Lions: The Lions and new GM Quinn made the decision to retain HC Caldwell for another year and also to remove the interim OC tag on Jim Bob "Gun Slingin" Cooter. GM Quinn will have some cap room this off season and 10 draft picks in the Draft, but He also needs to resolve the Calvin Johnson issue of playing or retirement and what to do with the huge cap hit of Johnson's salary if He decides to play. The Lions are in probably the most competitive Division in all of football right now so it will take a couple of years to right the ship.
Red Wings: The Red Wings are just past the halfway mark of the hockey season and find themselves in second place behind the Florida Panthers in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. While it looks like they will make the playoffs for the 25th straight year, there are concerns as the Red Wings continue to blow 3rd period leads and still are having a hard time scoring more than a goal or two every night. Goal tending is superior with Petr Mzarek now the starting goalie. Injuries are starting to mount up as well and could be a big factor as the season progresses.
Pistons: The Pistons are off to a 22-19 start and should have a few more wins if not for 3 games that they were beat at the buzzer. The are at the halfway point of the season and many including myself are pleasantly surprised that they have won 22 games already and are currently the 7th seed in the week Eastern Conference. They are playing with allot of energy and determination but still need to look for a pure shooter to knock down big shots when needed. The defense comes and goes and they still live and die by the 3 ball.
Tigers: The Tigers made another huge splash in this crazy off season of free agency with the signing of ex SD Padre LF Justin Upton. With this deal the Tigers now are over the $200M salary payroll and will have to pay the luxury tax for over spending. Tigers owner Mike Illitch has never shied away from spending money in attempts to build a winner and he thought he needed another big bat in the lineup this season. If the Tigers do stay healthy, they will have a very fearsome and opposing batting order that should score many runs this year.
Spartans: The Spartan basketball team is currently ranked #10 in the Country after losing 2 straight games this past week. Injuries are playing a big factor along with a team that runs hot or cold shooting and defensively they are no where they need to be for the NCAA tournament. Izzo always has the Spartans ready for March madness and this season will be no different. The Spartans football team is readying itself for the 2016 season and recruiting has really started to heat up once again. The Spartans relish being the underdog and this year in the early preseason polls are ranked anywhere from #18 to #12.
Wolverines: Michigan's basketball team upset #3Maryland but then got beat by Iowa in an up and down week. The Wolverines are looking at a possible NCAA berth to the Big Dance as long as they can beat a few more top ranked teams and have a good run in the B1G tournament. Harbaugh and the Football team are getting ready for next season and are stepping up recruiting. Harbaugh even went so far as to sleep over a recruits house this past weekend. To me this is absurd and I question this tactic, but this is what recruiting and having to win at all costs now does to football coaches.
Sports beyond the "D":
NFL: NFL announces that within 6 years there will be an nFL in London, England. To me this is a huge mistake, the NFL doesn't need to have a team in London to gain the audience they already have globally. The NFL continues to have a Black Cloud over it, between all the blown calls by their officials during games, the continued disagreements with the NFLPA and the debacle brewing over which 2 teams will be in LA in 2 years. The NFL announced that they will relocate the St. Louis Rams and the San Diego Chargers to LA with the Rams starting play in LA in this upcoming 2016 Football Season. They say LA can support 2 Pro teams in football but time will tell for LA couldn't support the Raiders or the Rams last time they both played in LA. The NFL continues to be a joke to everyone except the Owners who continue to make huge amounts of money while the integrity of the game is called into question over and over. One weekend after the illegal and blatant hit on a defenseless player by Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict that resulted in a 3 game suspension which was a big mistake by the spineless NFL for He should of gotten at least 6 games for being a repeat offender. New England WR Danny Amendola while fielding a punt, decided to not fair catch the ball, in doing so as a KC Chief player was going to catch the ball near the goal line, Amendola blatantly and illegally hit a defenseless player in the head. In doing so, He should be get at least 1 if not 2 or more games for this cheap hit. He should be suspended for the AFC Championship Game at the very least and he also should of been ejected from the game immediately, but the NFL and their officials never seem to do the right thing during the games or afterwards in dolling out penalties and suspensions.
MLB Baseball: MLB decided to uphold the lifetime ban of the greatest hitter of all time, Pete Rose in a decision that is both idiotic and dumbfounding to Me. No one questions what He did but the lifetime ban is just wrong in so many ways. He has been punished long enough and it is an abuse of power by the MLB Commish to take this stance. I know many of you will disagree with Me on this, but I do not care if you do or not. I feel very strongly on this issue!! The off season started off with a bang as the biggest contracts ever in free agency being given out. The Owners seem to think they are playing with Monopoly money in signing these free agents but once again it will be the fans who will pay the price for this outlandish and foolish spending in increased ticket prices, parking prices, concession and team apparel. When will it ever stop?Also teams seem to only care about what a player can do on the field to help them win and not what kind of person the player is off the field. Example; the Yankees trading for Chapman from the Reds even after knowing about his off field incident but not caring at all.
NCAA: The NCAA CFB committee seemed to get it right with the 2 best teams playing in the CFB National Championship Game. With that being said, I think the NCAA rules committee should enact a rule that forbids colleges from talking to all football coaches about potential openings within their own teams until all the Bowl Games are done. To many Coaches leave their programs and teams for another job when their season is not over and it isn't fair to the athletes who are still playing or the University that has hired them. I also think that an athlete should be able to transfer from a school and go to another school without having to wait a year if the coach of the school he is playing for is either fired or moves onto another school.
NBA and NHL: The NBA has had a great start with the defending Champions, the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers having the best records in the NBA right now. We are halfway thru the season and the LA Lakers and Philadelphia Sixers are by far the 2 worst teams in the NBA. .And Kobe Bryant announces his retirement at the end of this Season. In the NHL, the Washington Capitals and the Chicago Blackhawks are the 2 best teams so far, each leading their Conferences in points and the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames have the worst records in the NHL..
See My NFL Playoff updates and upcoming CBBTop 25 at www.cupofjoeinthed.blogspot.com .
@cupofjoeinthed
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