John McGrath

Like the other residents of Busted Bracketville, I've got no stake in the Final Four teams set to play in New Orleans.

Detroit Tigers owner Mike Ilitch ranked No. 238 on the 2010 Forbes Magazine "400 Richest Americans" list. Last year, the net worth of the fast-food magnate was estimated to be $1.7 billion.

A Marine veteran who played three seasons of minor league baseball after the service, Ilitch was not born wealthy. In 1959, he and his wife opened a pizza joint outside Detroit. The place eventually expanded into the Little Caesars chain that today serves customers everywhere from Guam to Turkey.

Given Ilitch's status as a self-made billionaire -- and mine as a bargain-hunting connoisseur of thrift shops -- I have no more room to criticize the man's business decisions than berate Brad Pitt's brand of sunglasses.

But, wow, that was one dumb deal Ilitch made Tuesday.

Pay no attention to Ken Griffey Jr.'s official job title in his latest career opportunity with the Seattle Mariners.

Griffey was hired Tuesday as a "special consultant," which can either mean he'll consult the organization on special matters, or that he's a consultant who happens to be special. If that sounds vague, it's because it's vague.

Unlike those Seattle Seahawks fans unable to let go of the Super Heist in Detroit five years ago, I've got nothing against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Sure, Steelers fans were obnoxious in their overtaking of downtown Detroit's largest hotel five years ago, but if you can't stumble down escalators and pass out in the hallway during a February weekend in Detroit, where in the world can you?

As the late Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus once told it during another Seattle team's improbable playoff run: "It ... just ... continues!"