The world has lost a legend. RIP Evel Knievel

The 70's were a fun, strange, weird, crazy decade. A big reason why passed away today.

Whenever you were home on a Saturday afternoon on the 70's, you watched ABC's Wide World of Sports. A staple of WWoS were the off beat sports and events. The sort that daredevil types would take part. Barrel jumping, cliff diving, demolition derby, rodeo, surfing, ski jumping, to name just a few.

But one daredevil who often appeared on WWoS stood above the rest. He was the Babe Ruth of daredevils.

Evel Knievel.

He always wore the red, white, and blue, did everything bigger and more dangerously, became an American icon in the process, and was the greatest daredevil of them all.

Evel Knievel was everywhere in the 70's. Movies, TV, commercials, action figures, toys, you name it, you saw Evel on it. And where you saw him him the most, was jumping his Harley on ABC's Wide World of Sports.

I still remember the famous Snake River Canyon and Wembley Stadium jumps like it was yesterday. The fact that he crashed on both of them didn't matter. Not to me, anyway. In fact, the more memorable jumps were the ones the didn't clear, such as the infamous Caesar's Palace fountain jump. They just added to the legend.

The Wembley Stadium crash

The successful jump at the LA Coliseum

The world became that much less cool with the death of Evel Knievel. This child of the 70's will miss him.

A tale of two Isiah's

As I was flipping around the tube last night, after cutaways in the Sprint Cowboys-Packers coverage, and commercial breaks in the NBC comedies, I'd watch the rapidly spiraling out of control score in the Celtics-Knicks (I can't call it a game) farce.

The Knicks literally gave up on the game, let the Celtics run roughshod, and run up the score. It ended 104-59, and the fiasco was not nearly as close as the score indicated. Seriously. It was that bad.

It's an embarrassment for the entire New York organization, especially Isiah Thomas.

It's sad to see a Pistons great like Thomas sink so low. From sexual harassment suits, to running his team into the ground as GM and coach, Thomas has been a colossal failure in New York.

This Isiah is universally loved...

While this Isiah is universally despised.

The Pistons fan inside me is torn.

I'm thrilled to see a New York team fall into the abyss. A team that should be a force in the eastern conference is instead a joke, and is one less team for today's Pistons to worry about. But I also remember Isiah's glory days in Detroit, the force of nature that lead the Bad Boys to consecutive NBA titles. Isiah Thomas was the best "Little" basketball player I ever saw.

So I'll always have a very soft spot for Thomas, as I think back to those crazy days in the Silverdome, sitting in the nosebleed cheap seats, my friends and I screaming for Isiah to lead the Pistons to another win.

That's as a fan of the Pistons. If I'm a fan of the New York Knicks? I'm cursing the day that braindead GM and coach was ever born, and treating him the same way we in the D treat our own braindead GM, Matt Millen. With malice, while continually asking why wasn't this dumb ass shit canned years ago?

Fire Millen = Fire Isiah.

It's amazing how the reputation of Thomas has done a 180 in the last 15 years. From being known as a winner at all costs, an all-world point guard, a personality every NBA team would have loved to have been associated with, to a man who is desperately coaching out the string in what has to be his final NBA job.

After screwing over 3 NBA franchises since he left Detroit, no competently run, or even incompetently run, NBA team would come within miles of Isiah Thomas, let alone hire him. His name is poison in NBA circles. He's done, as Thomas is all but fired in the Big Apple.

When Bill Davidson and Thomas had their falling out, and Isiah became persona non grata at the Palace, otherwise known as "The arena Isiah built," most of us believed that rift would hurt the Pistons' future. Who knew that Davidson was unleashing the devil incarnate upon the rest of the NBA?

As Pistons fans, we should thank our lucky stars every day that Davidson correctly realized what holy Hell the retired as a player Thomas would become. Not many teams would have had a quality person and GM like Joe Dumars as a fall back plan.

So here's to Isiah Thomas. A great Piston, and a front office bozo everywhere else. Better them, than us.

THE GAMBLER SIGNED! THE GAMBLER SIGNED!

Much like this man's excitement over getting his name in PRINT, the news that Kenny Rogers signed with the Tigers caused me to react in similar fashion...



Yes, I was as happy as Navin R. Johnson was when the new phone books arrived.

Navin was thrilled about The Gambler signing with Detroit,
once it was explained that Rogers does not hate cans!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Kenny Rogers should retire a Detroit Tiger. I'm thrilled he's happy, (Hopefully) healthy, and will be on the mound for Detroit. The fact that The Gambler fills a big hole in the starting rotation, at a reasonable price? Well, that makes me quite happy too. Things are going to start happening for the Tigers now...

With the Kenny Rogers signing out of the way, Dave Dombrowski can concentrate in finding a gangbusters, kick-ass, set-up man for the bullpen. Actually, that arm doesn't have to be gangbusters and kick-ass. Good will do just fine.

Above the Fold - I got DIBS

Id like to have dibs on lots of things, like beer and women. I got dibs on the good Canadian beer, or I got dibs on cute blond in the corner. But life isn't that easy. I have Bud in the fridge, I haven't met a cute blond in ages, and I'm not talking about that sort of dibs.

Today, I'm talking about DIBS, otherwise known as Chris McCosky's worst nightmare, and better known as Detroit Independent Baseball Scribes. In other words, it's the Detroit Tigers bloggers! Membership is quite exclusive, and here's the DIBS members who know the secret handshake, and voted for the awards. (Apologies to Sam, as I totally stole her idea for today's link dump!)

Bless You Boys - Ian's given fresh life to the SBN Tigers weblog, making it a daily must read for Tigers fans, at, sad to say, the sacrifice of that sports blog with the slightly gay name.

The Daily Fungo - Mike and crew also crank out the highly entertaining The Detroit Tigers Podcast. Mike even let me appear on the podcast once, I have no idea what got into them... I have to say that Mike is way smarter than most of us, as he knows enough to live where it's sunny and warm 365/24/7/.

The Detroit Tigers Weblog - The Grandpappy of the Tigers blogs, Bill has been blogging Tigers news daily since the Eisenhower administration.

The Fanhouse - Hey, you absolutely got to have the //ahem// mainstream bloggers involved, it makes DIBS that much more scary to McCosky.

From the Copa - I know things have been quiet there, as Rock & Rye was recently married. I'm sure he has better thing to do //wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more// than those of us who blog in our pajamas.

The Grandy Report - Deaner's blog is about all things Grady Sizemo...Uh, I mean all things Curtis Granderson. I always get those names confused...

The Leelanau Sports Guy - The Sports Pig is not just loyal to the Tigers, but is also the biggest fan of the Traverse City Beach Bums!

Mack Avenue Tigers - Kurt is a legitimate journalist, a troll ex-pat living amongst the Yoopers, and the anti-Chris McCosky. With the Tigers inking Kenny Rogers today, I'm sure he'd also like the Tigers to remember, "IT"S NOT THE 90's!"

Motown Sports Revival - The mortal enemy of Ann Arbor News columnist, and Wolverines mouthpiece, Jim Carty. That makes him aces in my book!

Roar of the Tigers - MVN parter in crime with sister blog Take 75 North, Sam is the Tigers' blogosphere poet laureate, king queen, and court jester of the photoshops, and...OMG...A chick!

Take 75 North - Want to know who's who, and who's that in the Tigers farm system? Just Take 75 North.

Tiger Blog - Want to learn more Tiger history? Read Brian's fascinating 1935 and 1984 Tigers running diaries!

Tiger Tales - The Tigers' blogosphere resident saber. When it comes to crunching numbers, Lee can out Bill James Bill James...

Where Have You Gone, Johnny Grub/Out of Bounds - Eno, the Mitch Albom of the Detroit blogosphere. Not like the annoying, sappy, sentimental, holier than thou sellout Albom of today, but the interesting and funny Albom who disappeared over 10 years ago. Hmmm....

Last and least, yours truly...

The main reason for the existence of DIBS, other than to scare certain fishwrap writers, is to honor Detroit Tigers players in 3 categories.

Tiger Player of the Year, Tiger Pitcher of the Year, and Breakout Player of the Year.

Player and pitcher of the year are pretty self explanatory, and breakout player doesn't necessarily have to a rookie, but a player that made the leap to the next level.

Voting took place last month, and yesterday the winners were announced.

Your Tiger Player of the year was a no-brainer, at least in my mind.

Maggio Ordonez

Placing 2nd was Curtis Granderson, and 3rd was Placido Polanco.

Tiger Pitcher of the Year was also an easy, easy pick.

Justin Verlander

2nd was The Rollercoaster, Todd Jones, and 3rd went to the surprising Bobby Seay.

Last, but not least, your Breakout Player of the Year is...

Curtis Granderson

Placing 2nd was Ryan Raburn, and 3rd was Jair Jurrjens.

In regards to my policy of full voting disclosure, here's my DIBS balloting...

Player of the Year
1. Magglio Ordonez
2. Curtis Granderson
3. Justin Verlander

This was the easiest of all the ballots, as Ordonez had an AL MVP caliber season, and would have won in most any other year, save for the unreal numbers that the New York pretty boy put up in 2007. If Gary Sheffield had stayed healthy, I would have considered him, as he was marvelous from May thru July.

As for the seasons of Granderson and Polanco, they would have won player of the year for most teams in baseball, but Ordonez had just an amazing, career defining, season. Personally, I voted Verlander 3rd, as he carried the starting staff for most of the season, and the most electrifying performance of the year was Verlander's June no-hitter. I just had to give him the love.

Pitcher of the Year
1. Justin Verlander
2, Todd Jones
3, Bobby Seay

As you can see, my ballot matched with the overall voting, as brilliant minds think alike. Picking Verlander in this category was just as easy of a decision as making Ordonez for Tiger Player of the Year. Jones was the only other pitcher really worth mentioning, which says it all in regard to the injuries and ineffectiveness that plagued the Tigers pitching in 2007.

I have to say, coming up with a 3rd pitcher took quite some thought, and I'm still not sure Seay was a deserving pick, but he did have the best overall stats of all the relief pitchers. To be honest, rather than vote for the LOOGY, I could just as easily left #3 blank. I think that sums up the Tigers' season in a nutshell. There was no considering pitchers like Bonderman, The Gambler, Zumaya, Rodney. No usual suspects, thus no division title.

Breakout Player of the Year
1. Curtis Granderson
2. Jair Jurrjens
3. Bobby Seay

This was another very hard category to come up with other deserving candidates, other than Granderson. With Granderson making the leap from good to great, he got my vote.

When Jurrjens was on, which he was for several starts before his shoulder injury, he was the Tigers 2nd best starter in September. Again, that sums up the Tigers unsuccessful bid to defend their AL pennant. He'll be missed. I picked Seay over Raburn, as the LOOGY took the next step as well, from career minor leaguer, a 4A player, to a valuable major league situational reliever.
All things being said, Seay had a very nice season.

To read the press release of the DIBS awards, head over to The Detroit Tigers Weblog or Mack Avenue Tigers for the details.

That's "Above the Fold" for Friday, 11-30-07!

How I'm watching tonight's BIG game

Not better than 30 Rock, but it's better than nothing. Hey, I'll strain my eyes to watch Packers-Cowboys....

There's a big football game tonight! But thanks to a corporate Mexican standoff, only 5 people can watch

The 4 letter has been babbling non-stop today about Cowboys-Packers. Same with the interwebs. Yet thanks to the pissing match between two insanely rich and profitable entities, the only way I can see even bits and pieces of the big game is by watching those bits and pieces over the 1 1/2" x 2" screen on my nifty Samsung phone generously given to me by Sprint (Gotta get the occasional plug in, you know?), or the same feed on NFL.com.

Again, that feed is not the game itself, but just "Look-ins" and key plays inside the 20, hosted by NFL approved talking heads.

This is just more typical corporate bullshit, with the fan is getting the ass end of the deal.

As a fan, I've been bent over by the cable cartel, the NFL, and the Big 10 all damn football season, and there's no end in sight. We continue to be abused by money grubbing companies who refuse to answer to the wants and needs of their customers, but only to their money grubbing stockholders.

There's no sign of the bitter battles to get the NFL Network and the Big 10 Network on basic cable ending anytime soon, let alone to get those networks on some cable providers, period. I'm stuck with Charter Communications, who stubbornly refuses to carry either channel, pissing me off to no end. But hey, I get the NHL Network! Small consolation...

I'm getting sick and tired of tilting at football windmills. I call, I email, I vent on TWFE, and where has it gotten me? Still shelling out too much God damn money for networks I don't watch. Yet I'm unable to watch what could be the game of the year, as multi-million (Billion?) dollar corporations piss all over fans, rolling around in the cash we fork over every month.

The stalemates between rich ass corporations will continue into basketball season, then into NEXT football season, etc, etc, etc...

I'm tired of writing about it, and I bet you readers, most of you who are going through the same BS, are tired of reading about it. But if we stop bitching and moaning, we'll continue to be treated like meek imbeciles willing to take it in the ass end, then take some more.

I refuse to say to cable, the NFL, and the Big 10, "Thank you sir! May I have another?"



I have my own piss ant bully pulpit, and I'm going to use it!

So if someone is reading from the cable cartel, the NFL, the Big 10, and any other corporate entity that thinks they can take advantage of the fans, because we're FANS, here's a big FUCK YOU!

I'm not going anywhere! I'll continue to be a pain in your fucking asses till you actually listen to the people who pay for your corporate jets, corner offices, 10 martini lunches, and golden parachutes.

The sports fans.

Answering the Detroit Tigers' "Burning questions" - Pre winter meetings edition

Yesterday, I made a plaintive plea to Lynn Henning, asking when we'll see more of his Detroit Tigers burning questions. Lynn must be a reader of TWFE, as what do I see in today's Detroit News? "Burning questions!"

With the winter meetings just around the proverbial corner, the Tigers have a few roster holes to address. Topics covered this afternoon include the status of Kenny Rogers, Carlos Silva, the market for Johan Santana, candidates to be the fifth starter, bullpen arms, Joel Zumaya, and the Tigers aging 25 man roster.

What to make of the Tigers and their offseason business a few days ahead of the winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn.:

Q: Why is it taking so long for the Tigers and Kenny Rogers to hammer out a deal?

Henning: Imagine you have dismissed your agent and now are representing yourself in contract discussions worth $8 million or so for one year. How careful are you going to be in nailing down the numbers and legal language?

Big Al: I guess The Gambler was serious when he told the Tigers he needed time to get up to speed in negotiating contracts. As Rogers appears to be Detroit's Plan A, B, and most likely C, to plug one of the two holes in the starting rotation, Dave Dombrowski is willing to wait.

Or Rogers is just being lazy. You never know.

Q: Is it possible the Tigers would have preferred dealing with Rogers' former agent, Scott Boras?

Henning: That might not be as funny as it sounds. But the guess is, no -- decidedly no.

Big Al: Are you serious? Wouldn't you rather deal with a slick and slimy agent who would sell his own soul to the devil in order to make an extra 100 grand on a contract? Actually, I'm joking. Boras sold his soul long, long ago.

Yes, the Tigers have a good working relationship with Noras, thanks to past free agent dealings. But he would have wrangled every last single penny possible in a contract for Rogers. Not necessarily from the Tigers, though Rogers has continued to express that Detroit was the only team with whom he wanted to sign. Boras is all about the money, while Rogers wants a fair salary, and more importantly, a comfortable atmosphere. Thus, Rogers canned the super agent.

I'm sure the Tigers brass breathed a big sigh of relief when they heard the news that Rogers gave Boras the ziggy. That meant that they were 99% sure that The Gambler would return, and that he wouldn't cost as much. The Tigers got the best of both worlds.

Q: What happens if the Tigers and Rogers decide they can't make a deal?

Henning: The agents for Carlos Silva will be receiving another phone call from Detroit. The Tigers must get an established starter. Silva would require a longer and more expensive contract than they'd like to consider, but options aren't going to be plentiful if Rogers goes away.

Big Al: I seriously doubt that will happen, but if it does, Silva is the logical fall back signing. Even if he is the best of a very lame free agent pitching class.

As Rogers would likely get a 1 year, 8-10 million dollar deal, and the throughly average Silva will get Gil Meche money (5 years, 55 million), I can understand why the Tigers would rather exhaust EVERY option with Rogers first, before moving on the more expensive, yet not as good, Silva.

If not Silva? Then the Tigers are pretty much screwed. The free agents pitching is that thin.

Q: Why don't the Tigers get involved in the trade bidding for Twins ace Johan Santana?

Henning: The Twins would want Cameron Maybin and/or Rick Porcello, as well as Nate Robertson, Ryan Raburn and a hotshot prospect such as shortstop Danny Worth. And then the Tigers would need to sign Santana to a six-year extension in the neighborhood of $125 million. So, that's why Santana figures to be traded to one of the New York teams.

Big Al: I'm sure the Tigers did their due diligence in regard to acquiring Santana, and from all reports, they have, but do you really think the Twins would trade Santana within the division? For that matter, that the Tigers would want to give up the very high level and number of prospects needed to acquire Santana, especially within the division? Or give Santana a Barry Zito sized contract extension?

Me neither.

Q: While everyone is focused on Rogers, who figures to be the fifth starter in manager Jim Leyland's rotation?

Henning: Andrew Miller. You can expect that Miller will be sharp during spring training and convince everyone he's ready to go north. If he doesn't work out, the Tigers always can plug Chad Durbin back in, or go with Yorman Bazardo. But Miller should be ready.

Big Al: The fifth starter is going to be Jair Jurrj...Oh yeah, he's with the Braves now. It's going to be Carlos Silv...I forgot that the Tigers aren't going to shell out for TWO free agent starters. Virgil Vasqu...He's not ready. Jotdan Tat...He's not ready either. Yorman Bazar...No. Chad Durb...He's perfect for long relief. Zach Mine...He's going to be a bullpen fixture. Rick Porcel...Get real, he's 3 years away.

That leaves us with...Andrew Miller? Yep, Andrew Miller. The Tigers will give him every chance, and then some, to win a spot in the opening day rotation. He's got the talent, he's shown flashes of that talent, he just needs the consistentcy. Don't forget, Jim Leyland will take talent over experience every single time, and Miller is unquestionably talented. The most talented pitcher in the minor league system, than possibly Porcello.

So yeah, in my long winded way, I agree with Henning. Miller is the fifth starter coming out of spring training.

Q: What will the Tigers do about their bullpen between now and spring training?

Henning: Add another arm. It will not be a billboard reliever, but general manager Dave Dombrowski will find someone who can throw strikes and, here and there, chew up an inning late in a game.

Big Al: If you go by published reports, the Tigers know they need another bullpen arm, and are quite interested in signing LaTroy Hawkins to be that arm.

There is also the Octavio Dotel rumors floating around, and with the winter meetings starting shortly, I'm sure other names will pop up in contract discussions. At least these rumblings tell us that the Tigers are aware that the Joel Zumaya injury has left them short handed in the pen, and they intend to sign someone to help pitch in the 7th and 8th innings.

Q: Are the Tigers banking too much on closer Todd Jones?

Henning: They're pushing the wall, no question.

Jones will not be any less hitable as he turns 40. The Tigers are convinced Jones will be as effective as he was in 2007. That's a reasonable bet. But for any player 40 or older, it's wise to consider the facts of baseball life.

Big Al: Considering the huge amounts of money and years that were being thrown at closers like Rivera and Cordero, I think the Tigers took a calculated risk in re-upping with the Rollercoaster for 1 year. That buys them time to see if Zumaya recovers from his shoulder injury, which will determine if the Tigers will have to find a free agent closer for 2009. Basically, Jones allows them to tread water for a year, then see where things stand.

And as Henning says, it's not as if Jones will become any less hittable. As long as he throws strikes, and has a good defense behind him (Which the Tigers have upgraded, by the way), the Tigers can survive with the smoke and mirrors closer that is Jones for another season. But this is it for Jones, the last year! As a blogger, I'm putting my foot down!

Q: Will Joel Zumaya make it back?

Henning: One thing to consider about Zumaya: Doctors said last spring, after he tore his tendon in his right middle finger that Zumaya would be out three or 3-4 months but should recover fully. He was out 3½ months and within a few weeks was back touching high 90s on the radar gun. They have said in the aftermath of Zumaya's shoulder injury that he should make it back by midseason and be at full strength. As wary as anyone should be about a shoulder injury as serious as Zumaya's, I'd go with the doctors' evaluation ahead of anyone else's.

Big Al: Your guess is as good as mine. For a pitcher, the injury was damn near catastrophic. If he does make it back in July, great! But the Tigers can't act as if his return is a sure thing. Even if the doctors are encouraged, as they claim to be.

So what if Zumaya came back fully healthy from the finger tendon tear? We're talking about his shoulder, and a surgery that few, if any, pitchers have had to recover from. I'm sure Zumaya and the Tigers will do everything humanly possible to ensure his recovery. But the body is a funny thing, and no one can say for sure if he'll be the same pitcher he was before the injury. My fingers are crossed.

Q: Aren't the Tigers getting old? Is there a barren period ahead for a team that needs to win next season, or 2009, at the latest?

Henning: Think back to 2004. Where were Zumaya, Justin Verlander, Curtis Granderson and Miller? By 2006, three of them were helping the Tigers to a World Series. It will depend three years from now on the status of the pitching. Porcello, barring injury, should be about where Verlander is now. There are other promising arms in the system.

Middle infielders will have arrived to replace Edgar Renteria and Placido Polanco. Worth is a good bet to succeed Renteria, and Scott Sizemore might be at second base, with Cale Iorg at third. Maybin and presumably Granderson will be in the outfield. It's not always wise to look past the horizon. Some things can't yet be seen.

Big Al: Is this Kurt of Mack Avenue Tigers instead of Henning? "It's not the 90's!" That line still cracks me up...

I'm somewhat concerned about the advancing age of several Tigers. Pudge, Jones, Rogers (If signed), Ordonez, Sheffield, Guillen, Renteria, Placidome, they are all over 30. Some are definitely on the down side, //cough//Pudge//cough// or an injury risk. //cough//Sheff and The Gambler//cough//

But others are coming off of career years (Maggs, Placidome), have been accommodated to allow them to keep producing at a high level (Guillen), and others have remained effective as ever (Renteria, Jones). To quote Kurt again, "They’ll be good. If they stay healthy." The Tigers older players are still good, they just can't get hurt. It's a gamble the Tigers are willing to take.

Henning is correct in his observations that the Tigers are regularly producing good young players again, for the first time in a quarter century. They are getting older, but the Tigers' pipeline is beginning to produce capable replacements. Dave Dombrowski and the Tigers are running the team correctly. By drafting well, keeping and nuturing along the best prospects, trading off surplus young players to fill roster holes, while investing in the right free agents, has made Detroit a contender, and a model for other franchises to follow.

They are aging, and may not win the World Series this year, but I don't think we'll see another decade of abominable baseball either.

Above the Fold - Not many Miles to go

Now that the anti-Kirk Ferentz hysteria has finally subsided, Wolverines fans have been not all that patiently waiting for the next coaching search rumor. They've been anxiously watching for incoming and outgoing flights from Willow Run Airport, devouring message board postings, blogging and commenting like crazy, and making internet pests of themselves in general.

They've been waiting for the other shoe to drop in the Wolverine coaching search, so to speak. Well, the that other shoe Michigan fans have been waiting to drop, dropped. And it's not a rumor.

LSU announced that Michigan had been given permission to contact Les Miles about the Wolverines' open head coach position once they have played in the SEC title game this weekend.

The Wolverines' A2 fishwrap mouthpiece, the A2 News' Jim Carty, has an article about the announcement that is closer to a cut and paste job from AP wire copy than anything else.

The University of Michigan's search for a new football coach took its first significant step forward Wednesday night, as athletic director Bill Martin asked for, and received, permission to talk to Louisiana State coach and former Wolverine player and assistant Les Miles about succeeding the retired Lloyd Carr.

LSU senior associate athletic director Herb Vincent told the New Orleans Times-Picayune and other media outlets that permission had been granted and Martin had agreed to wait until after Saturday's Southeastern Conference title game between the Tigers and Tennessee before talking to Miles.

The rest of the article is just biographical stuff about Miles that is easy to find, and already well known. That he's a Michigan grad, coached under Bo, blah, blah, blah... You'd think the A2 News would have something a little more opinionated.

At the Detroit News, Angelique Chengelis goes more in depth, touching on the money issues that could cause a hiccup in the Michigan - Les Miles negotiations. LSU is prepared to open the checkbook in order to keep Miles, while Michigan is known to be, for lack of better words, cheap ass sons of bitches, when it comes to paying their coaches.

Miles earns roughly $1.8 million annually at LSU and apparently, Bertman is ready and willing to increase that salary if that's what it takes.

"I won't even visit with Les, and I don't even want to visit with him until after the game," Bertman said. "Les is straight-on focused on this game, and that is exactly what he should be doing.

"Everybody here knows we're going to put the pen to paper and put some numbers down. I have spoken to Les' agent and the chancellor of the university and the chancellor said he wants Les to stay. We will meet with his agent as soon as possible. They will come back late on Saturday, my guess is he'll have want to look at film on Sunday and unlike most Mondays, he's going to let his players go, so that's the time to do it."

LSU is may not give up Miles without a checkbook fight. At least Michigan AD Bill Martin knows that the era of their being cheap ass sons of bitches is over when he's quoted as saying...

"There's no question that we at Michigan haven't paid those top salaries -- we all know that," Martin said. "And that would be a culture change for us. I'm not opposed to it, though."

Terry Foster thinks Miles will be the new Wolverines coach, money issues and ultra-conservative, stick in the mud, old school Blues, be damned.

This one is going to be quick.

University of Michigan Athletic Director Bill Martin wants LSU coach Les Miles. And Les Miles wants Michigan. It is a match that appears to be made in heaven.

My guess is Michigan talks to Miles early next week and they hold a press conference to announce Miles as head coach later in the week. This could be a case of bam, lets get it done.

For those that find financial numbers fascinating, the News' investigative reporter extraordinaire, Fred Gerard, has obtained copies of the contracts of the Michigan coaching candidates. The links to the PDF files are located in the right sidebar. Your tax dollars are giving these guys big time money for coaching a game.

The Freep posts an article from Gannet Newspapers' LSU beat writer, Glenn Guilbeau, that touches heavily on the money situation.

Bertman did not say if LSU was prepared to offer in the $3.5 million range in a new contract, but he did say they were ready to significantly increase Miles' package.
“We met with his agent, but nothing was done,” Bertman said. “We basically agreed to meet again next week.”

Carr was making in the $1.4 million range at Michigan. Martin has said in published reports that he may go into the $3 million-a-year range for a new coach. Renovations are also coming soon to Michigan Stadium and the school just broke ground on a new $28 million indoor practice facility.

“I feel like we have to show Les that we want him to stay,” Bertman said. “We have to come up with innovative and creative ways within the system that would allow us to max out his contract. I think Les wants to stay.”

What I found interesting was the differing headlines used by the Detroit and Louisiana newspapers for the same article...

Freep: LSU AD: 'We'll do pretty much whatever is necessary to keep Les'

Gannet's Monroe, LA News Star: LSU's Bertman on Miles: ' I think Les wants to stay'

LSU is going to go down swinging in the battle for Miles, if you believe the Louisiana papers.

On the interwebs, the blogs have been buzzing. MGoBlog, which firmly has their finger on the pulse of both the Michigan athletic department, and the school fanbase, says that when news of this sort become public, it's "A strong indication Miles is a done deal." But there is other factors at work, the old Blues may attempt to throw a money wrench into the negotiations.

A significant number of people have sent in the same story: there is an old guard at Michigan strongly opposed to Miles' candidacy, while younger folk, big money donors, and those not as closely connected to the current regime support it.

Brian is of the opinion that despite the old guard digging in their heels, Miles will be named the new Wolverines head coach next week. I tend to agree...

A Michigan blog I recently discovered during my trolling for coaching news, Shooting Blue, thinks the money involved may be a bigger roadblock than most seem to believe.

Despite the title of this post, due to the monetary issues, I think this one might be far from over.

The interesting part of all this will be who will end up paying the buyout clause in Miles contract at LSU. Michigan refused to pay the buyout clause in John Beilein's contract when he came to Michigan from West Virginia. It's early in the game, but I doubt we'll be hearing a similar proclamation from Bill Martin this time.

That 1.25 million dollar buyout clause in Miles' LSU deal looms large. But Michigan has more deep-pocketed, big moneyed boosters than you can shake a stick at, so something will be worked out. Sure, when John Beilein has hired to take over Wolvernes hoops, he had to arrange payment of his WVU buyout on his own. But there is a HUGE difference between how the boosters feel about U of M basketball, compared to the football program. At Michigan, football is king, while hoops is the court jester.

Michigan Sports Center believes the Miles-Michigan dance has been going on for a while. They needed to see if the interest was mutual before anything was leaked.

The latest buzz is that an interview with Miles could happen as early as Sunday, and then if things go well, Miles could be the new head coach by early next week. I imagine Michigan has indirectly contacted Les Miles already and has found out that he is interested, so now the process is becoming official.

I'm sure there were behind closed door shenanigans that we'll never, ever hear about.

Gorilla Crouch still has reservations about Miles' coaching ability, with the LSU choke job in losing their chance at a national tile still fresh in his mind...

I thought he’d have a good shot at leading Michigan to a BCS Championship game within 3-5 years but I must admit to now having some doubts. His two losses were to SEC featherweights who went a combined 5-9 in the SEC, outside of their victory over the Bayou Bengals.

Sure, Arkansas was good in the same way Penn State was good this season, going .500 in conference and sweeping their non-conference platter of cupcakes [North Texas, Chattanooga, Florida International and Troy]. The Razorbacks were so good that Houston Nutt promptly left to coach at Ole Miss.

Those losses are the reason some factions of LSU's fanbase won't mourn the loss of Les Miles. Just as those sort of losses are why much of Michigan's fanbase is just fine with the retirement of Lloyd Carr. College football fans are the same everywhere...

That's "Above the Fold" for Thursday, 11-29-07!

HOW?

As I watch the Pistons throttle the Cavaliers tonight (Detroit is up 24 in the 4th quarter as I write this), only one word comes to mind.

HOW?

As in HOW IN THE LIVING HELL did the Pistons lose to that bunch of stiffs (+ LeBron) in the playoffs? Anyone got an answer? Detroit should have wiped the floor with them.

"Woulda, coulda, shoulda" is what history will carve on the Pistons' 2006-07 headstone.

The 2009 NCAA Final Four logo has been unveiled...

and it's...A BURNING TIRE?


As Detroit is the host for the '09 Final Four, with it being played at Ford Field, I'm not sure if the logo of a tire in flames is fitting, or if the city should be insulted.

And just what is the reasoning behind a burning tire representing a Detroit based Final Four?

“You know, I have no idea,” said (Bill) Ryan, the executive director of the Detroit Local Organizing Committee, “ … so I will tell you that it means we’re one of the hottest sports towns in the country.”

Uh, if you want to believe that, you go right ahead...

We can finally call the Lions 2007 draft a success!

The Lions' season is saved! Mr. Irrelevant, the last pick in the last round of the NFL draft, Lions practice squadder, Ramzee Robinson, for the second time this season, has been promoted to the 53 man roster!

Ramzee will be the glue that hold the Lions' defensive backfield together! I feel soooo much better about the Lions' playoff chances now! YES! Playoffs, here we come! I just FEEEEEL it!

Matt Millen, you are a personnel SUPER GENIUS! Mel Kiper has nothing on you! Finding a 7th round diamond in the rough is...is...Well, it was...Hell, I'll just tell it as it is, Millen was damn lucky.

Of course, there is the fact that one time starting cornerback Stanley Wilson is now out for the season, as he was placed on IR this afternoon, weakens an already bad secondary. That's the only reason for Ramzee's promotion, the Lions needed a healthy defensive back. Otherwise he'd still be hanging on to his NFL dream by a thin practice squad string. And yes, I'm aware that the Robinson was active for a game a month ago, and didn't do a damn thing.

I tried to find an action shot of Ramzee as a Lion,
but the closest I could find was him just sort of standing around.
That says it all.

And...To be honest, Ramzee isn't all that good. He was cut at the end of training camp. No other team was interested, so the Lions figured waste not, want not, in regard to a draft pick, and added him to the practice squad. Robinson is the 53rd man on the roster, and the odds are he'll only play on special teams. If he sees significant time in the defensive backfield Sunday, the Lions are screwed. Totally. Even if he's playing against the worst QB in the NFL, Minny's Tavaris Jackson.

And we all know Millen is as much of a super genius as Rob Parker.

Ah, Hell. This is a nothing move for a struggling team...

I think I let my dreams of a Detroit Lions playoff berth get the best of me. Why don't we just forget this post ever happened, OK?

Can we put the Big 10 - ACC "Challenge" out to pasture?

When the Big 10-ACC Challenge rolls around every fall, the following film comes to mind.



In case you need a frame of reference...

Godzilla = ACC
Bambi = Big 10

I'm as big of a Big 10 apologist as anyone, you all know I'm an unabashed Big 10 fan. But even I can see that the ACC outclasses, out plays, out talents, out coaches, and is just outright better than the Big 10 during the "Challenge." That's going to be true 9 years out of 10, probably 10 out of 10. The Big 10 will always have a few teams that would compete, and win, in the ACC, but the Big 10 bottom feeders are guaranteed to get their asses kicked during what has turned into an annual nationally televised ass kicking fest.

Wikipedia has the ugly overall breakdown of the Big10-ACC Challenge, season by season, team by team, and it isn't pretty. The ACC is 8-0, and is well on it's way to making it 9-0, after going 5-1 so far in 2007. With 5 games left tonight, the Big 10 will be lucky to win 2 of the games.

Some seasons the Big 10 has done better than others, but the closest they've come to an overall victory is losing 5-4 in 3 of the first 4 challenges, and losing 6-5 in 2005. Actually, the Big 10 has gotten progressively worse over the years, getting blown out in 3 of the last 4 challenges, with '07 looking to be just as non-competitive.

In fact, the only Big 10 team with a winning record in the "Challenge," Michigan State, could fall to .500 in the made for the 4 letter tourney with a loss. The fact that Tom Izzo is the only Big 10 coach that has more than competed on even footing with the ACC is just pitiful. (Credit goes to the Indiana Hoosiers for raising their overall challenge record to .500 with their win last night)

Sure, you'll get a couple of marquee matchups out of this challenge every season. But we don't need to see conference dregs like Penn St. and Northwestern embarrass themselves and the Big 10, to allow for the occasional prime time game.

The only reason the so-called challenge exists in the first place is to give the worldwide leader in sports another platform to pimp whatever corporate overlord Disney sees fit. That is reason enough to get rid of the God awful "Challenge"

There's already too much Dick Vitale in the lives of sports fans, we don't need another made for TV, pre-conference regular season, college hoop non-event shoehorning Dickie V even further into our already bent over asses.

I'll be rooting for Sparty and the Wolverines tonight. As for the rest of the games, I couldn't care less. Which, to be honest, is how I feel about the Big 10-ACC Challenge as well.

Above the Fold - Tiger talk

With the weather in Michigan becoming more and more winter-like, getting dark at what seems like 3:30 in the afternoon, what better way is there to drive away those winter doldrums than talking Detroit Tigers?

None that I know of...

At the Detroit News, Lynn Henning, who hasn't done any burning questions in a couple of weeks (Come on, Lynn! I'm waiting...), takes a look at the latest and greatest Tigers pitching prospect, Rick Porcello. To say he's impressed the Tigers brass is an understatement.

"I don’t know what he’ll pitch at, but he hit 97 (mph) numerous times and worked comfortably at 94-95," (minor league pitching coach Jon) Matlack said of the fastball thrown by Porcello, 18, a high school star at Seton Hall Prep in New Jersey. "He has two quality breaking balls (overhand curveball and slider), which are occasionally above-average, and one of which I believe will become better-than-average.

"And he has a plus change-up,” Matlack said, using a word — "plus" — considered high praise from scouts. "He can do things with his fastball: sink it, run it in, ride it. He is far, far advanced beyond just about anyone 18 years old I’ve ever worked with."

That the Tigers are willing to pay well over slot for plus prospects like Porcello is a big reason why I wasn't overly concerned over the trade of Jair Jurrjens. It sure sounds as if Porcello will be fast-tracked through the system...

The always wise Billfer agrees with that line of thinking at The Detroit Tigers Weblog.

At the end Henning mentions that Porcello is likely to start the season at West Michigan, which was to be expected. But he also throws out the nugget that he could finish the year in Lakeland. Don’t know if that is speculation on Henning’s part, or if the Tigers will look to really challenge him - provided he fares okay for the Whitecaps

The Daily Fungo brings up a very dark period in my life, bringing back painful memories I'd buried deep in the recesses of my mind. Mike reminds us that yesterday was the 26 year anniversary of the Steve Kemp for Chet Lemon trade.

While many Tigers fans might remember Lemon as an All-Star centerfielder who hit sixth or seventh in Sparky’s lineup, in his first season in Detroit he batted leadoff 49 times and played 93 games right field. (By early July, Lou Whitaker took over the leadoff spot for good.) It wasn’t until 1983 that he switched positions with Kirk Gibson and became the regular centerfielder…until Gary Pettis arrived in 1988. He finished his first season as a Tiger with a .266 average, 19 HR and just 52 RBI in 125 games.

Even though Chet Lemon became a fixture on the 80's Tigers, Steve Kemp was one of my all-time favorite players. I was SOOOOO ticked off by the Lemon trade at the time. I thought the Tigers would rue the day they traded Steve Kemp. Yet Kemp flamed out, and Chester Lemon became a Tiger beloved by all. Shows what I know...

D-Town Baseball takes at look at Tigers infield prospect Michael Holliman, and Eric believes we'll see him playing short for the Mud Hens in 2008.

This further opens up an opportunity for Hollimon to play in Toledo this year at shortstop regardless of his move to second base last year. Hollimon played in Erie last year where he had a .849 OPS (.371 OBP) but saw a few games in Toledo where he was shortstop. Michael turned some heads at the Arizona Fall League this past fall and a solid year at Toledo could lead to a tough decision on Renteria’s $12M club option for 2009.

Eric also mentions that Kevin Hooper, who had several cups o' coffee with the big club over the years, has finally moved on, signing with the Astros. Who will be the Tigers next scrappy, hustling, Eckstein-lite, emergency call up utility guy? Just another big hole for Dave Dombrowski to fill...

Continuing on the prospects theme, Take 75 North delves into the pros and cons regarding the Tigers uber-prospect, Cameron Maybin.

Those are actually the two complaints I’m most concerned about. I trust the scouts on the power and defense. I have a sneaking suspicion the lack of power we’ve seen at times in the past two years is owed not only to the leagues and ballparks he’s played in (some of the most pitcher friendly in the minors) but also to the sporadic injuries he’s suffered the last two years. As for those injury problems, I just don’t think you can worry about his injury history this early in his career. In two seasons he’s had a finger injury, a major shoulder separation and a more mild injury to his other shoulder.

These are things he can overcome and this is going to sound silly, but injury concerns have a way of going away quickly once the injuries stop. In other words, if he goes through 2008 without a major injury, don’t be surprised if you don’t hear a word about his injury history heading into 2009.

Matt is basically saying, when it comers to Maybin, patience is a virtue. If Maybin has the sort of 2008 season that he's entirely capable of, we'll forget all about how overwhelmed he looked during his 2007 call up. You have to admit, he did look utterly lost. Let's hope Maybin puts the last 2 months of the '07 season behind him too...

At Tiger Tales, Lee breaks down which Tigers may raise or lower their OPS in 2008 via a saber stat, PrOPS, otherwise known as Projected OPS. The 2008 projection is a good one for Gary Sheffield.

Gary Sheffield had the highest PrOPS (.916) on the team in 2007. His .839 OPS was -.077higher than his PrOPS which suggests that he might have hit into some bad luck in 2007 and that we can expect an improvement next year.

For the rest of the Tigers OPS projections, you'll just have to read Lee's post. I'm not one to give out spoilers!

Ian touches on the rumors that the Tigers are interested in relief pitcher Octavio Dotel at Bless You Boys. The Tigers were interested in Dotel at the trade deadline, and despite his injury history, that interest hasn't wavered.

As it turns out, Dotel wouldn't have been able to help the Tigers much anyway. Shortly after joining the Braves, he was out for six weeks with a a strained shoulder. He also missed most of April and May with the Royals because of a strained oblique muscle.

When Dotel returned in late September, however, he didn't allow a run in his last four appearances. For the season, Dotel posted a 2-1 record with a 4.11 ERA and 11 saves in 33 appearances (30 2/3 innings). But perhaps most impressively - and this is probably what piques the Tigers' interest - he racked up 41 strikeouts.

Dotel is talented, without question. But you might as well reserve a space on the DL for him, as he could get injured by the wind changing direction. Yes, he's that prone to injury. But Dotel could be a low risk-high reward sort of free agent pickup, if he's available at the right price. At he very least, he'd be better than Joe Table, last season's attempt to sign a low risk-high reward pitcher. That signing turned into a low risk-no reward signing, but at least the Tigers knew when to cut their losses...

Kurt is quite vocal with his concerns over a possible Dotel signing at Mack Avenue Tigers.

Basically, if you sign Dotel, you’re prospecting, hoping the injury risks and poor track record keep the cost down. At least the Tigers don’t need him to close.

Reasons to be positive? High strikeout rate (12 K/9 last year after a poor 2006). Low home run rate. Less stress as a middle reliever.

But that’s all contingent on if he stays healthy. That seems to be the motto for the 2008 Tigers. "They’ll be good. If they stay healthy."

That'll be my Tigers mantra for all of 2008. "They’ll be good. If they stay healthy."

Edit - 11:55am: I found that the Oakland Press' Pat Caputo had posted to his blog today after I finished this post. As he wrote about the Tigers, I wanted to add his musings to today's "Above the Fold."

The Book chimes in with his thoughts regarding the Tigers off season, and he's not at all happy with the state of the pitching staff.

Everybody talks about their need for bullpen help, but the Tigers starting staff doesn’t appear all that strong, either.

Justin Verlander has emerged as a strong No. 1 starter, but Jeremy Bonderman’s prolonged swoons the last two seasons are cause for concern. He has great "stuff" and should be entering his prime, but Bonderman’s track record, frankly, isn’t all that good. His mediocre career record (56-62, 4.78 ERA) is starting to speak volumes. It seems like he been overrated by many - including myself. Nate Robertson also tends to blow hot and cold. Andrew Miller is still raw and the thought of re-signing Kenny Rogers isn’t exactly comforting. He was hurt most of last season and didn’t throw all that well when he wasn’t. And when a pitcher is starting to push his mid-40s, chances are great he is going to dropoff in effectiveness.

I’d like to see the Tigers take a run at Haren. But how is that going to be possible now that they have traded virtually all their best prospects, save for Miller and Cameron Maybin, who should remain untouchable.

Dan Haren? Nice idea, but more of a pipe dream than anything else. Actually, in reading Caputo's post, he's echoing what Mack Avenue Tigers has been saying for the past several weeks, that the Tigers need to do more than just sign The Gambler, then declare the off season moves are done, as Dombrowski has hinted at.

That's "Above the Fold" for Wednesdat, 11-28-07!

Does it make me a bad person...

...if I tell you when I heard early this morning that Sean Taylor had passed away, my second thought was (After "That's a shame."), "That's going to be hard on the 'Skins. Could it help the Lions make the playoffs?"

I know, I know... It's awful, and I'm a terrible person. Hey, I'm being honest. As terrible as Taylor's death is for his family and teammates, and my condolences go out to them, as a person with troubles of my own, it had no effect on me whatsoever. Call me jaded, call me hard boiled, call me a jerk, call me an ass, call me a realist, but the news didn't do anything to me emotionally.

Should I feel any worse for Taylor than someone who gets shot, for example, in a car jacking in Detroit? Both are tragic in their own way. But with the 24/7 news cycle, an athlete's death will be treated as tragic, with the athlete being beatified (Deservedly or not, just look at the reaction to the death Kirby Puckett), while the death of a non-celebrity gets a few paragraphs below the fold in the local paper. It doesn't mean that life was less important, or the victim was any less of a person, does it?

The world can be a awfully shitty place, where bad things happen to both good and bad people. From all accounts, Sean Taylor was a little of both. And in this world, sometimes you're in the wrong place, at the wrong time, doing the wrong thing. Sorry to say, that's what happened to Taylor in his confronting a gun wielding thief with a machete.

I wouldn't wish the fate of being shot in the leg, then bleeding to death on anyone. But other than his being an good NFL player with a well-earned reputation for finding trouble, thus my knowing who Taylor was, it has nothing to do with my life. If I was a fan of the Redskins or Hurricanes, I'm sure I'd feel differently.

But I'm not, and I don't.

Other penalty calls I'd like to hear

I'm sure you've all heard the "He's giving him the business" penalty call from this past Saturday's Maryland - NC State game. For the 1 or 2 of you that have been living under a rock, here's the most excellent call by ACC Official, and the favorite ref of football fans everywhere, Ron Cherry.



Thing is, there is so much more you could do with calling penalties. If refs had the leeway to call more than just holding, offsides, and the like, imagine the fun that could be had...

"15 yard Personal foul, 69, offense..."

He was giving him the what for!

He was giving him the stink eye!

He was giving him the bird!

He was giving him the the Heimlich!

He was giving him the heebie jeebies!

He was giving him some shit!

He was giving him the love!

He was giving him the chills!

He was giving him the kiss o' death!

He was giving him the silent treatment!

He was being a prick!

He was being a stick in the mud!

He was being a dick!

He was mindfucking him!

He was claiming the mission accomplished!

He was failing miserably!

For not showing me the proper respect!

For not saying he was sorry!

For being an arrogant ass!

For being a Detroit Lion!

For being a brown nose!

He double dog dared me to!

Because he had it comin'!

On general principle!

I don't meed no stinkin' reason, or no stinkin' badges!

Just because!

Above the Fold - Picking and rolling

It's high time I touched on the Detroit Pistons in "Above the Fold."

It's early in the season, and it's pretty obvious that the Pistons are a work in progress. With the changes to the starting lineup, the injection of youth to the Pistons' bench, and Flip Saunders still trying to develop a rotation, I have a feeling the team we see struggling somewhat in November won't be the team we see in May.

Injuries have also taken a toll, which is something that hasn't been an issue in the past, with Rodney Stuckey still recovering from his broken hand, Amir Johnson, Chauncy Billups, Antonio McDyess, and Rip Hamilton all missing games, and Rasheed Wallace currently fighting off a sore knee. The very slow start by Hamilton also bears close watching, though admittedly, it's much too early in the season to be worried.

Despite the adversity, the Pistons are tied for 1st place in the Central with the Bucks, while not coming close to playing their best basketball.

You have to wonder about the MSM decision making process as to what they deem is news. Do the beat writers all huddle together at the Pistons' Aubrun Hills practice facility, and decide what the theme of the day will be in their respective fishwraps? Because today, 2 of the 3 local beat writers write about the same thing, defending the pick and roll.

Mlive's A. Sherrod Blakely informs us that Chauncy Billups calls the NBA "A pick and roll league," and gives us a quick pick and roll history lesson...

The play has been around for years, but it was made popular by retired Utah greats John Stockton and Karl Malone, arguably the game's greatest tandem at running the pick-and-roll.

The play, which usually involves a big man setting a pick for a point guard and either rolling to the basket or rolling to an open spot to shoot a jumper, has become a must in every team's playbook.

It's in every team's playbook from middle school on up, actually. You can't stop it when the pick and roll is run correctly. Stockton and Malone would give a pick and roll clinic every night. They'd also give a clinic on dirty play, but that's another post...

The man who believe that bloggers are a societal scourge, the News' Chris McCosky, also decides the pick and roll is big news! He tells us the the Pistons, who were ate up by the pick and roll Sunday by Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, need to defend the play better.

But even if you throw Utah out of the discussion, Detroit knows it has to do a better job defending that play -- starting Wednesday night when LeBron James and Cleveland come to The Palace.

"What makes that play difficult against Cleveland is they run it with LeBron and a small forward usually covers LeBron," Billups said. "Small forwards are not used to guarding pick-and-rolls, and that's a play that's tough enough to cover for guys who are used to defending it."

The Pistons have had success defending the pick-and-roll in past seasons, and they've defended it well at times this season.

If they couldn't stop Carlos Boozer, good luck defending LeBron James. Whatever, McCosky is more worried about bloggers ruining journalism, anyway.

At the Freep, there's no mention of the pick and roll. Must not have gotten the memo... Jamie Samuelson, with no radio gig to give his views, has crossed over to the dark side, and is doing a weekly blog for the Free Press. McCosky can't be happy about this turn of events. Samuelson starts today's post with his thoughts regarding the Pistons, and he believes "things are looking pretty good" despite their fairly pedestrian 8-5 start.

The injuries have provided nice openings for Jarvis Hayes and Jason Maxiell. Hayes is a classic Dumars pick-up. Totally under the radar, but fits a role on this team. I'll admit I'm surprised by Maxiell. I know he had big games last season, but I thought those were the exception and not the norm. He really seems to be a good, valuable big man off the bench.

When it comes to the Pistons, the blogosphere has more interesting things to say than the pick and roll fixated MSM.

Detroit Bad Boys gives out grades! Hey, even though it's only 13 games into the season, why not? It's better than writing about the pick and roll... As for the grades themselves, who gets the highest grade so far?

Antonio McDyess – A

It might come as a surprise that McDyess has been the Pistons best rebounder since Big Ben’s departure, which is why he should continue to start even though his game lacks some of the flash of the Pistons younger bigs. What is interesting is that Dice has gotten off to extremely slow starts the last two seasons. He is presently shooting 58% from the field. If this is the cold start, Dice might be carrying the team come April. Either way, the Pistons might consider giving him the rock.

The Pistons may have lost their 6th man, but Dice has smoothly moved into the starting lineup.

Need4Sheed, home to everything that is Pistons multimedia, but no pick and roll, has their alway thorough game recap up. The latest being Sunday's loss to the Jazz, interspersed with game quotes, and Natalie's own Sheedtastic thoughts...

Sheed has been helping from the sidelines, he wasn't happy with all the jump shots his team was taking. "(Bleep) all those jumpshots," Wallace told them. "Go to the basket!" Thank you Sheed.

'Sheed needs to be a coach after he retires. He just has to be! There wouldn't be a more entertaining sideline in all of basketball.

Motoring also has their Jazz recap up, hypothesizing that the reason the Pistons have trouble beating Utah is that they are a mirror image of themselves. No pick and roll, by the way...

The Jazz are most like the Pistons in my opinion and perhaps that is what the Pistons have the most trouble with. They have solid starters and defined roles and Detroit can never seem to execute their game plan against them. It will not be long before the Jazz are mentioned in the same breath as the Spurs, Suns, and Mavericks, and yet, they play very different than those elite West teams.

That's my pick and roll "Above the Fold" for Tuesday, 11-27-07!

When you think the Dre' Bly trade couldn't have been any worse...

...It manges to get even worse.

The Killer is reporting that starting right tackle Jonathan Scott's thumb injury will cause him to be placed on the IR. Thus he's done for the season. as if the O-line isn't weak enough...

More intriguing is the fact that Damion Woody, a career guard, is moving to right tackle, and newly signed Barry Stokes will back him up.

I tried to find a picture of Foster actually blocking someone, but...

Essentially, this means that the Lions career of George Foster is over. If Marinelli and Martz would rather replace Scott by shifting a guard who hasn't played tackle since high school, and back him up with a player they picked up off off the street, what does that say about Foster? It says that he blows, and the Lions know it.

You can also say the same about the Lions career of the other player acquired in the trade, Tatum Bell. That Aveion Cason is taking snaps during games tells us that Bell is 4th on their running back depth chart. I think it's safe to say that, barring injury, Bell will continue to be deactivated on game days for the rest of the season, and won't be coming back next year.

All this confirms that Matt Millen was taken by Denver as a sucker, trading for their trash in return for a pro bowl DB.

Looking back, as we all knew that Bly wasn't going to be on the Lions 2007 roster, they would have been much better off if Bly had been released. Didn't the Lions decide they didn't need to draft either Adrian Peterson and Joe Thomas, as they had filled those roster holes the trade, thanks to Bell and Foster? If the trade hadn't been made, and still had the holes at back and tackle, do the Lions draft Calvin Johnson?

Not that Johnson is a bust at wide receiver, far from it. I've been more than happy with his play (His bad Thanksgiving day performance being an aberration). But hindsight being 20/20, the Lions would have been much better served in drafting Peterson or Thomas, who have both been impact NFL rookies at Lions' positions of need.

Unfortunately, Millen deemed they weren't "Needed."

Let's not forget that the Lions received Denver's 4th round pick in the trade. The player the Lions picked, cornerback AJ Davis, didn't make it out of training camp, and is out of football. It goes without saying the Lions still need corners...

All this would be hysterically funny, if it weren't so damn painful for Lions fans.

Even funnier is that the Lions will most likely be looking for a big time offensive tackle in the 2008 draft. Unless the Lions trade for another George Foster...

Above the Fold - Thanksgiving Ferentz fallout

The university administration has been strangely quiet since Lloyd Carr retired, with nary a leak regarding whom they may be contacting for interviews. For such a high profile job, the fact that there have been next to news coming out of A2 is surprising, to say the very least. In fact, The Ann Arbor News has not reported anything regarding the Michigan football head coaching job since last Wednesday.

The Detroit MSM has been just as quiet, with little speculation or rumormongering.

Drew Sharp broke out the knives in regard to Michigan over the weekend, with 2 Sunday articles designed to do nothing more than piss Michigan fans off. In other words, typical Sharp.

On Sunday, he broke out his well worn "Michigan isn't a top 10 program" argument.

There’s no debating that the top five programs using the previous criteria are, in order, Texas, Ohio State, Florida, Southern California and Notre Dame.

Each scores high grades in all five categories.

The next five are Oklahoma, Florida State, Tennessee, LSU and Alabama.

Could you argue that Michigan isn't an elite program? Sure. In fact, I might have taken this column seriously, but when Sharp puts Notre Dame (3 wins this year, has fallen to laughingstock status), Alabama (Goes though coaches faster than the Detroit Pistons), and Tennessee (Fans have been screaming that the Vols have been underachieving the past several seasons, and wanting their national title winning coach canned. Sound familiar?) above Michigan, he loses most rationally thinking fans right there.You could also makethe point that FSU (Currently on the same path taken by JoePa and Penn State) is on a downward spiral as well. This is just Sharp being contrarian, for the sake of a column.

In another...Well, you can't call it a column, as it's only 7 sentences long, Sharp also has a snarky comment regarding Les Miles' fit as Michigan's head coach.

He would have lost his last two games since the job became available.
Sounds like a seamless transition from the Lloyd Carr era.

That line isn't going to make Michigan Men happy. Not happy at all...

On Saturday, the Freep's Michael Rosenberg echoes what many Michigan fans are now thinking after watching LSU lose in 4 OT's to Arkansas, that Les Miles may not be the man for the job.

Why is hiring a coach so hard? Part of it is that the job of head coach is very different from that of assistant. Some coaches are great schemers, and therefore great coordinators, but do not have the personality to lead a team or be the public face of a school.

But “proven” head coaches are not always so proven: they often win with one group of players (sometimes somebody else’s recruits) before jumping to another job. They haven’t proved they can win consistently.

This was written before the LSU loss, which was facilitated by several controversial coaching decisions by Miles, and their inability to stop a mobile QB. That alone is enough to give Michigan fans the heebie jeebies.

At the News, Terry Foster talks to the Packers' Charles Woodson about his alma mater, who says he would like to see Michigan's offense move into the 21st century.

"You've got to get with the times," he said. "With the type of offenses people are running against us, we are not going to stop them. We have to start implementing some of those things in our offense. And watching the defense this year."

You're preaching to the choir, Chuck.

The News' resident curmudgeon, Jerry Green does what he does best, write about dead guys. In this case, the dead guy is long ago Wolverines coach Bernie Oosterbaan, whom Green compares to Lloyd Carr.

There is a glorious football coaching lineage at Michigan -- Oosterbaan to Bump Elliott to Bo Schembechler to Gary Moeller to Carr. And presumably onward. All of them class coaches and class men, educators, forgiving the occasional indiscretion.

Lloyd Carr was a protégé of Schembechler. And he fit the mold of Bennie Oosterbaan.

All I have to say is...He uses "Glorious" and "Gary Moeller" in the same sentence?

In the blogosphere though, it's far from quiet. Michigan Men are up in arms. Fans are uneasy and confused. Why? Because the Kirk Ferentz to Michigan rumors, first fanned on Tuesday by the reputable MGoBlog, won't go away. Brian again touched on the Ferenz rumors Sunday, with quite scary news...

I've sat on this a couple days waiting for some third-party corroboration and now I have it: Kirk Ferentz has been offered the Michigan job. The general feeling is he will turn it down out of fidelity to Iowa, in case you were thinking of making a late-night run to Ann Arbor (or Iowa City) Torch & Pitchfork. I do realize that this -- unlike the Lloyd thing -- is unlikely to ever be publicly acknowledged if Ferentz turns it down, but this comes from someone in a position to know, and how. The third-party corroboration comes from a couple Iowa insiders reporting things afoot that, unfortunately, I am not at liberty to disclose.

My first thoughts were...WHAT?! HIM?! WHY?!

I agree with Sean at Michigan Sports Center, Ferentz would be a safe hire, but not the right hire.

As far as my opinion on this subject goes, I'll tell you straight up that I don't want Ferentz to be the new coach. With Lloyd Carr retiring, I figured this would be the time for the Michigan football program to change for the better. A new coach could bring innovation, an exciting offense, and hopefully a return to being a national power every single year. Folks, Kirk Ferentz is not the man to bring those changes.

That's the caveat with the possible hiring of Ferentz, it'd keep the Michigan status quo when the program actually needs a good shaking up.

At Quo Vadimus, Scott is as underwhelmed as I am with the thought of Ferentz taking over at U of M.

Ferentz would be better than any of Michigan's current crop of assistants (like Lloyd Carr disciple Mike DeBord), Ferentz will not thrill anyone in Ann Arbor. While his name makes sense (he's familiar with the Big Ten, Midwest recruiting, and Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman, who also came to Michigan from Iowa) he's a vanilla candidate, who may be another .500 season away from being fired from his home school, Iowa.

"Vanilla" is the perfect description of Kirk Ferentz. Then again, that could be what the powers that be at Michigan want, "Vanilla." No controversy, no making of waves, no changes. No national tiles, either...


MZone makes the case against Les Miles. Yost vocalizes what we all saw, and have to agree with, that "there was simply some boneheaded coaching by LSU's top Tiger down the stretch."

Then, as LSU neared the Arkansas redzone, Miles called two quick timeouts with over a minute left which made NO sense whatsoever. The game is going to end (or should) one way or another on this drive. As the announcers even stated, the only thing Miles quick timeout calls did was give Arkansas almost a full minute to get in position to attempt a game winning FG in regulation.

Dumb. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Gorilla Crouch makes the case for Cincy's Brian Kelly, while blowing up the candidacy of Michigan's offensive coordinator, Mike Debord.

Brian Kelly went on from leading Central Michigan to its first MAC championship in 12 years to leading Cincinnati to its first 9-win season in 54 years. He could win 10 games if the Bearcats win their bowl game, which is a win total that has only occured once before in 1951 when legendary coach Sid Gilman coached the team. Both head coaching jobs came after building a juggernaut at Grand Valley State University. Comparing DeBord’s resume to Kelly’s is quite frankly embarrassing.

Kelly is probably the most intriguing of the possible hires, thanks to his ties to the state of Michigan, and the fact that he's won everywhere he's coached, GVSU, CMU, and Cincinnati. One thing that would give me pause is that Kelly might use Michigan as a stepping stone to the NFL. The Wolverines job is a destination, a long-term commitment, not a way station to make your name, while on the way to the next higher paying gig.

That's "Above the Fold" for Monday, 11-26-07!

Playoffs? Are you kidding me? PLAYOFFS? Final thoughts on Lions - Packers

I was feeling too full, thus too uncomfortable, after gorging myself on mom's turkey dinner to write last night. Now that I feel human again, rather than like a partially deflated Goodyear blimp, here's my thoughts regarding the Thanksgiving Day massacre at Ford Field. Here's the linkage to my bitter holiday screams of Lions pain...

BRETT FAVRE'S TOUCH CAN CURE CANCER: 1st quarter Lions - Packers thoughts

FAVRE IS A GOD AMONGST MEN: 2nd quarter Lions - Packers thoughts

YOU CAN BE CERTAIN OF 3 THINGS IN LIFE : DEATH, TAXES, AND THE MSM LOVE FOR BRETT FAVRE - 3rd quarter Lions - Packers thoughts

FAVREFAVREFAVREFAVRE - 4th quarter Lions - Packers thoughts

1. Thanks to the Lions raising expectations after their fast start, the 2007 season is now on the verge of becoming an EPIC FAIL.


I went against by better judgment, putting aside the years upon years of being bitterly disappointed by the Lions, and gave them the benefit of the doubt during their 6-2 start. The past 3 Lions losses, all awful in one way or another, shows what I get for going against my gut.

My gut told me that despite the 6-2 record, the Lions would find some way to piss it away. But I really wanted to believe, and to be honest, a 6-2 record at the halfway point, in a not good NFC, should have a team sitting pretty, that the playoffs were a near sure thing.

I'd forgotten that you should never think anything involving the Lions is a sure thing.

The way the Lions are currently playing, it's a stretch to think they'll even finish .500. It's entirely possible they could finish with just those 6 wins. But don't give me the "If I told you the Lions would win 7 games before the season started, you'd have been happy" argument. The 6-2 start changed EVERYTHING, including expectations.

The last few weeks couldn't have gone ANY worse for the Lions,. as 4 of their 5 losses were against teams that they were fighting with for a playoff berth. Now the Packers have all but locked up the NFC north, so a division championship is out of the question. Even worse, the Cardinals, Redskins, and Giants all hold the wild card tie-breaker advantage over the Lions. The playoffs are damn near out of reach, barring a miracle. I hope Jon Kitna's God is in the mood to perform one...

I've accepted the fact that the playoffs aren't going to happen.

2. I was warming up to Jon Kitna as the Lions QB over the season's first half. The team obviously responded his leadership (The Vikings win was mostly in thanks to Kitna), and he was keeping his biggest issue, committing turnovers, to a bare minimum. The good feelings have done a complete 180 over the past several games. Kitna been exposed for what he is, an average QB who would be a great backup, a mentor for a good young QB, but won't take a team anywhere other than a mediocre season as their starter.

Kitna was not good against the Packers. Yes, he was under constant pressure from the Packers pass rush. But he didn't handle it well, continually holding the ball too long while the pocket collapsed around him. He's been inaccurate, immobile, and turnover prone.

The Lions will go as far as Kitna will take them. But that's only to an 8-8 record, at best.

3. The Lions locker room and behind the scene issues are beginning to rear their ugly head.

FOX's sideline reporter, Pam Oliver, reported during the broadcast that the Lions were arguing amongst themselves, with lots of yelling and helmet throwing on the bench. Roy Williams is reportedly unhappy with his non-use in yesterday's game. The "Worst columnist in America" claims his inside contacts on the Lions said that William Clay Ford told his coaching staff to play Calvin Johnson. The 2 players that the Lions received in return for Dre' Bly, Tatum Bell and George Foster, were placed on the inactive list against the Packers. Kitna, when asked what he's thankful for, replied "That I don't have to go to Hell."

Sounds more like a team in turmoil, than in Rod Marinelli inspired harmony. How long before we see a Bobby Ross-like meltdown from Marinelli?

4. How is it possible to root for a team, yet also despise them with a burning passion? I desperately want the Lions to win, yet they piss me off beyond belief nearly every week. Then I come back the next Sunday, hoping for the best, just to be heaped with more abuse. During Lions games, I'm bipolar, going from one mood swing to another, literally a Dr. Jeckyl/Mr.Hyde.

Talk about an abusive love/hate relationship. I think I need counseling...

5. I found this posted on the Motownsports.com Lions message board. I thought it was quite fitting.

Answering the Detroit Lions' NFL week 12 "Burning questions"

Though the Lions lost 4 days ago (Seems longer, doesn't it?), I decided against doing the burning questions bit over the weekend. I needed to take a break from writing for a few days, and more importantly, I wanted to see how the Sunday games would affect the Lions' playoff chances.

Amazingly, the Lions, yes, the Detroit Lions, actually caught a break. Every team the Lions are competing with for a wild card berth, all teams that they would lose a tie breaker with, lost.

Giants were outright embarrassed by the Vikings.

The Redskins were knocked off by the Bucs, despite Jeff Garcia being knocked out of the game during the first series.

Arizona's Neil Rackers missed a gimmie OT field goal against the 49er's, in what ended up as an ugly Cardinals loss.

The Eagles played tough, but ultimately couldn't stop the juggernaut that is the Patriots.

So despite how bleak things looked Thursday night, and they were damn bleak, on Monday morning the Lions STILL held the final NFC wild card berth. How long they stay in that position is now the question...

Now that we have a better idea of the NFC wild card situation, it's time to answer Detroit News beat writer Mike O'Hara's Burning questions. Topics include the play of Jon Kitna, the sudden use of Calvin Johnson as a receiver, rather than a decoy, the O-line play, and the Lions playoff chances.

Ready. Set. Answer!

Burning questions from the Lions' 37-26 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Ford Field on Thursday:

Q: Assess the Lions' playoff chances.

O'Hara: Mathematically, they're still in the race at 6-5 with five games left. It's hard to give them much of a chance. Their weaknesses are being exposed by good teams, and they don't have enough strengths to lean on to beat good teams.

Big Al: Though the Lions caught a HUGE break with the losses of the other wild card contenders, the Lions will end up being on the outside, looking in, when the playoffs start. They have too tough of a remaining schedule, the offense is shooting blanks, Jon Kitna is channeling Stoney Case, Mike Martz seems intent on proving his supposed genius, than calling a competent game, and the defensive backfield is exposed when playing any QB you'd consider better than average.

Even the most optimistic fan sees the Lions winning only 3 of their 5 remaining games. Realists have accepted that 2 wins is the best possible scenario, and they could easily go 0-5, ending the season on an 8 game losing streak.

Yes, Detroit could finish 4-1, and reach the 10 win mark. But when factoring in the fact that the Lions would lose every wild card tiebreaker with teams out of the NFC north, that the Bears and Vikings are slowly working their way back into the wild card scenario, throwing a wrench into the playoff works, and the undeniable fact that they are the Lions, a fast finish that leads to a playoff spot is a long shot.

Q: What hurt them most against the Packers?

O'Hara: Start with Brett Favre, but you can say that about almost any team. The man is a marvel. I hope he plays forever. It looked like he was finished two years ago and again last year, but he's playing great football again. He's accurate, with a strong arm, and he knows how to win.

The bigger the moment, the better he plays.

Big Al: Good Lord, more Favre love... I won't deny that he was excellent against the Lions, and a big reason the Pack won.

It comes down to this. When the Lions don't generate a pass rush, their back 7 gets exposed for what they are, a patchwork of below average players. (Ernie Sims being the only exception). A hall of fame QB like Favre had to be licking his chops when watching the Lions on film. I'd guess every QB in the NFL feels the same way. Keep the Detroit pass rush at bay, and any decent QB will pick the Lions defense apart.

Q: How is that different than how Jon Kitna and the Lions play?

O'Hara: Favre versus Kitna isn't a fair comparison. Of course Favre is better. But he plays with a joy only a few special athletes have. They know they're great, they're used to winning, and they enjoy the experience.

There were times during the game when you saw Favre laughing and joking -- to his teammates and to the Lions. On a play when he drew the Lions offside, Favre kidded Kalimba Edwards -- who wasn't the lineman who jumped -- about the play.

The Lions worry their way through games. Everything's a test, an experience, because they aren't used to winning. And right now, they're flunking the test.

Big Al: Come on... Enough of the Brett Favre is having fun on the field BS. It's taken right from the John Madden "I love Brett" handbook. Was he quite so joyful the past couple of seasons when the Packers were awful? Hardly.

The Packers are a better team, on the field, and in the front office, than the Lions. Period. That they have a hall of fame QB is just icing on the NFC Central cake. I also like the chances that the Packers will remain competitive for the next couple of seasons. I'm not yet convinced that the Lions are on the same upswing as the Pack. Any team with Matt Millen running the front office...Well, Nothing more needs to be said.

I agree that the Lions are not near as freewheeling as the Pack, and that's including the loose cannon that is Mike Martz running the offense. In fact, that offense may be a reason why Detroit looks tight. There's no audiblizing, the players are still learning the nuances and options of Martz's difficult to master offense, and one mistake can lead to a turnover or missed opportunity. Just look back to Roy Williams moaning that his blowing assignments cost him a 300 yard receiving game, for another example...

We can never forget that we are talking about the Detroit Lions, a team that has had a black cloud hanging over it for 5 decades. They expect the worst to happen, because it always has...

Q: Calvin Johnson had a bad first half. He had two outright drops and a third that he could have caught. What happened?

O'Hara: It looked like the pressure of playing on national TV on Thanksgiving Day with a lot on the line got to him. But he wasn't the only one who had a bad game.

Big Al: I tend to write the drops off as rookie mistakes, a part of the learning process that every NFL wide out has to go through.

This is first time we've seen Johnson as the focal point of the offense, and he just didn't make plays. Maybe it was the pressure, maybe it was just a bad game. I doubt it will be a trend. He's too good to continue to make such glaring mistakes. Hell, Roy Williams still drops too many balls, and he's a pro bowl receiver. I'm not going to get bent out of shape over one disappointing effort from Johnson.

The kid had played well in limited opportunities and made plays, till this past week. He'll be fine.

Q: What about Kitna? He was sacked four times.

O'Hara: He has had to live with pressure for two years, but he could have reacted better. He took a sack on third-and-20 on the first possession. The Lions still got a field goal. Another sack in the first quarter on third-and-3 at the Packers 32 put the Lions out of field-goal range.

Kitna has to feel pressure better. There are times to hold the ball and take a sack. But those were bad times for sacks.

Big Al: Kitna did not play well at all. Actually, he hasn't played well during the 3 game skid. On Thursday, Kitna forced passes, held on to the ball much too long, lacked his normal pocket presence, and just plain tried to do too much. He's not Brett Favre. Kitna needs to stay within himself. When he freelances too much, and attempts make plays that aren't there, that's when the turnovers and sacks happen.

Kitna has to play better, but is he capable of doing so? He's a leader, but when it comes to talent? He's an average QB, and that will only take you so far...

Not that the offensive line has been any great shakes. They deserve plenty of blame. Over the past 3 games, Kitna has spent more time running for his life, than running the offense, thanks to the leaky O-line.

Q: Dominic Raiola got a chop-block penalty in the first quarter that wiped out a pass completion inside the 1-yard line. How damaging was that?

O'Hara: It didn't lose the game, but it didn't help. There was no need for it. Raiola dove at the legs of a Packers lineman who was being blocked. There was no need for it.

Big Al: The penalty didn't lose the game, but chop block was just a dumb, dumb, dumb play by Raiola. When you are at center, what are the odds that the defensive lineman whose legs you dove at is engaged with a guard or tackle? 99.9%? 99.95%?

Typical Lions mistake. The sort that Rod Marinelli continually preaches against, and has to eat up inside when they happen. Usually at the most inopportune time...

Q: Where did the Lions get hurt most on defense?

O'Hara: Again, it goes back to Favre. The Packers liked the matchups in their five-receiver formation. They felt they could beat the Lions' secondary, and they did.

Favre got the ball away in a hurry on a lot of throws to complete 31 of 41 passes. There were other times when he dropped the ball between defenders for completions. I'm not sure any secondary would have beaten Favre, but the Lions sure couldn't.

Big Al: Where do you start? They couldn't stop the run or pass. The Lions defense gave up 100+ yards rushing to a nobody, Ryan Grant. Favre was completing passes at will. Christ, he completed 20 straight at one point. When the Packers needed to run clock, and get a late score, they were able to so with little resistance from the Lions defense. They aren't helped by the Detroit offense, and their recent inability to stay on the field.

But it's simple, really. When the Lions defense doesn't generate turnovers, they lose. Live by the turnover, die by the turnover. Over the last 3 games, the Lions have died...

Q: Point blank -- will the Lions make the playoffs?

O'Hara: I'd bet against it now. I didn't see the collapse coming, and there are too many teams with the tiebreaker advantage.

It's time to talk about the draft. Ugh. What an awful thought.

Big Al: No. Next question. Oh, there aren't any more? Then I'll elaborate..

The majority of the NFC is still in playoff contention. But if the season ended today, the Lions are in the playoffs. Unfortunately, the season does not end today, and they are far from being in good shape. This past weekend was more of a temporary stay of execution. It just delays the inevitable.

I said it after the Thanksgving game, if the Lions miss the playoffs, and it currently isn't looking good, this season will be considered an epic fail. You can't miss the playoffs after a 6-2 start. You just can't. That's why the Lions will miss the playoffs. They're the Lions.

And let's not talk about the draft. You know they are going to screw that up...again. It being the Lions, missing the playoffs, screwing up drafts, and crushing the hopes of their fans, is what they do.