Could the Big Ten Leave Detroit?

Earlier this week it looked like a done deal that Detroit's Little Caesars Pizza Bowl (formerly the Motor City Bowl) would continue to be affiliated with the Big Ten Conference, albeit as the eighth choice rather than the seventh.

However, the Big Ten's official bowl announcement for 2010-13 came and went with no mention of a Detroit game. At that point, the guess was that it just wasn't officially signed but would be worked out quickly.

Perhaps it's not that simple. The latest word out of Detroit, according to the Associated Press, is that a decision could come sometime next week. However, lost in the story is a little nugget of information that the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl is in talks with the Big East to step in and face a top team from the Mid-American Conference should a deal not work out with the Big Ten.

Detroit is the capital city of the Mid-American Conference, as evidenced by the conference's championship game being played at Ford Field and the sheer number of MAC schools located within 3-4 hours of Detroit. However, it's also a huge city for the Big Ten (arguably the second most prominent city in the conference, behind Chicago). Every team but Minnesota, Iowa and Penn State is within a six hour drive.

Perhaps a bigger blow to the bowl's leaders like MSU Trustee and former coach George Perles and former Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr, losing the Big Ten affiliation would likely kill the founding dream of the bowl game, that being a contest featuring Michigan or Michigan State.

What a turnaround from a few years ago when folks in Detroit seriously talked about moving up to fourth in the Big Ten pecking order when the Alamo Bowl contract expired en route to possibly crashing the BCS someday. Now, they're in danger of losing a regional tie-in, replacing schools within driving distance with those a flight away. That would likely mean fewer fans and less revenue for a bowl game already not in a traditionally "desirable" destination.

As Perles said, we should know by next week.

An Open Letter to Mike Ilitch

Dear Mr. Ilitch,

I read today in the Detroit Free Press that your iconic firm, Little Caesars, is in talks to purchase the naming rights to the Motor City Bowl, now that GM has pulled out of sponsoring the annual Boxing Day bowl game.

According to Motor City Bowl CEO George Perles, your pizza chain is being offered not just an add-on name (like the Little Caesars Motor City Bowl), but a full-scale rebranding. Perles suggested the "Little Caesars Pizza Pizza Bowl," though it could easily be the Little Caesars Bowl or Little Caesars Hot n' Ready Bowl.

Mike, you're an icon in Detroit. You own not only one of the most recognizable Michigan brands in the world, but the greatest hockey franchise of all time - the Detroit Red Wings - and the up-and-coming Detroit Tigers. So why not use this time to show us all just how much of a Detroit guy you are?

Mr. Ilitch, I'm asking you to keep the "Motor City" name. Sure, tack on "Little Caesars" if you want, no one would have an issue with that. But other bowls have seen identity problems with re-branding their games, specifically that casual fans don't know which ones they are.

It's a simple case of brand identity - something I hardly need to explain to Mr. "Pizza, Pizza." You can't really have a discussion about the Capital One Bowl without mentioning that it used to be the Citrus Bowl. Ditto the Chick-fil-A Bowl, formerly the Peach Bowl.

We all know that Perles has dreams of moving the bowl up the Big Ten's postseason lineup - so that a Big Ten squad will always come to Detroit. The dream has always been to get Michigan State or Michigan in the game. Surely, sir, you wouldn't want to damage what prestige the bowl has worked so hard to earn by destroying its brand identity, would you?

Mr. Ilitch, you're a Detroit man, through and through. You're the guy who, when GM decided not to re-up its sponsorship of the center field fountains at Comerica Park, decided to allow the Big Three to advertise there all year long for free. You have invested your fortune in Detroit enterprises, and you knows how big this game can be for the city - and your wife's MotorCity Casino.

So Mike, given all that, do us a favor. Don't kill the name. Add Little Caesars to the moniker, but please keep the Motor City in the Motor City Bowl.

Governor Perles?

MSU Trustee George Perles, the former head football coach, has been rumored for a while to be thinking about running for governor. According to a report in the Free Press, Perles has decided to go for it.

I know what you're probably thinking, and no, this is not a joke. Perles, a registered Democrat, actually has experience as a statewide elected official, as he was the top vote-getter when he won election to the Board in 2006. He's a successful entrepreneur, having founded the Motor City Bowl, and is probably one of the five best-known politicians in Michigan.

Of course, there are several difficulties standing in his way. For one, almost the entire Democratic establishment has lined up behind Lt. Gov. John Cherry. Those who haven't are generally fans of state Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith.

Then there's the fact that, in order to win a Democratic primary, one typically has to do well in Ann Arbor, where Perles is about as popular as Rich Rodriguez is in East Lansing. And even if he got through that, he'd run into the winner of perhaps the strongest Republican primary field in years - Attorney General Mike Cox, Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra are among the favorites.

Now, I don't know what chance Perles has - but he did get MSU to a Rose Bowl, so I suppose anything's possible.