The Lions: Talk of Ray Lewis coming here seems a far-off pipe dream -- and by that, I mean a pipe like Mikey Phelps's. Too bad it looks like Bart Scott is going to the Jets; he'd've been the good fit at LB here. Nate Washington? Still a no. 3, even on this team. Wouldn't you prefer Houshmandzadeh, with his local ties? Thought so. I see the Lions needing seven new starters on DEF (DE, DT, 2LB, 2CB, S) and 4-5 on OFF (WR, TE, LT, C, maybe QB). A tall order, even with five first-day draftees. Easy to say we can fill in with free agents (I almost mis-typed, "FEE agents"; prophetic?), but really, what besides money do we have to offer anyone? A nice stadium, okay. Nearby casinos? The knowledge that, with their incomes, they could actually purchase whole city blocks, and become like feudal lords?! I don't know, man. I.. don't.. know...
The Tigers: Edwin Jackson looked good yesterday. In fact, so have most of the pitchers so far. Encouraging. I keep remembering the Lions' 4-0 preseason, though.
The Pistons: Iverson off the bench at the two could ignite the second team, who should do nothing but push the ball up the floor like mad: Afflalo, Iverson, Maxiell, Walter Hermann, and Amir J., high-flying, wearing the other teams' second units down: Maybe, maybe...
The Red Wings: Simmering in perfection like a Chicken Francese, mmmmm..... Hope Hossa's head is okay.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
February 26, 2009 No.1
Hi there, and welcome to Alan Madlane's "Detroit Sports Jabber" Blog, the inaugural run!
Let's jump right into it, shall we? The primary focus will be on the Tigers, Lions, Pistons and Red Wings, with some other stuff thrown in. Here's the warm sports poo for today!
The Lions: I thought John Niyo of the Detroit News did an excellent job today (I'm normally a Free Press guy, but hey, it was sitting around in Tim Horton's, so...) breaking down the various free agents the Lions could and should go after -- the luring of free agents to a winless team of the year before as a potential exercise in futility notwithstanding. What I cannot understand is the complete silence around Brian Orakpo (the Texas DE who apparently manhandled Eugene Monroe this past season head-to-head) as the Lions possible first pick. The Lions had a defense so poor last year, they were rendered unwatchable; Jim Schwartz is a defensive guy, so this must rankle him to no end; good defense ALL begins with the front seven: the ability to (A) stuff the run, and (B) pressure the quarterback. A team that can do both of these things well in equal measure will find that all this leaves an opposing offense to battle with are short West Coast offense type stuff, and sideline stuff (sweeps, screens and rollouts) -- and it's hard to do enough of that consistently to win games, I feel. Orakpo is a physical specimen, and I would hope that the only other guys the Lions would consider at number one would be (in my further order of preference): Aaron Curry, Rey Maualuga or B. J. Raji, and I'm not keen on guys named "BJ", because frankly I think the Lions were forced to do enough of that last year. I like Matthew Stafford, I love that he'd like to play here, and I'd take him in a heartbeat if he were still available with the first pick of the third round. We just don't need him this season, especially with the likelihood we'll smell again in '09 and can probably get Sam Bradford next year if we really need to. And don't even talk to me about an OT at number one, or we'll get to the salad-tossing phase early in this prison sentence, mister.
The Tigers: I like the look of this. Yes, it's true, that so much of this season for the Kitties will depend on their overall health. This team, healthy, could do some real damage. The division seems so tight, top to bottom (well hello, Kansas City! What were you doing off by yourself all that time, hmm?) that little things will make for big differences -- and those little things will mostly amount to who gets nicked up the least in this razor fight we shall call the American League Central. I like what I've seen from Rick Knapp so far: maybe these young guys needed a new voice in their ears and in their heads. Some guys I'm pulling for: Casey Fien (don't you have to love someone who throws so many strikes), Brent Clevlen (give this guy a real chance -- he seems to make stuff happen!), Rudy Darrow, Clete Thomas, Scott Williamson, Macay McBride, Timo Perez, Alex Avila -- and of course, Joel Zumaya. Looks like the Tigers should be deep in reserve at Toledo (one of the all-time least frightening team names: "Oh no! I'm about to get attacked by a riled up batch of Mud Hens, honey! Say, could you pass me that shotgun and the deep-fryer?") and Erie too. I think the Tigers farm system is in adequate shape indeed, even if some wags don't rank our boys in the top oughty-ought.
The Pistons: Wow. What an unbelievable fall from grace, yes? Well, here's my take: Stuckey? Best at the two. Ditto Iverson, albeit that he's too short to guard that position. Ditto my team fave, Arron Afflalo. Ditto Rip. Ditto Joe Dumars. Wait a minute! No wonder we have so many twos, and the only true one we have is Will Bynum! "Can't win that way!" The Pistons shopping list this year MUST include an upper echelon point guard, if one can be wangled someway, and a big who can clog the lane and position for boards. Do you mean to tell me we couldn't get Marcus Camby by the trading deadline? He'd be outstanding for this team, methinks. Rather have him than Carlos "Ha ha, I lied!" Boozer. Can you imagine Camby next to Bosh in 2010?! Sorry, I'm oozing. But we've gotta have that true point. I would love to see Iverson back -- as the backup two guard. What're the odds of that? Yes: Nil.
The Red Wings: Picked a good one for my first live game of the year, yeah. Tix outside for $30 from a friendly looking soul. Did anyone see Ryan Clowe try to kick Datsyuk's knee out? I did. He was running guys and whining to the refs, too. He's off my Fantasy team now, the douche. Nabokov looked deer-in-headlights too. Was amazed by the speed and forechecking of Darren Helm, Datsyuk's and Zetterberg's skills, Leino's nose for pucks in the air, Brad Stuart's excellent return, Rafalski's steadiness. But -- is it just me, or is Lidstrom (a guy I love and respect as much as anyone in Detroit sports right now) starting to show the cracks for real? A bad pass across the middle, some other give aways... This guy has logged so many minutes over the years, what with the deep playoffs many times -- I don't know, but I have an ill premonition here. Hope I'm wrong. Maybe he's hiding an injury or two? Oh -- and Conklin did indeed look great.
That's it for now! See you tomorrow!
Madlane
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