My weekly review post of Sports and My Thoughts as they pertain to the "D" and Beyond for the week ending Monday 08.08.16 . This was a week filled with all sorts of drama and ups and downs. In the "D":
Lions:
Detroit just 10 days into its training camp and already injuries are causing concerns long before the season starts, TE Eric Hebron went down with an lower leg injury and his timetable for return has not been announced. Main TE Brandon Pettigrew is on the PUP and hasn't practiced yet as well. The Lions tried to improve their WR spot by signing veteran Anquan Boldin to a 1 yr deal. The Detroit Lions training camp has begun and both the team and their fans have guarded optimism. Most publications and sport pundits have the Lions winning 3 to 7
games this year. While the Lions have many question marks on both sides
of the ball, it seems they still will be an explosive team offensively.
If the last 6 games last
season under new OC Jim Bob Gun Slingin' Cooter are any indication of
what is to come this season, the Lions should be in the Top 10 of all
offenses this season. The Lions have a tough
schedule this season
opening with 3 of their first 4 games on the road. The Lions also made
headlines this off season when they announced they would finally have
real cheerleaders at their games. I see the Lions winning 9 games maybe 10 if they stay healthy and can play some defense this season.
Red Wings: The Red Wings and GM Ken Holland promised hockey fans of the storied franchise a complete makeover of its roster. Needless to say, Holland fell far short on his promise and Detroit will be no higher than a 6 seed this season in the NHL Eastern Conference. The days of Free Agents wanting to come and play for the Red Wings is long over and Holland seems to be left in the dust when trying to sign free agents. The Red Wings also didn't land a much needed defense
men or two and as of right now haven't done much to bolster their team
roster. GM Holland will have to make a blockbuster trade to get the help
he needs as well as finding a way to trade G Jimmy Howard and get a bit
more cap relief. Saddled with big contracts to
underachieving aging players could cause salary cap issues once again..
The new name of the Red Wings arena which is scheduled
to open for the 2017/2018 season is The Little Caesar's Arena, maybe
they will rename the new arena in his name?
Pistons:
The Detroit Pistons are looking forward to the upcoming NBA Season. The Pistons were busy in the off season and look forward to making noise in the NBA East Conference. The
Pistons
also resigned C Andre Drummond to a 5 yr $130M deal. Detroit made the playoffs for the first time
since 2009 were swept in the 1st round.Detroit should continue their
climb this season up the NBA East Standings and be a #3 or #4 seed in
the playoffs.
Tigers:
The Tigers are currently in 2nd place in the AL Central with a 61-50
record. Detroit is 15-7 since the All Star break and are 2.0 GB of the first place Cleveland Indians. Winners of 9 of their last 11, and are headed on the road for 6 game with the first 3 in Seattle. The Tigers lost Nick Castellanos to a broken hand out at least 4-6 weeks and placed Pitcher Jordan Zimmermann on the DL for the second time this season. Detroit which stood pat during the MLB Trade deadline need to get consistent pitching and the offense needs to score run on a regular basis and not be either Feast or Famine. The
AL Central which many thought would be the toughest Division is all of
baseball is now seen as whichever Team wins 88-90 games will win the
division.
Spartans:
Ex Spartan and former punter Mike Sadler died this morning in a car crash along with Nebraska Cornhusker Sam Foltz in Wisconsin. The Spartans football team who are the defending B1G Conference Champions last year are less than 2 weeks away from training camp and only 5
weeks away from the home opener of the 2016 football season. Although
MSU is ranked by many in the Top 20 this year, this year will be
somewhat of a transition period due to the graduation of many Top
Offensive and Defensive Players. The Spartans should still win 9 or 10 games
this year but will have to rely on a great defensive while the offense
gets settled with a new QB and running game. The MSU Spartans football team are now an
elite College team The
Spartan basketball team which lost out on the Josh Jackson sweepstakes
still had a Top 5 recruiting year and will look to be another March
Madness favorite next season. Congrats to Coach Tom
Izzo for being inducted into the
Naismith
Hall of Fame for College Basketball. The Spartans will be a work in
progress this upcoming season but Tom Izzo knows what it takes to win
and I see them winning 22-25 games and another invitation to March
Madness.
Wolverines:
Michigan football is making plenty of waves in the betting world as they are the team most bettors are putting money down on to win the national Championship this season. Harbaugh who has done a marvelous job of recruiting and getting the Wolverines back into the National spotlight will have his hands full with a much tougher schedule than the one He had last year. One of the biggest knocks against Harbaugh in his great coaching career is that every year His teams lose a game or two that they should of won. He has recruited
strongly and has started a new trend of being part of Satellite Football
Camps all over the World. With a budget in the Top 3 of all Colleges,
it seems He has an open checkbook to do as He pleases. There is no doubt
that He has restored the football program to one of National prominence
once again but at what expense? Good luck to the
Wolverine football team this year and I see them winning 10 games in
2016. The Wolverine basketball team is retooling and hoping for another
NCAA run
next season. Coach Beilein has done a good job at Michigan and I see
another 18-20 win season and a possible March Madness berth for the
Wolverines this up coming season.
Sports beyond the "D":
NFL:
The NFL Season is 32 days away and teams are getting ready to
open training camps in the next week to 10 days. Excitement is always high at this time of year. Joey Bosa 3rd round pick of the Chargers is a holdout and I cant help but laugh when his Mother gets involved and says they should of demanded a trade immediately, they do not want to play for the Chargers. This is what pro sports has come down too, athletes demanding trades, athletes demanding which teams they will play on and who they want on their teams. Entitlement is the new word for both the Owners and the players nowadays and that leaves the fans to pay the price for this so called "Entitlement. Andrew Luck of the Colts and Von Miller of the Broncos seem to be the biggest winners this off season. Both signed huge contracts with a ton of guaranteed money with their deals. Also, the Deflategate saga has ended with Tom Brady and the NFLPA finally agreeing to the 4 game suspension from the 2015 AFC Championship Game.A lot of wasted time and money for something many of us knew what the outcome was going to be. I wrote from the beginning that Brady was guilty and although He will go down as one of the greatest QB's of all time, His image will also be tarnished as well. Other issues that reared their ugly heads today including reports out of Pittsburgh that Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell missed drug tests this off season and is looking at a mandatory 4 game suspension if these reports are true. Also, Dallas Cowboy RB Ezekiel Elliott girlfriend has posted and alleged on social media she has been bruised and battered and assaulted by Elliott. Ray Rice, ex NFL player wants to play again in the NFL and promises to donate his entire salary to victims of domestic violence if given another chance in the NFL. As if the Owners and the NFL do
not have enough money, the NFL is now going to play games in China as
well as the UK and Mexico. The NFL should concentrate on making the game
better and dealing with its current issues instead of trying to dilute
the game and water it down with thoughts of global expansion on the
horizon just to make more money
MLB Baseball: MLB is now into the final 2 months of the regular season, teams have made their trades or stood pat and now the dog days of summer are among us. Teams are seeing players hurt, and are relying heavily on their minor league farm systems to fill the gap.It is time for all the high priced , high payed players to earn their monies and the young players to show they belong in the Major Leagues.
NCAA: North Carolina who was caught allegedly in another academic cheating scandal now wants the jurisdiction taken away from the NCAA to impose penalties or sanctions in regards to this alleged cheating scandal. Powerful conferences and Universities once again do not want to face the piper and deal with the rules they have been governed by and think they are above any law or rules they have broken. Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban once again chooses to refuse to allow a scholarship athlete to transfer to another SEC school. It is ironic seeing that Saban if He chooses to do so can leave Alabama and go to any school of his choosing but an athlete who is a student first, cannot decide to go elsewhere and play the same sport. Tim for the NCAA to step in and do the right thing! Baylor University HC Jim Grobe said this week that He didn't see anything wrong with the way Baylor handled its internal investigation of the sexual incidents regarding football players. He also went on to say that He was sure this type of behavior goes on at most other colleges as well. How Baylor hired him to be their next football coach when He as well as the University are in total denial of culture that surrounds the football program is beyond me. The following day, ex Baylor football player Shaun Oakman was charged with sexual abuse.
The NCAA which has become powerless to deal with the bigger schools
needs to start addressing violations and issues on a much more timely
manner and stop letting the bigger schools tell them what they are going
to do. It is the old adage, when their is smoke their is usually fire
and in most cases the universities usually only report a minor part of
what is truly going on. Time for the NCAA to be the Governing Body and
stop letting the Bigger schools bully them around.
NBA and NHL:
NBA
lost a fine ambassador of the League when the San Antonio Spurs Tim
Duncan announced his immediate retirement after 19 seasons in the
League. The NBA Free Agency was nothing short of the NBA Owners once
again
throwing around crazy foolish stupid money on players who are average to
a bit above average at best. But the biggest surprise was OKC PF Kevin
Durant deciding to screw over the OKC team and its fans and bolt to the
Golden State Warriors. In the end it will be the fans who will absorb
the foolishness of the Owners in higher ticket prices and concession
prices as well.Draymond Green a top player of the Golden State Warriors
was arrested at his alma mater this past weekend for assault. more to
follow.
In the
NHL, Free Agency also tool place and just as it was in the NBA, Owners
threw around lots of money and lengthy contracts to average or above
average players in which most were either aging or older veterans. The
NHL also announced expansion into Las Vegas in a few years and Seattle
is the next potential city to host an expansion team. I cannot
understand the rationale of expansion when their are quite a few team
struggling financially right now in the NHL.
Miscellaneous;
The Olympics are underway and I have to say the Opening Ceremony that Brazil presented to the World was amazing.! Medals are being won and participants are letting it all out in their events. I do have to question why any of the Russian Olympic Team is even allowed to be participating? Russia was convicted of an all out doping of its athletes that its sports federation was a part of, yes the IOC for some unknown reason (although there are many theories as to why) allowed 271 athletes to participate in the Rio Olympics including some Russian athletes that failed not one but 2 or more drug tests including drug tests earlier this year! The IOC needs to be looked at very closely for in allowing the Russian athletes to participate after the Russian federation knowingly helped dope their athletes cheat. The IOC sent the wrong message in it is ok to cheat and still participate in events. Rio
and the City not ready for the Olympic venue as well as the huge
controversy surrounding the Zika virus.
Nascar: Denny Hamlin wins at Watkins Glen PGA: Russell Knox wins Travelers Championship
See My NFL and CFB updates www.cupofjoeinthed.blogspot.com
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