Weekend flotsam & jetsam

Carlos Pena is no longer a Tiger. My opinion? About damn time. Then I hear all the gnashing of teeth from Tiger fans about losing Pena. We're all familiar with the Pena hype. He's a left handed bat, which the Tigers lack on the bench. True, but I think the Tigers will address that, sooner than later. He has prodigious power. True as well, when he's not striking out as just a prodigious pace. He's their best fielding first baseman. That's not hard to be, considering... His potential is unlimited. Maybe 3 years ago, but that's no longer the case. Thing is, Pena's 28! At 28, a player should be hitting his prime, not just sliding by, with the Tigers still waiting on his so-called potential. Chris Shelton had passed Pena by on the depth chart, by doing of all things, actually producing!

I've had enough of Pena's loopy swing, his month long slumps, his Rob Deer-esque strikeout totals, and his annual end of the season power surge tease. From all accounts, the Tigers have as well. One dimensional first basemen who stike out 120+ times a season, put up 25 home runs, and hit .250 aren't hard to find, and you don't have to pay them 2.8 million to sit on the bench.

Could Pena come back to bite the Tigers on the ass, as did Luis Gonzalez? Sure, there's a chance. But he has an even better chance of becoming the next Rico Brogna or Mike Laga. In other words, a dime a dozen fist sacker.

The Kansas City Star is reporting that the Chiefs could send the Lions first day pick from the KC Chiefs for Joey Blue Skies? Personally, it sounds like pie in the sky. If true, Matt Millen should jump all over that offer the way he hires coaches. Quickly and impulsively. I still don't understand why a team would trade for Joey, even with a renegotiated contract, if the Lions have to release him by June 1st anyway. After watching Joey for 4 years, I don't understand trading for him, period.

The Pistons win a tight game against Indy, get handled rather easily by the Nets, and...I could care less. The games mean little. The Pistons locked up the East top seed a couple of months ago, and have been treading water for the #1 overall seed. Their lead over the Spurs and Mavs has been hovering around 2 games up for over a month. We fans are bored, and constantly looking for cracks in the armor, usually biatching about the bench. Whom have been outplaying the starters over the past few games, finally showing the depth we've been waiting to see all season. It appears that the media are bored with them, paying more attention to the Miami Heat and the race in the West. The playoffs are still a month away. They can't start soon enough.

You can take the gist of the above paragraph, and replace what I said about the Pistons with the Red Wings. Same dominant team, different league.

As for the NCAA's, they've been fun as all hell to watch, especially seeing Billy Packer twist in the wind over his "Too many mid-majors are in the NCAA's" rant. Nothing better than an crotchety old crumudgeon having to eat crow. I hope his old TV partner Al McGuire is laughing his ass off, somewhere in the ether, over Packers foot-in-mouth act. This is the time of year when McGuire is sorely missed. A dead nuts believeable college hoop color man with unimpeachable credibility, who refused to take himself seriously.

On a final note... Let's never talk of my NCAA brackets ever again.