My weekly review post of Sports and My Thoughts as they pertain to the "D" and Beyond for the week ending Thursday, 6.18.15 . This was a week filled with all sorts of drama and ups and downs. In the "D":
Lions: Finished up the last OTA's of the preseason and now Lion fans wait until Training Camp starts at the end of July. Lions remain optimistic that they added allot of depth at much needed positions and hope that the Defense will continue to be the strong point of the upcoming season even with the huge loss of Suh to the Dolphins. The Lions also hope that the offense will gel with the added depth at RB and be more balanced between running the ball and passing. Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate will stretch defenses this year again.
Red Wings: The Red Wings announced Jeff Blashill as the new Head Coach and also announced that ex player Chris Chelios will assist with the defensemen and also with US operations. Ex Coach Mike Babcock chose to depart and take a bank vault of money from the MapleLeafs after holding many NHL teams hostage while driving up his price to be the next coach of an NHL team, even after disappointing playoff loses the past few years with the Detroit Red Wings.
Pistons: The Pistons traded for Ersan Ilyasova from the Bucks to bolster their front line as their hopes of resigning Monroe look less and less likely. Stan VanGundy will have his hands full for the team still has many glaring weaknesses and outside of the wide open run and gun offense and they live and die by the 3 ball, the Pistons still haven't shown they can play half court defense or half court offense against the good teams in the NBA. Hopefully the NBA Draft will net the Pistons a top echelon Player that can make an immediate impact on this team.
Tigers: The Tigers are slowly rebounding from a tough month of playing lackluster and uninspired baseball and the Tigers as a whole team couldn't hit themselves out of a bag. It was painful to watch. The Tigers got encouraging news when Verlander pitched in his first game of the year and showed progress and promise. Price has been the #1 pitcher the Tigers figured he would be all season long so far and Simon has pitched very good as well. Greene was demoted after many poor outings, after having 3 awesome ones to start the year. Sanchez has had 2 good back to back outings after pitching poorly for the previous 6 weeks. The Bullpen is average at best and Soria has blown a few saves lately. Pitching will be the nemesis of this team all year long. Offensively Cabrera and Cespedes and JD Martinez have been the true bright spots on a team that leads MLB not in home runs but in hitting into double plays at a current rate of 1+ per game. Victor Martinez returns from the DL at the end of this week and hopefully his knee and legs will hold up the rest of the year. Ausmus still makes rookie mistakes and has allot to learn as he goes , hopefully he will make better decisions as the season goes on.
Spartans: Football Season is just around the corner and many college syndication's have the Spartans in the Top 10 and a few in the Top 5 this upcoming college season. Coach Dantonio has built his Spartans into a Top Collegiate Football Powerhouse and Spartans fans are excited about this year coming off their Cotton Bowl win against Baylor.
Wolverines:U of M is banking on the signing of Jim Harbaugh as head coach to turn this once elite program around. He has made plenty of waves since his arrival and the team should be much improved this upcoming season. The Wolverines should start to win 9 or 10 games a year under Harbaugh but the question will always be this: when will Harbaughs ego take him back into the NFL and when will his Players tune him out and he rubs Alumni and Players and School officials the same way he did while at Stanford and also with the49'ers? Harbaugh coaching style seems to be that of an egotistical, I am always right player instead of being a head coach. Time will tell with Harbaugh as it has in the past.
Sports beyond the "D":
NFL:The NFL season is almost here and already lots of drama and questions swirl around the NFL and Roger Goodell. Ex NFL Player Darren Sharper finished pleading guilty to drugging and raping numerous Women in 4 States across the Country. What is outrageous is that He was charged in Federal Court and not in each States court system and will only receive 9 years for this heinous and cowardly act. If charged separately in each State and not in the Federal Court System, Sharper would of received many more years for his actions!!! It goes to show us their is still bias when it comes to athletes and what high priced attorneys can do for their clients. The NFL handed down its DeFlateGate punishments and after some grandstanding by Patriots Owner Robert Kraft, He accepted the sanctions and fines against the Pats and Brady is trying to save face demanding an appeal of his punishment. To many, Brady's Golden Boy image has been severely tarnished as has his integrity and character. The Patriots seem to think Brady's punishment will stand as they signed former Packers QB Matt Flynn for a 1 yr deal as insurance against Brady's 4 game suspension. Adrian Peterson returns to the Vikings after a one year suspension for beating his child and Greg Hardy who allegedly beat up a woman, paid her off and will now suit up for the Cowboys. Dallas also has to deal with a disgruntled WR Dez Bryant, who said he will sit out games this year if he doesn't receive a Long term deal before July 15th. Bryant seems to think the World revolves around him and no one else and his agent also seems to be giving him bad advice. I hope the Cowboys and Jerry Jones doesn't cave into his demands and if he chooses to sit out, suspends him and fines him the most they can. Some teams will be much improved this year and other good teams of the past will slip backwards for the next couple of years.
Baseball: Just in, the FBI and Justice Department is investigating the St. Louis Cardinals for allegedly hacking into the Astros computer system for the past 4 years stealing player info, scouting reports, and internal documentation. If proven guilty, this would be the first corporate espionage case in Pro sports. Also, if this is true, MLB should punish the Cards swiftly and severely. With the MLB Season about a 1/3 over, they have been surprises already and also some major disappointments both by some teams and players as well. KC has decided to get their whole starting team into the MLB ASG by voting feverishly and as of this post, it is working. There is no doubt the Royals are a very good team but there is no way many of their players are better than other players in the American League. One example is, how can the Royals possibly say Hosmer is a better player than the Tigers Miguel Cabrera? Cabrera is one of those special players who is in his own Universe!!!!!!
NCAA: The NCAA College Baseball World Series is down to its final 6 teams and soon a winner will be crowned. The NCAA itself, has become powerless to oversee the colleges and athletes and with most Colleges having access to top attorneys, the NCAA has become a laughing stock of an institution due to the challenges of these Colleges and the NCAA needs to be replaced with a new organization that can still maintain integrity and honesty within the Collegiate ranks.
NBA and NHL: The Chicago BlackHawks beat the Lightening in 6 games to win their 3rd Stanley Cup in the last 6 years. They have become a dynasty in this salary cap era which hockey is now played in. The Golden State Warriors won their first NBA Championship in the past 40 years by beating the Cavs and LeBron James in 6 games.
NFL Season: Starts in a little over 4 months on September 10, 2015.
@cupofjoeinthed
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