So this may be an odd statement, but I miss the Detroit Pistons.

I miss them because I loathe them.

The Cavaliers and the Pistons developed a mini-rivalry in the 2006 and 2007 playoffs but it didn’t last long.

I took pride in wearing my “Detroit Sucks” shirt to the playoff games and listening to 20,000 people chant those same words throughout all the playoff games at the Q vs. those scumbags from Michigan.

There aren’t too many moments in my life that were more satisfying than being at the Q when the Cavs beat the Pistons in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

It’s not only that the Pistons were a great basketball team, they were extremely arrogant as well.

They were the perfect team to hate.

To add more fuel to my hatred for the Pistons, they were ridiculously vocal after the 2007 ECF by saying The Cavs didn’t beat them, they beat themselves, giving their opponent absolutely zero credit.

Fast forward not even two years later and Detroit has nearly fallen off the face of the earth.

They are so awful that they are in jeopardy of not even making the playoffs as they fell to eighth seeded Chicago last night. The Bulls are now just a game back of the Pistons for the seventh seed.

If you don't make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, especially after appearing in six straight Eastern Conference Finals, then you are really bad.

I could put a team together with four other guys and compete for the seventh or eighth seed in the East (mostly because of my LBJ-like skills).

The Pistons have been without Allen Iverson for the past 14 games, Rasheed Wallace for the past eight and Richard Hamilton for the past five. They are 3-7 in their past 10 games.

I should be happy to see this team that I hate unravel before my very own eyes, but at the same time, I miss the rivalry that was brewing between these two teams whose basketball arenas are within three hours of each other.

It looks like the Cavaliers may be playing the Pistons after all in playoffs this year as Detroit looks destined for that eighth seed.

I can assure you it won't have the same intensity as it did in 2006 and 2007 as the series will likely last no more than five games, if that.

Ahh well, there is still Boston, who the Cavs have unfinished business with, to direct my hatred towards.

-Nick Carrabine