My weekly review post of Sports and My Thoughts as they pertain to the "D" and Beyond for the week ending Thursday 03.31.16 . This was a week filled with all sorts of drama and ups and downs. In the "D":
Lions: The Lions are 4 weeks away from this years NFL Draft and they currently have 10 picks. The team has added some depth this off season through free agency but has to continue to rebuild from the draft and adding key pieces whenever it can. They have to improve on both sides of the ball especially protecting QB Matt Stafford and opening holes for the running game. On the defensive side, the DL needs a better pass rush and to stop the run better and the secondary cannot afford to give up the big plays they did last year.
Red Wings:
The Red Wings are fighting just to make the playoffs and only have 5 games left and there is a good chance their streak of 24 consecutive years in the playoffs will end this season. The team has a hard time scoring goals, gives up goals in bunches and lacks being physical and isn't as aggressive as they should be. It has been a total meltdown since January from the Coaches to the Players. A season which opened up with so much promise has now become a huge disappointment. The teams isn't able to play good hockey for 60 minutes anymore. Happy Birthday to Mr. Hockey , Gordie Howe on his 88th Birthday today!! Also in the coming weeks, we
should find out the new name of the Red Wings arena which is scheduled
to open for the 2017/2018 season.
Pistons: The
Pistons are 40-35 and currently in 7th place in the weak Eastern
Conference This team still
hasn't found itself yet, they play good for 2 or 3 game sin a row before
losing 2 or 3 that they could have won. Defense has been a huge issue
for
the Pistons all season long, they just do not play it. Since Stan
VanGundy took over last season, his teams can score but playing defense
is not at the top of their list. Currently they live and die by the 3
ball and running an up tempo offense but when the game is on the line
they can't stop their opponents. If they played any semblance of defense
so far this year, they would easily have won 10 more games.
Tigers:
Opening Day is just a few days away and there is allot of optimism before the Season starts. Pundits have the Tigers finishing 3rd behind the Royals and Indians. The Tigers who were a huge
disappointment last year have retooled their offense and pitching and
look to be ready to contend again. The AL Central is arguably the
toughest division in all of baseball so winning 88 games will be a
challenge this year for the Tigers. It is also equally important that
the Tigers stay healthy this season and that the pitching and bullpen
can hold up, something that hasn't happened the past couple of seasons.So far in Spring Training, injuries have already become a huge concern both on the pitching staff as well as the hitters and everyday players. If the Tigers stay healthy, I think they will surprise many and challenge for the Top of the AL Central.
Spartans: The
Spartan basketball team which was upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament are currently waiting to hear from All American recruit Josh Jackson to make his collegiate selection. If He does choose MSU, MSU will have the top recruiting class in the Country next season. The Spartans also have 2 current players that are transferring this off season to be able to play more at another college. Congrats to Coach Tom Izzo as a finalist for the
Naismith
Hall of Fame for College Basketball. Also congrats to Denzel Valentine,
USA Today's, Sports Illustrated, and also the AP, College Basketball Player of the Year! The Spartans football
team is
readying itself for the 2016
season and signing day was last week. The Spartans had another great
recruiting class finishing 3rd in the B1G and #12th Nationally. The
Spartans relish being the underdog and this year in the early preseason
polls are ranked anywhere from #15 to #10.
Wolverines:
Michigan's basketball team which squeaked into the Tournament and then lost a close game to ND is looking to have a better season next year. Harbaugh and the
Football team are getting ready for next season and are had the #3
ranked recruiting class in the Country. Harbaugh currently took his show
on the road to Florida for Spring Practice with raised the ire of many
collegiate coaches. It looks like Uof M has given him full reigns to
spends whatever money he chooses and has now placed athletics over
education. While it looks like Harbaugh is
turning around the football program, he is raising many eyebrows with
the way he is doing so, including sleeping over 5 recruits homes to get
them to sign with his team and also had a Signing Day event that many,
including myself thought was more for His huge Ego than for the school
or the recruits. 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:
The NFL Draft is less than a month away which always brings fans to their feet knowing that the season is just 4 months from the draft. The off season has been filled with numerous Black Eyes for the NFL from Player misconduct to the admittance by a senior NFL official that there is evidence of a link between CTE and the NFL Players. The bigger issue is the ploy of the NFL to not use the top researcher from Boston to engage the current study but they tried to discredit him using a marketing game that blew up in their face. In front of a Congressional meeting, Congress has demanded answers from the NFL as to why they did what they did. Even crazier is some Owners have come out and said they do not believe there is any evidence to support this. For the NFL and the Owners it is all about the $$$$$ and the Owners are all greedy and do not want to part with their money.
MLB Baseball: Opening Day is just around the Corner, excitement in the air but the MLB has some tough decisions to make. Rockies shortstop Reyes who allegedly assaulted his Wife in Hawaii was charged but now the charges have to be dropped for Reyes Wife who called the police on Reyes is no longer cooperating. This is becoming all too common with athletes and celebrities who allegedly hit or beat someone up. The victim, whose pictures show have been visibly hit and are often bruised as well will no longer testify against the defendant. Usually it is because they have been paid hush money. In this case, MLB already has all the facts and needs to step up and do the right thing and keep Reyes suspended. The Players Association in All major sports seems to think that if the Player is no longer prosecuted or if the charges are dropped then their should be no punishment or discipline for the Athlete. The Players Association doesn't care about the victims at all, they only care about the player and their monies. They are to Blame almost as much as the Player themselves and this is just so sad in today's society! 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!! Barry Bonds is getting support from some ex
players saying He should be in the HOF, but I think there are still many
questions about his alleged steroid use that will need to be answered
before he can even be considered for the HOF. Based on voting the past 4
years for the HOF those voters seem to be thinking as I am, and it
reflects in his still not getting in at this time.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.
NCAA: The
NCAA Basketball Tournament is down to the Final Four which will be played in Houston, Texas. Two of the schools, North Carolina and Syracuse are questionable as to should they even be allowed to be in the Tournament at all. Both schools have had serious violations from the NCAA and many, such as Myself think it is a disgrace that the NCAA allowed them to even be playing in the NCAA Tournament at all! The
NCAA which over the past few years has become powerless against the
bigger schools when it comes to levying sanctions and penalties for
violations seems to have their hands full right now. The Bigger Schools and Conferences are the ones who tell the NCAA what if anything will be done for Schools who have violated rules of the NCAA. It is now a joke!! Southern Miss and
Ole Miss were hit with numerous serious violations by the NCAA and as
all Colleges do, they deny any wrong doing even though they know they
have committed violations. The University of Tennessee was the latest to
be charged but besides serious alleged violations within their
football program they were also charged with and also sued for a Hostile
Sexual Environment and Sexual harassment. Again, they have denied any
wrongdoing but as it was with the University of Oregon, we are seeing a
pattern of Colleges brushing these incidents and violations and sexual
harassment under the rug and also going after the victims and not those
who were responsible in the first place! Even more absurd is the
announcement by the University of Louisville announcing they are giving
themselves a self imposed post season ban for the pay for sex with
escorts relating to their basketball program. The Head Coach, Rick
Pitino still denies any wrong doing even though the University who just
months ago said the allegations were made up, now think imposing a slap
on their own wrists will be enough, should be looking over their
shoulder as the NCAA should do what is right and give the school a 3
year ban, lose of scholarships, at least a year long suspension to
Pitino and more.The NCAA also has to take a hard look at how a Coach
lures recruits to a school and the promises they make just to get a kid
to sign a letter of intent. Too many kids decommit after committing and
that is a problem. Also Coaches sleeping over recruits houses is just
plain wrong!!!
NBA and NHL:
The NBA has had a great season with the defending Champions, the Golden
State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers having the
best records in the NBA
right now. The Warriors are going for the best all time regular season record and should have no problem breaking it in the next few weeks. LeBron James seems to think He is the actual Coach of the Cavaliers as evidenced by his recent actions on the court and it is now clear to all that He knew and was part of the decision to fire the Head Coach a few months ago. They must have thought
we were all stupid when they said this. Everyone knows that James calls
all the shots with the Cavaliers just as He did when He went to the
Miami Heat.
In the
NHL, the Washington Capitals and the Chicago
Blackhawks are the 2 best teams in the NHL. Duncan Keith of the Blackhawks took a swing at the face of an opposing player the other night which was caught on tv and yet he claims it was an accident that he did it. Keith who has been accused of being a cheap shot artist in the past , made this assertion with a straight face which should of won him an Emmy for such a performance. The NHL needs to come down hard on Keith for his actions. Players are using their sticks as a weapon again and the NHL needs to address this now and stop this from getting totally out of hand. Also explain to me how there is not a single Team from Canada in the playoffs this year, sad day for my friends from the North.. Wonder what Don Cherry thinks of this sad event!!
Miscellaneous; Jimmy Johnson wins the Auto Club . Jason Day wins the WGC - Match Play
See My MLB and NFL Draft updates www.cupofjoeinthed.blogspot.com @cupofjoeinthed
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