Opening Day 2008

Big things are expected from the Tigers this year? Will they live up to the hype? Will this super lineup provide the Tigers with record setting offense? Is the starting pitching strong enough? How good will the bullpen be? Will they win the division? And will they make it to the World Series?

Enjoy Opening Day!

NHL Offers Will Ferrell $350 To Do Movie About Hockey

Chris Webber set to Retire

Chris Webber's basketball career has been written like a Greek tragedy. An athletic Super Hero with so much promise that just was never able to get out from under a black cloud of misery.

Coming out of Detroit Country Day High School, Chris Webber was perhaps the most highly regarded basketball player in the state since Magic Johnson. The guy was 6'9", had agility, power, tenacity and could drop a dime pass to teammates. Had he graduated from high school 5 years later, he would have no doubt followed the trend of going straight to the NBA.

As a member of the "Fab Five" at the University of Michigan he was not only a stand out player, but he also contributed to developing future fashion trends. Not until the Fab Five had basketball players worn black socks, shaved heads and baggy shorts. They were the first to be dubbed a "hip-hop team" and were perhaps the last "rock stars" of college basketball. With this, Webber was well on his way to being that next can't miss franchise player.

However, Webber never really got passed the infamous timeout incident in the championship game against UNC and at that moment, a black cloud suddenly formed over his head. His entire professional career was referenced against ESPN replays of "the timeout", answering questions about U of M booster scandals and battling the injury bug. Instead of being labeled a franchise player, Webber recieved another label, that of the supposed "last piece" needed to put a team over the top. He was supposed to be the last piece that helped Iverson get the Sixers a title, that got Sacramento past the Lakers, that got the Pistons another title. He went from city to city, and it just never panned out anywhere.

Was the before mentioned timeout, the moment in time when Lex Luther slipped kryptonite into Superman's pocket? It sure seems that way, he just never took that next step to greatness that so many of us thought he would. Here's to hoping that when he takes off his jersey for the final time this year, that he leaves the kryptonite in the lockeroom.

March 26, 1997

Can you believe it's been 11 years already? The day lives on in infamy. Happy Anniversary!

(click title of this post for accompanying video)

Something Called "The Colorado Crush" Wins

Something Called 'The Colorado Crush' Wins

Sports on TV

Who doesn't like sitting in front of the tube (preferably large screen and in HD) and watching their favorite teams and players do their thing? The answer is: nobody reading this. There are so many games/events that are televised now. Cable and satellite TV allow you to be able to see just about anything you want.

So what is the best sport to watch on TV, and for what reason? For me, it's complicated. I like to watch different sports for different reasons....When I'm looking to catch a few ZZZ's it's easy: Golf. Within minutes I'm out. A better prescription than Melatonin. I love hockey so I love to watch hockey. How about bowling? I'll actually turn on the PBA on Sundays once in a while to catch the bowlers. NOTE: Bowling is good to watch if you're looking for a few tips on form, approach, ball spotting, etc... You can learn some of those things just by watching.

I think you have to put College and Pro Football into the top of this survey. College Basketball (especially at this time of year) is a gimmee. But after that, I think it starts to get very opinionated. Where does baseball fit in? How about the NBA? Boxing? There are too many to list. You can't go into a B-dubs at lunchtime and not see some crazy European soccer league game on. ??? Who knows, but somebody is into it.

What's your TV sport(s)?

Pistons win 50th

With Detroit's 110-105 win over the Phoenix Suns on monday night, the Pistons have won 50 or more games for the seventh straight season. I believe this is a direct testament to the great job Joe Dumars has done here in his 7 seasons as General Manager. Under Dumars the Pistons have won 1 NBA title, 2 conference titles, 5 division titles and made 6 playoff appearances. He also won Executive of the Year in the '02-'03 season.

Pryor seeing $$$$

Does anyone else find it just a tad bit fishy that Terrelle Pryor said that Michigan is a great school and he loves the new coaching staff. Going on further he admits Michigan's system would be great for his ability and that it would be great that he could step in and play since he does not want to redshirt.

Then turns around and the only reason he gave for picking Ohio State was because he just felt alittle more comfortable. He could not elaborate on what that meant, he just felt more comfortable at Ohio State. Oh you mean they bought you a fully furnished house????

Terrelle Pryor six weeks later....

For six weeks he left the college football world on the edge of their seats waiting to hear his decision between his narrowed selections of Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan and Oregon. The entire decision process was very odd in that he was seemingly just dragging out the decision to be in the spotlight alone. It begs the question though: Was Pryor dragging this decision out or was it his "advisors"?

I am leaning towards it being the people around him who actually dragged out his decision. I really hope he is able to manage the "new friends / hangers on" he's been accumlating and is able to make sound career decisions for the future.

This kid is 17 years old, has seemingly unlimited potential and has drawn comparisons to Vince Young already. However does anyone remember the name Xavier Lee? Xavier was once "the next big thing" QB recruit that landed in Florida State in 2005 to single handedly resurrect the struggling Seminole program. After all the hype, Lee played in four games last year as a junior and is a long shot to make the NFL. So lets sit back and wait before we hand over the Heisman to Terrelle Pryor.

I Have Someone New to Hate!

Well, it's official.  

Terrelle Pryor is headed to ohio state for his 2-3 years of college.  I now get the privilege of hating him for the duration of his life.

He's not going to start this year, most likely, and could have started at Michigan.  Dumb.

He probably could have played basketball at Michigan, and started next year.  Dumb.

Now UofM gets to chase this guy around for a few years, just like they did troy smith.

I'm beginning to swear out loud.  This is just horrible news, horrible I tell you.

Good news for msu fans, though, since they can continue to root for a better team than theirs, to beat someone they can't.

Also, he looks stoned in this picture.  Take that buckeyes!  

Let the Madness Begin!!

The 2008 NCAA Tournament is only days away now and it is time to sift through the teams and figure out who the studs and duds are. The studs of course being the teams that have a chance to make a nice Elite 8 run and the duds are teams that should fizzle out. So without any further wait....here are my Studs and Duds for the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

STUDS

1. Kansas (Known to fizzle in some years, but just too deep this year)

2. North Carolina (Ty Lawson makes this team go, and look out, he is getting healthy)

3. Louisville (Rick Pitino is all I have to say)

4. Texas (The balance on this team is tremendous and built for a tournament run)

5. Memphis (Bury teams with their fast pace.....but need to be able to hit free throws)

DUDS

1. Indiana (very lathargic play as of late will lead to early exit)

2. Notre Dame (sorry to the state of Indiana, you are back on the list)

3. UCONN (tough 2nd round matchup with Drake could bounce the Huskies early)

4. Michigan State (Dont see them getting past the second round....too inconsistant)

5. Duke (Would take alot for them to get past their gauntlet of Arizona, Xavier, and UCLA)

SLEEPERS

1. Drake (very sound team that plays together and knows how to play)

2. Arizona (battle tested in regular season schedule but more importantly, they are healthy)

3. USC (dont underestimate the freshman role of carrying a team...OJ Mayo)

4. Clemson (would only need one big upset to get to Elite 8)

5. Xavier (good enough to get to Final Four)

Gotta Dance!

Just wanted to share a great video of Rasheed Wallace's pre-game dance. If you've never seen it before, you are in for a treat!

Click the article title above to view video.

March Clueless

Well, here were are. It's the day after the NCAA selection committee pieced together yet another bunch of powerhouses, cinderellas, and no chancers who make up the annual NCAA Tournament. And of course, that can mean only one thing: Dudes all over the country are wracking their brain trying to figure out what to do with their brackets. I filled one out first thing this morning and the results disgusted me. In my elite eight I had two three seeds as my lowest seeds remaining. And of course an all #1 final four with UCLA winning it all. IT NEVER HAPPENS THAT WAY! So why bother handing this in?

I need a different strategy this year. With the immergence of "Mid-Majors" in recent years, it just doesn't make sense to pick all the highest seeds to advance to the final four. Good example, look at George Mason last year. They were tournament studs, which is why I am going to pick them to advance the sweet 16 again. Remember when Gonzaga was just a Cinderella team? Now they are a legitimate program with expectations of tournament success. Look at teams like Butler and Drake. These are nationally ranked teams, just like the big programs. I think you see where I'm going with this.

This is what I'm going to do. I am going with a small school bracket. And we'll see how they fare. Can Oral Roberts knock of Pitt? Can St. Joe's knock off Oklahoma? Can St. Mary's knock off Miami? Can Maryland-Baltimore County knock off Georgetown? i hope the answer to all of those is YES because I'm picking them...well maybe except for the Georgetown game. Is UMBC a community college?

I'm looking for George Mason, Winthrop and Butler to make some noise in the East.
I'm looking for Siena and Davidson in the Midwest.
I'm looking for Oral Roberts (Oral Bob as Rockweezy calls them) and St. Mary's out of the South.
And I like Drake or Western Kentucky in the West (they play each other in the first round)

Long live Bryce Drew and Valpo!

YOUR Detroit Lions

(click on the title of this post for a visual representation of YOUR Lions)

So, Millen's latest move involves the release of Kevin Jones and Kalimba Edwards. Hmm.... Well, obviously he was thinking.....umm,....well,....umm,....of course we don't know what he's thinking. Nobody knows what goes on inside the compound in Allen Park. We just released our top Running Back, who by the way, makes a measly $2 million per season. Yes, he's injury-prone and coming off a serious injury for the second year in a row. But he was still our best option. That leaves Tatum Bell and Aveion Cason as the running backs of choice. OH well, that sounds just fine! Give me a break! Bell was deactivated for 11 games last season. Now he's our number one. Beautiful!

Let's look at Jones real quick. This guy battles back from serious injuries, works extremely hard, and holds himself and his teammates accountable. Remember the sideline spat with Roy Williams a couple years ago? Roy ran a bad route and gave up on a play, and Jones was right there to call him out. There aren't enough guys on this team like Jones. And now Jones isn't either. But don't worry about him. He'll sign somewhere and be very productive. In the meantime, the Lions can go with 'their guys,' Tatum Bell and Aveion Cason. Or they could look to very very very thin free agent market which consists of Musa Smith, Michael Pittman, Ron Dayne, and Mike Anderson. Wow! Dare to dream.

The Lions brass now has to decide what to do with the 15th pick. Should they finally address their swiss cheese O-line or pathetic defense which has no starters and no depth, OR now since they don't have a number one running back, are they considering drafting yet another skill position with their number one pick? We'll soon see. Don't be surprised if it makes no sense at all.

You notice I didn't say a word (until now) about the release of Kalimba Edwards. It was long overdue. They should have never given him the monster deal he had in the first place.

That's it! I'm done! Need to go get my blood pressure under control!

This is what it sounds like.....

THIS IS WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE, WHEN DOVES CRY.... errr I mean when FANS cry.

The Detroit Bay Lioneers are well on their way to accomplishing their goal of recreating the 2004/2005 Tampa Bay Buccaneers with their signing of Kalvin Pearson. I think they are now 2 more Buccaneers away from being able to officially add a pirate eye patch to the Lions logo!

However, the other news in Allen Park seems to be that their is a bus filled with former high draft picks leaving town. With the releases of Kevin Jones and Kalimba Edwards yesterday here is a list of players who has left town recently:

• Jones first-round pick in 2004
  
• Edwards second-round pick in 2002.
• Boss Bailey second-round pick in 2003
• Teddy Lehman second-round pick in 2004
• Shaun Rogers second-round pick in 2001
• Joey Harrington first-round pick in 2002
• Charles Rogers first-round pick in 2003
• Mike Williams first-round pick in 2005
  

I can't tell if this is proof of Millen's poor drafting skills or that the Lions franchise is a cancer that kills careers. Either way, lets come up with some ideas to keep Millen out of the draft war room in April.

Red Wings are Playoff-bound....again

For the 17th time in a row, the Detroit Red Wings are going to the NHL playoffs. And for the 8th straight year, the team has amassed 100 points during the regular season. The "17" number is by far the longest streak in any sport. And the "8" number is tied for the longest streak in NHL history. In addition to that the Wings clinched their 7th straight Central division title. All of those numbers tell you how special this team and this organization truly are. For those of you who aren't big hockey fans or don't follow the Wings regularly, think about those accomplishments for a minute. It's truly amazing.

The Wings polished off the Dallas Stars last night to win their fifth straight game last night. They got a couple of goals from Pavel Datsyuk and another goal from Johan Franzen, who has been hot the past four games.

There are still a few weeks left in the regular season and it remains to be seen who the #1 seeded Wings will take on. There are four teams that are possible #8 seeds and first round opponents. Minnesota, Calgary, Vancouver, and Nashville are all separated by four points and are among the teams that in the #6 to #9 seeds as of today.

Let's ride out the rest of this regular season against our division foes and watch this team start up an amazing run come playoff time.

For All Those Michigan State Haters Out There...

Isn't it fun!?

Short answer:  YES.

Real Men of Genius

For those Michigan haters out there.

Be sure to sing along

"Bud Light presents Real Men of Genius"
(Reaaaaal Men Of Genius)

Today we salute you, Mr. Delusional Michigan Fan (Mr. Delusional
Michigan Faaaaaan!)

Season after season, year after year, you try to justify your absurdly
high preseason ranking (clutching at straws!)

Season after season, year after year, you scramble to make futile
attempts at damage control when the Wolverines lose to a grossly inferior
opponent (How'd Northwestern score fifty fouuuuuur?)

Inevitably, you'll bring up the past, and boast of National
Championships won 40 years before you were born (those were the daaaaaays!)

You will point out that you have more wins than any other program as
though that is relevant to the current season (been playing since the
1870s!)

Go on, ignore that home loss to your arch rivals in the regular season
finale and continue to believe that you'll defeat your bowl opponent
with striking ease (we'll win by thirteeeeeeey!)

So crack open an ice cold Bud Light, oh Emperor of Excuses, and take
comfort knowing that when you don't finish in the top 25, you'll be back to
number three when the preseason polls come out next year (Mr.Delusional
Michigan Fan!)"

Oral Roberts goes Dancing

First of all, yes Kevin, their university name is Oral Roberts (or Oral Rob as you refer to them)

*pause for reader chuckling at 7th grade humor*

The Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts (16-2), 24-8 overall claimed their third straight conference title in the now Summit League (used to be the Mid Continent Conference) with a 71-64 victory over League MVP George Hill and the IUPUI Jaguars (15-3), 26-7 overall last night. Thus earning them a spot in the Big Dance.

Oral Roberts' season included non-conference victories against Oklahoma State and Tulsa.

Exciting Times Ahead

Well its mid-march and that means one thing, March Madness is right around the corner. But that isn't the only thing that will be coming up in the near future. NFL Draft, NHL Playoffs, NBA Playoffs and of course the start of the baseball season.

For the sports enthusiast this could very well be your favorite time of the year. So I would like to pose this question, what are you most looking forward to?

For me, I am most looking forward to March Madness. To me there is nothing more exciting then 64 teams in a win or go home tournament. Every year there are upsets, last second wins and Cinderella teams dancing well into the Sweet 16. I love the thought of the underdog possibly being able to topple a highly ranked team and shattering the opposing teams dreams....in March Madness its all possible!

What sporting event floats your boat and why? Come strong.
..

Lions re-sign Tatum Bell

The Lions have announced the re-signing of running back, Tatum Bell. As you can tell from his picture (above) he looks delighted to be returning to the Honolulu Blue and Silver with black accent.

How could Lions not bring this guy back. Look at his 2007 season. He was deactivated for 11 games and told everybody how unhappy he was as a Lion (and I can't blame him for that). So of course, it would make sense for Matt Millen to re-sign the guy and have him in exactly the same position as he was in last year: The number one RB going into camp, only to be set aside once Kevin Jones is completely healthy. Does this seem like de-ja-vu to anybody else?

Of course it doesn't really matter who they do or do not sign to play the running back position. We all know the Lions have no interest in putting together a serviceable offensive line. Although they did re-sign the great George Foster as well. Super!

Prime Time Player or Prima Dona

Terrelle Pryor, widely considered the top high school player in the country has once again delayed his college decision and says he hopes to have an answer by April 1.

With every other All American committed and signed with a university (for over a month I may add) why is it taking so long for Pryor to commit to a school? His choices are Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan and Oregon. He has visited every school except Oregon and says he will probably not make a visit to the Nike capitol. Yet he is now considering taking more visits to the other three schools. What is he going to see this time that he missed out on the first time he visited?

The way Pryor continues to handle this situation it is becoming more and more clear that he is more interested in hearing the cheers from the fans and the personalized chants from the student sections at the basketball games, than he is in actually making a decision. Is Pryor too in love with the whole recruiting process? Is he only dragging this on to stay in the lime light until he is absolutely forced to make a decision? My answer to these questions are a YES!! There is no possible way his decision is so much more important than all the other All Americans that his decision has to come two months later. The only reason of course is to ensure that his decision stands alone and there is nothing else going on in college football to take the attention away from him. Do I think he is a very talented and athletic player? Yes. Do I think he is going to be a huge asset to whomever he signs with? Once again yes. Would I like to see him sign with Michigan? Of course, but there comes a time when you have to take a step back and make your decision and earn your glory and praise on the field and not on your visits. If I have one word of advice for the young athlete it would be just that......gain your praise on the field in the BIG HOUSE....before you get such a BIG HEAD that you can't get it out of the tunnel and on the field.

#25 is Back

What's old is new again in Hockeytown. Darren McCarty is supposed to be officially called up to the Red Wings this weekend. He could see action as soon as Sunday when the Wings host the Nashville Predators. If that's the case, that will be the most excitement Joe Louis Arena has seen in quite a while. It will be a great moment for Darren as he's worked his way back to the NHL, and it will be a great moment for the fans to once again cheer one of Detroit's favorite sons. Yes, it will be quite a moment when #25 takes his first shift.

The question of course is should McCarty have been brought back? Is this a sound hockey move in preparation of the playoffs or a PR stunt in order to attempt to sell out the Joe, which has had numerous empty seats all season long? Two months ago McCarty was out of hockey. Not a single NHL team had interest in him. He's been riddled with injuries the past two seasons in Calgary. He's never been a great skater or goal scorer. So what is the answer? Most likely, all of the above.

Certainly Darren's arrival will draw great fan interest. We long to have our heroes play for the home team. However, McCarty may simply have been added to provide some grit, toughness, and experience as the team winds down the season and will most likely see some combination of San Jose and Anaheim (big teams) in the playoffs. Let's remember that this acquisition didn't cost the team anything. No players, no prospects, and no draft picks. A nothing to lose kind of move. It's hard to question Ken Holland who is the most respected GM in the NHL, and oh by the way, the guy who brought 3 Stanley Cups to Detroit in the past decade.

For the fans who are at both end of this debate: Let's wait and see how it all plays out. For now, it's a nice story.

Perry Watson Retires

Perry Watson resigned as head basketball coach at University of Detroit Mercy after 15 seasons of coaching the Titans.

Detroit's record the past four seasons is 48-74, including 7-23 this season. Watson's record at UofD is 258-185 overall and his teams have claimed three Horizon League championships.

There was a shady side to Watson's tenure as a basketball coach though. He was perhaps best known locally for turning Detroit Southwestern High School into a Class A basketball powerhouse. Although there has always been a very strong suspicion that he recruited players from other high schools to play for Southwestern, which is illegal.

Watson also served as an Assistant Coach at UofM for a brief stint under Steve Fisher. Perry was largely responsible for bringing Chris Webber and Jalen Rose to the University of Michigan during the Fab Five years. However, Watson was brought under scrutiny in later years as he was known to have been closely associated with Ed Martin. A connection to which Perry has always denied. Ed Martin was of course the ex-University of Michigan booster who was said to have given $616,000 to Chris Webber and three other UofM basketball players.

It is not known at this time who will replace Perry Watson at UofD. A committee will be formed to search for Perry Watson's replacement.

Detroit Buccaneers

Here we go again....
Another Detroit Lions season will be upon us before we know it, and we are already being fed a bunch of promises from the GM down to the coaches. We are just a few players away....just a few players away. This is the line we have been hearing from Coach Rod since the season ended and apparently he and Matt Millen (the most worthless GM in the NFL) seem to think every player we need is currently or has recently been on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Lions just recently signed saftey Dwight Smith, formerly a Buc; and are now in talks with cornerback Brian Kelly, also formerly a Buc..not to mention injury prone. Maybe it is just me but I don't see how signing old and often injured Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to help bring us into relevance in the NFL. If the Lions were smart they would stop wasting money on players Tampa Bay is releasing and worry more about actually drafting players that are going to be the foundation of this organization.
The GM work of Matt Millen speaks for itself....he sucks. This situation is becoming disgustingly similar to the situation the Detroit Tigers were in years back when Randy Smith was their GM. Remember....the days when the Tigers would only make trades with the Houston Astros. Well now it's the Detroit Lions and they only want to deal with players from Tampa Bay.
But don't worry Lions fans, like coach Rod says, we are only a few players away and finally we will be celebrating in the streets of Detroit. I just hope the celebration will be due to the firing of Matt Millen combined with the news that William Clay Ford gives up the team and actually sells it to someone who knows how to run an NFL organization. Or maybe all we have to do it move the team to Tampa Bay and everything else will fall in place.

OU Grizzlies '08-'09 Season Recruits

The OU Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team have commitments from three players for the '08-'09 season.

• Drew Maynard
• SG - 6'4" / 195lbs
• Lake Orion High
• Blake Cushingberry
• SG-6'4" / 220lbs
• Romeo High
• Jay Thames
• PF - 6'9" / 215lbs
• Port Huron Northern

The Grizzlies who finished third in the Summit League this year will return the entire starting lineup of Jonathon Jones, Erik Kangas, Derick Nelson, Dan Waterstradt and Keith Benson for next season.

Lions Signings 3/5

The Lions have agreed to a three-year deal with cornerback Travis Fisher, and they have signed running back Aveion Cason and offensive lineman Corey Hulsey to one-year contracts.

NOTE: The Atlanta Falcons release QB Joey Harrington.

Bean Town vs. The D tonight

Boston and Detroit are meeting for the final time in the regular season tonight. The series is split at one win a piece, with the visitor having won both games.

Detroit is three games behind Boston in the East and may be the Celtics' biggest obstacle to a championship, excluding the overrated Cavaliers. The Pistons and Celtics rank 1-2 in the league in scoring defense, allowing 90.2 and 90.6 points per game, respectively.

Side Note: Boston recently acquired an Alien to provide extra depth at the point during their championship push. His Earth name is Sam Cassell, his interstellar name can not be pronounced by the human tongue.

The NHL Schedule

Everybody knows by now how unbalanced the NHL schedule when it comes to playing teams in the opposing conference. It seems like we've been talking about it for years. For example the Detroit Red Wings played the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, and Boston Bruins only once this season, and didn't play the New York Rangers at all. Those are all "Original 6" teams. That's just a shame.

But the worst part is the way the final month of the regular season shakes out. The Wings have 13 games during the month of March and all but two are division games. They played their final game against the east on March 2 when they beat Buffalo 4-2. They will host Dallas on the 13th, which will be a fantastic showdown of the two best teams in the league. But after that, the remainder of the games are against the rest of the pitiful Central Division. Three against St. Louis, four against Nashville, three against Columbus (all in a 7 day span), and one against Chicago.

The fact of the matter is, the Wings will play only one playoff team (Dallas) the entire month of March. Not quite the playoff primer a good team would like to play through on the way to the post season. Supposedly there will be some changes to the schedule next season which will allow all teams to meet each other during the regular season. That's a start. But the NHL still has a long way to go with its schedule.

Guitar Hero

I was working yesterday, at a studio in town, and stumbled across someone playing Guitar Hero.  Now you're probably thinking, why was someone playing video games while at work?  I'll tell you why, because advertising is the best industry to work in, no questions asked.  I'll blog about that another time.

There he was, wailing away on his "axe", like he was really playing a guitar, and he really had huge 80's rock hair.  He didn't, but you get the picture.  And then came a moment in my life, that I will never forget.  Like when you first discovered porn, or a Pizza Hut buffet, this was a life-changing moment.  He handed me the tiny guitar, and said, "give it a shot".  I gave it a shot alright, a few shots, and pretty much couldn't put it down for about a half an hour.  This thing captivated my brain like Tyra Banks' funbags did back in the Sports Illustrated days, before she went psycho.

As Bret Michael would say, it "rocked my world".  I'm now hooked on the game, and find myself looking for the closest/cheapest place to purchase this mind-blowing piece of entertainment.  The Wii has nothing on this.  I mean, you might have to be a guitar enthusiast to start, or even just a fan of rock music.  

All I know is this:  Guitar Hero is amazing.

Good day.

What to do with Inge

The debate continues about whether or not the Detroit Tigers should trade Brandon Inge. This is a guy that has been a Tiger since day one and has certainly seen his share of the team's darkest days over the past few years. He does have some value to the team even if he's no longer the everyday third baseman. He's a 'Super Utilityman.' But at what cost? He's due $18 million on the remaining three years of his current contract. Is that the kind of money you want to pay a part time player? In most cases it is not, although Mike Ilitch would certainly not have a problem paying it if it makes the team better.

But there is the question. Does Brandon Inge make this team better? His versatility, solid glove, and occasional pop is exactly what every team needs. Unfortunately his attitude and commentary may overshadow and sour all the attributes he brings to the plate (no pun intended). It seems every few days now he's giving an interview or being caught leaving the locker room and reminding anybody who will listen how much he misses third base and how much he dislikes catching. (Remember, this is the same guy who went through this same routine after the Tigers signed Pudge Rodriguez and complained about not being the everyday catcher anymore).

It's starting to wear thin on the fans, and I'm sure it's starting to wear thin on the other players, and at some point, enough will be enough and Jim Leyland will no longer want that negativity and resentment in his locker room. It's time to cut bait. Find an interested team, and trade him! Pick up part of his salary (That's going to be the only way a trade will happen) and get something, anything, in return, and move on. This is going to be an exciting team and the distractions aren't needed.

NBA Live 08 - PS3

I recently purchased "NBA Live 08" for the Playstation 3 and after having played it for a couple weeks I have to say I am a bit disappointed in the game. I've played the NBA Live series of games on PS2 and have always enjoyed it. However, honestly its always been too easy to win games. You could easily steal and cherry pick your way to a win anytime you wanted to. I think inherently thats been the problem with all basketball video games.

In '08 the folks at EA Sports have turned up the artificial intelligence to make it a much more challenging game. However, the game isn't more challenging necessarily because the A.I. went up, its now more challenging because your players shoot like they are blindfolded at times. For some reason its far too easy to miss layups and wide open jump shots in this game. Its particularly frustrating when Jermaine O'Neal (whom I traded for) instead of dunking the ball, bounces the ball off the bottom of the rim.

I Want to be the Guy

One of the Detroit Lions' most recent 2008 acquisitions was introduced in Allen Park on Monday, Leigh Bodden. As a defensive back, Leigh had 88 tackles and 6 interceptions last year for the Cleveland Browns. The Browns most likely agreed to include him in a trade to the Lions for Shaun Rogers because Leigh wants to renegotiate his contract for more $$$.

"I want to step in and be 'the guy,' " Bodden said. Well Leigh, I don't think that will be very tough considering the other DBs the Lions currently have on this roster. Lets look at the stellar competition Leigh will be facing in order to be considered "The Guy" among defensive backs on this team:

1. Travis Fisher (unrestricted free agent)
   
2. Devonte Edwards (he was on the team last year?)
   
3. Ramzee Robinson (Mr. Irrelevant)
   
4. 2008 Draft Pick (can Millen draft anyone worth while?)
   

Leigh, I don't think you'll have much trouble being "The Guy" in this group.