The Sacramento Kings showed a stereotypical video of abandoned buildings and burned out cars while introducing the Detroit Pistons during a game on Tuesday. They have since issued an apology for showing the images, but there is still some discussion going on about it. I came across this ESPN Radio discussion about the video. Most people who called in sounded like they thought it was ok, mostly because Detroit isn’t really all that nice of a city, so it was funny to them. Some people, even a Pacers fan, thought it was a low blow.

I personally don’t feel offended, but it is bad sportsmanship, even though they say Sacramento pokes fun at other teams too. Yeah, Detroit does have a bad image. I can attest to that, because I recently saw what was probably a drug house, completely engulfed in flames while driving down the expressway. But it’s well known that Detroit has been trying to turn around its image in time for the Super Bowl this winter. There are literally thousands of great people volunteering their time to try to make downtown Detroit a better place, and this is a cheap shot to all of them. I was fortunate enough to meet a few of those people last winter during the Motown Winter Blast, and it’s amazing how positive their attitudes were! I really think the story this winter will be how much Detroit has done to change the image of the downtown area.