Lions = Disaster

Per the Associated Press, Lions G.M. Martin Mayhew will have final say for all football matters moving forward. At a press conference today GM Martin Mayhew and Team President Tom Lewand said that their 21 years combined experience with the Detroit Lions is what will be the difference in them turning this franchise around. Their reasoning for this rationale? Because both of them sat in the front office of Lions headquarters and watched Matt Millen make all his mistakes.

Ummmm, so let me get this straight. Because both of you knuckleheads sat around and watched Millen make mistake after mistake, NOW you two are the people who will right this ship??? Instead of watching Millen make mistakes shouldn't you have taken action then instead of picking your noses??

So basically because Mayhew and Lewand watched the Lions wander haplessly around the cellar of the NFC North for the last 8 years, thats what makes them the best candidates for the job??

Yep, that sounds about right for the Lions.

Jason Garrett to Interview with Lions

According to the Dallas Star-Telegram, the Detroit Lions have received permission from the Dallas Cowboys on to interview assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Jason Garrett for their head coaching vacancy.

Garrett was pegged as one of the up and coming coaching prospects last year, but that talk has quieted down a bit after this year's Dallas Cowboys offense failed to live up to expectations.

Lions Get Permission to Interview Spagnuolo

From ProFootballTalk.com

The Detroit Lions have received permission to interview Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo for their vacant head-coaching position.

Because the Giants have a first-round bye in the playoffs, Spagnuolo is available to be interviewed this week. Thereafter, he is off limits until the Giants’ season ends.

Spagnuolo cannot be offered a head-coaching job until his current team’s playoff run ends.

The Browns and Rams also are thought to be interested in interviewing Spagnuolo this week.

Marinelli Fired

The Detroit Lions have confirmed that head coach Rod Marinelli has been fired after going 0-16 after yesterday's loss to the Green Bay Packers. Rod had 10 wins and 38 losses in his three years as Lions coach.

William Clay Ford has promoted Tom Lewand to team president and Martin Mayhew was named the General Manager. Which snuffs out any possibilities of the Lions going after Cowher, Parcells or Pioli as GM candidates. Just another decision by William Clay Ford that makes no sense. They fire Millen, but promote the guys that worked under him. Way to clean house Ford after a disasterous season!

Most of Marinelli's assistants have also been fired except for Offensive Coordinator Jim Colletto, who has apparently been reassigned to Offensive Line Coach.

"Jingle Bells" as sung by The Detroit Pistons

Happy Holidays from Everyone at Detroit Game Face!!

Stuckey Nets 40 in Win over Bulls

Per usual the Detroit Pistons handed over ANOTHER lead in the 3rd quarter last night, luckily this time the second year man from Eastern Washington, Rodney Stuckey took over the game. Stuckey scored a career-high 40 points and carried the Pistons to victory over the Bulls after Allen Iverson left with a groin injury.

How did Stuckey pull off this feat?

"My teammates were finding me, I was hitting my shot, getting to the free-throw line and getting to the basket -- that's how you score 40 points,"

Stuckey is a great young guard, but if the Pistons are going to be at all relevant this year in the post season they better start figuring out how to keep motivated once they have a lead in the second half. Lately, it's been like clockwork where the Pistons will come out and take control of the game ...and then the mid-third quarter hits in which they promptly hand over the lead to the opposing team.

It would also be nice if Rasheed and Rip learned how to keep their mouths shut, all the technical fouls are NOT helping the cause either.

Detroit Debacle Must Be Stopped

From Yahoo.com - Dan Wetzel

William Clay Ford Sr. has done more damage to the NFL brand than Michael Vick, Adam “Pacman” Jones and Travis Henry could ever dream.

If you consider it in football terms and football terms only, it isn’t even close.

It’s time for the league’s image protecting commissioner, Roger Goodell, to get as tough with an increasingly incompetent owner as he would with a misbehaving player. If the hard line approach is about protecting the NFL, then what’s worse for the league right now than the chaos and carnage of the winless, hopeless, helpless Detroit Lions?

Ford, the owner of the Lions since 1963, may be a low key, law-abiding 83-year-old – a far cry from the troubled players Goodell has made examples out of with stiff suspensions and demands of accountability.

However, you never saw them destroy football in a major market. They didn’t mismanage a franchise for over four decades only to kill it lately. They didn’t reward failure, excuse ridiculousness and insult paying customers with season after season of non-competitive teams.

They didn’t put together the worst team in league history, 0-15 heading into Sunday’s season finale at Green Bay. They certainly didn’t declare the front office would return anyway or that the hiring a general manager with full control wasn’t a priority.

“Let’s see who’s available and what experience they have and see if they fit in any of our slots,” Ford Sr. told Booth Newspapers.

Slots? Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse in Detroit.

By forcing the new guy to accept limited power and holdovers from the pathetic Matt Millen era, Ford is assuring no quality candidate will look twice at the position. The Lions will again get a desperate candidate willing to work within the illogical confines of the confused owner.

It’s why football in Detroit is dead until there’s a change at the top.

Goodell is doing the league and its fans a disservice by allowing such mismanagement. The Lions do not have NFL-caliber players or NFL-caliber coaches. It isn’t an NFL organization.

He needs to step in and if not move Ford out, then at least demand he accepts league assistance to help the franchise become legitimate.

Ford Sr. is so delusional he thinks a tweak or two will do it. He isn’t even considering following the path of the Miami Dolphins, whose response to last year’s 1-15 season was to give Bill Parcells total authority. The Dolphins are now one victory from the playoffs.

If Goodell can get tough with players for off-field misbehavior, then why not an owner for prolonged on-field crimes against the sport?

The best case would be to get Ford Sr. to transfer power to his son, William Clay Ford Jr., who at least had the wherewithal to push for the firing of Millen earlier this season.

The Lions under Rod Marinelli in 2008 have been outscored 486-247 through 15 games.

(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

If that’s not possible, then do what NBA commissioner David Stern did with the New York Knicks. He took self-destructive owner James Dolan (like Ford Sr. little more than a bumbling trust fund) and all but forced him to hire respected basketball executive Donnie Walsh. Half a season later the franchise has been stabilized.

Left to their own volition, guys like Ford Sr. or Dolan or Vick, Jones and Henry fall victim to arrogance and entitlement.

The players might break the law. The owner just breaks the will of the customers. Anger has been replaced by apathy for many in Detroit. Fans have given up on staging protest marches, wearing opposing colors to home games and screaming into talk radio lines.

In Ford’s 45 years as owner, the Lions have won just a single playoff game (1991 against Dallas). What was once a mostly mediocre franchise has lately produced historic futility.

The current team has lost 22 of its last 23 games and is actually worse than the record.

It lost all eight home games this season by an average 22 points. In a football mad area, the majority of the games were blacked out. Fans that did attend often spent most of the game booing.

Head coach Rod Marinelli spent the season shrugging off charges of nepotism for hiring his son-in-law as defensive coordinator. Even with a defense ranked last in the NFL, Marinelli said he never once thought of firing anyone or taking over the duties himself.

Why would he hold someone accountable? No one is ever accountable with the Lions.

“Loyalty is my strength,” Marinelli claimed.

This explanation came after a 42-7 defeat to New Orleans Sunday where the Lions didn’t make a single defensive stop. It’s little wonder plenty of irate fans thought local columnists should make more press conference jokes at Marinelli’s expense.

Yet Ford Sr. surveyed this toxic environment and deemed it unworthy of a front office housecleaning. He has no reasonable plan forward. He has no chance of getting proper help.

If earlier this season Ford Jr. hadn’t publicly ripped his father’s management, it stands to reason Millen, the bumbling broadcaster, might still be in charge. After all, he was in the middle of a five-year extension Ford Sr. gave him despite years of draft busts and losing seasons.

This is the worst run franchise in the league and the biggest black eye on Goodell’s operation. Ford Sr.’s actions have a far greater impact on the league than one player’s dog fighting ring.

If Goodell’s really so concerned about the health and image of the league, it’s time he held old men in suits as accountable as young players in strip clubs.

Ron English New EMU Head Coach

Former University of Michigan Defensive Coordinator and now most recently Former Louisville Defensive Coordinator, Ron English was named Head Coach at Eastern Michigan University. The eagles have struggled mightily in recent years with their football program, but should now have a good coach to help turning things around.

Rob Parker, Not the Sharpest Tool in the Shed

We all know the Detroit Lions are aweful as evidenced by their 0-15 season thus far with loss number 16 likely coming next week against the Green Bay Packers. We also know the Head Coach and most likely soon to be ex-Head Coach is Rod Marinelli who is well known locally for saying a whole lot of nothing in his post game press conferences. After all, what can you really say about a team that will go down in history as the worst of all-time?

However, things got personal after the Lions latest defeat at the hands of the New Orleans Saints. In Marinelli's post game conference, Detroit sports reporter Rob Parker was asking a series of questions relating to why Joe Barry (Lions Defensive Coordinator & Marinelli Son in Law) still has a job after creating the league's worst defense this year. Marinelli kept focusing on himself in his answers and taking all the blame, which isn't the answer Rob Parker wanted. After becoming frustrated that Rod kept talking about himself and not Joe Barry, Parker asked Marinelli "Do you ever wish your daughter married a better Defensive Coordinator?"

Wow, way to be a class act Rob Parker. All these years as a sports beat writer and that is best question you could come up with to take a dig at Marinelli? I'm all for having Marinelli fired as a Head Coach, but there was no need to get personal.

Another Great Decision by William Clay Ford

In another shockingly bad decision from Detroit Lions headquarters, Detroit Lions owner William Clay Ford said Sunday he will hire another person to upgrade the team's football operations, but it might not be a general manager and that he would like to keep current GM Martin Mayhew and team Chief Operating Officer Tom Lewand around.

Sooooo let me get this straight Mr. Ford. You may or may not hire another GM in addition to the two GM's you've already got AND if you do hire a third, you don't know what his responsibilities would be. Hmmmm, yea I'm not sure how this franchise got to be so bad???

I wonder if Ford, Mayhew and Lewand are going to draw straws to see who gets to make the draft selections? or maybe they'll just do paper, rocks, scissors?

Ford was also quoted as saying he has "talked to some people'' and still is putting together a list of GM candidates to be interviewed for the position. Umm what position is that Mr. Ford? You just said you don't even know what this new hire's responsibilities would be? It has to be pretty tough to put together a list of candidates for a position that you may or may not hire and have no clue as to what they would even do!!!

And for Ford's final ridiculous statement he said that he doesn't believe there is one "football genius'' that is available that can come in to fix the Lions franchise.

Well Mr. Ford, you are actually right about that one! I believe the "football genius" that you are refering to is Bill Parcells and no, he is not available because you chose not to interview him a year ago before he took the Miami Dolphins job. I mean Parcells only took a lousy one win team and now has them in a position to win their conference. Let's just put that on your ever growing list of bad decisions Mr. Ford.

Wolverines Down Grizzlies at the Palace

The first three minutes of this game looked like a 3 point contest between the two teams as Michigan's first four baskets of the game all were 3-pointers, including the first three by freshman Stu Douglass, and the Grizzlies countered with two in those opening minutes to make the teams a combined 6-of-6 from beyond the arc.

At the half, the Wolverines shot an outstanding 10-of-18 on 3-pointers (55.6 percent) in the first half, and although U of M couldn't keep up that pace in the second half, they did manage to take Oakland's best punch in the second half and beat Oakland 89-76.

After the game OU coach Greg Kampe was quoted as saying "I've coached 31 years, and I haven't seen too many things like that. I told the team, 'If they go 10-for-18 in the second half, we're going to pat them on the back and tell that that's the damndest thing we've ever seen.

DeShawn Sims led the Wolverines with 20 points. Manny Harris had 15 points and 13 assists, and in his first game as a wolverine, Arizona transferLaval Lucas-Perry scored 14.

The Golden Grizzlies were led by forward Keith Benson's 23 points and 11 rebounds. Sharp shooter Erik Kangas scored 15 and Johnathon Jones added 13.

The Wolverines took a 16 point lead in the second half, but a scrappy Grizzlies team wouldn't go away. They countered with a 17-7 run to cut the lead to 65-59 with 8:34 left when the Wolverines took a timeout. Two minutes later, Oakland had cut its deficit to four points.

"We got it down to four, and they made a backdoor layup and they hit two 3's in a row that opened it up," Kampe said. "They're a good team, and that's what good teams do. They didn't beat UCLA and Duke for no reason."

Oakland was still with out their leading scorer from last year, Derrick Nelson. Nelson has been out the entire season thus far with a broken foot. Oakland's next game will also be at the Palace on Saturday against Michigan State.

Tigers Ink Veteran Back Up Catcher Treanor

Dave Dombrowski's newest signing in the free agency period is veteran back up catcher Matt Treanor, a free agent after the Florida Marlins released him last week. Matt has signed a one year deal for $750,000 with the Tigers. He will back up recently-acquired catcher Gerald Laird

Treanor told the media he is "real happy to be a Tiger" and that "This is a great opportunity to play on a playoff contender. We sat around our clubhouse late last year and talked about how the season did not go the way they wanted. But look at their roster, and they look unbeatable."

Shafer out as Defensive Coordinator at UofM

Scott Shafer, the now former Michigan defensive coordinator was blamed for the majority of Michigan's defensive woes this year and I'd say it was deserved. Given the amount of talent they possessed on that side of the ball it was remarkable how inadequate the defense looked at times.

Before coming to Michigan, Shafer had credentials. He worked his way through a variety of Big Ten and Mid-American Conference programs on the usual career path a Midwestern coordinator might follow. He became known for aggressive defenses that scored high in sacks and turnovers. His Northern Illinois defense led the nation in interceptions during a 10-win season in 2003.

Once arriving in Ann Arbor though, he turned this defense into a complete and utter disaster.The defensive failures were well-documented. It was absolutely unbelievable how a team like Michigan who always prided itself on defense, suddenly couldn't stop a low ranking MAC team like Toledo.

The question now is was this a case of JUST a bad coordinator or is there a larger problem at hand with this team? Coach Rodriguez will get another chance to make this hire, but if he doesn't get this hire right, his days will be numbered.

Like Father Like Son

Barry Sanders Jr, a high school freshman and son of legendary running back Barry Sanders, made an amazing run for TD in the Oklahoma high school state playoffs.

Smoltz Coming Home to Detroit?

Video of John Smoltz, 41, throwing off a mound has recently been sent to various teams around the league by his agent in order to garner interest in John's pitching services.

Smoltz has had four elbow surgeries and most recently shoulder surgery. Smoltz has said he would prefer to be a starter, but in the right situation would consider closing. Of course look no further then the Detroit Tigers for a team in desperate need of a closer.

The Detroit Tiger originally traded John for Doyle Alexander back in '87 in order to chase a championship....and Tiger fans have been wondering since, WHAT IF we never traded away Smoltz???

If the Tigers actually aquired Smoltz, it would no doubt be a great coming home story and another big name on the Detroit roster. However, and I hate to say this.... I hope this aquistion doesn't happen. Reason being is he's 41, had multiple surgeries and could end up like Gary Sheffield... a broken shell of what he used to be. For the money that I would imagine Smoltz will command, I'm not sure its worth it.

Tigers Aquire New Catcher

From Foxsports.com

The Detroit Tigers have filled one of their prime offseason needs, acquiring catcher Gerald Laird from the Rangers for Double-A right-hander Guillermo Moscoso and a second prospect, according to a major-league source.

Laird, a strong defensive catcher, is a .255 career hitter with a .306 on-base percentage. He earned $1.6 million last season in his first year of arbitration, and is two years from free agency.

The Tigers also are seeking an inexpensive solution at shortstop, a position in which they are considering free agents Adam Everett and Nick Punto, with Everett the apparent preference.

No Surprise Here! 0-13

Jared Allen, defensive end of the Minnesota Vikings was quoted as saying "there is nothing scarier then facing a team with nothing to lose." However, the Detroit Lions did have something to lose, their 13th game. Maybe that's why there aren't scary or good. They are more like scarily bad.

The Minnesota Vikings tried to give the Detroit Lions their first win, but of course the Lions decided against it. The Vikings threw two interceptions, had three fumbles and six penalties for 35 yards. The Lions were in the red zone four times and could only come away with three field goals.

"Detroit had 10 days to get ready and prepare and we knew we would get their best shot here," Vikings coach Brad Childress said. Unfortunately for the Lions, their best shot couldn't beat a team of gingerbread men.

Big Blue is Back!

The Michigan Wolverines have recorded their second win against a top 5 ranked opponent this year with their 81-73 victory over the Duke Blue Devils on saturday. Deshawn Sims led the way for the Wolverines scoring a career-high 28 points.

"I still think it's a rebuilding year," Sims insisted. "Even though we've had two big wins, we've also lost two games. It definitely says we're executing what Coach wants us to do on both ends of the court."

The Wolverines made 13 of 14 free throws in the final 3 minutes to seal the upset, leading to hundreds of fans from the sold-out crowd rushing the court."I'm at a little bit of a loss for words," second-year Michigan coach John Beilein said. "That was a great atmosphere, wasn't it?"

The loss is just Duke's third in 48 games in the month of December since 1999-2000. The loss also snaps Duke's six-game win streak vs. Big Ten opponents. Michigan improved to 6-2; Last season, the Wolverines did not win their sixth game until Feb. 9.

Coach Beilein after the game did remind the media that this team is still a work in progress and that the Wolverines had barely survived against lowly Savannah State one week earlier.

But there is no denying that right now whispers of a top-25 ranking are floating through the NCAA.

Greg Kampe Wins 400th Game

From ougrizzlies.com

Redshirt sophomore Keith Benson scored a career-high 21 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked four shots, and senior Erik Kangas finished with a season-high 19 points, to lead Oakland University (4-5, 1-1 Summit) past UMKC (3-6, 0-1 Summit), 84-78, in men's basketball action on Thursday night in Municipal Auditorium. The win gives head coach Greg Kampe his 400th of his career.

"This is an unbelievable win for us," said Kampe. "From what we went through on Tuesday night and knowing the importance of tonight's game, to get in a 0-2 hole would just kill us. These kids deserve a lot of credit. I told them it was one of the gutsiest performances that I have ever been associated with."

After the Kangaroos' Dane Brumagin made a pair of free throws to give UMKC its first lead, 77-76, with just 1:11 remaining in the game, Oakland called a timeout. Kangas, who was 2-for-10 from behind the arc, was called upon one last time and he found the bottom of the net on a big 3-pointer to give the Golden Grizzlies the lead again, 79-77, with just 52 ticks on the clock.

"I was thinking every shot feels good and I'm going to make it sooner than later," said Kangas. "Coach was calling out my name so I knew that I had to knock it down."

The Kangaroos misfired at the other end on a 3-pointer and missed the tip in which allowed Kangas to grab the rebound and give the ball to junior Johnathon Jones who in turn was followed and sank both free throws. Jones finished the game with 12 points and six assists, while freshman Matt Samuels added a career-high 10 points for the Grizzlies.

UMKC's Brumagin scored a game-high 29 points, 19 of those coming in the first half, and grabbed 10 boards for a double-double. Spencer Johnson had a double-double for the Roos with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Oakland had just nine turnovers in the game, while UMKC shot 39 treys, making 14 of them. OU was also outrebounded by the Kangaroos, 44-36.

Kampe becomes the 33rd active Division I coach to reach 400 wins, joining Tennessee's Bruce Pearl, who reached the plateau last night, and other greats like North Carolina's Roy Williams and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski to name a few.

"I've gone to ougrizzlies.com quit a bit and I had noticed that he got 399, so it was just good to get it on this road trip and get it out of the way," said redshirt senior Dan Waterstradt who ended the game with six points and five rebounds off the bench. "We were just thinking about UMKC and just trying to get after it."

The Golden Grizzlies will host Toledo in their home opener in the Athletics Center O'Rena on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. The game will air on OU's flagship station WDTW (1310 AM) and can also be followed on www.ougrizzlies.com.

OU Heads to SUU for Conference Opener

The Oakland University Golden Grizzlies head into their Summit League opener Tuesday night at Southern Utah University with a record of 3-4, this all without last year's top scorer Derrick Nelson.

OU endured a grueling road trip to open the season starting with Cleveland State and then criss-crossing the nation with stops at Oregon, Syracuse, Iowa, Kansas State and Las Vegas. During the road trip for the most part the Grizzlies won the games they were supposed to win and struggled against the stronger teams on the schedule. OU's highlight thus far is upsetting the Oregon Ducks for the second straight year, this time in Eugene, Oregon.

To have a successful conference record this year, the Grizzlies must first and foremost get a healthy Derrick Nelson back as soon as possible. Next, one of the men in the post must step forward. While Dan Waterstradt is a senior and the biggest body for the Grizz, he seems to blend into the background most games and for the most is just a role player. The guys I would like to see take it to the next level are Keith Benson, Will Hudson and Frosh Drew Maynard.

The top players in the early season so far have been Junior Jonathon Jones (16.6pts/game) and Senior sharpshooter Erik Kangas (15.2pts/game).

Can the Lions Go 0-16?

I thought this was an amusing and informative article from CNNSI's Joe Posnanski about the Detroit Lions' state of the union and the possibility of them going winless this season. This article was posted before the Lions embarrassing loss to Tennessee on Thanksgiving....

Do the 0-11 Detroit Lions have what it takes to go winless this season? I remained skeptical until last week when the Lions jumped to a 17-0 lead against Tampa Bay in the first quarter. Oh sure, lots of teams can blow a 17-0 lead. But what made me stop in admiration is that the Lions blew the lead BEFORE HALFTIME. That takes something special. And it makes me think that, hey, this might be the team.

The Lions, you probably know, have an amazing history. They have won one playoff game -- ONE -- since 1957. That team won the '57 championship with Bobby Layne and Tobin Rote and John Henry Johnson and Yale Lary and Dorne Dibble -- I'm hoping that from these names you can pick up that this was a long time ago.

The Lions' last winning season? That was 2000, when they went 9-7.

The last playoff win? That was 1991 against Dallas -- and they followed it up with a tight 41-10 loss to Washington in the NFC Championship Game.

The only Pro Bowl quarterback since Bobby Layne? Greg Landry, 1971.

Their most famous quarterback since Layne? George Plimpton.

The coach with the most wins? Wayne Fontes with 66 (to go with 67 losses).

And so on. The Lions have been consistent good humor for going on three decades, but they have only once before made a serious run at the Holy Grail of bad football -- the winless season. That was in 2001 under the lamentable Marty Mornhinweg*, and they started off 0-12. But the Lions won two of their last four, inspiring the team to bring back Mornhinweg for one more season (and the Lions went 3-13).

*I don't know why, but I get the biggest kick out of the fact that the last three people hired to coach the Lions are Marty Mornhinweg, Steve Mariucci and Rod Marinelli. They have some sort of crazy "M" thing going on in Detroit. You only wish that one-time Browns coach Dick Modzelewski was young enough to coach in the NFL again.

Does this Lions team have the magic to go winless? Well, maybe. They do have crucial three traits that I think a winless team needs to have:

1. An absolutely terrible defense. You want to hear an amazing statistic -- opposing quarterbacks have put up a 111.2 passer rating against the Lions. To give you an idea, only four quarterbacks in NFL HISTORY (Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Steve Young and Joe Montana) have ever put up that high a rating in a season. And, you might note, the Lions have not faced any of those four. They HAVE faced J.T. O'Sullivan, Kyle Orton, Gus Frerotte and Jeff Garcia. They do face Peyton Manning and the Colts in December, which could cause the earth to explode.

Even better news is the Lions also have the worst rushing defense in the NFL.

2. Utter confusion at the top. The Lions have that. They finally -- finally! -- fired general manager Matt Millen after seven of the most remarkably awful seasons imaginable. This pleased the Detroit masses -- who had become convinced that Millen had some sort of invisible force field that prevented anyone from firing him -- but it did have a negative effect on the blossoming Detroit business of trying to find unique domain names for "Fire Matt Millen" Web sites*.

*CanMattMillen.com? BootMillen.org? StepOnTheMatt.net?VillianMillin.edu?

The Lions did keep hard-nosed coach Rod Marinelli, though, which is good because seems sufficiently goofy enough to guide a team to a winless record. Marinelli spent this week saying that he was excited about the Lions getting into the spotlight -- they play Tennessee in front of the nation on Thanksgiving Day. When Detroit Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg rather logically suggested to Marinelli that, you know, the spotlight might be a BAD thing for a team two-thirds of the way to a winless season, he responded with this:

"I guess if you're from Hostess Twinkies it would be."

Several of the CIA's best code breakers are working around the clock to try interpret what that means.

It should also be noted that the Lions defensive coordinator -- the man responsible for that amazing defense that gave up 48 points to Green Bay even though it was reported that Brett Favre gave the Lions various Packers team secrets -- is a man by the name of Joe Barry. He is, according to many, a bright young coach. He is also the son-in-law of Rod Marinelli.

3. Scheduling. The Lions have five games left. All five are against teams that still have playoff dreams. They face the Titans this week, and the Titans are coming off their first loss of the season. Then they play the Vikings at home, and the Vikings are tied for the division lead. They play at Indianapolis, and the Colts have won four in a row and look like the Colts again. They play New Orleans, the league's No. 1 offense in yards. Then they finish at Green Bay, where the Lions have not won in 17 years.

It's a good setup. This could really happen. Now it's just up to the Lions to try and finish off this disaster.

"I don't look for disaster," Marinelli said to reporters. "I look for disease." And I think these are comforting words this holiday season.