DF4 - A Detroit Sports Blog

What the ... ?

2008-04-17T18:39:00.004-05:00

Okay, I do understand that theoretically, the home team is supposed to win their games, so the Redwings-Predators series is supposed to be tied up at 2, right? That is all in theory, right?

This is the scary thing about the playoffs though. Anything can happen in a seven game series and the fact that the Predators are hanging around scares the dickens out of me. Everyone knows how pivotal Game 5 is in this type of situation.

Is Coach Babcock feeling the pressure by opting to start Osgood instead of Hasek tomorrow night? This game is huge for the Wings, let us hope he is dialed in.

Go Redwings!

Anyone but the Irish ...

2008-04-11T15:41:00.003-05:00

Michigan hockey out of the Frozen Four against Notre Dame. Seriously, just about anyone but that school, this is killing me ...

Quit panicking people

2008-04-10T18:26:00.003-05:00

Jeez, if you believed the "experts" on ESPN, the Tigers baseball season is done and they should pack it in. Yeah, they finally got their first win, but does anyone with a clue really believe they're done already?

Verlander is too good to pitch as horrible as he did last Sunday and that offense was predicted to score 1000 runs for a reason. Everyone just needs to calm down and support the team, it's early!

Go Tigers!

Dontrelle Willis

2008-03-28T13:08:00.002-05:00

Hey hey Tigers fans! I gotta tell you, I am always up for any sport Detroit style, but for me, baseball is where it's at and I'm plenty excited about our Tigers. I have to wonder though ...

Dontrelle Willis I think was a great pick-up. But let's not deny his spring numbers: a 1-3 record; 8.64 ERA; 16 2/3 innings pitched over six games and not getting out of the fourth in any game; 15 walks compared to 12 strikeouts. I think he will get things ironed out. What do any of you think?

After reading some of these posts, I decided to try out this RazorGator site I saw one of you talk about, because I decided, last minute as usual, to get some Opening Day tickets to see the Tigers pound the Royals. I was impressed! Great tickets in section 133 were still left and were actually discounted about $40 a pop. That I wasn't expecting, so grabbed them up and am really happy with the process. I will use them again.

Go Tigers!

Michigan Wrestling!

2008-03-28T12:56:00.002-05:00

Well, a fine finish to the season last weekend for our Wolverines! Four wrestlers finished in the Top 8 for All-American status, starting with Josh Churella at 149lbs in 4th and Tyrel Todd at 184 lbs in 3rd. How about two guys in the finals! Eric Tannenbaum at 165 lbs and Steve Luke at 174 lbs, both finishing second. As a team the Wolverines finished in 7th and 4th out of the Big Ten schools. A great weekend in St. Louis, let's do it again next year!

Some good news from our Wolverines ...

2008-03-20T11:54:00.003-05:00

I figured since March Madness starts today and our Wolverines weren't invited that we needed some good news ...

Michigan Hockey is ranked #1 and plays this weekend for the CCHA Championship.

Six wrestlers from the wrestling team travelled to St. Louis this week to compete in the NCAA Championships which start today. Kellen Russell, Eric Tannenbaum and Steve Luke were all Big Ten champions.

Of course, losing Terrell Pryor to OSU does put a damper on things ...

Glad To Be Here

2008-02-05T09:51:00.000-06:00

Hello Detroit. I just wanted to take a minute to thank Mad Mike and the boyz at DF4 for adding me on as an author to the blog. I know they have plans to get things cooking and I'll be happy to contribute.

Let's start with the Lions. Starting 6 and 2 and finishing 7 and 1 is a cruel thing to do to fans but 08 should see the team learning how to finish a season.

The Pistons - 34 and 13 and leading the division by 7 and 1/2.

The Wolverines - I still can't bring my self to say anything nice at this point.

The Tigers - Granderson Locked Up Until 2012

The Red Wings - Leading the NHL with 40 wins and looking at an 7-game win streak.

As always it's good to be a fan in this town.

Eastern Conference Championship - Game 1 - Detroit

2007-05-24T11:56:00.000-05:00

After making quick work of the Bulls it looks like there's no touching the Pistons in the Conference Finals.

LeBron and the Cav's kept the crowd quiet, played their game and seemed to be pulling down more boards, however the Detroit Pistons still pulled away with the win, thanks to CB pulling through when he needed to.

Game 1 Detroit

If Detroit can play that poorly and still eek out a win, well then I think it's safe to say this series in the bag.

Just In Time For The 2007 NBA Playoff Brackets

2007-05-03T12:28:00.000-05:00

Hey There Pistons Fans,

Just in time for the '07 NBA playoffs, I thought I'd save this great D-Town blog from a rusty fate in the bottom of some ol' ballers stinky locker.

It's time for the return of you know who.

Game 5 Saturday, May 5th - no time announced yet.

NBA Playoff Brackets, Dates and Times are Available Here: NBA Playoff Brackets

I hate to say it, but Chicago may have found that missing piece they needed to top even the toughest teams in the East.

How on earth did we lose our trusty BMW-Seven Series Ben Wallace.

Tears...

NFL Draft=stacked

2006-03-01T14:33:00.000-06:00

Even Matt Millen can't screw up the number 9 pick.

The best projected options for the Lions at this spot include someone in the group:

FS Michael Huff (Tex)
RB LenDale White (USC)
RB DeAngelo Williams (Memphis)
DE Mario Williams (NC St.)

These are all impact, Pro Bowl-caliber players in my estimation.

I'd like to see the Lions get any one of them.

As for the RB's, I think the Lions absolutely need to make establishing a running game their top priority this offseason at all costs. Kevin Jones is hurt too often and Artose Pinner isn't good enough to carry the load full-time.

I just have a feeling about DeAngelo Williams. He's a big-time playmaker and I think the Lions should take him if he's there.

Of course they'd have to talk things over with Jones beforehand to make sure he doesn't get disgruntled.

Offensive line is a bigger need but there's no one worthy of the no.9 pick at that spot.

Huff would be a good pick and help in coverage tremendously as the Lions' corners need some help back there from their safeties.

Mario Williams is a beast and probably the safest pick for the Lions. Their D-line is already solid but Williams is a complete DE who would be great in Rod Marinelli's Cover-2 scheme. The Lions could use someone to get after the passer.

Hopefully in their new aggressive scheme under D-Coordinator Donnie Henderson, however, they'll actually make use of their LB speed and blitz more. So it's not a need but more of a luxury. Still, Williams might be too good to pass up.

I'm not a big fan of Jimmy Williams, the Va. Tech corner. That'd be my worst-case pick.

Back to Back Ranked Victims?

2006-01-28T19:35:00.000-06:00

Just like that, Michigan is back among the Big Ten elite.

But now, just like the Sparties of 05, it's time to see if they can actually stay up there for a long period of time.

This is a team that doesn't handle prosperity well at all- neither over the course of the season or the course of a game.

Michigan won fairly comfortably over Wisconsin today but in all truth that game was closer than it should have been.

The Wolverines shot lights out and Wisconsin was cold most of the game, not to mention without 3 of its contributing players who were just ruled ineligible for academic reasons about a week prior to the game.

Michigan got very sloppy with the ball and also seemed to be rushing a lot during the second half. They seem to force tricky passes to the post when there's nothing there and fall in love with the three-ball a little too often.

That out of the way, it's time for Michigan fans to enjoy this for a little while. Only a devastating injury can derail this NCAA train now...

Perhaps the only one that could fall under that category would be one to Daniel Horton, who WILL play in the NBA by the way, most likely as a starter. The only things he needs to work on are shot consistency and decision-making and he's already gotten markedly better in both areas this year.

Lester Abram is Michigan's second-best player but Ron Coleman is a capable fill-in as long as he doesn't try to do too much.

All things considered, I'm just looking forward to hear my team's name called on Selection Sunday for the first time since the legendary Tractor Traylor/Travis Conlan squad of 1998 (ha).

But Michigan must learn to finish better...they are a senior and junior-dominated team. Time to seize it.

Not Again...

2006-01-24T18:31:00.000-06:00

It's too bad Michigan forward Lester Abram will either miss or be extremely limited for tomorrow night's clash at Crisler between the Wolves and the Sparties...

I know lots of MSU fans who've been anxious for some better games and wouldn't mind seeing Michigan give them a run for their money...the rivalry's been boring with MSU taking 12 of 13 lately.

As for Michigan basketball fans, life is just tough. The university doesn't support the team very well while pouring damn near trillions into the football program...

It's just sad, not to mention foolish because the University could make some big money off of a strong basketball program. UofM merchandise was the top seller in all the land back in the early to mid-90's, now I'm not sure if anybody really knows Michigan still has a basketball program.

And if Michigan doesn't get it done this year, I doubt they will next year. Daniel Horton is gone as well as Graham Brown, Chris Hunter and maybe Abram. Michigan will have suspect PG and post play as Courtney Sims will need to take a huge step up (ie stop being so incredibly soft in the post) just for Michigan to stay competitive in the Big Ten.

As for tomorrow night, Ronald Coleman is a decent fill-in for Abram but he doesn't do all the little things Lester does like play defense as well, make solid passes, handle the ball etc..

my prediction: MSU 63 Michigan 57

Michigan can D up State fairly well for a while but it will take excellent efforts from Horton and Dion Harris, especially from 3-pt. land, to pull the upset.

Paul Davis might also need to pick up some cheap early fouls for UofM to stand a chance.

I do have a strange feeling that Courtney Sims might step up and play solidly, however.

State of the blog

2006-01-18T11:19:00.000-06:00

hey everyone, with school and work i am so so busy. I love this blog, and i thank everyone for sticking with it and reading. Some of you bloggers kept this place affloat when times were rough. I would like to thank Nick for writing some helluva good articles and trying his best. I myself need to apologize for giving up on it at a time and i hope you all will forgive me and look forward. As for the future of this place, its up to you. I want to hear all of your opinions and ideas for this place cause i am lost. I want to hear if you guys want this place to stay or go. Again, thanks for your patience and this place couldnt be here without guys like Mark and leelanau sports guy checking in. Lets get this baby rollin and make 2006 the year of DSS! throw any ideas out there. thanks again

Hooray for Superfluous Graphics and Abnoxious Commentators

2006-01-08T20:54:00.000-06:00

Fox gets the BCS next year and some other college football games next year. ABC will keep some of the bigger ones like the Rose Bowl, but it's not enough.

I don't trust Fox to handle college football. They've always been about glitz and glamour over substance with their NFL broadcasts and I expect college football to be no different.

Hopefully, some of the ABC guys will sign with Fox to do the games, because I absolutely abhor Fox's NFL announcing teams.

I mean think about it for a second. NFL announcers on Fox are some of the worst in the business. Joe Buck is as boring and stale as they come. Dick Stockton isn't much more exciting. Marble-mouthed Curt Menafee is the worst of the bunch. And every color analyst is just a lame Madden knock-off.

Say what you want about Brent Musberger, but his voice is excellent and his passion for college football is unquestioned. Keith Jackson may be slipping into Summerall territory, but he's still good overall due to the nostalgia factor.

Brad Nessler is very good, and Mike Tirico and Kirk Herbstreit are excellent together.

I like the whole ABC-ESPN college football partnership they've got going, but now it looks like Greedy Ole' Fox is going to screw it up.

Tell you what Fox- Bring back Beano the Hutt for his weekly segment and we'll call it a deal!

That guy is comedic gold at first sight.

"Blah blah blah Notre Dame blah blah blah Joe Pa blah blah"

*Beano runs out of breath*

"...Back to you, Rece"

College Football Withdrawal

2006-01-01T01:20:00.000-06:00

Nothing against the NFL, but I'm really disappointed there won't be college football tomorrow.

It's just not right, dammit.

I love the NFL, but I'm sick of it getting in the way all of the time. Nobody will put any other kind of sporting event on Monday nights when Monday Night Football is on, even though they keep screwing up the matchups and giving us garbage games like Green Bay-Baltimore.

Now this...you just don't mess with January 1st. Or as WDFN's Sean Baligian put it, "Man's Day."

I love college because of the passion and intensity, the NFL just seems stale sometimes to me. Plus there are so many bad teams nowadays and so many bad matchups.

The one game I really looked forward to was San Diego-Indy this year, and yet I wound up getting TENNESSEE/SEATTLE instead.

On January 1st, you can sit there in your groggy post-New Year's haze and switch channels relentlessly, taking in games featuring teams you don't usually get to see. And then you cap it all off with the Grandaddy of 'em all, aka the Rose Bowl, aka the Michigan Loss Bowl, and all of the pagaentry and the beautiful setting and whatnot.

But nooo...we have to wait three more days for it now!!

The common denominator in all of this is $$$...more $$$ from their precious BCS, and more money for the greedy NFL so we can all go out and buy satellite TV's and Sunday Ticket...

Otherwise, looks like it's Bears-Vikings for me tomorrow...Oh, and the Lions...

Maybe I'll just sleep in extra, extra late...the Steelers are going to utterly eradicate us tomorrow.

Happy New Year, here's to some new assistant coaches at Michigan!

Cheers!

How Lionesque was THAT?

2005-12-19T13:15:00.000-06:00

Okay, so we all know the whole Millen thing was a circus. And that's a good thing because the Millen REGIME has been even worse.

But the funniest part of the whole thing?

The Lions just may have cost themselves a shot at the quarterback they needed to sign next year: Unrestricted free agent Jon Kitna.

Do you really think Kitna, an established veteran with just a few more years left in the tank who's probably looking to be on a contending team, would want to come here after bearing witness to THAT atmosphere yesterday??

Sure, the Lions might have a competent, offensive-minded coach in place by next year and some O-line help, but that certainly didn't help the Lions' chances of signing Kitna next season.

They might have to overpay him to get him to come.

Other options? Kurt Warner (ugh), Josh McCown (not good enough), Joey Harrington (probably too risky), Orlovsky (not ready), Garcia (hahaha).

Batch? I don't know, but Kitna was the best option...

It'll be interesting to see if he even considers the Lions now.

How does 79-3 sound?

2005-12-12T22:41:00.000-06:00

Okay, so that was a bad loss in Utah.

The technical foul monster got the best of the Stones again. I'm glad we don't have to watch horrible games like that as often as we did last year.

Maybe it would have been best for the Pistons to fall behind early and then make their run at the end instead of vice versa.

Still, why isn't Flip using the bench??

Ben Wallace is tough to pull out of a game, but tonight he simply didn't have it and he got frustrated in a hurry.

Might as well stick Dale Davis in there, he could have at least boxed out Kirilenko and Okur and Jarron Collins.

This happens every year with Ben getting nicked up, and it's Flip's job to tell him when he doesn't have it.

Still, we obviously can't complain with 15-3. It's been a brutal schedule thus far.

Back to the Palace...

Mooch, We Hardly Knew Ye

2005-11-28T19:31:00.000-06:00

It's certainly not all his fault. But I'm ecstatic that Mooch is gone.

I don't think I could take another week of his "5 yard pass on third-and-eight" offense.

It wasn't working. This press conference was destined to happen from the get-go. Mooch was never going to lead us to a Super Bowl. His flaws were evident in San Francisco.

That being said, I was mildly happy when we hired him. I thought he would at least lead us to respectability and then be canned when he failed to take us to the next level.

I thought the Jeff Garcia comments were VERY telling on Mooch. He said he liked Mooch as a coach and that he thought he could get the job done here...but at the same time acknowledged he ran a soft camp and that such a camp was a bad thing for rookies (not to mention young players) and may have led to their undisciplined, lazy attitudes.

That's why I think it was a good idea to can Mooch now. We need to crack the whip on these young guys, especially the receivers, and get them to understand what being an NFL player is all about again. No more "freshening up," no more toking up, JUST SUCK IT UP, shut the hell up, stop dancing when you're down double digits, and earn your paycheck for a damn change.

Jauron isn't a disciplinarian exactly but he is a well-respected coach who will command the players' attention and not settle for insubordination.

Matt Millen is still a joke, obviously. He tried to dance around and crack jokes when asked to evaluate his own performance as GM, but the media obviously wasn't buying it.

I also find it funny that Millen has completely contradicted himself and his philosophy these past few years. He's a tough guy linebacker who talked about needing to bring in more "rats," i.e. tough guy, lunchbucket-style players in his mold. And what did he do? He drafted a bunch of fast linebackers that can't tackle or take on blocks reliably like Teddy Lehman, Boss Bailey, and James "Dirty from getting knocked on his ass all game" Davis.

He built around finesse players with a pourous offensive line. And he hired Jauron to coordinate the defense, one of the least aggressive guys around.

Look at the Bears: They might not have as much overall speed and talent as the Lions but they're built the RIGHT WAY, around the running game and in the trenches. And they have a coach who's aggressive on defense and doesn't mess around with the dink-and-dunk crap on offense. He runs the ball and goes for the occasional big play.

Millen said he thought the Lions had the talent to get the job done. We'll see...I still don't think they're a 4-7-caliber team, especially in this division. I think the switches, especially Greg Olsen to Offensive Coordinator, will benefit them in the short term.

But they still have to play Pittsburgh and the Bengals, so don't worry about our draft position slipping too much.

Fight on, blind Lions. You'll find that zebra carcass someday...

Tommy A's bunch beats Butler

2005-11-26T22:39:00.000-06:00

I dont know...Michigan and 2-2 (now 2-3) Butler were tied 70-70 late in the game before the Wolverines pulled it out.

Dion Harris has plantar fasciatis a la Rasheed a couple of years ago, that could be a tough injury.

I'm not too crazy about Tommy Ball, especially on the offensive side of things. There still doesn't seem to be much flow or much of a philosophy besides passing the ball in circles and launching.

I just hope we sneak into the tourney this year, I've been longing to see Michigan in the tourney since Tractor and company busted into it back in 1998 and choked against UCLA...

Michigan will need to rack up at least 9-10 NC wins because their early Big Ten schedule is tough.

That is all....too bad Notre Dame held on against Stanford...

I think Oregon and OSU and even Auburn definitely deserve to be in over the Irish, whose best three wins are BYU, Navy, and oh yeah, Michigan...sigh.

But they'll be in. They get special treatment. Not that Michigan hasn't in the past but it's still not right.

The BCS Really Works!!

2005-11-21T17:02:00.000-06:00

Or at least that's what they say after Texas gets done thrashing the rest of the Little 12 and USC falls behind UCLA before putting up 70 on them in the second half.

I fail to see how "the system works" simply because it is smart enough to pick two undefeated major conference teams when they're the only two left standing.

As for Michigan, this whole thing doesn't really apply to them and won't as long as Lloyd Carr is here, or at least fires his underacheiving assistants.

Prevent defense prevents you from winning. Period. You'd think Jim Hermann would have realized this after losing two games and nearly blowing three others with the exact same strategy.

Can someone please tell me why Michigan only brings out its blitz packages approximately one or two games PER SEASON?

Has Hermann noticed that EVERY SINGLE TIME he does it, it WORKS and WORKS WELL???

Look at the Michigan plays defense and compare it to SEC teams like LSU and Auburn or Ohio State.

The biggest problem isn't lack of speed, it's a complete and utter lack of BALLS by the defensive coaches. Almost every stop Michigan gets is the result of the other team NOT EXECUTING it's own offense.

And the tackling? Ohio State wraps up, Michigan doesn't. Story of the game and the rivalry these past few years.

End of discussion....but then again, that's all been said countless times before. Only LLoyd can do something about it.

But, as yes-man Jimmy Brandstatter said on M Replay, we had a "great season." Yep, terrific. Michigan has become Ohio State AND Notre Dame's (personal property)

Hail to the Victors indeed.

The Anti-Raptors!

2005-11-15T21:18:00.000-06:00

That's right, your Detroit Pistons are now 7-0 after a come from behind win against the Boston Celtics, who I still hate by the way (just for the record).

I told my friend in class as we watched the Pistons go down at halftime just before we left to go home that we would rally and win it in the second half.

The Pistons flat sleepwalked right through the first half. How else do you explain Boston shooting 66%?

Strictly effort.

The Pistons may not go to work every night like they used to, at least not for the whole game. But against most teams, they won't have to.

The John L. Smith "WHERE'S YOUR COACH!!!?" Award of the...Night, I guess, goes to Doc Rivers (or should I just call him Dopey?).

The Celtics' resident mastermind put DAN DICKAU of all people on Chauncey Billups in the second half. Not surprisingly, Chauncey abused him and ended up with 24 and 10 assists. I know the Celtics don't have many options at the point, but putting Dan Dickau on Billups is pure idiocy.

Of course, it's Danny Ainge's fault for signing the likes of Dickau and Brian Scalabrine in the offseason for no apparent reason. But the Rivers-Ainge combo is right up there with the all-time worsts, such as....

hmm..

oh yeah, Millen and Mariucci. Should I go on and list more? Nah, I think you get the point loud and clear.

Back to the reason why I hate the Celtics. Ricky "Just rolled out of bed, smoked two blunts and now I'm gonna shoot at my own basket to get a triple-double" Davis is one of them, but Paul Pierce is the primary one.

The guy is the embodient of everything wrong with the NBA. Talks a bunch of noise, this time about Tayshaun Prince of all people, goes out and eventually helps his team to a nice lead, acts like the game's over, and then proceeds to end up losing and completely changes his attitude to one of quiet resignation by the end

He shows up for about half of the Celtics' 82 games, the other half of the time he spends jacking up shots and honing his anti-ref glare.

How about the play in the fourth with the game still in the balance, where Pierce slashed in and got swatted by Ben Wallace? The insant Ben's paw hit ball, he was glaring at the refs.

The Pistons broke out and got a dunk before he could even stop his bitching.

Priceless. It's a great time to be a Pistons fan.

Perhaps if Detroit can put together a 60-win regular season and keep this winning streak going for a little while, they will finally get the respect they deserve as a special team by the media.

Come to think of it, one of the reasons they've never been perceived as such is because the most wins they've had in the Joe D era is 54.

They could win 60, the question is, do they want to? They might have to with Indy breathing down their neck.

Or not, considering the way they turn it up in the playoffs.

Flipping the switch

2005-11-10T14:05:00.000-06:00

I'm really liking what I'm seeing from the new-look Pistons.

If anything, they're certainly a lot more fun to watch.
The fast break just might revolutionize the way this team plays offense.
They're built for speed. Even the big guys can run, in most cases far faster than the other team's bigs.

And Rasheed is the best outlet passer in the game. He joked that he'd like to QB the Lions and at this point, he might actually be better than One Joseph Heisman, who knows.

I'd really like to see Flip implement the bench more like he said he would, however. So far it's been mostly Mo Evans, Dyess, and Arroyo.

I'd like to see Delfino and The Dark One get in some more soon.

I think we'll see them more as the season progresses and the starters get tired, but right now they're rolling so well that it doesn't make sense to break a good thing up.

The regular season is paramount this year. Indy is a terrific regular season team, and if they beat out Detroit, they get a top seed and we get the fourth.

It's a tough tightrope for Flip to walk, but we should start to see the bench more.

I'm just hoping Delfino and Darko don't go into pout mode like they have in the past. We'll find out a lot about them this year whether they play a lot or not.

Tonight, the Pistons will pay back the Suns for last year's fluke win.
Without Amare up front, they will be no match for the Wallaces.

101-90 Pistons.

Now what??

2005-11-07T19:06:00.000-06:00

Where do the Lions go from here?

Would it be better to sneak in the backdoor of the playoffs or to just tank it and go for the draft pick?

This year's draft is stacked. Reggie Bush sure would look a lot better than Shawnny Bryson on those three-yard passes, wouldn't he?

D'Brickashaw Ferguson could be the franchise left tackle the Lions have lacked for so long.

Vince Young could be...just about anything EXCEPT left tackle and be damn good at it.

The bottom line is this: Steve Mariucci ain't going to lead the Lions to a Super Bowl.
Best case scenario is he'll lead them right back where they were before Millen took over, which is exactly what Millen swore he would avoid back then.

The only option is to either cut him off and put in whatever coach on the staff is most aggressive (or one of their wives perhaps, judging by the ways these guys call games) to start putting in a real offense that suits these players.

It would also have to be the guy who is the biggest disciplinarian, someone who can get the "Three Divas" going and not accept their laziness.

Dick Jauron doesn't fit either option well, but is does better than Mooch.

Otherwise, the best option, yet again, is to tank the season.

We just might be right back where we started.

Millen said after the game that the mess was his fault and Mooch wasn't to blame...yeah right.

This is almost all on Mooch, with an assist from the Lions' old nemesis, the injury bug.

The Bears should finish about 8-8 with their easy schedule. The Lions won't finish better, and they don't have the tiebreaker.

Enjoy the rest of the season, folks.

Garcia guides Lions to victory

2005-10-24T15:12:00.000-05:00

October 23,2005 was the day the Lions moved on. After 4 years of patiently waiting for Harrington, the 3rd pick in the 2001 draft to pan out, the Lions finally said "what are we doing, this guy sucks." Well, thats not exactly what Mooch said, but I am pretty sure thats what he was thinking. I find it funny that the Lions drafted a reciever three years in a row thinking the reason Harrington sucks is because the recievers suck, boy were they wrong. Yesterday, Jeff Garcia had a great game when his recievers were Scotty Vines, Mike Williams, Kevin Johnson until he got injured, and Pollard. Imagine what can happen when all the "big 3" are healthy. No excuses now, Joey.

Going further into yesterday's game, I was pleased with the defense. Boss Bailey really impressed me, but the defensive player of the game should be Dick Jauron. Jauron consistently made the right change/adjustment to shut down the Cleveland Browns pass game while containing the run. Everything he did made sense, unlike some past lion coardinaters. I'm happy to see Cory Schlesinger back in the game. Garcia found him numerous times with the checkdown and Cory gained positive yardage, hes always hard to bring down. A big upgrade over Paul Smith. Maybe the Lions offense didnt finish there chances efficiently, but they scored just enough to grab this game. Player of the game goes to Jeff Garcia: Maybe the Lions offense didnt finish there chances efficiently, but they scored just enough to grab this game. I dont know if 4 years watching Harrington miss an open reciever in the corner of the end zone has warped my perception on what a good game is, but I know Garcia played well.

Next week the Bears come into D-town to decide who is number one in the NFC north. Quite a feat to accomplish.

GO LIONS!!!!

Inactivity

2005-10-24T14:29:00.000-05:00

Hey readers, all of us here at DSS are really very sorry for not posting and just plain not being active. Its been a busy couple weeks for us, ever since school started things have gotten out of control. I just wanted to tell you that we will be making a full recovery, dont give up on us. Expect frequent postings from now on out. Again, sorry for the lack of posting, we ask you to forgive us. Thanks for sticking with us.

It's a shame somebody had to lose....

2005-10-02T22:32:00.000-05:00

But that somebody, as it often has been, was Michigan State.

You have to wonder what John L. Smith was thinking with that hook-and-ladder play at the end of the game when all MSU needed was another 15-20 yard pass to set up for a field goal. Sometimes he's a bit too wacky for his own good.

I also wonder why he didn't give Stanton more chances to run.

As for my Wolverines, I guess Mike Hart does mean a lot to this team, doesn't he?

Kevin Grady and Max Martin will both be good running backs, but at this point they are severely lacking in the vision and ballhandling departments which are critical with Michigan's banged-up O-line.

Hart's performance was legendary. He fired up the team both on the field and on the sidelines and his tenacity was contagious.

That's eight out of ten for Michigan in the series.

The Big Ten race is wide open. Let's hope MSU can take out the Buckeyes in two weeks.

Panic in A-Squared

2005-09-26T20:35:00.000-05:00

I just saw the matchup on the TV screen at halftime of the Tennessee-LSU game:

Michigan vs. 11 Michigan State.

Such a strange sight seeing Michigan unranked, and, quite frankly, infuriating.

Maybe Michigan fans were a bit spoiled after all, taking for granted that Michigan would automatically get 9 or 10 wins every season.

Everybody's been chiming in lately with their theories as to why Michigan has slipped so far this season: the mailman, the old lady who knits during the games in the wine and cheese section, that guy at the office who watches about 10 minutes of football a week.

Since almost everything's been said, I'll offer one of my theories in regards to their offensive problems.

Hint: It's not lack of speed. It's not lack of passion or leadership.

The biggest reason why Michigan's offense sputters so often at the most important times is because of space; or rather lack thereof.

Watch Michigan closely and you will see the fundamental difference between them and most other offenses: almost everything they do occurs in a tightly congested area.

There is little attempt to spread the field, little attempt to clear out space other than the old fashioned way of moving people off the ball with the offensive line or with the play-action pass.

This is not to say the pro-style offense with a fullback and a tight end and two wide receivers is past its prime. If it can work in the pros with all of their speed and advanced schemes, it certainly can work in college football.

Teams around the country are experimenting with spread offenses and option, yet the best offense in the country at USC still runs the good old pro-style offense.

What does USC do that Michigan doesn't (excluding the fact that they obviously have better players, although the difference isn't as far as it looks)?

They move the pocket. They vary the types of passes and passing plays (lobs, short timing routes, slants, different-step drops). They do things to space the field. It's not so much the fact that USC throws more deep passes than Michigan that makes them so great, it's how they use the threat of the deep pass to open up the field.

A deep pass doesn't have to be 40-50 yards, just a large chunk of yardage that has the potential to get behind the defense and go for a big play.

Teams are so worried about being beaten deep that they will leave the center of the field open. USC knows it and sends backs and tight ends out into this space and can pick up easy yards, including yards after the catch.

When was the last time Michigan got good yards after the catch off of a short pass? They don't do it very often, because they don't send enough people deep to clear out space. Instead, they prefer to send their wideouts on short hitch passes, which can be easy to complete but:

A) Don't allow for yards after the catch excepting a great individual play

and

B) Don't scare the opposing secondaries because they know that the majority of the time, those receivers will not be going deep.

So what if they get beat once. What are the odds that it will happen again? Certainly not nearly the same as if they were facing USC or California or Miami.

Look at Notre Dame against Michigan State. They threw deep ball after deep ball, eventually opening up the field for the underneath pass to chew up huge yards when they needed it.

How many times has Michigan gone into a game against a mediocre secondary and been projected to torch that secondary, only to have their passing game contained?

A deep ball or route that doesn't work is not a wasted play, it adds to the threat and puts the defensive backs on their heels. It shakes their confidence, which is the key to playing DB well.

Granted, Michigan needs to complete more deep passes to get people to respect that threat first.

But they had the ultimate deep pass catcher last year in Braylon Edwards and still were shut down in key situations, because of the way Michigan used him.

They sent him on far too many five-yard hitch routes, which is a waste of his talent and diminishes his threat. Those routes are freely available and gain more yards after you establish the deep threat.

Throw in the fact that Michigan rarely moves the pocket with Chad Henne (which they vowed to do now that he knows the playbook), rarely runs more than one type of screen play (the sideline one), and rarely runs outside, and you've got a team that is very easy to defend because almost all of the action is in the center of the field, and there is very little attempt to create space for its playmakers.

And when defenders don't have to honor the deep pass, they're closer to the line, hurting the run game.

It's one thing to get the ball to your playmakers as Terry Malone has often said he wanted to do, but it's another to actually get it to them with the space to do something with it.

When is the last time Steve Breaston got the ball in space? Every time he gets the ball on a short pass, he is immediately tackled. The one time I can remember him getting the ball in space against Oregon, he shook the defender and ran in untouched.

It's not that Michigan's basic schemes don't work, but they can be shut down for long stretches because of a lack of creativity and diversity.

As great as Michigan looked against Texas in the Rose Bowl, that doesn't excuse the Michigan State game last year, when just about everything they tried was stuffed by a mediocre defense.

Or the Minnesota game two years ago, when Michigan was completely shut down through three quarters by another mediocre defense.

Or against Purdue last year, when Michigan couldn't do much against a young, vulnerable, and overrated Boilermaker defense.

College football is a game of mismatches. There are average, flawed players hidden amongst the great ones.

All over the field, there are opportunities to exploit. But you can't exploit them unless you give players the space to do it in.

The Michigan coaches like to use this quote from Rudyard Kipling's poem "The Law of the Wolves" for motivation:

The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.

They know that football, both offensive and defensive, is all about numbers. The most important thing defensive principle is to swarm to the ball.

So why do they insist on running and throwing short passes into a pack of wolves every game, when they could spread them out, keep them on their heels, and attack them one by one?

Why do they make it easy for opposing defenses to gang up on them?

Victory for MSU

2005-09-24T09:26:00.000-05:00

The Spartans will not be the normal Spartans after a big win.......This time they will win another game after a beating then 10th ranked Notre Dame last weekend. The spread is 10.5 and if you are a betting man.......never bet for or against MSU. I do think they will win by 20 points today. I am upset because I have to work all day today starting at 1pm. Same goes for next week. Yeah I am a little upset, but what can you do. Stanton will destroy a weak Fighting Illini team today. Look for him to pass for over 300 yards. Look for a balanced running attact from all three Rbs. State will win and will go into the big game 4-0. I am hoping for a UofScum win as well...at least this week I am. Game day might come back to East Lansing if both teams win. Could be exciting.

Stanton 19-28 319 yards 3 td and 1 Int
Teague 77 yars on 14 carries 2 Td

MSU 45 Illinios 24

Detroit Sports Squad Forum

2005-09-23T19:15:00.000-05:00

There is now a Detroit Sports Squad forum located here. You can use this message board to discuss anything in detail regarding the sports world or off-topic conversation. Please head over there and register a screen name.

Oh its great to be a Spartan

2005-09-15T14:24:00.000-05:00

Sorry Nick, but I told you the Wolverines will lose at least one game they should have won. Now it's up to the Spartans to take care of business this Saturday in South Bend. I think MSU has won there more then any other team in history.......I am not sure but I think I am right. It should be a good game.

Look for MSU to expose ND for the team they really are. Stanton will get the job done and the running game should do well with a good fix of passing and running. Look for some more play action from the Spartans. Notre is a good team but they are not a top 10 team.........

MSU 37 ND 24

Stanton 19/26 277 yards 3 TDs and 1 Int
Ringer 10 carries for 77 yards 2 TD
Spartan Defense 4 forced turnovers

Tram on the Move?

2005-09-13T13:41:00.000-05:00

Ken Rosenthal, writer for FoxSports.com, has a new article up on the site regarding little news tidbits from around Major League Baseball. Why this concerns Tigers fans is the headline of the article: "Trammell will likely take fall in Detroit"

So what's the reasoning behind this? Well, the Tigers are a team that has spent a lot of money the last couple of seasons to bring in names to help right the ship. It has been a great while since a winning season in Detroit. Rosenthal picks up on this and then adds why this is his thought on the situation with the Tigers:

As the Tigers' season crumbles, it's becoming increasingly doubtful that Alan Trammell will remain the team's manager, especially with Jim Leyland looming as a possible replacement.
One game under .500 on Aug. 23, the Tigers were within reach of their first winning season since 1993. But the team scored only 12 runs during its recent nine-game losing streak, and its late-season collapse — complete with lapses in concentration and breakdowns in team play — is the kind that typically gets a manager fired.

So, it seems as if the Tigers recent mishaps on the field have triggered a response towards Alan Trammell. Hired prior to the 2003 season as a public relations move (which is the opinion of many Tigers fans), it has been a rocky path for Tram as the skipper in Detroit. First he was put through one of the worst baseball seasons in recent history as the Tigers only won 43 games. After that season came the signing of Pudge Rodriguez and Rondell White, producing a 29 game improvement. While 72 wins for the Tigers in 2004 sounded good at the time, it may have hurt Tram's chances for a long term tenure with the Tigers, as the expectations were raised...and this was even before last offseason in which the Tigers paid out big bucks to bring in Magglio Ordonez, Troy Percival, and Kyle Farnsworth. Even though the Tigers were still a .500 type ballclub, fans and the front office in Detroit want results, and this means bringing a winning season.

So, is the non-success of this team to break over the .500 plateau all on the shoulders of Tram? No. But as Rosenthal said, when a team looks as bad as the Tigers have in the second half of the season, most notably the last 12-15 games, the manager is more than likely going to get the fingers pointed at him.

In my opinion, I would like to see Trammell get a little more time at the helm of this club. He has grown up with a lot of these players as a manager, and I feel it is the front office's duty to let him finish out his contract in Detroit. While we all want to see results now, who doesn't, I still feel that this ballclub coming into the year was one that was going to hover around the .500 mark. While they did for most of the season, and more than likely will finish several games under the breakeven mark, I would like to see Tram get a chance to manage a ballclub with more talent than he has had in his three years. Hopefully our front office can do something about that this offseason.

And I'm not even going to go into the whole Jim Leyland thing, that's for another time.

1-0 is a Good Place to Be

2005-09-11T22:12:00.000-05:00

First off, please excuse my shoddy headlines. My first copy editing class is Tuesday, and we're supposed to work on those.

Our faithful readers (all four of them) will have to wait at least another week for a good one because we don't actually do anything the first class...knock on wood.

I was going to vent on the Wolverines Saturday afternoon, but I decided to sleep on it first.

Guess what, it didn't work. I still don't want to talk about it.

But stay tuned to this here blog contraption in the coming days for an extensive breakdown of what went wrong and my take on this program and what needs to change and whatnot.

Or you can simply ask any Michigan fan between the ages of 4-95, I'm sure they've got some strong opinions.

Anyway, it's time to talk Lions.

The men in Honolulu blue and black and silver and white got the big 17-3 win over the Packers today, and while it wasn't the flashy offensive show we were all hoping for, it was a surprisingly dominant performance by a much-maligned defense, and a masterful job of play-calling by the oft-criticized Dick Jauron.

(Speaking of which, what are the odds both Jauron and Jim Hermann's defenses would come out and play this good against quality opponents in the same week? Unreal. Oh, and in case any Sparties happen to be reading this screaming at the monitor for me to shut up about UM already-yes, Drew Stanton is amazing, now go and knock off those annoying Domers for us again, please.)

The front seven of the Lions seemed to have gotten with an attitude transplant. They were stunting, blitzing, weaving, and getting in Brett Favre's face most of the day.

The Lions' personnel is more suited to an aggressive style, and Jauron seems more willing to trust them on the blitz with Dre Bly and Fernando Bryant healthy in the secondary.

Terrence Holt and Kenoy Kennedy will make some mistakes, but they'll also make plays, and that's more than you can say about Brock Marion and Bracy Walker.

Hopefully Jauron will continue to call games this way all season.

As for the offensive playcalling, sure, it wasn't great. A couple of those draw plays were ridiculous and the booing was justified.

But there's not really much you can do when your offensive line is getting pushed back all day- by the likes of Cullen Jenkins and Big Fat Grady Jackson, no less. Not a good sign.

Can the line still improve? Sure. Kelly Butler will only get better, and he and Rick DeMulling need time to mesh with the rest of the O-line.

But I see this as being a major problem for the rest of the season. Jeff Backus isn't going to get any quicker, and Dominic Raiola isn't going to get any bigger and will always struggle with interior bull rushers.

The big key is how Joey Harrington handles the rush. He's going to have to learn to live with it.

He made some plays stepping up into the pocket, but he got frustrated as the game wore on and rushed his throws.

At least he didn't put any balls up for grabs. He managed the game and that's all the Lions needed against a surprisingly lifeless Packers team.

Even Brett Favre looked like he didn't really want to be there. He was basically talked out of retirement and then came back with designs on making one last run, and what's his reward?

The Packers got rid of two of his top three linemen, not to mention the entire secondary.

Despite the Packers' woes, this was a solid win and a crucial one, but we won't know for sure what kind of team the Lions have until they face some real adversity.

We'll still get the same old "We need to look at the film and correct some things" jargon at the press conference tomorrow, but it'll sound a whole lot better coming on the heels of a win, and that's a beautiful thing.

On to Chicago.

Bring on ND

2005-09-11T11:02:00.000-05:00

Big game next week for the Spartans. If they can win this game in South Bend, it will give them much more confidence going into the Big Ten opener. I hope they can manage to be 3-0 going into the Big Ten season. Did not see the UofM vs ND game yesterday but I heard UofM could not move the ball on the Fighting Irish. So much for all the Chad Henne for Heismen talk. So much for UofM being ranked 3rd in the country. What a joke.......overrated once again this year.

It is time for MSU to step it out and come strong against a good team this Saturday.

Lions not in trouble

2005-09-07T21:44:00.000-05:00

I have said this a lot over the past five to ten years but the Lions are not in too bad of shape going into week one against the Green Bay Packers. Sure you can say they were 1-3 in the preseason. That is just it, it is preseason. It means nothing at all. The team is put together in the preseason and most teams run there basic offense and defense.

They did not look great, but when the first unit was on the field, they moved the ball, but just could not find the endzone. They still moved the ball on most of the drives they were on the field. Joey looked decent, which is saying a lot but again he looked good last season and stunk it up on the field once the season started. We should have a high powered offense if Joey can get the ball to his wideouts and JK can run all over the place like he did to finish the season last year. The O-line should be improved, at least on paper it is. Lets just hope the unit can pull it together and work as a team come Sunday afternoon.

The defense is the only thing I am scared about but I think they will be able to stay off the field more this year with a much improved offense. We will see come Sunday.

Go Lions!!!!!!

My weekly predictions:

Lions 27
Packers 17

Joey Harrington 14-26 236 yards 2 tds 1 int
Kevin Jones 23 carries 109 yards 1 td
Charles Rogers 6 catches 98 yards 1 tds

R.I.P. Tigers

2005-09-04T20:00:00.000-05:00

Well, it looks like our beloved Tigers are ready to roll over and play dead yet again.

For the Metro Detroit youth who've grown up not knowing what it's like to see meaningful baseball in September, the nightmare lives on.

Four losses in Chicago against a supposedly struggling ChiSox team. Outscored 29-6.

The one positive thing you can say about them is at least they know their place, quitting just in time for football season.

So with that in mind, it's time to speak my peace, and distance myself from the team as much as possible until someone intriguing like Justin Verlander or Joel Zumaya comes up for September.

Here's my list of who should stay and go for next season, broken down into convenient categories:

Building Blocks:

Magglio Ordonez, RF- The only truly professional Tiger hitter with plus power, bounced back nicely from injury.
Jeremy Bonderman, SP- Hold off the ace coronation for another year. He needs to stop giving up easy runs in the first inning and use the last few games to work on his changeup. But he's still the real deal and should take off very soon.
Placido Polanco, 2B- Deposits balls into left and right field like coins in a shopping mall fountain and is a natural in the field.
Carlos Guillen, SS- His health will be paramount next season. Perhaps Trammel was right in resting him so much. If healthy he can be a top-notch shortstop.

Complimentary Pieces:

Chris Shelton, DH/1B- Notice how I put DH first. He's capable enough to platoon at first, but doesn't have ideal range and would probaby hit more consistently if given time to rest, as he isn't exactly in tip-top shape. But he can mash to all fields. Almost Edgar Martinez-like.

Curtis Granderson, OF- He's young and needs to work on plate presence, but silky smooth in the field and provides LH power. Should be a keeper. An actual contributing homegrown prospect, wow.

Nate Robertson, SP- His velocity and command are inconsistent, but he is a quality LH starter. Best suited for 3rd or 4th in the rotation.

Fernando Rodney, RP- Could be the perfect setup guy, but if the Tigers are serious about contending next season, they need a real closer. Rodney has a wicked changeup and should throw his slider more next year as he is still healing from Tommy John surgery.

Pudge Rodriguez, C- His salary most likely will make him impossible to trade. If a team like the Mets who is willing to take on his huge salary offers a can't miss deal and there's a plan in place to acquire another catcher, the Tigers should take it. Otherwise, stick with him because he's still great defensively. If only he hadn't suddenly transformed into a Randall Simon at the plate...

Rondell White, OF- A good fill-in guy in case Craig Monroe or Dmitri Young are traded. Sign him to a one-year deal if he takes it.

Ramon Colon, RP/SP- Give him a shot in the rotation, where he was most effective in Atlanta. Some GM's think he might be an All-Star some day, as mentioned in a Peter Gammons column on ESPN.com. Has good stuff and velocity, but needs more confidence on the mound.

Keep in Lesser Roles:

Omar Infante, 2B/SS- Good power, solid fielder (with some concentration lapses). Keep him and get some more at-bats in fall/winter ball to learn how to hit a curve. Good infield sub.

Brandon Inge, 3B- Should develop into a much better fielder than he's shown. Also shows great ability to take a walk, which is a rare commodity in Tiger lineup. But the Tigers need more power and production from either 3B, OF, or 1B. Whether Inge stays or moves to a backup role depends on whether or not Detroit gets that spot filled.

Franklyn German, RP- Not someone you'd trust with the game on the line, but good as a 4th or 5th reliever and could improve if he gets more confident. Probably needs a third pitch.

Nook Logan, CF- Forget about winter/fall ball, get this kid in the weight room and swallow the key. Keep as a pinch runner/defensive sub for now.

Mike Maroth, SP- Should be a 5th starter or ideally a left-handed specialist out of the bullpen.

John McDonald, INF- Finally, the Tigers found a utility man who can bunt. Keep him unless you can find a better option, but it's pointless for Trammell to continue to give him at-bats at the expense of Omar Infante right now.

Put 'Em on the Market:

Carlos Pena, 1B- Young and talented, but far too inconsistent. Don't give him away without getting someone who can contribute, however. Still a great defender and one of few LH power bats.

Craig Monroe- Another talented guy who appears to be hitting his stride. But Monroe is the prototypical Randy Smith-style Tiger- Boneheaded, inconsistent, lacking in the concentration department. At some point, the Tigers need to fill their lineup with more patient and most importantly consistent hitters, and Monroe is a good candidate to be traded right now coming off of a career year.
If you can get a prospect with potential, do it, even though most Tiger fans don't want to hear about prospects right now. His spot can easily be filled by Granderson or White

Dmitri Young- Talented and a great clubhouse guy, but also sets a bad example with his lack of committment to conditioning and his free swinging, lax personality. Not likely to be coveted.
The Tigers need to give him an ultimatum: get in shape or else. Probably won't happen, though.
Take him or leave him.

Dump 'Em:

It's time for the easiest and most fun part of a Tiger fan's job: the cuts.

Jamie Walker, RP- Good with no one on, horrible with people on base. Can't trust him.

Sean Douglass, SP- Lucked his way to five wins, Nate Cornejo-style. He can now join him in Toledo. The bottom has fallen out.

Jason Johnson, SP- A stopgap from day one, and he doesn't seem to like it here anyway.

Craig Dingman, RP- If it looks like a AAAA guy, sounds like a AAAA guy, and plays like a AAAA guy...keep him in Toledo.

Chris Spurling, RP- Speaks softly, carries a large gas can.

Doug Creek, RP- A poor man's Jamie Walker. Scratch that, homeless man's.

Vic Darensbourg, RP- Pitched decently so far, but teams will eventually figure him out and his lack of talent will catch up to him.

Vance Wilson, C- He's hitting .182. Need I say more?

Finally....

Alan Trammel, manager-

Nothing personal, Tram...but this team needs a change of pace...ie a swift kick in the behind. Someone to challenge them, someone to motivate them. A proven professional manager who the players can trust and look up to is a must if the Tigers are serious about competing next year.

Then again, are they ever really serious about competing?

If so, Mike Illitch better open up his wallet and get a proven manager, Cameron Maybin signed, and some pitching help.

We've waited long enough.

The Big Ten's Top Eleven Signal Callers

2005-09-02T20:16:00.000-05:00

Most of the offseason talk in the Big Ten has been about the new Big Three- Michigan, Ohio State and Iowa- and which is the favorite.

But there hasn't been much debate about the other Big Three- the conference's top 3 quarterbacks- Iowa's Drew Tate, Michigan's Chad Henne, and Michigan State's Drew Stanton- and which is the best all-around quarterback.

Most simply hand that title to Tate, who was last year's Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.

But Henne and Stanton can each make their own claims.

Henne has better size and an NFL arm, and displayed better pocket presence, especially as the year went on.

Stanton is the best pure playmaker of the group, with great running ability and passing accuracy.

The thing that makes picking between these three so difficult is that each is a perfect fit for their team's systems.

Tate is great on play action fakes and throwing on the run in Iowa's system based on running and misdirection in the passing game.

Henne is the best at reading defenses and delivering crisp mid-range strikes, a must in Michigan's pro-style offense that requires great timing and communication between the quarterback and his receiver.

And Stanton's ability to run and throw out of John L. Smith's spread offense gives defenses serious problems.

These rankings were made with an eye towards the future, as projections are always a big part of the college game.

That being said, here are my Big Ten starting quarterback rankings:

1. Chad Henne, Michigan- Last year, there were times when he was shaky. There were times when his passes were too high or too fast, or his decisions were made too slowly. He was bailed out many times by Braylon Edwards, and Michigan doesn't have a playmaker of that caliber this year, at least not one who can erase his mistakes.

But Henne won't make a lot of those mistakes this year. He was a true freshman last year, a soft-spoken, skinny freshman placed in an almost impossible situation.

He didn't know much of Michigan's offense, yet he still threw a very favorable 25 touchdowns to 12 interceptions and completed more than 60 percent of his passes.

This year he will have the full allotment of plays to work with, he's much stronger physically, and he's coming off of an exceptional four TD performance against a very good Texas defense in the Rose Bowl.

He's easily the conference's best pro prospect at QB and still has a great assortment of targets to throw to, so a huge season might be on the way.

2. Drew Tate, Iowa- Let's see here...undersized, throws extremely well on the run, elusive and creative in the pocket, won a big game on a hail mary...sounds a lot like a modern Doug Flutie.

But the 6-foot tall Tate is better equipped to handle life in the pocket...when he wants to. He's best outside of it and a master on the bootleg.

He deserves a lot of credit for helping engineer a Big Ten co-title with no running game, but he has problems with interceptions (14 against 20 TD's) and threw a huge one that was returned for a touchdown in a showdown with Michigan.

Still, he completes a high percentage of his passes (62.1) and he's a strong-willed winner.

He'll have another crack at Henne and the Wolverines in Iowa City this year.

3. Drew Stanton, Michigan State- Anybody who saw last year's Michigan-Michigan State classic knew Stanton was the best player on the field.

The only problem is Stanton was only it for half of the game, and that's his career in a nutshell: brilliant in fleeting glimpses, hurt by injuries and inconsistency.

He was brilliant both through the air and on the ground against Minnesota, Hawaii, and Michigan, but erratic against Iowa and Penn State.

In Happy Valley with a bowl bid on the line, he threw two costly picks and only went 13-for-37 passing.

People tend to overrate him a bit based on his performance against Michigan, who made several running quarterbacks look amazing (last year's defense would have fared better against Dan Marino than even the likes of...say...Carlyle Holiday).

But the bottom is that Stanton is a great leader, dangerous playmaker, and a fiery competitor, and he'll have his chance to finish what he started and get revenge on UM in East Lansing this year.

4. Brandon Kirsch, Purdue- In seasons past, the Boilermakers' spread passing offense has bogged down late in the Big Ten season.

When the winds swirl and conditions worsen, it all comes down to the running game.

Kirsch may not have quite the passing skill of Kyle Orton, but he has experience and a good touch, and his running ability will make Purdue's offense more diversified and difficult to gameplan against. He completed 61.7% of his passes in relief of Orton last year and shows a good command of the offense.

5. Troy Smith, Ohio State- Magnificent against Michigan, ordinary against everyone else.

Yet Buckeye fans pushed him to third in an ESPN.com poll of the Big Ten's best quarterbacks.

Guess that shows just how important "The Game" is to the Buckeye nation.

Smith's only game of 200 or more passing yards was against Michigan, and it was his only rushing game of 100 yards or more.

No doubt Smith has top-tier athletic ability and speed for a quarterback, but he's got a lot of work to do in the passing game to move up this list.

6. Brett Basanez, Northwestern- One website went as far as to call Basanez a star, but most recognition he's earned stems from the fact that's he's been in Evanston for what seems like an eternity, rather than his actual play.

The fourth-year starter is a decent runner, but he only completed 53.7% of his passes in an offense that relies a great deal on screen passes and slants.

7. Anthony Morelli, Penn State- Drew a similar amount of attention as Henne out of high school, and has a huge arm and prototype size. He got very limited playing time last year, but his potential and the addition of top-ranked receiver prospect Derrick Williams to the Lions but him here by default.

Michael Robinson will start out at QB but expect him to eventually shift to wide receiver/tailback. He only threw for 172 yards last year and on 36% passing, and Penn State is too one-dimensional with him behind center.

8. John Stocco, Wisconsin- Another guy that's been around forever but hasn't really impressed. Stocco has made a few big plays and has lots of big game experience, but he's inaccurate, especially on the deep ball, and doesn't have much mobility.

9. Bryan Cupito, Minnesota- Despite the benefits of a stellar running game and nice receivers in big, fast Ernie Wheelwright and sure-handed tight end Ben Spaeth, Cupito only completed a shockingly bad 47.7% of his passes last season.

He must improve his accuracy and mental toughness to keep teams from stacking the box against the Gophers, or coach Glen Mason will try to find someone else who can.

10. Blake Powers, Indiana- Has only thrown 22 passes and completed 9, but he'll work under new coach Terry Hoeppner, a spread guru from the MAC's Miami Red Hawks who helped develop Ben Roethlisberger.

11. Tim Brasic, Illinois- Two years with the Illini and only one pass attempt, he'll help kick off the Ron Zook era in Champaign.

2005-08-30T12:39:00.001-05:00

When people asked me this summer what I thought of the Lions, my typical response was as follows-

"Well, at least they'll be entertaining."

But last night was one of the LEAST entertaining games I have EVER seen.

We had new uniforms and new attitude (yet again...SURE...), but that performance was VINTAGE LIONS.

You had the inability to keep the opposing offense off the field, the befuddled offensive line, the dropped passes, and, of course, PENALTY after stupid PENALTY.

I can't decide which penalty was a better microcosm of the team in the 15 or so years I've been old/patient enough to sit down and watch them: the play where Dominic Raiola held on a SCREEN PASS or the time when Kevin Jones got to the corner and danced into the endzone, only to have it called back by a PAIR of holding calls.

Now, we're left to pick up the pieces and all of a sudden expectations have been lowered for the season.

Frankly, this dose of reality is something Lions fans desperately needed.

Even though I was shocked at Monday's ghastly effort, I still haven't changed my prediction- This looks like an 8-8 team.

There are going to be some days where the Lions light it up on offense, and there are going to be days where their defense simply won't be able to get off of the field.

The offensive line is a major weakness, but the biggest will be the inability to stop the outside run. It will be a major problem against Green Bay and on into the season. Boss Bailey and James Davis just aren't rugged enough to hold up on the outside, and the corners are not sure tacklers.

Terrence Holt and Kenoy Kennedy will come up and help at times, but then what happens when the defense goes over the top? These guys aren't good cover safeties in the first place.

Another thought that popped into my head after this debacle regarding the Matt Millen situation...
can someone please explain to me again what he did to deserve a FIVE year contract???

Sure, the Lions look flashy and POTENTIALLY good on paper....but what have they proven?

Anybody could have put together as good or better a team as Millen with the picks he had.
It's time we face facts people- this is a Playstation lineup and it's not the right way to build a football team.

Look at the teams who've made quick turnarounds in the salary cap era- they all did it with defense- New England, Carolina, Tampa Bay, you name it.

This reminds me a lot of the Tigers a couple years ago...they had Jeff Weaver and Matt Anderson, two tantalizing young pitchers seemingly on their way up. Desperately for stability, they gave 'em huge contracts. We all know how that turned out.

So, what we're left with is an exciting team stuck in neutral, until the offensive line figures out how to block somebody and the defense stops somebody.

And just last week I was telling people how little the preseason mattered. But this team has major flaws, and a lot of it is talent and coaching related...things that can't just be "corrected" like Joey Harrington seems to boast every week after EVERY loss.

I hope they prove me wrong on the 8-8 guess. I'd definitely take 9-7.

2005-08-30T12:39:00.000-05:00

Monday Night Significance

2005-08-28T22:44:00.000-05:00

Why the Lions need to win:

They need to know that they can win a game for a change. Many of the starters will be playing the first half; this gives us fans a taste of how the team looks at this point. It also gives the coaching staff a chance of what to do differently. I’m tired of this conservative bend don’t break defense run by Dick Jauron. The more pressure you get on the QB the more opportunities that open up for the defense to make plays.

The offense needs to be given more chances to go vertical. These talented wideouts need to be catching the ball heading toward the endzone instead of toward the sidelines. The west coast offense gives you a chance to make some big plays. The team needs to be given the chance for those plays to unfold.

It will be good to see Eddie Drummond play. Hopefully he can win a game or two for us this year. Have him return a few punts and maybe some kickoffs, and then get him off the field. We need our star players to be healthy. We’ve been spared quite nicely so far.

Monday night will be a great chance for the football world to see how much the Lions have improved. I would like to see the offense have a solid first half so the town can talk positively about the team for awhile. I would certainly welcome that.

Oh I forgot, win the game, please.

MSU Football

2005-08-24T17:39:00.000-05:00

Nick, losing Agim Shabaj is a blessing in a way. He was 4th or 5th on the depth chart and he had a bad attitude. I have not been a student there since 2004, but I remember him having a piss poor attitude at a young age. He was basically only good for kickoff returns. MSU is better off with Brown, Trannon, Scott, Grimes at the wideout position. Our defense you say is always decent or something along those lines is a bunch of BS also. MSU lost in the Big House last year do to their defense. Granted Stanton got hurt but Dowdell should have been able to sustain a few drives and win the game with the lead he had going into the second half. MSU's defense is what loses games for them all the time. Even in the Duckett, Smoker, Rogers era. The corners and the safties suck balls. MSU will win 7 games this year and finish about 5th in the Big 10. They do have a great offense if they can stay healthy. If Stanton gets hurt for a long period of time, we might be in trouble. A redshirt freshman is second on the depth chart at QB, but RB and WR are stacked. Here is hoping for a great season and at least 7 wins. Go STATE!!!

Mo Evans and Dale Davis....hmmm

2005-08-24T15:27:00.000-05:00

Looks like there will be no Spree and no Finley in the D.

Or is it Auburn Hills? Whatever.

The Pistons have offered restricted free agent 6'5, 220-lb. swingman a multi-year deal, and now Sac-town has a chance to match.

Coupled with the signing of Dale Davis, this could be it for the Pistons in the free agent market.

I've heard from some Sacramento fans about Evans and they call him a rugged defender and rebounder who can also drive to the basket, and he's very strong and athletic.

Then again, Christian Laetnner might look like Charles Oakley that buttery-soft Kings lineup.

All kidding aside, Mo Evans is definitely a Joe Dumars type of player. He's consistent, hungry, and hard-working.

So is Dale Davis, who will add a lot of toughness and keep Detroit's big man rotation as strong as it's been the past two years and provide disaster insurance against Hurricane Shaq (though it may be weakening a bit with age, let's hope so anyway) down in Miami.

The question is, do the Pistons really need more ham-and-eggers/lunch pail guys/ blue collar guys/whatever other kind of cliche you want to use type of players?

Or was a talent upgrade necessary to assure home court in the vastly improved East, which may be needed to get through Indy and Miami?

Evans still doesn't address the need for a long-range shooter, especially in the Flip Saunders era where shooting threes won't get you chewed out and/or a seat on the bench. Not many other candidates either, unless Alex Acker somehow finds his way into the rotation (long shot) or Carlos Delfino has a breakthrough.

But if he (or Devin Brown or whichever other thrifty 3-man the Pistons end up bringing in) can keep Tayshaun Prince rested and ready to go for the playoffs, that might be all the Pistons need to get back to the Finals.

MIGHT...

The East is no joke this year, that's for sure.

Hopefully, Flip will put more trust in the bench and let these guys develop into a unit, while resting the starters.

That could go a long way.

Oh, and let's keep our fingers crossed that the Heat don't land Finley.

Listen, I hate the Heat, and Shaq's smugness, and Pat Riley, and Antoine Walker as much as the next guy...but you can't deny the Heat gave us EVERYTHING we could handle last year, and represent a major threat.

Free Agent Talk

2005-08-23T11:48:00.001-05:00

After a strenuous few week holdout situation, I have decided to come back to detroitfab4 and help out. I'm still a little miffed about my contract situation though.

As you have hopefully heard, the Pistons are probably not going to sign Michael Finley. He is likely off to Miami or Phoenix. I don't know why he would want to go to Miami. Miami has loads and loads of guys who like to jack up shots. I'm mainly talking about JWill and Antoine Walker. Wade and Shaq did fine last year with nice complementary players such as Eddie Jones and Damon Jones, basically guys who took the open shots and didn't demand the ball. But with White Chocolate running the offense and Walker shooting 3's all day, it could become a circus real quick.

But back to Finley. He would be a perfect fit for this team. The Pistons need perimeter scoring off the bench; I don't know if their totally sold on Delfino yet.

Sprewell has been talked about also. I don't like the guy and I don't think Flip likes him much either. Remember, last year Spree didn't get the money he wanted, so he basically floated on by for the rest of the season, essentially quitting on the Wolves.

Derek Anderson is not available now, so who does that leave?

Lee Nailon, Flip Murray, James Jones (Rodney White-LOL) are the possibilities left out there still. I think Joey D. will decide to stand pat and go with what they have, hoping Carlos Delfino can have a fresh start with a new coach. The same can also be said about Carlos Arroyo. Coach Brown really messed with Arroyo's head and made him a player he was not comfortable being. Arroyo is a skillful passer with ok offensive skills, expect Arroyo to be a steady contributor this year.

Dale Davis signed a 2 year deal with the Pistons yesterday. He's a replacement for Elden Campbell and an insurance policy for Darko. Dale can still play decent defense and rebound a little bit. Dale's agent, Chubby Wells, said yesterday on WDFN that Dale isn't concerned about playing time, he just wants to be on a team that can win a championship. BTW, Dale and Rasheed are real tight.

And for a side note, Horace Jenkins signed with Hapoel Jerusalem from the Israel premier league. It was a great story that Horace finally made it to the NBA after his long and difficult journey, but I think we all could tell he was not quite an NBA caliber type player. But he's a definite inspiration to everyone.

Tigers approaching .500

2005-08-23T10:44:00.000-05:00

The Tigers have won 7 out of their last 8 games. The Tigs hitting has caught fire. The whole lineup is producing, and this is without Guillen or a healthy Mags. Whats happend over the past week is connfidence. The Tigers came into the series against the Red Sox lacking confidence, but determined to get back on track. They took 2 out 3 and they knew they could play with the big boys. When the Blue Jays came into town it felt like playing the Royals. I knew the Jays had no chance from the first run the Tigers scored. I just had a feeling it would be a good series. It turned out better then I thought, with an easy sweep.

Today the A's come into town. The A.L wild card leaders. I think the Tigers still have their confidence. However, if we want to win, our pitching is goung to have to come through. You know the A's will bring it. I predict we win 2 out of 3, all close 1 run games. Something like 5-4, or 4-3 sounds about right. Our record now stands at 60-62. Only 5 games back of the Twins we could catch up soon. The Indians will be a tougher task. We are 7 games back and if we do catch up to them, and its a major IF we will finally be back in the race. Maybe these past games have just been a fluke...... Who knows???

Allow me to introduce myself

2005-08-22T17:07:00.000-05:00

Hello, I'm the new guy.

My name is Nick Meyer and yes, I do attend Michigan-Dearborn.

Aka "The Fake U-M," or at least that's what someone wrote on the inside of a bathroom stall.

But it has its advantages. For one, there aren't 200 people in every class, more like a good 20-30.

Secondly, we actually have a journalism program here, something Ann Arbor doesn't have.

Third, the average GPA here is 3.5, and because it's a commuter campus, you don't get the large contingents of aimless partiers, so it's a great environment to go to work in.

Finally, we get cheap season tickets and the opportunity to cover Michigan's excelllent (Albeit slightly underachieving) football team and woefully underfunded, disappointing basketball team through the school paper.

We don't advertise much, but take it from me, prospective collegians, it's a great place to go, especially if you're a Michigan fan.

If, however, you enjoy the challenging of passing your tests with massive hangovers, it might not be for you. It's not much of a party school, although you can find the parties if you try hard enough.

I'd like to say hello to my Sparty neighbor up there on the banks of the Old Red Cedar (In my best Rece Davis voice...god I can't wait for college football to start!) and wish him bad luck in the annual rivalry game.

That's right, you guys don't need any more good luck up there in East Lansing...here's to a good, clean, ORTHODOX game with no FUNNY BUSINESS and may the best team win.

Actually, as good as Drew Stanton is, we already know Michigan is the better team.

Hopefully, Jim Hermann won't get de-pantsed by John L. Smith's offense again.

To the rest of you writers, thanks for having me.

Great to be here and talking sports....

More where that came from...

IN THE FUTURE!!!!

Short Intro/Welcome Back Carlos Pena

2005-08-20T11:35:00.000-05:00

As a Tigers fan in the great state of Florida, I am forced to use the internet as a tool to check on news and stories surrounding the team. This includes not only the official sites of the Tigers, the Free Press and Detroit News, but also independent fansites and weblogs like this one here. While there are many great blogs on the net to read news and opinions on the Tigers, the Detroit Sports Squad seemed to be lacking real in-depth "analysis" on the team. With that being said, I agreed to jump on here and post a couple of my thoughts and opinions on the Tigers whenever I feel the need to.

I figured it would be nice to try and help out Tamaz and the other people here who work hard to try and make this a legit weblog. Even though there have been shortcomings in the past (as well documented by the Sports Blog Critic), I feel that there is potential for this blog to be great. I will also try and help with some formatting issues that perhaps could be addressed. In the past I wrote on a weblog on the Tigers titled "Detroit What?," but later found out that a full time commitment to an internet blog was something that was just not in my best interests. I also helped Jeff over at Bless You Boys keep his blog up to date. I love the Tigers and I like to write, so this is something that I enjoy to do on the side from time to time. Hopefully Tamaz and the other young'ns here can improve from post to post and make this place a great site to read about and discuss the world of Detroit sports.

With all that being said, a short thought on the Tigers should be discussed. Carlos Pena, the Tigers much-criticized first baseman for the last three seasons, was recently called back up to the big league club as Carlos Guillen hit the DL once again. In his first appearance back for the Tigers since the 27th of May, Pena went 3 for 4 with 2 monstrous homeruns and 3 RBI's.

With an abysmal .181 batting average as of that day in May, Pena was shipped to Toledo to find his swing once again. With the absence of that everyday first baseman, the Tigers were forced to try the sweet swinging Chris Shelton, who had been one of the best hitters in the International League brfore his callup. Well, the Shelton experiment has been a shining success for the club as the Tigers have more than likely found a guy they could hang their hat on as the future first baseman. This, of course, was what Pena was pretty much declared last year as he finished strong, hitting 27 homeruns and knocking in 82.

The beginning of the 2005 campaign was just one giant slump for Pena. He was an offensive black hole pretty much in every game he appeared in for the Tigers. The swing just wasn't there for him and the numbers proved it, as he hit only 3 homeruns and drove in 14 in 41 games. Toledo was the only option for the front office to look into, and it seemed to help out as Carlos's numbers were pretty impressive: .311, 12 HRs, 45 RBIs.

While it was a pleasant surprise, perhaps last night's game was just one giant fluke. Carlos could return to early season form in his next game and this will all be for not. BUT, let's say that he has really found his swing and his bat gets hot, what do the Tigers do then? There are little options seeing that as of right now Shelton seems to have the biggest upside at first base, and Dmitri Young has proven that he really cannot do anything with efficiency other than be an average fielder at first base. There just isn't enough room for Pena to play a consistent first base right now for the Tigers. The Tigers could try and switch him to outfielder, especially with the loss of Rondell White in left field, but that would push one of our younger and better future options (Monroe, Logan, and Granderson) out of sufficient playing time.

While I would love to see Pena succeed, I know that it would just throw more of a monkey wrench into an already confusing season for the Tigers. Unless he really does something special I feel that it would be in the best interest for the Tigers to try and trade the young first baseman this offseason. Hopefully a string of successful appearances will up his trade value quite a bit and the Tigers can acquire a more suitable piece of the puzzle. As of right now Shelton is our man at first, and it would take quite a performance for Carlos Pena to change that.

Welcome UofM Fan

2005-08-18T18:03:00.000-05:00

I heard we got a uofm dearborn writer to this blog. Although I am not a fan of your school, I welcome you to this blog and many future discussions of our two schools and other sports related topics.

Harrington, Harrington, Harrington

2005-08-18T17:40:00.000-05:00

I am sick and tired of all this Joey vs Jeff talk. Who is better? Who should start and who should sit? Joey has only won a handful of games in three years. Jeff Garcia is a pro bowler. Stop with all of that talk, it is getting old really fast. Jeff Garcia was brought in to push Joey Harrington, not start over him. The job is Joey's to lose and after his performance last week, I think it is his for the keeping. I am glad we brought Jeff Garcia in this year, beacuse Detroit finally brought in a backup capable of playing the quartback position. If Joey Harrington fails or gets hurt I am confident Jeff Garcia can win a few games for us. I want to see the Lions succeed whether it is with Joey or Jeff playing I don't really care. The job is Joey's until he proves he can not get it done.

I believe a thank you is in order

2005-08-14T22:37:00.000-05:00

Tigers fans, I believe a thank you is in order to the Devil Rays. In case any of you have been watching, my Devil Rays just swept the Indians in three games over the weekend. The only time the Tribe were even close to winning was when they took an early 3-0 win on Friday. Due to this, the Tigers are now only six back of the Indians in the AL Central, and while their playoff chances are still slim to nil, six games is still a reachable goal with one and a half months to go in the season.

The Devil Rays and Indians square off at Tropicana Field in one week, in a four game series. By that time, the Tigers could do themselves a favor and go 4-2 this week vs. the Red Sox and their cross-border rivals in Toronto. With a pitching matchup tomorrow of Sean Douglass vs. Bronson Arroyo the Tigers should at least be competitive in a contest that could go eihter way. While Tuesday's matchup has yet to be announced, the Tigers should almost surely take one from the Sox on Wednesday, when David "Half-Drunk" Wells take the mound. Don't let that mid-4 ERA fool you, Wells is awful away from Fenway Park, and should get hit well, even in the expansive deadball zone that is Comerica Park.

The Indians might be heading into a slump after their weekend slip, and with a three game series coming vs the Rangers and their hot bats, the Tribe's slump could continue. This week, the Indians have Kenny Rogers going against them in a Tuesday start while they send C.C Sabathia to the mound. That game shoulkd break Texas' way. Sorry to say, but Wednesday and Thursday's pitching matchups look to break Cleveland's way, although both pitchers starting for the Indians are no sure thing.

The bottom line is, this week, I have a feeling, will be crucial to whatever is left of the Tigers playoff chances. If things break their way, and the Indians slump, they could get back into some sort of contention. But if the Tribe outduels them, you can raise the white flag. So try to hold down the fort before the Indians come down south!

IMPROVEMENT?

2005-08-14T17:28:00.000-05:00

Hey Detroit Sports fans, lets get back to sports talk.

The detroit lions are said to be another "Suprise team," which was also said last year and the year before. But, I think they might actually be a suprise team if they improve on the following topics.

They really need to work on their offensive line. Even though Kevin Jones is.....well........pretty good, The offensive line really needs to step up and block. Cory Schleschinger is out 6 to 8 weeks and will probaly miss two weeks of the regular season. For that reason, the lions need to start off strong and without blocking, Kevin Jones may not be as productive as last year. This is a major problem because he is the major force in the lions offense. Schleschinger is one of the best blockers along with Jeff Backus and recently aquired Rick demulling on the lions. Unless Kevin Jones is better than we think, he needs some major help.

Joey Harrington has made some improvement in confidence. Last year, he was kind of shaky and made a lot of turnovers. He made a couple fumbles but that was the offensive line. (No BLOCKING!!!)

The defense is getting stronger with the addition of RW McQuarters, Jon McGraw, and draft picks. I think that Dre Bly feel very confident knowing that they have help coming from better safties. The defensive line has a lot of potential, especially the defensive end position. 8 of the 10 linemen from detroit are under 30. Looks pretty bright in the future.

The lions may have a chance of making the playoffs if they imrpove on their offensive line, careless mistakes, and confidence. I predict that the lions will go about 7 and 8, or 6 and 10. If they do worse than 5 wins, I'm giving up.

my bad

2005-08-14T17:07:00.000-05:00

To all fans of Detroit sports squad,

I am sorry I havn't been able to make any posts in the last............million years. lol. I have totally forgot about me being a member of this website and I terribly apoligize for that. I will now try to remember that you guys depend on my thoughts and ideas. Please feel to leave a comment if you will.

Behind Enemy Lines: An Outsider's Perspective

2005-08-07T01:55:00.000-05:00

First of all, I would like to thank Tamaz for inviting me onto your "staff" of bloggers. This blog is great, and I'm glad to be a part of it. But since all of you don't know who I am, I shall intoduce myself. I am Patrick Kennedy, a 14 year old (today!) bloggers, who has been the driving force of several baseball blogs. I am currently in the process of trying to start another one up, with Jacob Larsen of RaysBaseball. I am a huge Devil Rays fan, and live in St. Petersburg, Florida. With that being said, I shall move on to my first post.

As someone who lives far, far from Detroit, let me just say that I do not know too much about the area. I have been to Motown once, and that was four years ago. As an avid sports fan, I say I know a a fair amount about Detroit sports teams, and that is why I am here. To give you an outsider's perspective on the Detroit pro sports teams.

When I was last in Detroit, in June of 2001, it was only for an evening. Myself and my traveling companion had driven up from Cleveland to watch the Royals play Detroit in what was then Comerica Park's second season. Ford Field was still being constructed next door, the Wings were about to embark on their Stanley Cup-winning season, and the Pistons were gearing up for their first in many playoff seasons.

I will not lie to any of you. I left Detroit under the impression that this is the worst city I have ever been to. It is a city full of decrepit buildings boarded up with bums sleeping outside of them. What has happened to Tiger Stadium truly has disgusted me, and reminds me so much of Shibe Park in its later daysthat I can't even bear to go on. That's not to say Motown doesn't have its bright spots. It does have the Fox Theatre, which I enjoyed very much, it is a great and historic sports town, and the suburbs are very nice. But as for the actual town, feh.

With that out of the way, let me say that I know a fair more about sports than the casual fan, especially baseball, so my opinion might be a little out of a casual fan's league. I have already mentioned my disdain for the decrepit state of Tiger Stadium.

As for the actual teams, my impression of the Tigers is as follows. After Dombrowski made that rash of signings in the 2002-03 offseason, I was convinced it was the wrong move (I.E giving $10 million to an old catcher....). But it turns out all of those signings worked out fo the best, except for the Fernando Vina deal. That, coupled with an strong farm system, make the Tigers a good team for the future as a threat to win the Central as long as they keep the team intact. And when I say "a strong farm system", let me explain. When I went to the FSL All-Star Game in my hometown of Clearwater, I was amazed at how many L-Tigers were on the West roster. It seemed like all position players were L-Tigers, and they had a fair amount of pitchers too, the most high-profile being, of course, someone who wasn't there, Justin Verlander. Hell, Brett Clevlen won the Home Run Derby. So the Tigers, in my mind, are good now, but are going to be great later.

The Lions are viewed as a national joke, and maybe that is because the closest Detroit has ever been to the Super Bowl was when they hosted it at the Silverdome. But with a good young crop of recievers to go along with the free agent signing of Marcus Pollard, the Lions could make some noise in the North this year. The key to the offense will be whether QB Joey Harrington can do a good job and hold his job, or whehter the Lions will have to turn to backup Jeff Garcia. After all, someone has to get the ball to the recievers. Also, the Lions shouldn't expect to do much on the ground with Jamel White and Kevin Jones, two mediocre backs. The D projects as strong on the line and at the corners, but the safties and linebackers are pretty weak, except for Boss Bailey. Overall though, if things on the fence fall their way, the Lions could make the playoffs.

As for your two-time defending East champion Pistons? Well, they have all the tools in place. It is very simple, they are one of the most complete teams in the NBA. The question is, whether the chemistry will suffer without Larry Brown to keep guys like Rasheed Wallace in check. Larry is a great coach, don't get me wrong, but you guys shouldn't have dumped Carlisle for that carpetbagger. But Flip Saunders is a very good coach, nowhere near the level of Brown, but the best the market had to offer at that point. As long as the Pistons play like they can, they can win the East. But their challenge will once again be Miami, who with their recent acquisition of Antoine Walker, are going to go all out this year. But the Pistons should give them a run for their money.

As for the Red Wings, I cannot make an assesment. With the new CBA in place, and teams shedding salaries like a dog in summer, free agency is just one big expansion draft. With a new coach, a lot of new players, and a new economoic system, I really don't know how the Wings will fare. Most likely the cap will hurt them since they were always a team who could go out and throw money at any problem they might have, but now they are limited to spending "only" about $39 million. But I will evaluate Detroit a little later on after the mess that is the NHL offseason is completed. One thing is for sure though, Detroit is glad to have hockey back!

So there you have it. I am just an outsider, but that is my two cents on the Detroit sports scene. In my future articles, you can look at this as a reference for my general impressions of the "Fab Four" in Detroit. I'm glad to be here, and I look forward to providing you with my best.

Tigers need to refocus

2005-08-04T16:18:00.000-05:00

Just a week ago I made an article on how the Tigers were looking to pass the Indians. A week later the Indians pass the Twins, and the Tigers start to struggle. The Tigers now find themselves 4.5 games back of the Tribe and 2.5 games back from the Twins. It seems like anything that could go wrong the past week, has. Most of all, lack of RUN SUPPORT. Don’t blame it on the pitching we lost 4-1 many times. As down as this Tiger team has been, I believe the Tigs have one more chance. This weekend the Tigers host the Tribe.

If the Tigers lose this series its over, there is absolutely no chance the Tigers come back. I believe if the Tigers win this series they will gain confidence, and possibly pass the Twins. The key to winning this giant series is forgetting about the past week and REFOCUSING on the present. This is Trams job. Tram needs to wash away the teams past regrets and focus them. If Tram isn’t capable of doing this, you have to get rid of him. This is Trams final exam and he needs to ace it. I think he has it in him.

See, this whole thing is emotional. Its obvious the Tigers have the talent to sweep the Indians. Tram this is your chance, right here right now. Rally cap ready.

Tigers knock on Indians door

2005-07-27T20:13:00.000-05:00

Just days ago, the word out of Detroit was selling.Today being one game behind Cleveland, and only 4 games back in the wild card race the word has changed. The word should now be waiting. By waiting I mean waiting about a week, and seeing if the Tigers can pass the Indians. If they have passed the Tribe, then Dave D should switch modes to buying. If they are still in 4th I say stand pat. The Tigers don’t need to get rid of their foundation. Remember how Dave D said he wants to win “now”? If he really wants to win now, he won’t sell this year. If the management decides to sell, it just proves to me that they have been lying all along. I still don’t think Bonderman is ready to take on the roll of an ace. He is so young, and I just don’t know if he can handle that pressure. If the Tigers management was smart they would enter the A.J Burnett chase. He would be the perfect fit here in Detroit.

Will the Tigers pass the Indians? Most definitely they will. I am tired of hearing all of this stuff about Tiger pitching failing us. Sure the pitching staff isn’t top of the line, but has it really been that bad? No. The Tigers have the 6th best pitching staff in the A.L with an E.R.A of 3.99. That’s ahead of the Yankees and Red Sox. Now how is our pitching staff bad? Farnsworth has proven to be a great addition. Kyle has a 2.32 ERA and 6 saves on his record. That’s the best on our staff. Another surprise has been Sean Douglass. Sean was with the mud hens for awhile, and the Tigers finally called him up and he has impressed. Racking up three wins in five games, way to go to Sean! Jeremy Bonderman has shown stellar stuff on most nights. However, some games he just doesn’t have it. Bondy has had a very good season with 13 wins and 6 losses so far. An ERA of 3.95 isn’t too bad. I just question Jeremy’s stability. He needs to work his stuff every night, which hasn’t happened yet.

Last but certainly not least, the one and only proven Tigers hitting! Not much to say regarding hitting, except we are third in the A.L with a team overall 2.75 average which rocks! And lets hope D young gets his swing back. Polanco has just been activated from the DL hopefully he can stay healthy! One more, Maggs keep it UP!

Here’s to passing the Indians.

GOOO TIGERS

Tigers show their mettle

2005-07-25T10:37:00.000-05:00

The Detroit Tigers have shown the best of the AL Central that they are no longer the division easy-beats. They took 2 of 3 from the division leading White Sox and then took 3 of 5 from the 2nd place Twins. There were many good things to come from this 8 game stretch, including the 3-4 punch of Shelton & Ordonez and the emergence of Curtis Granderson.

Chris Shelton, a much-maligned player of 2004, has come so far in one year that he will be pushing for selection of July’s player of the month. He, along with Magglio Ordonez were a formidable and feared back-to-back combination for both Chicago & Minnesota during their respective series. Shelton’s numbers speak for themselves, including 14 hits in the past 8 games. He has been able to fill the void that Carlos Pena was supposed to fill and enabled the Tigers much freedom in their lineup.

Ordonez is a class act, a professional hitter that makes plays. He moves runners when needed, he gets on base when needed and his clutch hitting is outstanding. He is showing Tigers fans what they were missing during the first half of the season, and why the Tigers organization paid big money for him to join Detroit.

There is quite the dogfight for rights to the CF position between Nook Logan & Curtis Granderson after this weekend, and it isn’t a bad problem to have. These two budding prospects both bring unique qualities to the position.

Nook Logan might just be watching a few more games from the dugout if Curtis continues to show the power he displayed over the weekend. Curtis hit 2 home runs in 3 games. Nook has only been able to hit 1 home run in 89 games this season. Granderson is quick around the bags, but nobody can replace Nook Logan’s base running, rivaled by very few in the league. Trammell may platoon both players through the CF position, but whichever player sits will be a valuable commodity late in games.
To take 5 of 8 from the top two teams in the AL Central is no easy feat. Hopefully the Tigers can continue to swing the bat and lay an exciting foundation for seasons to come.

ThE yEaR!

2005-07-24T10:04:00.000-05:00

Everything seems to be in place. This year seems to be the year.

Who can deliver for the Honolulu blue and silver this year? Can Joey be this year's Drew Brees? I sure the heck hope so. This playoff withdrawal is taking it's toll on Detroit fans, it needs to end. The Detroit Lions need to produce, now.

The talent is in place for sure. New offensive editions Marcus Pollard, Mike Williams, Kevin Johnson and Rick Demulling should be just what the doc ordered. This gives the Lions 4 "solid" receivers to work with and a proven tight end. Streets and Hakim were a joke last year. I 'm not laughing either.

The running back position has some depth with Bryson and Pinner/Jamel White backing up Kevin Jones. Jones is a stud and if the o- line plays like it's capable of playing, Jones could be a pro-bowler for sure.

I'm hoping Jeff Garcia will stay as the backup and nothing more. I really believe Joey will come through and "get it". However, if Jeff is called upon because of Joey's poor play, I think Jeff will be sound in his decision making and really help us out. What!?, he does have 3 pro-bowls under his belt.

The special teams was a little down last year if your name wasn't Eddie Drummond or Jason Hanson. I don't have much to say or report.

I don't know much about predicting whether a defense will be any good, but I'm going to try. For one thing, the secondary will be much more physical and will have depth like it has never had. This Terrence Holt should have a breakout year, he just needs to be given more of a chance.

The D-line is alright, I think. I thought they underachieved last year, but Cody should help them out with his speed, maybe shifty Swancutt too.

As for the linebackers, it all starts with Boss. If he's healthy, they got a chance to be something. Lehman, Dirty Davis and those other fillers need to take his lead if they want to form a good unit. As a whole, the D looks to be better, but it's the Lions we're talking about. Maybe a 10-6 record in the weak NFC north will be good enough to take the division outright. I can dream can't I?

Season can not come soon enough

2005-07-22T17:27:00.000-05:00

In February, I was ready for football to be over. Now I can not wait for it to start. It has been a pretty bland summer in terms of sports. Sure the Pistons went to the Finals, but it was not like the year before. Not because we won last year, but because the whole Larry Brown drama. I am glad Flip is in and now Larry can get his "dream job" in New York and watch the suck it up in Madison Squar Garden. No Hockey this season was a big disapointed. I really missed that, especially come playoff time. Nothing is more exciting then playoff hockey. Now the NHL is back and with new rules, which should make the game more enjoyable others. The All Star game was great and Detroit came out as a winner, which we really needed, but the Tigers are still the Tigers. I love them and will always root for them, but they are still the Tigers.

Football season is now apon us, both for college and pro. I am not sure what I like better but I love watching the Lions. I got to see Barry Sanders play for 10 years. I was at the game when he got 2000 yards and a few other black and blue division games. I miss the Silverdome. There was just something about it that brings fear into oposing teams heads.

This season should be fun to watch. KJ, R. Williams, BMW, and Chuck are a great young tandom of WRs and RB. I just hope Joey or Jeff can get the job done. I really do not care who it is and long has we have a good year. If we do not make the playoffs..........

Now onto my Spartans.............Well, I know for a fact we will have a great offense with Stanton at the helm and we have some good fast RB and John L. will open up the offense with some good WRs as well. Brown and Trannon are both good WR. It will come down to the defense doing what it takes not to lose games for this team. Expect high scoring games.

UofScum will be a top 10 team. They will lose a game they should win on the road and win the rest of there games. I hope it is to MSU this year!!! Mike Hart is the man and Chad Henne is also strong. With some good WR, UofScum will have a good offense, and there defense is always good. Expect them to win the big 10 again this year. OSU and Iowa will not be able to do it.

Bring on the season!!!

The state of the league

2005-07-21T17:49:00.000-05:00

edited to appease the critics
This year's off season activities stand out from the past off seasons in the NFL to me. The players seem to be acting only on self-interest. Players are demanding new contracts or trades. The word "team" no longer has meaning.

What does team mean though? According to dictionary.com

A group on the same side, as in a game; a group organized to work together.

Real teams are not as often put in the public eye. Instead we see sports organizations dominated by a super star with an ego bigger than the team'’s goals of a championship.

In the case of the Detroit Pistons, now former coach Larry Brown was the ego. Throughout the playoffs, there was no talk of team, there was talk of: Is Brown going to go to the Cavs? The Pistons were a team otherwise. No clear super star, a team driven by defense and everyone chipping in on offense. Well maybe everyone except ol' Darko Milicic.

Regardless when a team comes so close to repeating as NBA champions, there should be focus on: How the team plays as a unit.

The other end of my rant, Terrell Owens. He signed a $49 million contract prior to last season with the Eagles. This was after he refused to play for the Ravens, whom he was traded to.

He is paid plenty. He'’s a great receiver no doubt about it. There was proof of this in his super bowl performance.

But even if your agent is Drew Rosenhaus, (and no I still don'’t like him even if he saved a child from the water), you have to play for the TEAM concept.

So from big contract to holding out? I find that rediculous. Owens told the Miami Herald,

"At the end of the day, I don't have to worry about what people think of me, whether they hate me or not. People hated on Jesus. They threw stones at him and tried to kill him, so how can I complain or worry about what people think?"

Even this Jewish boy is offended. Terrell you can not compare yourself to Jesus. Did you fight for a cause? Well if your cause is getting paid more money, than I suppose so.

On the Jim Rome show today I heard a quote from Owens along the lines of, I need to provide for my family, a la Latrell Sprewell. He's making $49 million. I doubt he's having trouble.

Kudos to any GM/owner with the sense to shut up these hold outs.

Flip Saunders to coach Pistons

2005-07-21T11:27:00.000-05:00

The Pistons choice to replace Larry Brown as head coach is Flip Saunders. Detroit is not an easy place for Flip to come into. Piston fans expect no less then another trip to the NBA finals next season. Flip's easy choice was to go to the Bucks. The Bucks are a team that doesnt expect much, all they want is to develop their players further and contend for a playoff spot. Why didn't Flip go to Milwaukee? I think he wanted all of the "Flip Saunders can't coach a team in the playoffs, he has Garnett, Cassell. And he still can't get it done". Flip wants to come to Detroit and win a championship to silence that criticism and become a truly elite coach. The Timberwolves are a very diffrent team than the Pistons. The Timberwolves rely on star power, and the Pistons rely on team work. Hopefully Flip is more of a team work kind of coach. Say Phil Jackson, he can make stars perform at their best game. I dont think Flip has that, but I think he can make the whole team perform. With good scheme's etc. Another major task for Saunders is developing Darko, something Brown was having a hard time with. Flip will probably play Darko more then Brown did. I think thats one of the reasons Dumars wanted Saunders, was the developing of Darko. We'll see how this all turns out. I wish Flip Saunders luck.

Catch you on the flip side.

Vegas Summer League

2005-07-19T08:17:00.000-05:00

The Detroit Pistons just concluded their summer league play in Vegas on July 15. They finished with a respectable 3-2 record and quite frankly, learned a lot about their young talent, or lack of.

Though I wasn't fortunate enough to watch any of the games, I have followed closely through the internet and newspaper. People hoping to see Delfino return to his old self before his injury during last year should be quite disappointed. Carlos only played in 3 games and averaged just 7 points/game. 5.3 turnovers/game won't help your image either. For good measure however, Carlos did average 2 steals/game, ranking second of all the players on all 16 teams that participated.

Seen Darko play? Well, his numbers weren't astounding, neither were they bad. He averaged 9.8 points/game and 5.8 rebounds/game. But the downside is the field goal shooting he displayed, a mind boggling 36.7%. Shake it off Darko, you tied for 5th in blocks at 1.4/game.

"How well did the rookies play," you are screaming at the computer hysterically, "Who cares about these foreigners." Well I do, considering Brown never gave them the light of day to display their skills. Did I mention Brown is out? Amen.

Rookies, yes the rookies. I now know why the Pistons drafted Alex Acker. He's got mad skills, mad ones. Alex averaged 14.4 points/game, second best on the team only to Maxiell. Alex also drained 46% of his 3 balls. This kid definitely kicked Ricky Paulding out of the mix for another year. Ricky only averaged 4.2 points/game. Ouch, see ya back in Israel Ricky.

Jason Maxiell was the main man in Vegas for the Pistons. His 15 points/game and 52% field goal shooting really surprised a lot of people. Although Jason only averaged 3.8 rebounds/game, he blocked 9 shots during the 5 games. His performance considered by many team analysts and reporters was really exceptional. His stats proved it, so I'll have to agree. He better be ready for a nice role off the bench this year. I can't wait to see the day where there's 3 and 4, maybe even 5 guys coming off the bench for the Pistons, yes. Have fun in New York Larry!

Don't sleep on this youngster by the name of Amir Johnson. He showed glimpses of great talent during the majority of the 5 games. He averaged 8.8 points/game and shot a solid 18-26 from the field, giving him a 69% field goal shooting effort. Not bad I say, not shabby at all. I really doubt whether the Pistons will keep him on the roster, they will probably send him to the NBDL for a year and bring him back for 06/07. But that all depends what changes are made to the NBDL.

I'm not saying that Alex Acker will be on the team this next year, but he sure didn't hurt his chances in anyway. Every team needs some off the bench shooters and Acker would be just the guy to help out. Though if the Pistons sign Rose or Finley or whoever, there's not much room for Acker, but if the NBDL turns out sort of like the minor league baseball system, Acker would be a great choice for that. A guard gets hurt, bring Acker up, we know he can shoot.

If you want to see a sweet dunk by Gerald Green of the Celtics, here's the link

http://www.nba.com/media/celtics/green_dunk_320.mpg

BTW- Good job by Sean Douglass last night- and what was Trammell thinking, leaving Spurling out there after the first homer and the next hit?

Pudge Power!!

2005-07-12T12:19:00.000-05:00

Well, well, well. Maybe it wasn’t the juice after all. The artist formerly known as Pudge more than tripled his home run tally from the regular season in a little under 3 hours at the Home Run Derby. Personally I would have taken the under on a bet of 5 homers, yet Pudge astonished the crowd with 20 total homers. Of course that was less than half of the eventual winner, Bobby Abreu.

The display of power hitting by Pudge raised the eyebrows of the entire All Star crowd and many Detroit fans watching the Home Run Derby at home. What caused this sudden influx of power? We have seen it from Pudge in the past, but The artist formerly known as Pudge has shown very little power all season.

Was Pudge driven by the All Stars watching him intently, keen on ensuring his peers continued to think highly of him? Was it the electrifying atmosphere and the entire home crowd singing his tune? Has Pudge been facing Nolan Ryan and Cy Young all season? Do the Tigers need to trade Samuel to the Royals, so he can pitch to Pudge. Pudge proved he can wallop 3rd base coach pitching.

Perhaps Pudge was focusing his power all season for this very night, siphoning it deep into his bowels, so on that one night in July he could explode in a flourish of home run hitting. Or maybe he has been hitting intelligently all season, not trying to hit the ball out of Comerica Park every at bat, instead just trying to get on base…??…nah.

Ivan Rodriguez was far from a sucker bet for the All Star team. He definitely wasn’t a Fuentes style All Star, the type that was only selected because everybody else on his team was less worthy than him and the team needed a representative. The Tigers had Jeremy Bonderman and to a lesser extent Brandon Inge, that had a look in at the All Star team. Whatever it was that possessed Pudge on Monday night, I for one wouldn’t mind seeing a little bit more of it for the remainder of the season.

A Picture of Inconsistency

2005-07-08T11:18:00.000-05:00

What the heck? I finally take my rose colored glasses off to view the Tigers for the mediocre team that they are, and they roll off 3 straight. Two of those wins came against a red hot Cleveland Indians team.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Tigers are mediocre, not close the upper echelon of teams. It’s time for me and all those overly optimistic Tigers fans out there to admit, this team just isn’t good enough to make the playoffs. You take a glance at the standings and the Tigers are only 6 games out of the wild card. Take a closer look and there are 7 teams ahead of Detroit in the race. In fact, the only teams below Detroit in the wild card race are Seattle, Kansas City & Tampa Bay. Those 3 teams would not exactly be classified as illustrious company.

Teams that make the playoffs find a way to get the tying run home from third base with 0 out. Teams that make the playoffs find ways to win despite having a slumping player or two, not use the slumping player as a scapegoat for losing streaks. Teams that make the playoffs make plays when they need to, win games when they need to, and when they make it they deserve it.

For the Tigers to make the playoffs, they would need to have a better record than those 7 teams above them. That is not just improbable; it is nigh on impossible for a mediocre team. There is no doubt in my mind the Tigers have a highly talented team and there are teams in the AL with better records and less talent. Until the day when the Tigers can showcase that talent night in and night out, they will be mediocre.

Tigers fans, it is that time once again to look forward to Lions training camp, discuss prospects and discuss trades. I will still sit down most nights and watch my beloved Tigers, but with adjusted hopes. To finish with a winning record would be a step up from last year, but a step down in my expectations from the start of the year. The Tigers are 4th in the AL Central and for good reason; they are the 4th best team in the AL Central. Maybe the Tigers can do the improbable, but I won’t be holding my breath.

South

2005-07-04T21:04:00.000-05:00

The Tiger's are back! Their old tricks are reappearing and the team is heading south really quick, similar to the new show "Stella" on Comedy Central. Anyways, the Tigers failed to score any important runs today as they get outscored 15-3 to the Indians during the day/night doubleheader.

The lack of spirit and excitement can't all be put on the back of Alan Trammell. The players have to take some responsibility for their lack luster performances lately. I'm tired of hearing it's all Tram's fault, the players play and they have to perform. The last game of the Yankees series they got a tremendous pitching performance by Nate Robertson and end up losing the game. Robertson went 9 innings and gave up 1 run and has nothing to show for it(ERA lowered though). That's quite unacceptable. If you're wondering, I'm not going to elaborate in the inability to get a guy in from 3rd with 0 outs(Pudge triples to lead off 9th inning in Sundays loss to Yanks). I'd be here all night.

The Tigers have a recurring habit of making average at best pitchers look like 20 game winners. Prime examples are Davis and Wang over the last few games. Wang will probably turn out to be a pretty darn good pitcher, but he's a rookie, score some runs off of him for crying out loud! The situational hitting and lack of defense are eye popping right now. Hint, look at the National's roster. Their offense is not a high powered one, but the great situational hitting that they display is a sight to behold. They don't kick the ball around too much either and that always helps. The Nationals roster, talent wise, is definitely not too much better. But they do the little things very well and their ability to win close games is a direct result. If the Tigers want to turn it around this year and finish with 80 -85 wins, they need to wake up and make good baseball plays they haven't been making. Playoffs is out of the question right now, well duh.

This team is just too inconsistent. This team, if anything, should be 6 games over .500 instead of 6 under. If this keeps up, expect the Tigers to make more changes than expected at the deadline. I would like to see Dmitri unloaded. I really think he has worn out his welcome and I would rather have Rondell on the team. Then next year Shelton can be the first baseman and Rondell can DH. Sounds good to me.

Hopefully you didn't keep the neighborhood up by playing with fireworks all night. My neighbors definitely missed the memo.

Verlander to start

2005-07-02T15:26:00.000-05:00

Justin Verlander has received the call. After dominating Division A, and doing likewise in Division AA, Alan Trammell has decided to give Justin a chance in the big leagues. On Fox Sports Net Detroit last night Trammell insisted this was a one game trial.

Trammell exclaimed that Justin had earned the chance at a major league start and all Detroit baseball fans will be watching closely to see how Justin compares against major league hitting. Verlander is scheduled to pitch aginst the Cleveland Indians in the evening game of a double header on July 4th.

Many people, including myself, blame the often insipid play of the hitters during the course of the season for the Tigers mediocre record. This was exemplified during the horror series against the Chicago White Sox. Anybody who watched the games saw that Detroit could have and perhaps should have won the first two games.

Dmitri Young, who many point at as one of the main culprits, failing in many key situations, has sat on the bench the past two games. This decision to sit Young has been made easier with the return of Ordonez and the fantastic play of Shelton. Trammell also named Kirk Gibson as the new hitting coach, citing that he believes the hitting woes are all mental. Bruce Fields, who coaches the hitters from a more technical aspect, has been moved into the bench coach role.

Tigers get back on track

2005-07-02T09:17:00.000-05:00

The Tigers recoverd from being swept by the Chigaco White Sox, by beating the Yankees 10-2. Bonderman pitched yet another gem. But I still dont think Bondy is ready to be the #1 starter. I would be rather happy if Dombrowski went out and got a guy like Burnett or better Schmidt! I like Bonderman alot, but I dont think he has that leadership yet. Maybe in 2-3 years he will be cy young caditate, he's got the stuff for it for sure. Lets see if we can sweep the Yanks!

Note: I will be gone for two weeks begining sunday.I wont be able to post because there is no comp connection. Hopefully Alex,MSUSpartan, Nick, and Ryan will keep you informed until then.

ps. they do a better job then me.lol.

05/06

2005-06-29T21:52:00.000-05:00

Oh boy, I called the Frank Thomas homer in the 13th inning just minutes ago. No witnesses though, except the dog. Man do dogs have bad gas. Though maybe the Tigers will come back while I'm finishing this.

Heck, I'm stuck on the game now. The bases are loaded, wonderful. The White Sox just walked Nook to set up the double play with 1 out. Shelton has impressed me. I say he's the replacement for Dmitri in a year or two.

Polanco, it's up to you buddy.

Well darn, just darn, the Tigers just can't do it. Their decent, but not playoff worthy. Indians are much better, yep, I said it. White Sox are wicked, especially with Thomas hitting his dingers, along with their other reliable hitters and their very solid pitching staff. Solid is an understatement. Some team from Minnesota is also in the AL central, there not bad either. If the Tigers get 5 games over the .500 mark, then I'll start thinking playoffs, until then I'll just keep it realistic.

I was bummed after Thursday night's Game 7 of the Finals. But I'm not going to blame the refs, or blame coach Brown, or the players who played well all year. I don't blame anyone for this. I give it up to the Spurs. They played the better 12 minutes when it counted and it showed. Duncan stepped up and the team proved it's straight up the best team in the league. But barely, just a tad. I would bet that this will not be the last time these 2 teams meet in the Finals in the near future.

One stat I can't quite come to grip with is the 3-8 fg shooting from Billups. Gee, he's our 4th quarter guy! I would rather Billups have been 3-18 than 3-8. You got to shoot to score.

I will say, if Larry "I'm Stubborn" Brown coaches the Piston's next year, he's has got to develop a bench. The guys have been playing since October and there going to wear down. A 7 man rotation was ignorant on Brown's part. I'm not saying Darko deserved minutes throughout the year, but guys such as Delfino, Dupree and Arroyo are quality guys, Brown just didn't give them a chance. But, the Pistons showed how good their core guys are. 1 12 minute stretch though, that will stick with them.

However, I hope Brown the best at the Mayo clinic. I like him very much as a person and somewhat as a coach. He does know how to improve a team. He's done it everywhere he's been. But not getting the young ones good experience puts the future in doubt.

No Flip, please Laimbeer or McMillan. What has Flip really done? He had Garnett, but he could never mesh the other talented but difficult personalities together and make it work, which is really a lot of what NBA coaching is about. Brown made it work.

The draft was cool, right? Nah, unless your like me and read up on the 30 -40 players that are high schoolers or Euros. If you didn't, then god bless you, because the names you are expecting to see are not popping up. Instead Roko blah and Andray rah are being picked and you have no idea.

These highschoolers and early entry guys are receiving bad info on their draft status. I'm guessing their were at least 60 guys guaranteed to be picked in the first round by an agent or somebody and the players bought in. Nobody leaves early from college or never (HS), to be picked in the 2nd round or not get drafted at all! There are too many guys who made that mistake and will pay for it, too many to mention. But a nice living overseas earning 6 figures is not all bad. But I know they were not dreaming of playing for AC Bologna.

Boy am I glad for the 19 year old age limit. I'm optimistic the NBA will focus more on the NBDL and sort of work something out that could be like a farm system that baseball has. Definitely not each team having their own minor league team, but just being able to send a player down to the NBDL for a length of time that might not be able to crack the rotation with the big boys and then be able to bring him back up whenever they want to because they still have the rights to him. I think the NBA is moving in a positive direction and I'm a monster of a fan, so I'm pumped.

Maxiell was a safe choice. He's an effort guy who has some offense. He's nasty. He will likely end up has a more active Corliss Williamson if this guy pans out. If he totally freaks, hey, another Big Ben with more offense would be quite welcome here. I'm being optimistic.

Amir is an athlete. Well see where his game takes him. NBDL time would be great for him. Then the Pistons can have him on the roster ready to contribute in 2-3 years. Joe D is not stupid, Alex Acker must have been impressive, Joe must of wanted him to be in his possession because there will be hosts of guys being signed to summer league teams as free agents in the coming days and weeks. And of all of the masses left, Joe chose Acker.
Keep in mind,
Jawad Williams, Deng Gai, Gigli, John Gilchrist, Rawle Marshall, Chuck Hayes, Randolph Morris, Alan Anderson- there's so many others as I stated earlier, just too many.

I really feel for the guys who played four years in college like Anderson, Hayes, Williams and Marshall- the new draft rules will help guys like this starting in next years draft. Unfornately, a year too late, actually, years to late. But hey, some of these high schoolers will turn out to be sensational.

"An that's all I got to say bout that." - Forrest in Forrest Gump

DSS has a new forum!

2005-06-25T12:47:00.000-05:00

DSS and TigersTalk have parter ways, and DSS's new forum will be hosted by an up and coming site called The Sports Desk. www.thesportsdesk.com we have ur own forum covering all sports. Be sure to check it out and post! thanks.

Plus, I have a writing job once a week for Tribe talk. Its a Indians fan site, and I write the A.L central update, and say how much I hate the Tribe. Be sure to check that out also. Each issue comes out every sunday, just like a real newspaper.http//tribetalk.rr.nu/index.php? Thanks again.

Pistons down but not out

2005-06-20T14:51:00.000-05:00

Are the Pistons chances of repeating the NBA title over? I am one of the few people I know that believes the Pistons still have a chance. If the regular season stats matter at all now, the Spurs only lost 3 road games all year. Why is this game different then the other road games in San Antonio? The Pistons. I’m not saying the Pistons have more chances then the Spurs to win, because they don’t, I’m just saying they gotta shot. The Pistons have proved that they work best under the pressure, just look at game 3 of this series. Down 0-2 they needed a win, and they got one.

If the Pistons win game 6, I expect game 7 to be completely different. Home court advantage won’t matter as much because both teams will be giving it there all. Frankly, I have no idea what will happen these next two games. But I know if the Piston team shows up hungry, and wanting to prove the media wrong, they can win these games. GO PISTONS!

Jones looks to break out this season with the Lions

2005-06-18T12:52:00.000-05:00

I have been watching the Lions since Barry came to town. Since he left the Lions and retired from the NFL, the Lions have been missing the running game that made the team competitive in the 1990's. The year Barry left, I can not even remember who took over at RB. Then we went into FA and got James Stewart from Jacksonville. He was servicable but was nothing special. He got 1000 yards rushing for 3 or 4 seasons, but really did nothing for the team. He scored a few Td's and got the job done, but just was not special. I dont know if it was his fault or the teams, because we did not have much offense durring the time either. After Stewart the Lions were left with Antrose Pinner and Shaun Bryson. Again not much talent there, just servicable players on a team that did not have much offensive talent. Now the Mr. Kevin Jones. A injury early last season cost Jones to miss a few games and took over the starting job at Rb halfway through the season and ended up with 1100 yards rushing and 5 Tds. That was basically in eight games. That is pretty amazing. With more depth and the offensive line and hope to be three legit Wr who can catch a pass the running game might be our strongest part of our offense. Teams are going to have to respect the pass which will enable Jones to run free. All of this soley rests on Joey Harrington's shoulders. If he can step up and lead the team like I think he can, the Lions could have an offense like the Colts. I am not saying it will happen but they can come close if players play to potential or beyond.

I am predicting Jones will have 1800 yards rushing, 250 yards receiving and a total of 13 touchdowns. I dont think that is too much to ask for considering what he did last year as a rookie. Jones will be playing in his first Pro Bowl along with Roy Williams.

DSS unleashes new site!

2005-06-15T09:07:00.000-05:00

Detroit Sports Squad is excited to unleash sister site www.detroithookup.blogspot.com Ryan the writer of Alamo town vs. Motown is writing for that site, along with former DSS writer Johny. The site is still under construction, we are working on a new banner. But for now there will be writings. Be sure to check it out, it has amazing coverage of the finals, amazing. www.detroithookup.blogspot.com

Motown vs. Alamotown

2005-06-11T09:34:00.000-05:00

6-9-05 This article was written by Ryan, future Detroit Sports Squad writer, he should be writing once we get his account set up.

The sexy teams are now gone and the big boys remain. The Pistons want respect; the Spurs want the title back. No teams could be so different, yet be so much alike. Put your hard hats on folks, no more pretty boy basketball.

Match ups people, match ups. This series will heavily depend on players adjusting from game-to-game schemes these teams will throw at each other. Ben and Rasheed will take the task of covering the MVP type player Tim Duncan while McDyess will also have his opportunities. Rasheed’s on the ball defense is better than Ben’s, so Rasheed should see the bulk of the time on Duncan if he stays away from foul difficulties. This would allow Ben to roam the lane, which he does so well. Ben was really worn down during the Miami series; look for him to have much more energy and to get that somewhat sporadic scoring mentality back. It is vital that Ben and Rasheed stay out of foul trouble. Horry, Mohammed and Nesterovic are all solid contributors, but their athleticism is not that of the Pistons front line.

The talented backcourts of these two teams is quite similar. Parker and Ginobili will have to be contained and vice-versa for Billups and Hamilton. The Pistons should really look to post up Chauncey frequently because of the strength advantage he has on Parker, or all the other point guards in the world for that matter. However, Mr. Big Shot isn’t the quickest and that’s were Parker could wreak havoc on the defense with his superb penetration and shot making ability in the paint.

If you want to discuss shot making abilities, well, look it up in the dictionary. The definition will read, Ginobili drives past defender and flings a shot up to the rim that’s not too pretty and isn’t supposed to go in. Shot most always touches glass and is known to bounce around on the rim until finding the net while descending toward the floor. The play is usually followed by a visit to the free throw line by the shot maker. Call me crazy, but the results have shown themselves this year. Ginobili has solidified his spot as a top ten player in the league.

Ginobili is a good defender too, and he will have to prove it even more so with the match up with Rip and Tayshaun. Prince is maybe the most talented player on Detroit, but his lack of aggressiveness gets him in trouble at times. He needs to toughen up and help D up Ginobili and make him work both on sides of the ball.

It’s probable that Bruce Bowen will guard Rip the majority of the time. Bowen’s lack of offensive skills is overlooked because of his hardnosed defensive mentality. I think Rip could have a huge series though, but I shouldn’t underestimate undrafted NBA scrap players such as Bowen.

Detroit’s bench is not what it was last year. The bench this year is about two, two and a half strong. The ball hawking he displayed and hustle plays provided by Lindsey Hunter against Miami last series was a major plus. Hunter will need to make life miserable for Parker as he did against Wade. McDyess is either on or off. His offensive skills are very important for when he is matched up against the slower and older Horry down low.

Speaking of Horry, he’s a clutch playoff player. He hits big shots and is really the only big man the Spurs will play off the bench consistently. Udrih and Brown are decent spot players who can shoot. I’m not going to forget Brent Barry, he’s real key for when the double comes on Duncan or when Ginobili and Parker are dishing off. He still can flat out stroke it from three land. Obviously, the Spurs have a real advantage on Detroit with their scoring minded and more flexible bench.

If the Pistons can limit their turnovers and get Prince and Rasheed good shots throughout the game, I like the chances of Detroit at the end. Mr. Big Shot always comes through. They will also have to limit the Spurs fast break that starts with the defensive play of Parker and Ginobili. Of course eliminating games of 30+ points and 15+ rebounds from Duncan is a must too. Both teams like the somewhat slow and methodical pace and that will give the casual basketball fan all the boredom they can handle. Free throws and coaching could end up being the difference. Popovich and Brown are both quality coaches, but who will make the smarter moves?

An evenly matched heavyweight fight compares to how I think this series will end up. It may get ugly and slow in spots, guys will have to get back on their feet and suck it up, but at the end the determined will win. The question is, who wants it more?

6-9-05

Polanco to the Tigers

2005-06-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

The Tigers have been shopping around Urbina for a year plus, but finally they pulled the trigger. Dombrowski decided to aqquire 2nd baseman Placido Polanco from the Philles, for Urbina as I mentioned earlier and infeilder Ramon Martinez was thrown in. What does this deal mean? It means the managemnt doesnt want Omar Infante being the everyday guy just yet. This move also means that Dombrowski and Illitch believe the Tigers have a chance to contend this year so they are entering the buyers market, unlike last years seller market. I like this deal a lot, Polanco is having a great season with 3 homeruns, and a 3.13 batting average which is good for a 2nd basemen.

As for Urbina, the signing of Percival indicated that the Tigers didnt want him. For him to stay would have been an overload for the bullpen. I'm pretty sure they were going to trade him earlier, but then Percival got hurt they kept him untl they were sure of Percival's health. Overall this deal may put us over the top.

Must win game 5

2005-06-02T17:29:00.000-05:00

All of the hype about this match up between the Heat and the Pistons has come down to this. The winner of game 5 has the upper hand . Expect the Heat to be hott from the field tonight, but also expect the Pistons to match them. Wallace x2 will have to find a way to stop Shaq by standing behind him instead of fronting him. Fronting him would give Shaq the easy dunk. Rip is an offensive genious running off picks constantly. If he could have the same vision on defense I think he would do a great job shutting down Wade. The Pistons want to give Larry Brown one last championship even though they claim they have heard nothing about Brown leaving. The Pistons, I think will have the drive and the heartt to pull this game and series off. The media says the Brown news is a "distraction" I say it is motivation.

Notes: The Tiigers have won two straight games, all against the 1st place Rangers. Keep an eye out for the streaky Tigers.

Time to play Piston Basketball

2005-05-30T16:36:00.000-05:00

We need to get our act together and start to play Piston basketball. I am sick of Dwayne Wade and Shaq taking it to us. We need to watch film of game one and play like that again. Wade has gotten to the lame way to much on us. Where is our GREAT DEFENSE? Giving up 100 points in a game is not playing Piston basketball. We have a great team and we need to remember that and start to play like a great team again.
If we can stop Wade we will win.

Big Mike Williams says NO to ESPN

2005-05-30T09:01:00.000-05:00

This past week, ESPN asked Lions rookie WR Mike Williams if he would like to take part in a show to be aired durring training camp where Mike Williams would have a camera and be wired on and off the playing field. I believe the show is called "Hey Rookie" or something very simular. Mike Williams said no to ESPN. I first I thought this was stupid, because it would give Detroit some press. After thinking about it, it was probably a good decision on Mike's part. He would not have the pressure and camera on him at all times so he can concintrate and football and helping out the Lions. I think Mike Williams can become a heck of a player. He has been learning from one of the best the past year in Chris Carter. Chris has probably tought Mike some of the ins and outs of the game. The in and outs that take years to learn. What Mike lacks is game playing experience over the past year. Once he gets his feet wet we might have one of the best offenses in the league. If Joey gets his act together and starts throwing the ball to his WRs we can win a lot of games this season.

D. Wade=STAR

2005-05-25T22:07:00.000-05:00

I am one of the biggest Piston fans there is, but D. Wade is a human highlight reel. The man can do it all. Detroit had his number in game one, but he came right out of the blocks and made shot after shot tonight. Still, Detroit still almost came back and pulled off the win. Too bad I have to work Sunday. Maybe I will tape the game and watch it when I get back. F@^& that, I will be able to see the whole 4th quarter. Good luck Pistons. Its time to put those belts back on and stop Miami from taking a game at our home. Go Pistons.

Summer time blues

2005-05-21T17:47:00.000-05:00

First of all, I want to appologize for my long absence. I have been really busy with work and I have been out of town the greater part of the past two weeks. Time to talk sports.

With the basketball season winding down, and no Red Wing playoff hockey, after the End of June it is going to be a long summer. Yes, we have the Tigers, but they are not going to the World Series this year. They have looked good and they have looked ugly, but that is what to expect from this team. They are still a few years away from being very competitive. We need Bonderman and the rest of the staff to mature and hope that some of our young pitchers start to show some promise. What that happens look out, we will have a good team on our hands.

The Pistons take on the Miami Heat starting Monday. Can the Pistons take it to Miami and pull off, what many call an upset? I think the Pistons are too tough from top to bottom to let Miami sneek out of the East. Big Daddy is hurt and the Pistons can through too many people at him all night long. It will be a tough series but the Pistons will be back in the Finals to face Tim Duncan and the Spurs.

After another Piston Championship, we have two months or so until the Lions open the regular season. Does Joey have the will to take the Lions into the playoffs this season? I am hoping so, but he has not shown me much the past three years, so the jury is still out on that. I am hoping Big Mike Williams and Shaun Cody will fit in nicely with the team. At first I did not like the Williams pick, but if we have an offense like we did in the early 90's, that would be great to see. Looking forward to another Piston Championship and the start of the NFL Season.

Pistons vs. Heat

2005-05-21T09:06:00.000-05:00

Hey, sorry we havent posten in a while. I saw "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith" last night. Its a great movie, I advise you to see it.

The long awaited match up between the Pistons and the Heat is finally here. I seriously think the Pistons will win this series because Shaq is not 100%, and the Pistons know what it takes to win a series like this. This sereis might turn out to look like the Lakers last year. Its funny, even though the Pistons are the NBA champs, the national media still doesnt believe in them. I excpect Rip to come oout nailing J's, and Chauncey to hit the open 3. I'm going to be gone Monday-Friday this week. where I am going has no electricity so I cant keep track of the Pistons. Thats it for now, look for Alex or I to make an update next saturday. May the force be with you.

Pistons playoff hopes

2005-05-13T14:11:00.000-05:00

The pistons aren't looking so swift right now heading into game 3 with the pacers. They havn't had the same intensity to dominate other contenders to take the title. I honestly don't think the pistons will win it this year even though I am a Detroit native. Mcdyess was playing good the first couple games and looked like a weapon but he's starting to fade away coming into each game. Are defense isn't the same as it used to be either because we havn't been holding our opponents under 70 and are bench needs some serious help. I think the pistons will loose to the heat in the finals in the eastern conference.

Our future is looking bright with our young bench. I think that Darko was a good pick because if we had another player such as Carmelo or Wade, we would have to replace one of our starters and one of them would probaly not want to come off the bench because they are all so good. I would like your oppinions on the pistons. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Stay tuned for more

New Look

2005-05-02T20:08:00.000-05:00

Hi, DSS is happy to unvleal the new look! Evan over at "Fire Brand", who we are now partners with. Evan did a great job designing the layout and making a sweet banner. Thanks Evan, and check out Fire Brand. We'd like to see your opinions on our "new look", so be sure to leave comments. Good or bad?

Tigers pitching a liability

2005-04-13T18:52:00.000-05:00

After a convincing opening day win against the Royals, the Tigers have cooled off. A 3-4 record is not too good, but the Tigs have been in all of these games. The bullpen has been a problem, with Urbina getting rocked. However there are a couple of bright spots, Jason Johnson threw 6 innings with an E.RA of 0.00. Carlos Pena has developed an amazing eye, and leads MLB in walks. Dimitri Young won A.L player of the week. He hit 3 homeruns on opening day, and his hitting has cooled much since then. Pudge, Inge, and Guillen have also been very solid.

Hopefully the Tigers can pull off a couple of wins against the Twins here, then get back on winning track. Hitting has been lights out, but pitching needs to be improved if this team wants to have a chance.

East Lansing Police are to blame

2005-04-03T00:08:00.000-06:00

From three differend sorces, I hear the police are to blame for the riots of 2005. From my sorces walking home from watching the Spartans lose in the Final Four to a great North Carolina team, police started shootinng tear gas into a crowd of people. Soon after, students got upset and started to riot, like a bunch of little kids. I am not saying it is all the polices' fault but they are to blame for part of it. MSU had a bad rap before the newest riots and I wonder what will come of it in the next few weeks. I am ashamed of my school. I was a senior in HS in 1999 when we had our last real riots, small one i believe in 2003 while I was in Europe but the problem started in 1998 and continued into 1999. I am ahamed right now to be a Spartan. We got farther then we were suppost to go and lost to a better team. Why do we have to go and cause trouble because of it. It is just stupid. I hope they catch people in the act of causing harm or doing anything ilegal and supsend, sick those studends out of MSU. We dont want those people representing our school. We are better then that and know better then that. What is happening is not called for. Police, school officals and students all had a part in this. Brining back past events like the previous riots is not a good idea. It just causes tention between schhool, law enforcement and students and students get the brunt of it all. That is not fair either. It is not all the students fault, but as students they should know what is right and what is wrong is certain situations. We are the future and and we should act as adults and not a bunch of wild animals. I normally do not side with the po po but I hope they find out who did what and arest and kick these people out of Michigan State University. We had a great season and it is sad for it to come to an end. Looking forward to another good season next year. I just hope we can learn from our mistakes both in the basketball and what happend after. Go Green, Go White, Let's Go State!!!

Final Four

2005-04-02T09:53:00.000-06:00

Well the Final Four is finally apon us. UNC and Illionios were the easy picks to make it to the Final Four. Louisville was an easier pick then MSU to make it to the final two games. I would never have guessed MSU would have finally gotten their act together and start to show promise this late in the season. Yes, they had 20+ wins in the regular season, but were not looking good toward the end. They have looked really good taking down Duke and Kentucky the past two games.

1. Illionios over 4. Louisville: I would much rather see the Cardinals in the
finals then Illionios, but Illionios is a great team. Look at what they did last week against Arizona. I turned off the game, because I thought Arizona had the game won with 4 minutes to play. Louisville has what it takes to win, and could if Illionios does not make their 3's. I will be a fun game to watch either way. Illionios 76 Louisville 72. It will be a late comeback and win for Illionios.

5. MSU over 1. UNC: This has the makings to be a great game. Two fast past teams are going to do battle tonight. UNC has the ability to score at will, but MSU has the ability to wear teams down with great defense. I dont think this will be as high scoring as some of you might think. Sean May will get his points, but he might have to earn them the hard way. MSU will put a few different people on him, so they can try to wear him down. I think he will get his 20 points but he will sure have to work for it. Both teams have a lot of weapons, but UNC has a so called 5 NBA future draft picks. MSU is playing at the top of their game right now and will continue that tonight and walk away with the win. MSU 88 UNC 83

Preview: Detroit Tigers

2005-04-01T09:20:00.000-06:00

The dawning of yet another Tiger season is coming. The A.L central is getting stronger. The young players growing into stars. Hopefully this will be the case for Tigers opening day starter Jeremy Bonderman. No more waiting, this is his year to prove himself. The Tigers can't afford any injuries, especially to Maggs. Percival is going to have to be a dominant closer, unlike Urbina last year. Carlos Guillen cannot drop his game at all, last year cannot just be a fluke. And Pudge is going to need to NOT GET HURT, and be stable for this team. The Tigers need to score a lot of runs to make up for their pitching problems. If everything I said happens, this team will finish second in the A.L Central. The Twins will be too strong, and consistent. The Indians are not ready. And the White Sox have a lot of holes. Leave some comments.

And now it's off to St. Louis

2005-03-27T21:32:00.000-06:00

Happy Easter. I hope everyone had a great holiday. I want to apologize for not posting the last two days. It has been a crazy weekend of sorts, with it being Easter Weekend and MSU playing so well. I just lost track of time.

Well the Final Four is now set.

Illionios, Louisville, MSU and UNC

Who will move on to the Championship game?

I am not sure how I will be able to wait until then. It is going to be a busy week. I start my new job Tuesday........my first real job since graduation. I am a bit nervous. Then to top that off, MSU beat Duke and then Kentucky this weekend to move to the Final Four. That game tonight was just amazing. 2 OT's is exciting but also nerve racking. I was on the edge of my seat most of the game, but especially when the game was winding down and went into OT. I am glad my Spartans pulled it off. I have to say that was one of the best games I have seen in a long time.

We almost had three teams from the Big 10 in the Final Four. I was hoping for a rematch of the 2000 championship with Wisconsin, but they just came up short.

Next Saturday is going to be a long, long day. If you plan to go out to watch the game, you have to get their early, or you might not be able to get in.

More to come later in the week.

Once again, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

East Lansing should be going nuts!!!!

2005-03-25T23:57:00.000-06:00

On the banks of the Red CedarThere's a school that's known to all
Its specialty is winning
And those Spartans play good ball
Spartan Teams are never beaten
All through the game they'll fight
Fight for the only colors
Green and White
Go right through for MSU
Watch the points keep growing
Spartan Teams are bound to win,they're fighting with a vim
Rah! Rah! Rah!
See their team is wwweeeaaaaaakkkkk
We're going to win this game!
Fight! Fight! Rah, Team, Fight!Victory for MSU!

What a game tonight between MSU and Duke. I might think this because MSU beat up on Duke, but it was still a good game. Wisconsin won, UNC won and Kentucky won. I got one wrong tonight. Not too bad at all. UNC almost lost tonight. Wouldn't that have been funny. MSU is in the Elite 8 again. That is just so nice. I hope we beat the snot out of Kentucky on Sunday and return to the Final Four against maybe the best team in the country. That is if Wisconsin does not beat them on Sunday. It could be a rematch of the 2000 Championships. I hope MSU still has what it takes win win a few more games. IZZO looks like he has MSU is the right state of mind. I look forward to Easter Sunday. Have a good holiday everyone.

MSU, Utah, UNC and Wisconsin

2005-03-25T17:14:00.000-06:00

Well that is who I want to win today. I do not have time to do a long post. If only one of those teams win tonight I want it to be Michigan State.

I think they have a chance against Duke. Duke has a stronger starting 5, but MSU has much more depth. It will be an exciting game to watch.

How Sweet

2005-03-24T15:52:00.000-06:00

Well, today starts the Sweet 16 in the 2005 NCAA Men's Tournament. There are a few really good games on today. I am looking forward to the Louisville v Washington matchup. The other good game tonight should be Oklahoma State v Arizona. Who will win tonight and make it to the Elite 8. Dont be surprised if there are a few upsets the next two days.

4. Louisville over 1. Washington: I have been down on Washington ever since it got a #1 seed. They have played like a #1 seed so far, but they will run into trouble tonight against a high scoring team in Louisville. Piterno has his players ready for an Elite 8 and a Final Four apperance. Louisville will be down at half do to strong play by Washington. Louisville will pull away early in the second half and pull away with the win.

6. Texas Tech over 7. West Virginia: Bobby Knight has not been here in a long time. He knows how to win and has his players believing in themselves. Knight might be one of the best coaches in NCAA basketball history. A bit of a temper problem caused him to lose some recruits, but he knows how to coach and how to win. Texas Tech wins big.

1. Illionios over 12. Wisconsin Milwaukee: It was a nice run while it lasted, but Illionios is just way to strong overall for WM to pull off another upset. Illionios should come out of the bracket but Arizona or Oklahoma State are strong as well. Illionios wins big.

2. Oklahoma State over 3. Arizona: Might be the best game of the night or the round. Duke v MSU could be better tomorrow. It will come down to the last few possessions. Both teams have great coaches and great senior players. What team steps it up a notch will win this game. There will be many lead changes and lots of penalties. FT% will be the key to this win. Whatever team hits their FTs will win this game. Oklahoma State with the win by 3.

IU to keep Davis

2005-03-22T16:50:00.000-06:00

www.peegs.com reports that the Hoosiers have decided to keep Mike Davis for another year, its not a big suprise to me. If they would've let go Davis then a lot of there players might of considered transfering. Things should be brighter next year, with a great class coming in.

Also, Detroit Sports Squad is now partners with www.Tigerstalk.com It's a great site, with some cool forums. Go check it out.

The shoe will still fit for at least one team today

2005-03-20T12:19:00.000-06:00

The games yesterday were fun to watch. Did not get a chance to see them all, but from what I heard, they were all pretty good games. I can not believe Gonzaga lost to Texas Tech. I did not see that coming at all. Bobby Knight is a great coach and could make it to the Elite 8 with a win over West Virginia. Wisconsin Milwaukee was a good game. Lets see how much longer they will be in the tournament. Will they be this years Cinderella team. The Utah game was great to watch as well. Today the best game to watch should be Louisville v Georgia Tech. I think whoever wins that matchup comes out of the Albuquerque Region.

2. Oklahoma St. over 7. Southern Illionios: The Cowboys are a much better team, but play to their oponents ablity at times. The Cowboys are much bigger and should dominate the game. It should not be close but it probably will be. It is just the way March Madness works. Cowboys by 8

5. Georgia Tech over Louisville: The best game of the day. Both teams are fun to watch. Louisville can score at will on most teams and Georgia Tech is just a good overall team. They have it all. I see this one going down to the last few minutes and Georgia Tech just being Louisville. GT by 6

1. UNC over Iowa St: It will not be close. Look for a blowout in this one. UNC will not see much compitition until later in the tournament. UNC by 20

5. Villanova over 4. Florida: Another close game. I just can not stand Florida. I hope Villnanover takes it too them all game. Villanova by 12

6. Wisconsin over 14. Bucknell: Bucknell could win this game but Wisconsin is the better team. Bucknell with flirt with a win, but the big uglies from Wisconsin will wear down Bucknell and take the win. Wisconsin by 3

2. Uconn over 10. NC State: National Champs last year. They know what needs to be done to win. Still not do not like them going much farther but they will be able to pull off this win today. UNCONN by 10

1. Duke over 9. Mississippi State: This one will not be close. Duke played bad last game, and it will not happen again, two games in a row. Duke by 13

5. Michigan State over 13. Vermont: Vermont could win this game, but my Spartans will come out strong and will not let up. It will be close for a while, but come the second half, the Spartans will pull away with the win and face Duke to see who goes to the Elite 8.

Got to get going and watch the State and Louisville games. Be back before the next games.

Upset City

2005-03-19T09:29:00.000-06:00

My name is Matt. I went to MSU and graduated last May. I love the tournament. I think it is one of the best sporting events in America. There is always a few teams that slip by the radar and make it to either the Sweet 16 or Elite 8. Gonzaga used to be that team. Now it does not want to lose to that team. Thats what makes March Madness so fun to watch. Who will fit the glass slipper this year. We will just have to wait to find out.

Wow, lots of upsets last night. The big one being Vermont beating Syracuse in OT. It should be a MSU v Duke matchup to see who goes to the Elite 8. Duke should win, but if MSU is on their game that night, Duke can be in trouble. I can not believe Kansas lost to Bucknell as well. They had a chance to pull off a win but Bucknell took the lead with about 3 seconds to go. Kansas had a last second shot fall just short and bounched off the front of the rim.

On to the next round of games

I will just go over todays games and come back later with Sundays matchups.

1. Illionios over 9. Nevada: Illionios is a powerhouse and will not have much trouble until later in the tourmament if at all. They are just too strong overall. If Brown is on his game, Illionios is hard to beat. Ohio State showed Illionios they can be beat. Will that lose make them stronger or will it give a team like Oklahoma State some hope. I think if any team can beat Illionios before the final it would be the Cowboys. Illionios by 10

4. Boston College over 12. Wisconsin Milwaukee: This came I can see going to to Wisconsin Milwaukee. Boston College did not have much trouble with Penn, but Wisconsin Milwaukee beat a good Alabama team. Boston College is the better team and should win. If they can not control the tempo of the game, Wisconsin Milwauekee will win. I really see it going either way. My money is on Boston College. Boston College by 2. You know what, I am going to go with Wisconsin Milwaukee with the win by 1 over Boston College.

3. Arizona over 11. Alabama Birmingham: Arizona will not have a easy time with UAB. UAB has a solid defense and will force Arizona to beat them shooting longer shots. UAB has some big men that can cause matchup problems throughout the game. They have won in the Big Dance before but I think Arizona will be on their game and will not fold. Arizona by 9

1. Washington v 8. Pacific: I still do not like Washington but the Huskies will win this game. They are just a better team. After this round, I think they will be on a flight back to Washington. Pacific looked good against Pittsburgh, but will not have enough in this matchup. The worst 1. seed in this years tournament will still be around in the Sweet 16.

3. Gonzaga over 6.Texas Tech: Boddy Knights will not be enough for Texas Tech to get out of this round. Gonzaga has made a point to go far in the past few tournaments. Now that they are not a underdog, will they have what it takes to make it to the Sweet 16. Gonzaga will let Texas Tech stay in the game the first half, but will come up full force in the second and put the game away. Gonzaga by 13.

2. Wake Forest over 7. West Virginia: Wake Forest should have probably been a 1. see ahead of Washington and it will show in thi matchup against West Virginia. The ACC is a great conference and it will show tonight. Wake will keep winning until it runs into either Oklahoma State or Illionios. Wake Forest by 15.

6. Utah over 3. Oklahoma: Utah is a team that when they get on a roll they are hard to beat. Although their roll players are not as good as Oklahoma's, Oklahoma will fall apart do to poor shooting. Utah will force the Sooners to take poor shots and to put Utah on the line too much. Utah wins this close matchup by 5.

2. Kentucky over 7. Cincinnatti: This has the makings to be a really close matchup. Both teams are very good and if they win this game should make it to the regional final. I just think Kentucky is a better team and will be down the stretch of the game. Because of a few late loses Kentucky is a 2. seed. They have the team that can go to the Final Four. The Wildcats win by 6.

March Madness

2005-03-17T22:57:00.000-06:00

MSUSpartan back again: Well the first night of games is over and we had a pretty exciting first day of the tournament. Only three upsets in the first day, but we almost had a fourth with Creighton and West Virginia. Creighton was up late but fell apart towards the end of the game and West Virginia broke a tie with 2.4 seconds left and Creighton missed a last second three pointer. The other upsets tonight were UAB over LSU and Wisconsin Milwaukee over Alabama. I thought we might see a few last second shots for wins on the first day, but all we got was one. Maybe tomorrow will bring a few more. Thats what I love about March Madness. A 5 seed always seems to beat a 12 seed. We got one today, will we have another tomorrow. You will just have to watch to find out. There should be some good games again tomorrow. Here are my picks. 14-2 on day one. Only games I did not get correctly were West Virginia and Pacific.

CHICAGO REGION

10. St. Mary's over 7. Southern Ill: I do not know too much about either team. I have not seen either team play so I can not really make a good decision here. I am going to go with the upset, because I like to see upsets in the Tournament.

2. Oaklahoma St. over 15. SE Louisiana: Oklahoma State will win this game. I think they will let SE Louisiana keep it close but Oklahoma State is a great team and you will keep hearing there name throughout the Tournament. They were a Final Four team last year and they should be again this year. Illionios will have a hard time beating them in the Regional Final.

ALBUQUERQUE REGION

5. Georgia Tech over 12. George Washington: Georgia Tech is just too strong. The only reason they are a 5 seed is because of the conference they are in. They will make a long run in the tourament and upset and overrated Washington team in the third round.

4. Louisville over 13. La-Lafayatte: Louisville is one heck of a team. They have a chance to make a long run in this tourament. If they can catch Georgia Tech off guard in the second round they could be playing Wake to see who makes it to the Final Four. They have many weapons on offense and play well on Defense. I think a good team will be able to wear them down and change the pace of game. If a team can do that Louisville is in trouble.

SYRACUSE REGION

1. UNC over Oakland University: I would love to say Oakland would win. A team with a losing record beats the best team in the country. That would be just great. It will not happen. It will not even be close. UNC should be cuttting down the nets April 4.

8. Minnessota over 9. Iowa St: I am a Big Ten fan and seen my share of Big Ten games. I have seen Minnessota play 4 or 5 times and I like there game. When they get on a roll they are great. The same goes for when they are not playing well, they look ugly. I see them winning the first game and then going back home after a lose to the Tar Heals.

5. Villanova over 12. New Mexico: Well it is possible that another 12 seed wins in the first round, but not in this region. Villanover is too hungry not to win this game.

13. Ohio over 4. Florida: Being a Spartan I have to hate Florida because of the 2001 Championship. I just do not like there game either. They came on late in the season and one the SEC Championship. Ohio is out of the MAC and has played some good ball this year. I see a pretty big upset in the works and Florida will go back home and get an early sun tan.

6. Wisconsin over 11. Northern Iowa: Wisconsin is a good team. It beat MSU once and hung with Illionios a few times. They are a good team and should not have much trouble against an undersized Northern Iowa team.

3. Kansas over 14. Bucknell: Kansas is a good team. They will go far because, they are in a week bracket. Kansas and UNC are the elite teams in this region an will face each other to see who goes to the Final Four.

10. NC State over Charlotte: Another team from the ACC. So many good teams this year out of the ACC. They are better then a 10 seed and you will see this against Charlotte.

2. UCONN over 15. UCF: UCONN might have won it all last year, but they not make it out of their region. They played in a great Big East but will have a hard time against Kansas.

AUSTIN REGION

1. Duke over 16. Delaware St: Duke is an elite team and we will see them in the Final Four. They got all the skill to win it all, but should come up just short to a great UNC team.

8. Stanford over 9. Mississippi St: This is normally a flip of the coin pick. Both teams are good, but I think Stanford has what it takes to pull off the win. Both teams have been to the Dance before so they know what to expect.

5. Michigan State over 12. Old Dominion: State better be careful. They are playing a 12 seed. I hope they can shake off the past two loses and come out strong. They have a great team but always seem to play to their compitition. I think State has what it takes to go far, but they lack heart. I hope Magic can come and talk some sense into them.

4. Syracuse over 13. Vermont: Syracuse just won the Championship a few years ago. They know how to win in the Big Dance. They have the ability to go far as well. Do they have what it takes to take the next step and beat MSU or Duke. I can see MSU but not Duke. Just not ready yet.....again.

Teams to watch the rest of the tourament: Louisville, Geogia Tech and Utah. Louisville and Georgia Tech should be playing each other in the second round. Whoever wins that will beat up on Washington. Utah can surprise you. They are just fun to watch.

Be back Sat. for more insight into the tournament.

March is the best time of year

2005-03-17T18:07:00.000-06:00

MSUSpartan here:A little late but here are my picks for the Tournament. Just going to go through todays games. Before the game tomorrow I will fill out the rest of my predictions. Enjoy!!!

1. Illionios over 16. Fair. Dickinson: Its Illionios, they lost only one game all year. They are going to go far, but do not be surprised if Oklahoma State takes it to them in the Chicago Regional Final.

9. Nevada over 8. Texas: Hookem Horns will not work in this matchup. As much as I like Texas, I think Nevada will be too tough for this team who has struggled at times in the season.

12. Wisc. Milwaukee over 5. Alabama: 12 seeds do well in the tournament. I do not know why but over the years the 12 seed has won many of these matchups. They will not last too long after that.

4. Boston College over Penn: BC was unbeaten until late in the season then they sort of fell apart for a few games. They will have their act together for the Tournament....at least until they get to Illionios.

3. Arizona over 14. Utah State: Arizona will be too much for Utah State to handle and will get beat by at least 16 points. Arizona is a strong team. They will win a few games in the Tournament.

11. UAB over 6. LSU: UAB has been in the tourny before and has won. Expect them to do the same tonight against LSU. I just like UAB. Look for Arizona to put them back in there place after this win.

1. Washington over 16. Montana: No chance for any number 16 seed to beat a 1. I dont like Washington. I just do not like there game. It is boring and it stalls at times which will give them trouble in rounds two or three. They will not make it out of there bracket.

8. Pittsburgh over 9. Pacific: Pacific will not have enough in this close matchup. Either way Washington will win this next matchup. I WAS WRONG

6. Texas Tech over 11. UCLA: Bobby Knight and Texas Tech will be too much for UCLA to handle. UCLA plays in a fairly week conference and just do not have what it takes to win this matchup.

3. Gonzaga over 14. Winthrop: Gonzaga is not a sleeper team anymore. They will win two games and lose to wake forest. They win because of great coaching and clutch shooting at times. It will catch up to them against Wake forest.

10. Creighton over 7. West Virginia: D0 not know too much about either team but Creighton has faired will in the tournament in the past. Do not see them going far because they are looking at Wake Forest in the second round.

2. Wake Forest over 15. Chattanooga: Chattanooga has not shot tonight against one of the best teams in this tourmament. Wake has what it takes to go to the final four, especially in the weak region.

Well those are my picks for todays games. Sorry it is so late.

Interview: Tigers Central

2005-03-08T17:44:00.000-06:00

Detroit Sports Squad asked DTC editor in cheif Ryan Sosin a few questions. Here they are:

1. Looking at the projected line up what would you think the Tigers would finish in the A.L central?

The Tigers will be more competitive in the A.L. Central this season, but still have some questions to answer before anyone can say how high up they will finish. Things like where Higginson and White fit into the line-up, how many games will we see the bad Jason Johnson and just how happy is Urbina going to be in the closer position.

2. Who will be the break out player in 2005 for the Tigers?

Look at Craig Monroe. He’s got a good power stroke and can hit at the big league level. He’ll platoon in left field and if he gets enough at bats, could really break out.

3. Was 2004 a fluke for Carlos Guillen?

I Don’t think so. He has found a comfortable place with Detroit and the management loves him for it. In Seattle, he was in a bit of turmoil for a team that didn’t appreciate him. If he’s healthy, expect more of the same.

4. Of all the prospects, who's more likely to succeed in a Tiger uniform?

Curtis Granderson is an impressive player. He isn’t a superstar in any one area, but all five of his tools are solid.

Thanks for coming.

pistons on a role

2005-02-28T09:57:00.000-06:00

The Pistons have won 11 of their last 12, there finally getting back to that championchp team. The pistons look like there ready for the repeat everyone on the team is gelling and playing great as a team. Which one them the championchip last year. The pistons are the hottest team right now and I think not making any deals at the trade deadline was a smart move. New Orealeans is giving there team away for more cap room so they can make offseason moves. You should expect a star player or a couple of good players to lead there team next year, and they are going to get a great draft pick. They have there eye on hakim warrick of syracuse who is a great player. The pistons have competition in the east this year with miami, clevland and now the sixers aquiring chris webber and jamal mashburn, but I think the Pistons will take the #2 seed and will face shaq and d wade in the conference finals and stop shaq again by taking the eastern cofference title and going into the finals the west is unknown with great teams like the spurs, suns, mavs, and even ther kings. It's going to be an exciting playoff run and the pistons need to play the way there playing now and they'l be fine.

IU gets back on track

2005-02-13T11:25:00.000-06:00

After getting blown out last week by #1 ranked Illinois, IU had another tough task yesterday against Minnessota, learning before the game, star guard Bracey Wright couldn't play on his ankle. The home crowd proppelled IU's offense, and their defense was solid as usual. The offense never cooled off, and the Hoosiers won 71-56. led by Pat Ewing J.r, and A.J Ratliff both with 15 points. The win against Minnessota puts the Hoosiers in 4th place in the Big ten. This win is huge for IU's chances of making the NCAA tourney, a loss would've ment possibly having to win out.
The Hoosiers next task is at Ohio state on Tuesday.

Ordonez to the Tigers

2005-01-29T15:57:00.000-06:00

After losing out on almost every free agent they pursued ,they finally signed one. Magglio Ordonez is set to sign a 5 year 75 million dollar deal. Thats a lot for a 31 year old with bad knees, but there should be some sort of injury clause. According to Tigers Central.com, Tigers officials should announce this on Monday, or Tuesday. Also according to Tigers Central, the Tigers have to make room on there 40 man roster, so you could see either Thames or Logan sent to Toledo. This deal will make the Tigers an instant contender in the weak AL central.

Pistons go for Repeat

2005-01-26T09:35:00.000-06:00

The Detroit Pistons are looking for a good bench by getting Carlos Arroyo, a guard acquired from the Utah Jazz for Elden Campbell and a first round draft pick. Arroyo made his debut against Chicago last Saturday. playing 17 minutes, Arroyo had 5 point and 5 assists including a beautiful no look feed to Mcdyess. however Lindsey hunter took a big hit in playing time playing only 7 minutes. Darko Milicic is wanting a trade out of Detroit where he thinks he'll get more playing time. news flash darko YOU SUCK you wouldn't get much playing time anywhere, and complaining is just going to make you have less in Detroit. Darko got mad after the Arroyo trade because he thought it would minimize his playing time. Elden Campbell's gone after the trade a couple weeks after dropping Derrick Coleman. does he not realize he might get a decent amount because of the trade. The pistons trade to get arroyo was a smart trade because he can play, and he proved that in the Olympics by almost single handedly beating USA, with all the great players on the USA team, arroyo by far the best on Puerto Rico beats USA obviously he can play ball. the pistons trade to get Arroyo is what a championship team would do, i think there ready for a repeat.

Sports Chat

2005-01-06T09:11:00.000-06:00

Alex and Tamaz discuss sports news

Tamazzi: First topic, where is the Pistons bench?
Tamazzi: they lost Smush and Coleman
Alexscharg: Yeah Dropping Smush was a mistake but dropping Coleman was a good move. I have a source that told me that Pistons were trying to make a deal trading Smush for Frank Williams which would've been a good deal but it didn't work out.
Alexscharg: As for Derrick Coleman, I think this was a good deal due to the fact that Coleman hasn't been playing because of recent injuries. I would've liked to see the pistons trade him but this also was a good move.
Tamazzi: Frank Williamsis versatile except he cannot hit a jump shot.
Alexscharg: What about the NHL lockout?
Tamazzi: both sides, the owners and players are being way to stubborn.The players are sending fans the wrong message by not accepting a deas which would resume the season.
Tamazzi: On the other hand if the cap is made teams like the Red Wings won't be as good
Tamazzi: someone get it done
Alexscharg: I agree with you totally. I don't think the players should be keeping this away. WOuld you rather play hockey? Or argue and try to get more money and not play hockey.

Pistons starting lineup mid-season grades

2005-01-05T15:49:00.000-06:00

Last year, the pistons won the NBA championship. This year they aren't doing so well as they did last year, probaly because they don't have the same momentum and they think since they are champs and all, They don't have to wory about going to work every night.

Chauncey Billups: Chauncey is a very good player but it's about time that Larry Brown should realize that the pistons win more games when Chauncey Billups shoots more. He shouldn't be running the point guard, he should be playing shooting guard. Larry Brown doesn't want him shooting that much which is bad because I don't think Larry should try making Chauncey into something that he is not. For this year at least, Chauncey has been distributing the ball well. He has been finding the open man and taking clutch shots when he has to. However, when the pistons are loosing big and they are under pressure, Chauncey Billups takes shots that he shouldn't be taking. Overall grade:B+

Richard Hamilton: Rip is having an amazing year so far. His shot has improved ever since he had the nose surgery. I think Richard Hamilton should dish it off to Chauncey a little bit more but I still think that it is ok for Richard Hamilton to keep shooting, even when he is cold. Rip has been finding the wallaces in the post this year and the wallaces combine for over 20 points a game when the guards get assists to the post. Rip is coming to be a dangerous threat in the NBA because of the screens that he gets and he shoots the jumper. I think if Rip still has his shot in the future, he might go to the all-star game for once. Overall grade:A

Tayshaun Prince: Tayshaun Prince is a player who can dunk very well. (which he does alot!) However, I would like to see Tayshaun take some more shots here and there because the way I'm seing it, he is a good shooter who can make his shots. I know I havn't been to any practices, but he has been making his shots when I see him shoot. He is 41.3% from beyond the arc this year, which is nearly 15% better than last year. Mabye I'm wrong for some reason and Tayshaun gets lucky when he shoots but to me, he is a good, confident, shooter. Tayshaun should shoot more instead of dishing it off and being quiet. If Tayshaun takes the jays more, he might be a piston threat. Overall grade:A-

Rasheed Wallace: Sheed might be a good defensive player but no offense, I have never seen someone who misses so many shots in my life. I know he hits the clutch shots but the regular shots when he is open that are in the paint or a short jumper, the ball can't fall for him. If I were the manager right now, I would see if Rasheed plays well in the next year or two. If he doesn't play good, I would like to see them trade Sheed for a good, decent player that is Rasheeds level like Pau Gassol, or Amare Staudomire. If we can't get a good trade or we can't work something out with Sheed, I say we let him go. I'd even put McDyess in for Sheed right now the way he's playing. When McDyess comes off the bench, he averages 8.4 points a game but when he starts, he averages 15.6 points per game. Rasheed better step up in the second half of the season if Detroit even has a chance of making it to the Finals. Overall grade:C+

Ben Wallace: Ben Wallace is improving year by year. He is becoming an offensive player along with a defensive player which helps the pistons due to the fact that they can't get the offensive post game flowing. Ben Wallace hasn't shown as much defensivley as he did last year, but he sure does hustle to get back the court and make a defensive stop. However, Ben Wallace should get a little bit more practice untill he shoots to many shots. He is taking way to many shots than he shoulds be taking. I think Ben could help the pistons in long run this year going into the playoffs and he deserves some credit. Overall grade:B+

The pistons need to start winning some games or do something. Mabye they some new strategy's such as double teaming the big men down low such as a powerful man like Shaq. The pistons need their big men to step up offensivley along with big plays defensivley and their guards need to keep playing the way they are playing now if the pistons have a chance of going to the finals.

Lions Leave 2004 with Losing

2005-01-04T10:06:00.000-06:00

To Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher, giving his battered defense a chance to clinch the Titans' victory was only fair.

He declined a holding penalty that forced Detroit to fourth-and-3, and safety Donnie Nickey knocked down a pass intended for Roy Williams to preserve the Titans' 24-19 victory over the Lions on Sunday. Tennessee snapped its five-game losing streak.

The Lions trailed 24-13 after a 40-yard field goal by Gary Anderson, but nearly rallied after Detroit end James Hall knocked Billy Volek out of the game with a separated right shoulder.

Detroit pulled to 24-19 following a 17-yard TD pass from Joey Harrington to Williams with 4:06 left. Tennessee challenged the call, but the referee upheld the score, saying the ball came out after Williams crossed the goal line.

The Lions got the ball back and drove to the Tennessee 16. But Nickey broke up a pass intended for Williams with 45 seconds left to preserve the victory and improve the Titans to 2-6 at home.

Jason Hanson had a chance to redeem a missed field goal on fourth-and-3 when Titans lineman Kevin Carter was flagged for being offside. Hanson then converted a 26-yarder four plays later, making it 7-3. Harrington put Detroit up 10-7 with a 21-yard touchdown toss to Cory Schlesinger at the end of a 75-play drive in the second.

Final Score of the game-Titans 24, Lions 19

The Lions are not going to the Super Bowl this time because of their final record, 6 -10. The Lions have the tenth pick in this year's draft.