Above the Fold - Detroit grab bag edition

At Check out my Hemi, the slightly off the wall Awful Chief has been having a field day with the Michigan coaching search. Awful's been campaigning for Lloyd Carr's BFF, Russell Crowe, to become the Woverines' head coach. But there's a diversity bump in the road...

Russell Crowe is a white Australian. Hello!?!? What's up with that? You call that diversity? I'll bet his criminal ancestors were forced to move to Australia because they went around being intolerant towards people of other ethnicities. What's your next move, Bill Martin? Invading Poland?

Awful, you and I both know Captain Billy wouldn't invade Poland. Louisiana, om the other hand...

'Sheed is doing "The Carlton" at Need for Sheed. If you have no idea where "The Carlton" came from, Nat also points us to the following video...



Now it makes sense... I have to admit, I'm about as hip as Carlton.

Gregg Henson still thinks Les Miles is coming to A2, despite his latest strong denial.

Face it, Les loves Michigan and really wants the job, he simply needs assurances from Michigan that if he screws LSU he has a gig in Ann Arbor.

We are approaching a "dark period" in recruiting where you cannot contact recruits, there is NO hurry to hire a coach until after the bowl games are played, you cannot contact recruits anyway. It doesn't matter if Michigan has a Head Coach until January.

I think Les is doing the best he can, he wants Michigan but knows he has to see this National Championship run through.

I hope 3G is right. It's gotten so bad that some Michigan fans are upset that Arkansas signed Bobby Petrino instead of the Wolverines. Come on people! Look up the term "Job hopping mercenary coach," and you'll see a picture of Petrino. He wasn't the solution to Michigan's problems. I'm not sure any coach will be able to solve all of Michigan's problems, but that's another post...

It's that time of year for Motown Sports Revival's annual Bowl Extravaganza post. It's the 3rd annual, to be exact. Jake breaks down EVERY bowl game. And I mean EVERY single solitary game. Here's the scoop for the New Mexico Bowl..

Your life absolutely depends on answering this question right and you have to do it in five seconds; which one of these teams is in the WAC? Could you do it? If you even attempted to answer this question, you are incredibly nerdy. If you answered the question right, then you are as nerdy as me. Nevada is in the WAC. New Mexico is in the MWC. Now that I’ve tragically wasted 20 seconds of your life, I’ll move onto the game. Luckily, we have the “common opponent” option to sort this game out. Common opponent alert: Both teams played UNLV. Nevada won by seven at home. New Mexico won by 21 at home. So, New Mexico is better. Plus, New Mexico can’t lose the New Mexico Bowl two years in a row. That’s just unfathomable. That’s all you’re getting from me on this game.

I didn't even know there WAS a New Mexico Bowl, let alone try to write about it. I suggest setting aside a BIG block to time to wade through this bowl season review...

You want to know more about the outfield prospects left in the Detroit Tigers' system? As always, Take 75 North. Here's the scoop on the West Michigan Whitecaps outfield...

After having Cameron Maybin and Gorkys Hernandez as their center fielders the last two years, the fans in West Michigan are going to be in for an unpleasant shift in talent level. Kody Kaiser and Kyle Peter are good candidates to move up to the full season league, but to expect either one to produce like those two would be unfair. Actually, the fans in Grand Rapids’ best shot at getting a buzz-creating player would be if the Tigers were aggressive with Alexis Espinoza, who spent last year in the Venezuelan Summer League. Espinoza seems like a good candidate to come to the States in 2008, but I’d be amazed at such a big promotion.

As someone who doesn't know the Tigers minor leagues as well as I should, Take 75 North is an invaluable resource.

At Detroit Bad Boys, Matt asks the question that most of us have ignored, how easy of a schedule have the Pistons played up to this point? He points out determining strength of schedule isn't always a strict black and white issue.

Strength of schedule doesn’t matter yet. Example: the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls had a horrible, horrible start to the season, but I guarantee they won’t finish the season with their current .333 winning percentage. But the fact that the Pistons have played them twice, though, means their .333 counts twice. (I think. But even if it counts only once, it’s still misleading — that team has already turned things around, winning four of six, including their second win of the season over the Pistons.)

To be honest, I don't care who the Pistons have played, their overall record, or the relative strength of the eastern conference. As long as the Pistons are healthy and playing well when going into the playoffs, I'll be damn happy about Detroit's chances.

Steve has resigned himself to the fact the Lions are the Lions, and nothing will change, at The Detroit Lions Weblog. Not even Matt Millen's status...

Clearly, Matt Millen has failed on all accounts as an executive. During his tenure, we have seen the “West Coast” offense come and go, and may also see the “Tampa-2″ zone defense and the “Greatest Show on Nerf” both soon become extinct. At some point, the hot new coach, with a supposedly unbeatable scheme, will not be able to provide the convenient solution, it will have to be generated from adequate decision making at the top of the franchise.

With the Lions staring at the possibility of losing players like Kevin Jones, Roy Williams, Shaun Rogers, Kalimba Edwards, George Foster, Fernando Bryant, Mike Martz, Stan Kwan, Damien Woody, and Tatum Bell, among others(?), in the near future, how can the Ford’s, with good conscience, anyways, allow Matt Millen to retool this franchise?

Jesus, now I'm depressed. When you really think about it, the Lions may have to rebuild. Rebuild a team that won't even finsih .500. That's...That's...Fucking disgusting. God damn Lions, the wet blanket of the Detroit sports scene.

At the always entertaining Abel to Yzerman, IwoCPO points out Versus will broadcast the Red Wings traditional New Year's Eve game, but the NHL's favorite cable network is a little confused as to who will be the Wings' opponent. The knuckleheads at Versus say it's...the St. Louis Blue Jackets?

Dammit! As if we don’t have enough trouble with St. Louis and the BJs. Now Gary’s gone ahead and combined them as some sort of anti-Wing conspiracy? Good god. How will we stop the Nash/Tkachuk/Kariya line?

The St. Louis BJ's? Sounds like a term I'd find in the Urban Dictionary. "I wasn't sure I should ask for a Cleavland Steamer, or a St Louis BJ!"

That's "Above the Fold" for 12-12-07!