I used to talk to my father all the time about baseball. It was one passion we shared. To me, the Tigers I grew up with, and remember the most, were those from the late 1960s and the early 1970s. For my father, it was the Tigers of the 1930s - that team that won back-to-back American League pennants in 1934 and 1935 - and beat the Cubs in the 1935 World Series. He would talk about Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenberg, Mickey Cochrane, Tommy Bridges and the epic World Series loss to the Cardinals in '34 a lot. It helped fuel my love of baseball. As a kid, I loved the Tigers of late 1960s and 1970s. I remember the World Series in 1968 and the 1972 team that won the division and took Oakland to the limit in the ALCS. My favorite player was Willie Horton. So, even though I have been in this business a long time and have been fortunate enough to meet a lot of famous people and all that, a part of me is still enthralled by the Tigers of that era. That is why being down in Lakeland this week writing columns from the Tigers Fantasy Camp is a thrill. When I see Gates Brown or Horton or Mickey Lolich - or any of those players from that era - it reminds me of my youth when I loved baseball so much it was an obesession. This is going to be fun. I will doing a four-part series in The Oakland Press starting Thursday. Oh, and I guess baseball is still my obesession.

Random Thoughts

- I thought Michigan State was teriffic at Ohio State Saturday. Just one clutch shot here or there and the Spartans would have pulled it off. Certainly they sent a message to the rest of the nation - and Ohio State - they are for real.

- Chris Webber is making a huge difference for the Pistons. I do not care if they lost to Washington Friday. The Wizards were just hot that night. The Pistons are clearly the best team in the Eastern Conference.