Lions Punked by Browns, Fall to 1-1 in Preseason

The Cleveland Browns hadn't scored an offensive touchdown in seven consecutive games, but they needed less than four minutes to score a touchdown against the Detroit Lions in Saturday's preseason game at Browns Stadium. The Browns, who were blanked in the final six regular-season games last year and the first preseason game this year, beat the Lions 27-10. Both teams are 1-1 in the preseason.

Detroit rookie Matthew Stafford struggled. Stafford got the start and was picked off on his first pass, and the Lions went three-and-out on the following two possessions.

Stafford finished the game 5-of-13 passes for 34 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. Stafford, who had a passer efficiency rating of 14.6, played in six possessions and did not lead a scoring drive.

The first overall pick in the draft had problems with his accuracy, missing some receivers high and throwing behind others. On one pass, he had a pump fake to Jennings, who came wide open downfield and Stafford fired a rocket several feet over Jennings' head.

Culpepper finished the game by completing 10-of-16 passes for 86 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions.

Kangas Signs Overseas

Former Oakland University men's basketball standout Erik Kangas signed a contract to play professional basketball in the LEB Silver League in Santiago, Spain for Rosalia.

"This is a once in a lifetime experience, not many people can say they've done this," said Kangas. "I get to go to a great country, where there are a lot of neat cities to visit and I'm getting paid to play basketball. You can't really get much better."

Kangas, a native of DeWitt, Mich., led the Golden Grizzlies to a 23-13 record during his senior season. He was named All-Summit League first team after breaking the conference record with 135 treys made. Kangas finished third in the nation with 3.9 treys made per game and finished his career with 1,540 points, 11th all-time in OU history.

"Since I got to play a lot and showcase myself at OU, that really helped out," continued Kangas. "The coach over there watched my games from OU and really liked me. Going through, learning all our offenses and the toughness our coaches taught here have prepared me to go over there."

Charles Rogers, Weed & Pain Killers, Oh My!

From Deadspin.com

If you ever wondered how former Lions #2 overall pick Charles Rogers turned out to be such a bust, Jemelle Hill of ESPN got the answer from him: Construda. Construda AY-DAY.

In the sneak peek of the interview released by ESPN, Rogers tells Hill he smoked marijuana on a daily basis, then became addicted to painkillers after breaking his collarbone twice, in 2003 and 2004. Wow, weed AND painkillers? Just call him Ricky Favre.

In 2005, Rogers flunked his third drug test with the NFL, and was obligated to return $10 million of his $14.2 million signing bonus to the Lions. Rogers was cut by the Lions in 2006 and never played in the NFL again, going to jail last December for violating probation stemming from a domestic violence arrest. Watch this interview even casually, and it would appear as though Rogers is STILL baked.

Lions Waive Daniel Bullocks

The Detroit Lions on Wednesday confirmed they placed safety Daniel Bullocks on the waived/injured list. The Lions signed free-agent linebacker Robert Francois to take his place on the roster.

Bullocks, who has been troubled by knee problems since a major injury two years ago, was a second-round pick in 2006. First-round pick Ernie Sims is now the only player on the Lions roster who remains from that draft.

Awesome H-O-R-S-E Shot

Wolverines Will Host UConn in 2010 Opener

The Michigan Wolverines have confirmed they will open their 2010 football season against the Conneciut Huskies. The Sept. 4 game will open the newly renovated Michigan stadium.

Not exactly a huge opponent for the big event, but at least its a BCS school. Schools are becoming more and more afraid to put legitimate teams in their schedule as one loss can ruin a team's title hopes.

Lions Pettigrew Remains on Injured Reserve

Lions rookie tight end Brandon Pettigrew is unlikely to play in Saturday's preseason game at Cleveland and may be out for a while after that. Head coach Jim Schwartz all but said Tuesday that the Lions are shutting Pettigrew down because of his lingering quadriceps injury.

"We've done a lot of tests on it," Schwartz said. "We've consulted a lot of different people. It's been a nagging thing. It hasn't responded as well as we would have hoped. I don't want to declare anybody out, but it's unlikely he would play vs. Cleveland and then probably, rather than taking a day-to-day approach with it, maybe take a little bit longer-term approach with the idea of trying to get him back."

With all of the Lions injuries this pre-season, their injured reserve list looks more talented then their starting lineup.

Tigers Sign Top Draft Picks

The Detroit Tigers have signed first-round pick Jacob Turner for a deal worth $5.5 million and second-round pick Andy Oliver for $1.495 million.

The team also confirmed the signing of their sixth-round pick, shortstop Daniel Fields, the U-D Jesuit star and son of former Tiger Bruce Fields. Fields had committed to play at Michigan if he hadn’t signed with the Tigers.

With those three signings, the Tigers signed their top seven picks in the draft.

Grizzlies Add Big Schools to Schedule

Oakland University announced the first part of its men's basketball schedule with participation in the Hall of Fame Showcase tournament. As part of that, the Golden Grizzlies will travel to Tennessee Tech (Nov. 23), Kansas (Nov. 25) and Memphis (Nov. 30), while hosting Central Arkansas (Nov. 28) as the final game of the showcase.

This year's Showcase has been modified into a round-robin event, as the four teams (Memphis, Kansas, Louisville, Arkansas) host three home games against other opponents in November.

The Grizzlies are coming of a 23-13 season and a quarterfinal appearance in the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

Lions Kicker Hanson Underwent Knee Surgery

Detroit Lions place kicker and the franchise's only consistent scoring threat for the last decade, Jason Hanson had minor knee surgery this morning. The Lions wanted to get the small issue taken care of rather than let it linger and turn into something that was going to nag him all season. Head Coach Jim Schwartz would not disclose which knee was involved and was not definite about when the injury occurred.

Hanson, who is entering his 18th season, kicked two field goals, including the winning 47-yarder in Saturday’s exhibition, but he had some trouble with kickoffs.

The Lions better hope this is only a minor injury, otherwise an already below average offense could become even worse!

NEWS FLASH: Pro Wrestler Busted for HGH

Kurt Angle, former Olympic gold medalist and current Total Nonstop Action pro wrestler was busted with HGH after police stopped his vehicle on Saturday. Angle also allegedly violated a protection order from his girlfriend for abuse after he stopped at the coffee shop where she worked.

Well I am sure you are all as shocked by this story as I am. I mean a professional wrestler on PEDs with an abusive streak?? Wow, who would have thought!

Maybe the strangest part of this story though is that this woman is STILL HIS GIRLFRIEND. Makes alot of sense to continue to date a guy you have a protection order against right?

Old Man Favre Back Again

Reports are out that quarterback Brett Favre is expected to sign with the Vikings today.

Favre is on currently on his way to Minneapolis and is expected to sign with the team this afternoon, WCCO-TV's Mark Rosen is reporting.

Looks like we can all expect another 3 months of Brett Favre coverage on ESPN. Hope you aren't interesting in hearing about anything else in the world of sports.

Tigers Add Huff to Lineup

While trying to fend off the Chicago White Sox coming down the stretch in a tight AL Central divison race, the Tigers acquired left-handed hitter Aubrey Huff from Baltimore. GM Dave Dombrowski had to do this, to help fill a void in the Tigers lineup which has been terrible at hitting with runners in scoring position and at just hitting period at times.

Huff, 32, is only hitting .253 but has 72 RBIs, more than any Tiger. Most impressive, he's hitting .324 with runners in scoring position. After the Tigers went 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position and lost to Kansas City on Sunday.

Dombrowski was quoted as saying "It's been a tough offensive year for our ballclub, and (Huff) can drive in runs. He's a guy we've tried to acquire numerous times in the past. He's a left-handed bat that's a threat, and those guys are hard to find."

Out on Bail, Fresh Outta Jail

Michigan State Spartans Head Coach Mark Dantonio has reinstated sophomore running back Glenn Winston who was recently released from jail four months after seriously injuring a Spartans hockey player with a sucker punch to the head. For his actions Winston was originally sentenced to 180 days in jail, how ever that sentence was reduced and he was released in July.

However, now Dantonio believes Glenn has paid for his actions and will be allowed to rejoin the Spartan football team.

Dantonio was quoted as saying "Glenn has done everything that he's been asked to do from a judicial and a team standpoint. He has paid the penalty for his actions -- publicly, legally and athletically -- and he worked hard to maintain his academic eligibility while doing so. We regret the entire incident, however at this time, it is important that we support Glenn socially, academically and athletically. He still has a lot of work to do."

I think this is an absolute crock. So let me get this straight, this guy goes and sucker punches a fellow Michigan State athlete, gives him a closed head injury, could have possibly killed him.... and you want him back on the team??? This is pathetic. Whether he has paid for his actions or not according to the judicial system, there are plenty of great athletes who have not committed a henious crime that would love to play for a Big Ten team.

Has the need to advance the program really come to this? Pathetic.