It sounds like a non-event to me.

Doesn't help from a public relations viewpoint because most Tiger fans (including me) perceive that Mike Ilitch is a liar. Jimmy D. will serve as Ilitch's mouthpiece so Ilitch will continue to minimize his exposure to the press and the fans.

Doesn't help from a team management perspective either. If Ilitch has wanted to be involved with the Tigers, he's always had the power since buying the team 9 years ago. He didn't relinquish any of his other business responsibilities, so there's little here to seriously indicate that his assuming a new title is really going to change the level of interest or amount of time he shows the Tigers. Little Caeser's just fell behind Papa John's into 4th place among the nation's largest pizza chains, and that's got to concern Ilitch more than the Tigers' win-loss record.

Doesn't help the financing - no commitment was made to raise payroll (even back to 1999 levels).

On the other hand, other than getting Comerica Park constructed, I don't readily see what John McHale's done to improve the product, so it's not as though the Tigers lost something valuable.