My weekly review post of Sports and My Thoughts as they pertain to the "D" and Beyond for the week ending Thursday 2.16.17 . This was a week filled with all sorts of drama and ups and downs. In the "D":
Lions:
The Detroit Lions still fresh off their crushing defeat in the first
round of the NFL playoffs have many glaring questions to ponder and ask
of this team. Most notably are the following; Will they lock up QB Matt
Stafford with a long term deal costing them around $25M+ a season? Will
they go after Free Agents to fill holes in the secondary, LB, DL, OL and
WR? Will they trade for some immediate help? Will they take a stud RB
to ease the pressure off of Stafford? This is a huge off season for GM
Bob Quinn who already made his first big decision in retaining HC
Caldwell before the playoff game in Seattle and watching the team end
the season on a 4 game losing skid. The 2017 football schedule is out
and the Lions have a very tough schedule.
Red Wings:
The Red Wings are heading into the final 25 games of the season and they are currently in last place in
the NHL East Conference Atlantic Division. Defense and goal tending has been brutal this year and continues to be the downfall of this team. With the trade deadline looming soon it is time for the Red Wings to sell, sell, sell and start rebuilding for the future. Scoring is and will be an issue all season
long but just as it was all of last year, the Red Wings are giving up
goals late in games and costing themselves points in the standings. The
Detroit Red Wings who have made the playoffs a record 25 straight years in all probability will see that streak end this season.
Pistons:
The Pistons are currently in 8th place in the NBA Eastern Conference
with a 26-29 record. Detroit which has all their starters and backup guys healthy and
have decided that they want to run and gun their way to wins and not
play any defense. This has become problematic for HC Stan Van Gundy
since he came to Detroit a few years ago, his teams seem to never want
to play defense at all. Opposing teams are met with little to no
resistance as they go to the basket. This team is too soft especially in
the middle and would be wise to bring in some of the Bad Boys from
previous Piston teams to learn how to let opposing players and teams
know if they go to the basket they should expect a hard foul to follow.
HC Van Gundy needs to be held accountable for He has assembled a team of
players that do not like to play hard on defense. Until this team
learns to play any semblance of defense, expect the Pistons to hover
around the .500 mark the rest of the season. Playing in a league of
parity they just might sneak into the playoffs again but will get beat
soundly as they did last year if they continue to play as they have all
season. The Detroit Pistons announced they will move back to the
City of Detroit next year and play in the new Little Caesars Arena with
the Detroit Red Wings starting next season.
Tigers:
Spring training opener is 11 days away. The Tigers who just finished their annual Winter caravan taking players
around the State of Michigan to get their fans excited about the upcoming
baseball season. Detroit which many have finishing no higher then 3rd
in the MLB American League Central Division have so many unanswered
questions heading into the season. First off, GM Avila after last
season mentioned trimming payroll and rebuilding the team. Lucky for
most of the veterans on the team this never happened and most of the
team remained the same except a few moves that transpired during the off
season. The most surprising and one that most likely will come back to
haunt them, is the trading away of CF Cameron Maybin to the Angles for
pretty much nothing in return. On a team which is over paying many
underachieving players, the Tigers chose not to exercise the option on
Maybins $9M+ year contract. Maybin was the catalyst and spark plug on
this team most of last year when He wasn't injured. Maybin hit .315 for
the Tigers last year and I do not see the same type of stats this year
for whomever the Tigers chose to replace him in CF. Detroit which had
many of its star players injured last season are another year older and
the window is closing fast for this this team to get back to the
Playoffs and World Series. The Tigers starting rotation could be on of
the best in baseball if Zimmermann can return to the 2015 pitcher he was
and if Norris and Boyd continue to progress as starters. It is the
bullpen, the Achilles heel of the Tigers for the past 10 years that is
the huge question mark. The Tigers seem to be set on the closing end
with Rondon and Rodriguez but it is the others that cause great anxiety
in the Tigers faithful. Lowe and both Wilson's need to have much better
years and Pelfrey and Sanchez need to forget about 2016 completely and
see if they can regain their old ways. The Wild Card for the Tigers
bullpen will be rookie Jiminez who could be the key to making this a
potential contender this season. Offensively, the Tigers still are very
imposing but one would be foolish to expect the older veterans such as
Miggy and V Martinez to stay healthy all year and Detroit also needs JD
Martinez and Upton to have great years as well. Starting catcher McCann
needs to rebound after a terrible hitting season in 2016 and
Castallenos needs to continue to improve on the break out year he had
last season. Defensively and baseball fundamentals haunted the Tigers
last season and needs to be addressed such as hitting cutoff men, base
running, bunting, advancing the runner and doing the little things that
the Tigers failed miserably to do in 2016. This is a huge gamble for the
Tigers going into the 2017
baseball season. How the Tigers won 86 games last season is beyond me
but they will have to win 90+ this year which will be tough as both the
Indians and the Royals got better and the Twins with all their young
draft choices are getting much better, that leaves both the White Sox
and the Tigers as teams that need everything to go right to have a shot
in the Central Division this year. Only 11 days to the Spring Cactus League opener and only 48 days until Opening day in Chicago against the White Sox.
Spartans:
The football team may be facing some serious problems as 3 of its players and a student coach have been accused of sexual assault. MSU which has some of the toughest guidelines for colleges has a zero tolerance policy in regards to sexual assault. More to come as an investigation has begun into this serious matter. The
Spartans football team is working on fixing all of the mistakes and
problems from last years disappointing 3-9 record. In in a year where
MSU started and played more freshmen
and sophomores then any other time under Head Coach Mark Dantonio. This
team was
short on talent this season has also had very questionable play calling
on both sides of the ball and if the Spartans look to rebound next
season and remain an Elite team, they need to put a top OC and DC in
place. I admire HC Mark Dantonio's loyalty, but it has come with a high
price that has cost the team at least 2 games last season. Players love
playing for him so He needs to do the right thing and bring in top
Coaches to round out his Coaching staff. His decision to bring in top
Coaches could haunt the program for years to come. The
Spartan basketball team is in jeopardy of not making the NCAA
tournament for the first time in the last 19 years. The Spartans who got crushed at Michigan but rebounded to beat Iowa need to get to 20 wins to make the NCAA Tourney this season. MSU has challenged
itself to
perform with the hardest non conference schedule in the Country.
Injuries have been a big part of the lack of wins so far but the
Spartans also lack the mental and physical toughness of previous Izzo
teams. Also the lack of a Big Man in the middle hurts them as well. 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 18-20 games and another possible invitation to
March
Madness.
Wolverines:
The Wolverines once again have made waves across the NCAA. First off,
Michigan is the first Public Institution in the Country to pay 3
football coaches over $1M a year and that doesn't even imclude Head
Coach Jim Harbaugh's $9M a year paycheck. Also, a smack in the face to
the NCAA, Harbaugh decided to take the whole football team to Rome for
football practice and very debatable studying abroad. I think if the
football team is able to go at whatever price it is costing them, then
every other student athlete at Michigan should be afforded the same
opportunity at no cost to them as well. Since there seems to be no
limits to the Wolverines football teams athletic budget, this makes all
the more case as to why student athletes should share in all the revenue
the school makes from them. The Wolverines basketball
team has been up and down this year but with 2 impressive wins this week, need just 3 to 4 more wins to get an NCAA berth this season. 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 New England Patriots are this years Super Bowl 51 winners. Now that the season is over, all teams are getting ready for Free Agency and the upcoming draft at the end of April. The NFL has an off season coming up to work on
the many issues that it is dealing with; especially its declining
viewership, players pushing for marijuana to be legal, the moving of the
Raiders to Las Vegas and the Chargers to Los Angeles. Severe injuries,
especially concussions are rampant nowadays
as almost all the replays show that either a players head is being
driven into the turf and also so many head to head deliberate hits as
well as hitting defenseless players in the head. And it seems the NFL
with all their new Concussion Protocol Procedures, they still cannot get
it right in regards to protecting a Player safely. The NFL Pro Bowl
game is just a shell of what it once was, where now players do not want
to play for fear of getting hurt and also for no real incentive to play
in the game. It is time for the NFL to revamp the game to give it new
meaning among players and fans alike. 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. 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: Spring training starts this week for all MLB teams and
the MLB Season is approaching quickly. Excitement is building for fans and players and
teams alike as another Season is just around the corner. Some teams
have spent a lot to acquire players they think will lead them to the
World Series, other teams stood still and others shed payroll while
trying to rebuild for a few years down the road. Also, MLB is trying to find a way to speed up the games so they don't last over 3+ hours for a 9 inning game. They also are tinkering with putting a leadoff man on 2nd base with no outs starting in the 10th inning to allow extra inning games to be decided rather quickly. This is a stupid idea!!
NCAA: With more and more coming out from the Baylor sexual assault scandal, it seems that Baylor has allowed the football program to run amuck for years and police itself and cover up all its wrong doings. Baylor now tells the NCAA infraction committee they have it all fixed and do not see a need to be punished for these alleged crimes. If the NCAA does not issue the death penalty to the Baylor football program, not only will the NCAA lose the little credibility it has left, it will send a message that the bigger schools can do what they want when they want and are above the law. This isn't Baylor's first time with huge issues and they tried to cover up transgressions within the basketball program and now numerous transgressions within its football team. The NCAA has no choice but to give the Baylor football team the death penalty. The
NCAA passed a law prohibiting Spring football practices such as the one
the Michigan Wolverines had in Florida last season. The ordinance takes
place in August, so as an insult and a slap in the face, the Wolverines
are taking the whole football team to Rome, Italy under the premise of
studying and learning, yet also practicing as well. Also, Michigan is
the first Public Institution to pay 3 assistant coaches more than a $1M a
year. With Universities paying Coaches more than some NFL teams do, it
is time to pay the student athletes a stipend and a big one at that as
they are the ones making the Universities the money. Also, the
Poinsettia Bowl is no more and I for one am happy to see the elimination
of this Bowl game as we need to still reduce the number of Bowl games
which currently now stands at 40. Also, it is time for Louisville to pay
the piper and accept the punishment that the NCAA will hand down in
regards to the Basketball team and lack of compliance.
NBA and NHL:
NBA season is into the dog days of meaningless games just before the All
Star game and star players are grumbling about their teams and not
enough good players or teams not playing hard enough or caring about the
game. The trade deadline is less than a month away, lets see who is
traded where and who is a seller and a buyer. Also, I agree with Golden
State Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr, that the players have made a
mockery of the All Star game. The Players do not take the game
seriously and only vote for their friends and not the true best players
in the league this season. The game doesn't truly showcase the best of
the best anymore where once it meant something to be an All Star, now it
is all about those going to get paid and nothing else. I am also amazed that the Knicks owner, James Dolan who is disliked by many of the current and former Knicks players has allowed Phil Jackson to make his team the laughing stock of the NBA. Also, Dolan's handling of the Charles Oakley incident was bad for the Knicks, himself and the NBA. Just another black eye.
In the
NHL, the trade deadline is around the corner and it seems that many teams are looking to buy and a few want to sell and rebuild. I look to see a few high priced big name players get traded close to the deadline this season. 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 Sports world lost one of the greatest Owners of all time with the passing of Mr. Mike Ilitch this past weekend. Mr. Ilitch was the current Owner of both the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Tigers. Mike Ilitch was also the founder of Little Caesar's Pizza. He was instrumental in Youth Hockey in Michigan. He was known to all as Mr. I and I met Mr. I a handful of times over my life and will never forget these encounters with him. He will be sorely missed as He did so much for the City he loved in Detroit. Mr. Ilitch no doubt will be watching down on the City He loved, the teams He Owned and smiling, knowing He brought happiness to all who knew him and also all the fans that loved him.
Tiger Woods has withdrawn from the next few PGA events due to reoccurring back issues. This looks like the sad ending to a once great career for Tiger Woods.
PGA: Jordan Spieth wins the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AM Nascar: Daytona 500 on 2/26/2017
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