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Little Caesars, Red Wings, Tigers owner Mike Ilitch dead at 87

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W

WedgeX

Banned
Courtesy the Detroit Free Press.

Detroit Free Press said:
Mike Ilitch rose from a humble west-side neighborhood to assemble a food, sports and entertainment empire that enabled him to return the Stanley Cup to Hockeytown, build both a new arena and a ballpark with a Ferris wheel, restore the grandeur of downtown’s iconic Fox Theatre and introduce metro Detroit to the concepts of “pizza-pizza” and an $8 cup of beer.

From his first Little Caesars outlet in Garden City strip mall in 1959 — where a pizza cost $2.39 — Ilitch, aided at every step by Marian, his wife of 61 years, became a major metro Detroit personality and a key figure in the revival of downtown Detroit. In addition to founding the Little Caesars pizza chain, he owned the Red Wings, Tigers and the Fox Theatre, and operated city-owned Joe Louis, Cobo, and Little Caesars arenas, among other smaller businesses, teams and restaurants.

...

Success brought Ilitch and his family fabulous wealth. The 2016 Forbes magazine compilation of the 400 richest Americans listed Mike and Marian Ilitch at No. 88 with a net worth of $5.4 billion. In addition, Marian Ilitch is the sole owner of the Motor City Casino.

But perhaps more important to Ilitch were a different set of statistics: four Stanley Cup championships for his Red Wings, two trips to the World Series for his Detroit Tigers, and a vast number of trophies for team and individual player achievements.
Click to expand...

One of the few business people who never gave up on Detroit and always believed in its promise.

I met him when I was in middle school when he brought the Stanley Cup to the barbershop that cut my hair. A real great memory that he shared with all of us then.
 
C

clemenx

Banned
Sucks the Tigers never could win the WS for him. He spent his last years spending like crazy on them.

2 pennants tho.
 
W

whytemyke

Honorary Canadian.
I was just about to post this thread. Crazy.

I still have my poster from Stevie Y hosting the cup for the first time.
 
S

Spine_Ripper

Member
Great life story, never knew anything about this guy. Pretty sure I speak for every poor person in America when I say thanks for the affordable pizza.

R.I.P.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
Never really heard about this guy but reading up on him is pretty interesting. RIP good sir, your pizza got me through college
 
M

MyleMan1010

Member
I'm gonna go put all my Tigers and Wings gear on and drink a couple 40s. (I had Little Ceasers this week already) This is a sad day for Detroit!
 
R

RodanCeros

Member
Detroit thanks you Mr. Illitch. Thankful that I grew up in a time when I could see the Tigers play the world series and the Wings win Lord Stanley's cup
 
K

KuwabaraTheMan

Banned
His commitment to the Tigers was definitely strong, and he did a lot to get the team to the position they've been in the past decade. That's all a sports fan can really ask for from an owner.
 
M

mantis23

Member
This sucks. We are only 7 months away from the opening of his new district in Detroit with the new arena for the Wings and Pistons. Wish he could have made it to see the fruit of his labors.

RIP Mr I.
 
P

PillarEN

Member
Nothing but huge thanks for what has been able to do as an an owner. He made us Detroit folks proud. 4 Cups and several finals both in hockey and baseball. It's a huge loss for Detroit.
 
R

Ray Down

Banned
Damn his pizza helped my brother through college and me through some tough times.

He did good for the RW and Tigers under him.

RIP
 
R

rataven

Member
Mike Ilitch really loved Detroit. His influence is everywhere in this city. He made a lot of us proud. Rest in peace.
 
H

Haruko

Member
Rest In Pizza.

As a metro Detroiter, I'm hoping that they consider renaming the LCA to Mike Ilitch Arena...

EDIT: beaten like Claude Lemieux by Darren McCarty
 
B

billy beane

Banned
Don't like the Tigers. Couldn't care less about the Red Wings. But Little Ceasars pizzas are an important part of my life.

RIP.
 
E

Earthbound64

Banned
BadenBadenLily said:
So tragic that he never got to see the Tigers win one. :(

Fuck David Ortiz.
Click to expand...

KuwabaraTheMan said:
Still bitter over that. Fuck Ortiz, and Fuck Leyland for mismanaging that inning.

I hope the Tigers can win one this year in his honor.
Click to expand...

That was only in the ALCS - they still would've had to win the World Series.
Why not rather be mad at La Russa / the Cardinals for 2006?
Or Bruce Bochy / the Giants for 2012?
 
B

BadenBadenLily

Banned
Earthbound64 said:
That was only in the ALCS - they still would've had to win the World Series.
Why not rather be mad at La Russa / the Cardinals for 2006?
Or Bruce Bochy / the Giants for 2012?
Click to expand...

Because 2013 was THE year for the Tigers. They had the best starting rotation since the 90's Braves and an offense that was lethal from top to bottom except for Avila.

It was easily the best team most of us had seen during our lifetimes.

Plus the Tigers lost 4-1 and 4-0 in those two WS. They were thoroughly outplayed so the losses can't be pinpointed on a single moment like that ALCS.
 
E

Earthbound64

Banned
BadenBadenLily said:
Because 2013 was THE year for the Tigers. They had the best starting rotation since the 90's Braves and an offense that was lethal from top to bottom except for Avila.

It was easily the best team most of us had seen during our lifetimes.
Click to expand...

They had the worst record of the AL division winners, and only beat the Indians out for the Central by 1 game.
 
P

PHOENIXZERO

Member
RIP Pizza Pizza man.

Earthbound64 said:
That was only in the ALCS - they still would've had to win the World Series.
Why not rather be mad at La Russa / the Cardinals for 2006?
Or Bruce Bochy / the Giants for 2012?
Click to expand...

I'd rather be mad at the Tigers comically/embarrassingly imploding both times they made it to the World Series this century.
 
S

Sanjuro

Member
DMczaf said:
Bruh he just died

Pay the Extra $2 and get deep dish
Click to expand...

I paid $5.50 extra for my respects and got that Deep Dish Stuffed Crust. Filthy peasants.

sVQCBLj.jpg
Click to expand...
 
O

Odoul

Member
RIP.

He dabbled in being a slumlord, but his positives for the city vastly outweigh the negatives.

Too bad the Tigers were never able to get him the ring.

Also sucks he won't see the LCA or Q-Line open later this year.
 
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