Maybe There’s More To Chinese ‘Year of the Tiger’ in Detroit and Ohio

I don't pretend to understand how the Chinese calendar works. I love the food (and the fortune cookies) but like most people outside of Asia, don't really understand how and why this is the Year of the Tiger. I guess it has to do with the Chinese zodiac and I do know one thing. Something's up.

Last Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals, a four-win team last season, won the AFC championship over a heavily-favored Kansas City Chiefs team, in overtime. Bengals are, the last time I checked, in the tiger family. Hmmmm. You've got this really great quarterback, Joe Burrow, which explains the win more than anything else, but this cute little kicker, Evan McPherson, who might have ice in his veins, told his teammate on the sidelines, in the division playoff game, "I guess we're going to the AFC championship game". And the cooly proceeded to put the football between the goalposts to send the Bengals to the game against Kansas City last Sunday.

Now in Michigan, there are a lot of fans who'll be rooting against the Bengals in the big game, and will be rooting for Matthew Stafford and the Rams, which, by the way, is also on the Chinese calendar. Well, not really, but a goat is close and is good enough here. So we'll see if Joe and Evan can keep the magic going.

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But let's take this a step further. If, and it's a big if, if there's a baseball season, the Detroit Tigers have a very good young team, with a big free-agent signing in Javy Baez, and could be a contender in the American League Central division. Once again, hmmmm. Sometimes these things can't be explained. They just happen.