My weekly review post of Sports and My Thoughts as they pertain to the "D" and Beyond for the week ending Friday 6.16.17 . This was a week filled with all sorts of drama and ups and downs. In the "D":
Lions:
Detroit made their first official trade of the 2017 season, when they traded a 2018 6th round pick to the LA Rams for OT Greg Robinson. He was the number 2 overall pick in 2014. The Lions are into their mandatory mini camp. The team like all teams are upbeat about the upcoming season seeing an influx of the new Free Agents and Rookies along with players from last season. Detroit had a major setback when starting LT Taylor Decker had surgery last week and will be out 4-6 months. There is also the huge cloud hanging over
the Lions as to what to do in regards to QB Matt Stafford and his
expiring contract next season. Are they ready to make him one of the
highest paid players in the league and lock him up for years to come or
do they want to franchise tag him and pay him big money for a season at a
time? The 2017 football schedule is out
and the Lions have 21st toughest schedule in the NFL for this season. Many sport pundits have the Lions going 8-8. If the Lions can establish a running game, find a replacement for Decker possibly OT Greg Robinson, and stay relatively healthy, I see them going 10-6.
Red Wings:
The Red Wings are getting ready for the upcoming draft now that the NHL is over. The official closing of Joe Louis Arena
for the Red Wings was a glorious occasion as the team brought back many
former players for the last home game in which the Red Wings downed the
New Jersey Devils to shut down "the Joe" in winning fashion. It was a
bittersweet ending in which we saw a 25 year streak of consecutive
playoff appearances end in the Joe but will now try to start a new
streak when the Red Wings open up the new Little Caesars Arena ( Mr. I's
place) next season. It may be a few years before Detroit makes it back
into the playoffs. The Red Wings have been saddled with aging over
priced and under
achieving players and have to rely on a very suspect draft this year to
draft mid round players and try to develop them for 3-5 years down the
road. I have
to question whether GM Ken Holland did enough to save his job. The Red
Wings have always been a loyal organization to a fault, but I wonder if
Holland, as it was with former Head Coach Mike Babcock, has run his
course in Detroit and a fresh set of eyes is needed in Detroit as the
new GM?
Pistons:
The Pistons are hard at work trying to figure who will be the best pick for the team in the 1st round of the NBA draft next week. The late season epic collapse
cost Detroit a chance at the playoffs. The team gave up on
President/Head Coach Stan VanGundy and he did very little to get the
team back on course. How Owner Tom Gores still hasn't fired VanGundy
says allot about his loyalty to a man who needs to go. The Pistons
played their last game at The Palace and will play next year along side
the Detroit Red Wings downtown at the new Little Caesars Arena. The
Pistons will not have to worry about filling the seats in the new arena,
for the new arena will take care of that for the first year. But the
terrible long term contracts VanGundy gave to both Andre Drummond and
Reggie Jackson will come back and haunt the Pistons for years to come.
Stan VanGundy has assembled this team and needs to take full
accountability for their demise and that the team quit on him down the
stretch. But as it is with most pro sports teams, the Owner is making
money and doesn't want to be bothered with making changes when they are
definitely called for!
Tigers: The
Detroit Tigers are 30-34 and are currently tied for 3rd place in the AL Central.
The Tigers start a series with Tampa Bay tonight and are coming off a 3 game losing streak including 2 in a row to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The bullpen has failed miserably this season with no relief in sight. The trading deadline is approaching fast and the Tigers need to be sellers once again. JD Martinez will be one of the top players at the trade deadline and the Tigers need to get the best prospects for him. He will command over 20M a year on the open market going forward. The Tigers payroll which is around 200M needs to be prudently trimmed before next season. Questions also surround Cabrera as his power has diminished and it seems he is only using his upper body to hit and not using his legs suggestion another season long injury for him and the Tigers. The MLB draft was this week and the Tigers with their first 4 picks took starting pitchers and a slugger. With the way the starting pitching and bullpen are performing along with a feast or famine offense, the Tigers will hover around .500 the rest of the season.
Spartans: The Spartans have the most difficult CFB schedule in the Country for 2017. The Michigan State Football team coming off a disastrous 2016 season had an even worse off season that culminated in 4 players and an ex coach being charged in sexual assault cases. Very serious charges were leveled against all involved and a huge black cloud remains above the University and the athletic department. An external investigation showed the school didn't violate any Title IX laws and followed school protocol in regards to reporting any type of assaults or sexual assaults. I would of thought Dantonio would of had a come to Jesus
meeting with all his coaches and staff and players and laid down the
law! But it is apparent that these charges are true, changes must
happen within the football program. I have said for a long time now that
the football program needed to bring in top Assistant Coaches to help
mentor and train and take MSU to the next level. The current coaches all
who HC Dantonio has been loyal too, need to be seriously looked at and
some need to go and the others need to be reassigned elsewhere. I do applaud Coach Dantonio for the recent hiring at MSU of former pro football player and Detroit Lions front office man, Sheldon White as Director of Player personnel and also Mark Staten to assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator. MSU
which has some of the toughest guidelines for colleges has a zero
tolerance policy in regards to sexual assault. 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. The
Spartan basketball team which made the Tournament for the 20th straight
year saw an early but with the return of B1G freshman of the year,
Miles Bridges next season and a great recruiting class and supporting class, Head
Coach Tom Izzo has a Top 10 program next season that should have a great upcoming season and a potential Final Four group.
Wolverines:
Michigan will be a Top 10 team in the upcoming collegiate football season but the real question will be, can the Wolverines and Head Coach Jim Harbaugh win the big game(s)? 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 include Head
Coach Jim Harbaugh's $9M a year paycheck. Harbaugh also has tried to
hire the parents of a 4 star recruit in hopes of landing the recruit at
Michigan. Harbaugh also went after SEC commentator Paul Finebaum in
regards to remarks Finebaum made against Michigan and Harbaugh. I would
of expected Harbaugh to take the high road and dismiss the remarks but
Harbaugh once again let his ego get the better of him and decided to use
social media to get back at Finebaum. 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 which had an up and down season surprised everyone with their run
in the NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines will have a
good returning class for next season and Coach John Beilein should make another good run into the NCAA Tournament.
Sports beyond the "D":
NFL: NFL season is 83 days away. Mandatory mini camps are underway as teams have went thru rookie and team OTA's. Some players stayed away from voluntary OTA's to protest that they want new contracts most notably NY Giants Odell Beckham. Teams and fans and sport pundits alike are filled with excitement about how their teams will fare this upcoming season. Although it seems the NFL is going to allow the NY Jets to tank this season in hopes of rebuilding their team quicker thru the draft. The Jets are dumping higher paid NFL caliber veterans and signing cheaper non proven caliber players. The Jets who just 2 seasons ago won 10 games, will be lucky to repeat last years win total of 5 games in 2017. 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 legalized, shortening
games, revised OT, and dealing with player incidents and black eyes on
the NFL. 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. 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: The MLB season is already 2 and 1/2 months in and already there is talk abut who will be buyers and sellers within the next 6 weeks before the July 31st deadline 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 but they are just kidding themselves, baseball games are becoming increasingly long and boring and many games way over 3 hours for a 9 inning game.This past weekend, the Tigers and RedSox played three 9 inning games that each went well in excess of 3+ hours. The games are not being monitored by the umps as players continue to go in and out of the batters box before each pitch like it is a wait until I want to swing the bat. No doubt as to why viewership is going down as today's fans do not want to sit and watch games go on and on and on for no reason.
NCAA: The NCAA finally handed down its sanctions to Louisville for the sex scandal from a few years ago. Once again the NCAA was spineless as it gave Louisville and Head Coach Rick Pitino a slap on the wrist for the major transgressions that happened! The University of Colorado suspended its Chancellor for the way he handled a domestic charge against a football coach. I
find it hard to believe the NCAA is still dragging its feet on the
North Carolina academic scandal within its athletic department. Of
course, UNC will continue to wait this out and try to delay the
inevitable. The bigger question is, what will the punishment be? Ole Miss is yet again in trouble with the NCAA but are trying to get a lighter sanction saying they are being very open and cooperating with the NCAA. The NCAA still has done nothing to Baylor also 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.
NBA and NHL:
The NBA finals are over as the Golden State Warriors won their 2nd Championship in the last 3 years. Kevin Durant won the MVP and it looks like the Warriors are primed for a run the next few years. Also, the NBA draft is just 7 days away and teams are looking at who they will be drafting in the first 2 rounds of the draft as well as the top Free Agents available.
In the
NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins won their 2nd consecutive Stanley Cup as they downed the Nashville Predators in 6 games. Sydney Crosby won the Conn Smythe for Most Valuable Player even though clearly the award should of went to Penguins teammate Evgeni Malkin. Crosby, who is Gary Bettman's poster child for the NHL was instrumental in Pittsburgh winning the Stanley Cup but fell far short as the MVP! The officiating was brutally bad at best and the NHL needs to take a serious look at how to make changes to have better officiating all season long. The draft will be in a few weeks and each team needs to leave at least 1 player on their 20 man roster available for the new expansion Las Vegas team to draft from.
Miscellaneous;
A shooting occurred at a ballpark as Republicans were practicing for an upcoming annual baseball game for charity that has been an on-going game for over 100 years. It is a time for the GOP and DNC to come together and start doing what is right for the people of this great Country. I hope President Trump can be the person who can get both sides to put away their petty differences and start acting as one. But as evidenced already this will be a hard thing to do for the day after the shooting but sides are at it again. This can start with a reasonable Health Care Act, not the one the GOP is trying to force down the throats of all Americans. All Pro Sports teams need to come together and unify a way to
discipline those who have been charged with assault of any kind
especially sexual or domestic abuse. Teams tend to be too lenient on
their star players and the leagues are right behind them in the ways
they deal with athletes that have assaulted someone. Allot of the fault
lies within the Collective Bargaining Agreements and the Players Labor
Associations that will fight discipline handed out just to fight it
without giving any regard to the actual assault committed or to the
victim that was assaulted.
The McGregor Mayweather fight will finally take place in Las Vegas on August 26th, in what will be Mayweather and McGregor's largest paydays thanks to the foolishness of fans wanting to see this debacle both in Vegas and also on PPV. Give credit to the handlers of both fighters for lining up a fight that will make both men rich at the expense of the fools who will view this so called boxing match.
PGA: Daniel Burger wins St. Jude FedEx Classic NASCAR: Ryan Blaney wins at Pocono Speedway
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