Sports in Detroit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Detroit, Michigan, is the home to six professional sports teams. It is also one of several cities in the United States to have teams from the four major North American sports.
All but two of the area's teams compete within the city of Detroit. There are three active major sports venues within the city: 41,070-seat Comerica Park (home of the baseball team Detroit Tigers), 65,000-seat Ford Field (home of the football team Detroit Lions), and 19,983-seat Joe Louis Arena (home of the ice hockey team Detroit Red Wings). Detroit is known for its avid hockey fans. Interest in the sport has given the city the moniker of "Hockeytown".
The area's other major venue is The Palace of Auburn Hills, in suburban Auburn Hills. This 22,076-seat arena is home to the Detroit Pistons and Detroit Shock of men's and women's professional basketball, respectively.
In college sports, the University of Detroit Mercy has a NCAA Division I program, and Wayne State University has both NCAA Division I and II programs. The NCAA football Motor City Bowl is held at Ford Field each December. In addition, the sports teams of the University of Michigan are located in Ann Arbor, within an hour's drive of much of the Detroit metropolitan area.
Detroit has bid to host Summer Olympic Games more often than any other city which has not yet hosted, participating in International Olympic Committee elections for the 1944 (placing 3rd, behind bid winner London), 1952 (5th place), 1956 (4th place), 1960 (3rd place), 1964 (2nd place), 1968 (2nd place) and 1972 (4th place) Games. It is, as of 2007, considering a bid for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.
In 1967, Detroit was selected as one of the cities to adopt a European professional soccer club in a bid to promote the game Stateside. The event was planned to coincide with Europe's off/close season when the teams would have otherwise been dormant for the summer. Detroit was represented by the Northern Irish team Glentoran, playing as the Detroit Cougars. Curiously the soccer apathetic Detroit public provided average attendances that were more than triple those Glentoran were used to in the soccer mad native Belfast.[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] City of Champions
Detroit was given the name "City of Champions" in the 1930s, for a series of successes both in individual and in team sport. Gar Wood (a native Detroiter) won the Harmsworth Trophy for unlimited powerboat racing on the Detroit River in 1931. In the Next year, 1932, Eddie "the Midnight Express" Tolan, a black student from Detroit's Cass Technical High School, won the 100- and 200-meter races and two gold medals at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Joe Louis won the heavyweight championship of the world in 1937. Detroit Lions won the National Football League championship in 1935. The Detroit Tigers won the American League pennant in 1934 and again in 1935, subsequently bagging the World Series in 1935, defeating the Chicago Cubs. The Detroit Red Wings won the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup in 1936 & 1937.[1][2]
[edit] Events
Since 1904, the city has home to the American Power Boat Association Gold Cup unlimited hydroplane boat race, held annually on the Detroit River near Belle Isle.[3].
The Detroit Marathon is also organized annually in the city, usually held in October.
Detroit is home to the Detroit Indy Grand Prix. The race took place on the streets of downtown Detroit from 1982 until 1988, and then from 1989 (when the sanction moved from Formula One to IndyCars) at Belle Isle until now. The race was not held from 2002−2006.
The Professional Bowlers Association Denny's PBA Tour holds the Motor City Classic at Taylor Lanes in the suburb of Taylor.
The suburb of Southfield hosts the annual Gold Cup Polo tournament at Word of Faith International Christian Center, formerly known as Duns Scotus College.[4]
[edit] Future
The city of Detroit is scheduled to host the following events:
- NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, Midwest Regional, Ford Field, March 28/30, 2008
- PGA Championship, Oakland Hills Country Club, 2008
- NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, Final Four, Ford Field, April 4/6, 2009
- NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship, Frozen Four, Ford Field, April 8/10, 2010
[edit] Past
The 2004 Ryder Cup was held at Oakland Hills Country Club, located in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Township.
Comerica Park hosted the 2005 MLB All-Star Game on July 12, 2005, and Ford Field hosted Super Bowl XL on February 5, 2006. On December 13, 2003, the largest crowd in basketball history (78,129) packed Ford Field to watch the University of Kentucky defeat Michigan State University, 79-74.[5] Comerica Park hosted games 1 and 2 of the 2006 World Series.
Ford Field held WrestleMania 23 in Ford Field on April 1, 2007. The Palace of Auburn Hills held NCAA Division I Wrestling Tournament Finals on March 15-17 2007.
[edit] Organizations
[edit] Professional
| Club | League | Venue | Established | Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Lions | NFL Football | Ford Field | 1930 | 4 (NFL), 0 (Super Bowl) |
| Detroit Pistons | NBA Basketball | The Palace of Auburn Hills | 1941 | 3 |
| Detroit Red Wings | NHL Hockey | Joe Louis Arena | 1926 | 11 |
| Detroit Shock | WNBA Basketball | The Palace of Auburn Hills | 1998 | 2 |
| Detroit Tigers | MLB Baseball | Comerica Park | 1894 | 4 |
| Detroit Ignition | MISL Indoor Soccer | Compuware Arena | 2006 | 0 |
[edit] Racing
| Club | Sport | League | Venue | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| various | Auto racing | NASCAR, IRL, ARCA | Michigan International Speedway | Brooklyn |
| Detroit Indy Grand Prix | Auto racing | IRL | Belle Isle Park | Detroit |
| Detroit APBA Gold Cup | Hydroplane racing | APBA | Detroit River | Detroit |
[edit] Collegiate
| Club | Sport | League | Venue | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland University Golden Grizzlies | various | NCAA (The Summit League) | various, including Athletics Center O'Rena | Rochester |
| University of Detroit Mercy Titans | various | NCAA (Horizon League) | various, including Calihan Hall | Detroit |
| University of Michigan Wolverines | various | NCAA (Big Ten Conference, Central Collegiate Hockey Association) | various, including Michigan Stadium | Ann Arbor |
| Wayne State University Warriors | various | NCAA (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, College Hockey America) | various | Detroit |
 Tiger Stadium in January 2005. |
[edit] See also
- Detroit Wolverines
- 1887 Detroit Wolverines season
- Metro Detroit
- 2020 Summer Olympics
- U.S. cities with teams from four major sports
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://info.detnews.com/history/story/index.cfm?id=91&category=sports. Detroit News.
- ^ http://www.visitdetroit.com/visitorcenter/aboutdetroit/dates/. Visit Detroit
- ^ History. The Detroit APBA Gold Cup
- ^ Southfield Gold Cup Polo. (July 21, 2000). PRNewswire. Retrieved on January 19, 2008.
- ^ History. FordField.com.
[edit] Further reading
- Gavrilovich, Peter and Bill McGraw (2000). The Detroit Almanac. Detroit Free Press. ISBN 0-937247-34-0.
[edit] External links
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
