opportunity to get a win, Wallace was asked once again to go back on the court. “Again, Wallace waved him off and stayed seated at the bench, not even getting up to join the huddle during timeouts.” Afterwards, Wallace said he’ll play against the Pacers and that this was not an injury.
In the clear light of a new day, Wallace will regret what he did. To refuse to enter a game is so beyond his character, it’s hard to believe it happened. He is a captain and a leader on the best team in basketball. His identity — and thus the identity of this team — has been forged on the principles of going to work every day, having your teammates’ backs and relentlessly fighting through all the bumps and hurdles life throws at you.For him to have hung his teammates out to dry like that, for sure, will be tough for him to swallow today. Already, the team was without Richard Hamilton, who was in Coatesville, Pa., attending a family funeral, and Rasheed Wallace, who left in the third quarter because of back spasms.
My thoughts…
I have a Ben Wallace jersey. As I mentioned earlier, the Pistons were really popular at my high school and my friends would take me to games (for free) throughout the year. So I bought a jersey to support the team when I was at the games. But now, I’m embarassed. I don’t care if Wallace was sitting out to protest the team’s “garbage” play of late. Especially as a captain, you have the responsibility to respect the coach (especially in public), encourage your teammates, and play with the best effort you can give. Wallace threw those responsibilities right out the window.You would never ever see Steve Yzerman pull something like that. I don’t believe you’d see Nick Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan, or Chris Chelios try something close to what Wallace did last night. Veterans and leaders have responsibilities. Disagreeing with a coach’s call is alright, but Saunders explained his reasoning and then after a couple minutes rest, allowed Wallace to re-enter the game. If a team is down a couple of key players and the game is on the line, I don’t care if you have the best record in the league, you go out and play.
In a recent post, IwoCPO at Abel to Yzerman talked about a comment Berry Melrose made regarding the Wings. And while I despise Melrose from the bottom of my heart, he actually said something I wouldn’t mind posting:
Detroit is another solid team right now. The Red Wings are such a professional team, year in and year out. What I like most about them is that there’s never any controversy with them. You never hear a player publicly bad-mouthing his teammates or coaches. It’s a tribute to the veteran players like Brendan Shanahan, Nicklas Lidstrom and Steve Yzerman.
If the Wings have problems with teammates or coaches, it is addressed and discussed in private. The public should not know of Wallace’s dismay with the team and/or coach, much less they shouldn’t hear the team captain swearing left and right at coach Saunders. Yzerman has been known to speak up in the locker room when he sees something happening, but he doesn’t protest a coach’s move or leave the team out to dry.I was incredibly disappointed in Ben Wallace’s actions last night and it only has strengthened my loyalties with the Detroit Red Wings and their captain, Steve Yzerman.
