Why am I a Lions fan?

Every year, it is the say thing for us Lions fans. We always eat whatever they spoon feed us, and we always keep the faith that this is going to be the year that they get better. Well, I'm just about fed up!

This year, the Lions have the 15th overall pick in the NFL Draft, so basically they are picking from the middle of the round. Why do I bring this up? Simple, the news going on at the NFL Combine.

DeAngelo Hall has let it be known that he is not likely to return to the Atlanta Falcons next year, and the team is saying that they are looking for first round compensation for his services. The Lions, who are likely to draft a corner anyway, fit the bill to a T to take advantage of this opportunity to get Hall, but they aren't even mentioned as a team in the running.

So, since it looks like the Lions are content on drafting an unproven corner, rather than drafting a proven, and still young veteran, surely they'd be in the market for the services of free agent linebacker Lance Briggs. Linebacker is a major need for the team and Lance Briggs would immediately make the line backing core, that already has stud Ernie Sims, a strength for the team. Not our Lions, it would make too much sense to actually fill a need in free agency.

OK, so, DeAngelo Hall is not an option, and Lance Briggs is too much of a logical fit to pursue, so what about Jonathan Vilma, middle linebacker for the New York Jets? The Jets are rumored to have allowed Vilma to shop for a trade, and again the Lions are in need of every defensive position not occupied by Ernie Sims. Since Vilma is coming off of major knee surgery, surely the Lions could get him at a decent price, maybe some kind of combo of draft picks, or Shaun Rogers, to get a player that once excelled in the 4-3 defense (Detroit runs a cover two, but uses four down linemen and three linebacker). Nope, Lions aren't considered to be in talks with them either.

I'm pretty much on my last nerve with this team. We never are bringing in players who are proven to be players in the NFL, we are constantly drafting poorly and we are always being told to be patient, that a winner is being born, we just need the "football character." The nonsense that continues to come from this team eats at the hearts of all its fans, as for yours truly, I've already conceited that we are just never going to make a serious play at becoming a quality team and it's a shame, the fans deserve a winner with all they've been through.

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Congress, just go away

Is anyone else as sick of Congress as I am? I’m all for the business they are doing to make this country a better place (if they’re even doing that much), but for the love of god get out of the sports world, the athletes don’t want you involved and neither do the fans.

How brutal has it been watching the congressional hearings on baseball? It’s like a train wreck, you don’t ever want to really see one, but when you do you can’t help but keep your eyes from staring. I hated seeing Rafael Palmeiro point that finger of his at the congressmen (even though they busted him), I hated how they have targeted Barry Bonds (even though many would say it looks like he lied too), and I hate that now they are so focused on Roger Clemens. I want a pure and fair game too, but let the problems be settled in house. Meanwhile, how about you do something that will actually keep the rest of the world from laughing at, or hating us.

Football hasn’t been on Capitol Hill as much as baseball, in fact I bet a lot of people don’t even know that it’s been on Capitol Hill. My beef isn’t with the game being involved with hearings, no, my beef is actually with the other part of Congress, the Senate. Before he got involved in the NFL’s “Spygate,” how many people really knew who Arlen Specter was? Exactly. Again, surely there are other things Arlen Specter can be doing with his time, instead of worrying about something that, to most in the game, is a non-issue. Knowing signals doesn’t help win games Arlen, or have you not caught what every coach, analyst and GM is saying, let it go and do some real work.

On a side note, how horrible were my predictions for the all-star competitions? One right, are you kidding me?!



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NBA All-Star festivities

Well the best part of the NBA’s All-Star weekend occurs tonight, when the last four all-star events (minus the actual game) take center stage in New Orleans. The Shooting Stars Competition, the Skills Competition, the Three-point Shootout and the Slam Dunk Contest, all promise to entertain NBA fans around the world. I figure, since I got a little space to do so, I’m going to predict a winner for each one.

The Shooting Stars Competition: I actually don’t even know who’s all competing, but it doesn’t matter anyway, I’m going with my hometown team, the Detroit Pistons.

The Skills Competition: (Competitors: Defending champ Dwayne Wade, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul and Deron Williams) I’ll flat out admit that I am Deron Williams slappy and that’s probably why I’m picking him to win, but I have always loved how Deron Williams played the game, even at Illinois.

3-Point Shootout: (Competitors: Defending champ Jason Kapono, Peja Stojakovic, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Daniel Gibson and Richard Hamilton) I want to take my hometown boy so bad, but I just can’t get past how well Peja always performs at the 3-point Shootout. So, I’m going with Peja as my pick, but rooting for Rip, take’em down Rip.

Slam Dunk Competition: (Competitors: Defending champ Gerald Green, Jamario Moon, Dwight Howard and Rudy Gay) A lot of hype behind Jamario Moon and Rudy Gay going into this competition, I’m going to buy into one of them. Rudy Gay has been taking entries from fans on youtube, asking them to give him ideas for dunks he should do during the competition. I’ve heard there has been some crazy entries, therefore I’m putting my money on Gay.




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Racing's World Series is right around the corner, and I can't wait!

Call me what you want: redneck, loser, dork or someone who just follows the trend, I don’t care, I can’t wait for Sunday. Why? THE DAYTONA 500!

For about four years now, I have looked at racing’s World Series as the second greatest sporting event in all of sports; better than hockey’s Stanley Cup, better than the NBA Championship, hell, even better than the World Series of baseball, and I love baseball. This year’s edition promises to be the best yet, with all the different story lines that even the casual fan can get excited about. Let’s look at two of them, since I got to keep it short and sweet.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. makes the transition from DEI to Hendrick’s Racing: Looks like Jr. had a legitimate beef with how DEI was running things when he left. After struggling all of last year, Jr. has already bounced back strong in his Hendrick car, winning the Budweiser Shootout and the first Gatorade Duel run at Daytona. He now goes for the triple-crown of Nascar Sunday afternoon, where he looks to win the 500, a 500 many have him favored to win.

Toyota looks to improve after horrible ’07: Things couldn’t have gone much worse than they did last year for the Toyota teams. The company’s biggest name, Michael Waltrip, was busted for having an illegal substance in his engine, and well, let’s just say things continued to go downhill after that. It’s a new year though, Toyota now has its teeth sunk into two superstars in Tony Stewart, who is in the third row for the Daytona 500 and Denny Hamlin, who won the second leg of the Gatorade Duel and is in the second row. Things already have improved for Toyota, who with Hamlin’s Gatorade Duel win, made history, winning Toyota’s first race ever (points or no points).

Now, enjoy the race!



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Baseball on Capitol Hill

I had the displeasure of watching all four-and-a-half hours of the congressional hearings on ESPN yesterday, and what a joke it ended up being. Whether it was congressmen acting like clowns, or the two men under question squirming uncomfortably in their seats, the hearing that took place yesterday ended up being one big circus.

Two things I took from the congressional hearings: one, how absolutely ridiculous the congressmen acted when questioning the two men, and two how uncomfortable Roger Clemens looked as he answered question after question posed to him.

Let’s start with the congressmen. What happened to being fair and not taking sides? That display from congressmen like Dan Burton and Henry Waxman was despicable and I couldn’t believe how they attacked the two men there to defend themselves. Burton was a joke, flat-out attacking Brian McNamee, calling him a liar and attacking his character, when he should have been asking him questions that would lead to a break-through in the case. Congressman Henry Waxman, the chairman of the hearing, too, was hilarious to me the way he obviously targeted Clemens. I just heard Skip Bayless talk about how fair he was and laughed, because all I remember was Waxman pretty much telling Roger he didn’t believe him; so much for a fair hearing huh?

The last thing I noticed, and I’ll keep it quick, was how much Roger Clemens squirmed yesterday. Despite how the hearing was conducted, I believed Roger Clemens until yesterday, when I saw him fumble for answers, stutter with every question and constantly contradict himself before everyone at that hearing. That said, how much do people want to hate Brian McNamee and believe Roger? I know I want to believe Roger so so badly, but man he came out of yesterday smelling like anything but roses.



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Can the East beat the West? Haven't they done it already?

It wasn’t too long ago when the NBA was ruled by the Western Conference. It was understood that the Western Conference Championship game was pretty much going to be the NBA Championship game and the East was simply there because it was required to be. My how things have changed.

The rebuilding of the East’s reputation started in 2004, when the Detroit Pistons shocked the nation and brought home the NBA Championship to the Motor City. It continued the following year, the then defending champion Detroit Pistons pushed the highly favored San Antonio Spurs, the Western Conference powerhouse, to the very limits. The series went to the very end, game seven, and had the Pistons not blown the lead they had with eight minutes left, they might be known now as a dynasty and the East would have been looked at very differently, right away.

There is another reason to believe the East can hang with the West. When 2006 came, it brought with it another NBA Championship game that favored the Western Conference representative, the Dallas Mavericks. Well, no one told the Miami Heat, the Eastern Conference representative, that they weren’t supposed to win, and Miami walked up to the favored Mavericks team and punched them in the mouth. It was the third time, in as many years that the East was highly competitive in the championship game, with the East winning two of those respective three championship series'.

So, welcome to 2008, and welcome to another exciting year in NBA basketball. Can the East be competitive again, after its being swept from the finals last year? If you look at how the Celtics have been rolling over Western Conference teams, and how the Pistons continue to excel, the answer is simple, absolutely.



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Suit-up Roger

Time for Roger Clemens to get fitted for that bright orange jump suit, because if you’re listening to all the stories that are out there in the sports world, Roger Clemens is already guilty of perjury.


It’s no different this morning then it was yesterday. Rumors upon rumors swarming the “Rogerroid” story that gets more tiresome every time I see it on ESPN. Today’s rumor, Roger’s ex-teammate and buddy, Andy Pettitte is believed to have supported Brian McNamee’s claim that Roger did use HGH and steroids. This after last week’s informal meetings with representatives of Congress, and McNamee’s evidence of dirty syringes and gauze pads, which were met with a lot of criticism.


To me, Roger Clemens was doomed from the get-go. Sports journalists are always talking about what an innocent player should do, i.e. shout from the roof tops that he is innocent, but when Roger or anyone else actually does it, well, journalists find something wrong with that too. Instead of journalists praising athletes for trying to clear their name, they criticize athletes, stating that their claim was "too over-the-top." Roger do yourself a favor and just do what the press seemingly wants, say your guilty, get fitted for your fashionable bright orange jumpsuit, and smile for the cameras; you can't win.



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Pettitte takes McNamee's side

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