My weekly review post of Sports and My Thoughts as they pertain to the "D" and Beyond for the week ending Saturday 09.24.16 . This was a week filled with all sorts of drama and ups and downs. In the "D":
Lions:
Detroit lost a tough game to the Titans on Sunday in a game that saw them commit many stupid penalties, have many miscues, many lost opportunities, and a handful of devastating injuries to an already hurt team. The Lions fell back into their old ways of taking foolish and untimely penalties while the banged up defense played well enough for the team to win this game. Detroit heads to Green Bay on Sunday to take on a Packers team that is also in disarray at this time so it should be an interesting game for sure. 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 8 games maybe 9
if they stay healthy and can play some defense this season.
Red Wings:
Hockey Season is just 14days away. 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:
NBA Season starts in 27 days. 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 82-70
record. Detroit is 7.0GB of the
first place Cleveland Indians and the Tigers are a 1/2 game ahead of the Orioles for the final wild card spot. The Tigers need to win at least 7 or 10 of these games to get the final WC spot. Detroit is at home for a big weekend series against the KC Royals. The Tigers are suffering from
numerous
injuries many to
their key players and they are band aiding their team right now. 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: The
Spartans went into South Bend and dominated the Irish blowing them out through the first 2 and 1/2 quarters 36-7 before MSU once again decided to be ultra conservative with the play calling and let ND back into the game and almost lost the game. This has been the MO of HC Mark Dantonio's teams over the years, they beat teams good for 3 quarters or so and then get conservative and it has cost them games in the past. The Spartans looked very impressive in the win over ND and now face the #10 Wisconsin on Saturday. MSU looks ready for another great season and a Big Bowl berth. The MSU Spartans football
team is 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.They also landed top 5 recruit for 20127 named Jared Jackson. 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:
The Wolverines over came some early mistakes and relied again on special teams to over power the Colorado Buffaloes to go 3-0 in the B1G. Michigan pulled away in the 2nd half after the Buffaloes starting QB went down with an injury. It would of been a much closer game if He hadn't gone out with an injury. Michigan plays their first 5 games
at home this year and 8
out 12 games in Ann Arbor. With an easy first 7 games, Michigan should
be 7-0 before they face any stiff competition this season. 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 Here. Bill Belichick and the Patriots are geniuses, they have developed a Plug and Play System where they can plug in a player with years or experience or little to no experience and the System allows the Player to succeed and win. All teams should model their NFL Football team around this proven system of winning. Week 2 of the NFL Season saw many key players go down with major injuries some of them season ending. Rookies QB's are winning when no one gave them a chance to win this early on and there are a few teams that have risen to become the early favorites to get to the Super Bowl. Most fans and players alike
say the preseason is a waste but to the NFL and the Owners it is all
about screwing the fans over for even more money with the 2 additional
home games each team gets with the preseason. Until it is
addressed, more players will get hurt and in the case of the Vikings,
they went from being a playoff team and possible winner of the NFC North
to a team that will be lucky to win 6 games now. NFL teams
are working hard in training camp to establish their 53 man roster for
the season opener. Excitement is always
high at this time of year. The biggest news so far is the injury to Tony
Romo that will sideline him for 6-10 weeks. Joey Bosa 3rd round pick
of the Chargers has finally been signed by the Chargers but what type of
shape he is in for the first couple of games has yet to be seen. 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 weeks 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: CFB Football is here. Week 3 is over and it was a week with most Top 25 teams handling their
business. Alabama continues to be #1 in the CFB rankings while Ohio State and Clemson maintain the next 2 spots behind the Roll Tide. Florida State fell out of the Top 15 with a bad loss to Louisville in a game that seen FSU quit early on in the 3rd quarter and let up 63 points. OSU cruised over Oklahoma in a game billed as a heavyweight fight but unfortunately only OSU showed up for this game. MSU went into South Bend and gave the Irish a beat down that now gives Notre dame 2 losses and essentially knocked them out of any playoff contention this year. North Dakota State went into Iowa and the FBS team on a last second FG beat the #12 Hawkeyes. NDSU has now won 5 games over CFB Division 1 teams in the past few years. 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 have just finished and after 16 days of intense
competition, the USA came out on top with 121 medals. Rio did an amazing
job with the Olympics and outside of a bit of controversy fro the
Russian drug doping scandal, polluted swimming waters, lying by Ryan
Lochte of the USA and an IOC top official arrested for ticket scalping,
all in all it was an impressive Olympic games for the World to see.
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
participate! Russia was convicted of an all out doping scandal of its
athletes
that its sports federation was a part of, and 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 that 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: Martin Truex wins at Chicagoland Speedway PGA: Jimmy Walker wins at Baltusrol
See My NFL and CFB updates www.cupofjoeinthed.blogspot.com
@cupofjoeinthed on tw
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