Friday, March 13, 2015
Concise thought
Amazing how teams turnover...remaining Lions from 2011 one and done playoff team: Matthew Stafford, Joique Bell, Calvin Johnson, Brandon Pettigrew, DeAndre Levy, Stephen Tulloch, Don Carey with potential for Corey Hilliard and Andre Fluellen to also return.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Lindell AC In the News
Great article by Bill Morris on the Lindell AC in the October 8 issue of the NY Times.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Sometimes a Statistic is Worth a 1000 words
From the Elias Sports Bureau: The Detroit Lions defeated the Minnesota Vikings, 20-13, to finish their season with four consecutive victories. That's as many wins as Detroit posted in its previous 45 games combined (4-41), dating back to December 2007.
Even better, the Lions Defense that ranked dead last the past three years was nearly average.
Defense
Total Yards - #21 (343.6 yards/game)
Passing Yards - #16 (218.6 yards/game)
Rushing Yards - #24 (124.9 yards/game)
Points - #19 (23.1 points/game)
The Offense was no slouch either considering they played with their 2nd and 3rd string quarterbacks for most of the season.
Offense
Total Yards - #17 (338.9 yards/game)
Passing Yards - #12 (238.1 yards/game)
Rushing Yards - #23 (100.8 yards/game)
Points - #15 (22.6 points/game)
Individually, our running backs need to have a better season but how about our top three receivers.
1. Calvin Johnson (15 Games, 77 Receptions, 1120 Yards, 12 Touchdowns)
2. Brandon Pettigrew (16 Games, 71 Receptions, 722 Yards, 4 Touchdowns)
3. Nate Burleson (14 Games, 55 Receptions, 625 Yards, 6 Touchdowns)
Though I Do Like the Dual Threat Potential of Jahvid Best Next Season
Rushing (171 Carries, 555 Yards, 4 Touchdowns) + Receiving (58 Receptions, 487 Yards, 2 Touchdowns)
= 1042 Yards and 6 Touchdowns
2010 Season By The Numbers [House of Spears]
Even better, the Lions Defense that ranked dead last the past three years was nearly average.
Defense
Total Yards - #21 (343.6 yards/game)
Passing Yards - #16 (218.6 yards/game)
Rushing Yards - #24 (124.9 yards/game)
Points - #19 (23.1 points/game)
The Offense was no slouch either considering they played with their 2nd and 3rd string quarterbacks for most of the season.
Offense
Total Yards - #17 (338.9 yards/game)
Passing Yards - #12 (238.1 yards/game)
Rushing Yards - #23 (100.8 yards/game)
Points - #15 (22.6 points/game)
Individually, our running backs need to have a better season but how about our top three receivers.
1. Calvin Johnson (15 Games, 77 Receptions, 1120 Yards, 12 Touchdowns)
2. Brandon Pettigrew (16 Games, 71 Receptions, 722 Yards, 4 Touchdowns)
3. Nate Burleson (14 Games, 55 Receptions, 625 Yards, 6 Touchdowns)
Though I Do Like the Dual Threat Potential of Jahvid Best Next Season
Rushing (171 Carries, 555 Yards, 4 Touchdowns) + Receiving (58 Receptions, 487 Yards, 2 Touchdowns)
= 1042 Yards and 6 Touchdowns
2010 Season By The Numbers [House of Spears]
Friday, December 31, 2010
Obligatory, Overdue and Somewhat Lame End of Year Post
It wasn't the best of times and things could have been worse. ( See what I did there. Take the classics as inspiration and then completely butcher them.) Not such a good year for Detroit Sports or this blog as it appears after lacking motivation through August I completely fell down on the job for the rest of the year. So here is one last post before we move onto 2011 and the grand egress of the still unwritten future of Detroit sports.
As it does every year, most of my psychic energy was consumed by the Detroit Lions which, at its worst, can be like a swift kick to the balls. You can always tell how things are going to be for the Lions from the first half of their first game. Two years ago there was the debacle in Atlanta where the Falcons pounced on them for three first quarter touchdowns and we never looked back all the way to a historic 0-16 season. This year it was the injury to our hot shot young quarterback and HOPE (all caps) at the end of the first half in Chicago. At that moment, you knew it would be another lost year and whatever curse it is the Lions operate under would continue. Of course now, with the benefit of hindsight, and the Lions season mercifully coming to its conclusion Sunday we can feel good about a three game win streak and the ending of some of the most wretched losing streaks in the history of pro sports. The arrow is pointing up with these guys just in time for labor armageddon in the NFL and the real possibility of an abbreviated or canceled next season.
At the other end of the franchise continuum, is the Red Wings. The perennial Stanley Cup contenders are reloaded for another playoff run. Again, my only beef with the Red Wings is the NHL and all the games they play on the west coast which play too late for this soon to be middle aged man. My love for hockey always kicks in with the colder weather and the promise of another summer solstice with the Stanly Cup safely back at home in Detroit.
The big news is the emergence of the MSU Spartans as the dominating Big Ten team from the state of Michigan. Although we were probably one of the least impressive 11-1 teams in college football, maybe we can come up huge against Alabama in the New Year's Day bowl game and turn Nick Saban into the neurotic mess he becomes when he loses. The hoops team looks a bit sick but we always seem to pull it together come tournament time, so look forward to that.
That just leaves the Tigers and the sad sack Pistons. That's the one thing I've written on this year, the wretched state of the Pistons which has caused me to lose all interest in pro hoops. Will it be the Celtics or the Lakers, or maybe Lebron and his posse in Miami? Yawn.
Anyway, pretty weak but that will have to do. It would be huge and provide some serious mojo for the future if the following happened this weekend. The Spartans win their bowl game and the Lions win their fourth straight.
As Mickey Redmon might say, 'Katie unbar the door'. Full speed ahead into 2011.
As it does every year, most of my psychic energy was consumed by the Detroit Lions which, at its worst, can be like a swift kick to the balls. You can always tell how things are going to be for the Lions from the first half of their first game. Two years ago there was the debacle in Atlanta where the Falcons pounced on them for three first quarter touchdowns and we never looked back all the way to a historic 0-16 season. This year it was the injury to our hot shot young quarterback and HOPE (all caps) at the end of the first half in Chicago. At that moment, you knew it would be another lost year and whatever curse it is the Lions operate under would continue. Of course now, with the benefit of hindsight, and the Lions season mercifully coming to its conclusion Sunday we can feel good about a three game win streak and the ending of some of the most wretched losing streaks in the history of pro sports. The arrow is pointing up with these guys just in time for labor armageddon in the NFL and the real possibility of an abbreviated or canceled next season.
At the other end of the franchise continuum, is the Red Wings. The perennial Stanley Cup contenders are reloaded for another playoff run. Again, my only beef with the Red Wings is the NHL and all the games they play on the west coast which play too late for this soon to be middle aged man. My love for hockey always kicks in with the colder weather and the promise of another summer solstice with the Stanly Cup safely back at home in Detroit.
The big news is the emergence of the MSU Spartans as the dominating Big Ten team from the state of Michigan. Although we were probably one of the least impressive 11-1 teams in college football, maybe we can come up huge against Alabama in the New Year's Day bowl game and turn Nick Saban into the neurotic mess he becomes when he loses. The hoops team looks a bit sick but we always seem to pull it together come tournament time, so look forward to that.
That just leaves the Tigers and the sad sack Pistons. That's the one thing I've written on this year, the wretched state of the Pistons which has caused me to lose all interest in pro hoops. Will it be the Celtics or the Lakers, or maybe Lebron and his posse in Miami? Yawn.
Anyway, pretty weak but that will have to do. It would be huge and provide some serious mojo for the future if the following happened this weekend. The Spartans win their bowl game and the Lions win their fourth straight.
As Mickey Redmon might say, 'Katie unbar the door'. Full speed ahead into 2011.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
August Excitement: Two Athletes Sign Contracts!
Welcome to Detroit Ndamukong Suh and Mike Modano.
One guy starts his pro career in Detroit and the other brings it to an end (hopefully with a Stanley Cup).
One guy starts his pro career in Detroit and the other brings it to an end (hopefully with a Stanley Cup).
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Long-Term Depression: The Pistons
I've been asking myself lately why does NBA basketball suck so much (c'mon the Lakers and the Celtics in the Finals again?) and how did the Pistons go from a perennial top team to hopeless losers so quickly.
I am a fair weather fan and now that the Pistons are clearly in the bottom third of pathetic NBA teams, I immediately drop them and the whole sport in general. My theory is that a team on the rise generates more interest than a team on the decline (Lions) or even a team that has been on top so long people begin to take it for granted (Red Wings.)
In the past two years, Joe Dumars has blown his reputation as one of the smarter and more savvy NBA GMs (which is not saying much). This Pistons team has a lot in common with the teams his back court mate Isaiah Thomas built with the New York Knicks. Stupid long term contracts with one-dimensional over the hill players that are like an albatross around the future of the franchise.
Dumars does (or at one time did) know how to swing trades and sign free agent cast offs who had something to prove. In this specific way, he was a savvy judge of talent. Why this blinded him to the aptitude and upside of people on his own roster and when their inevitable decline would come and any player in the NBA entry draft continues to baffle me (but not a lot, as I am pretty apathetic at this point.)
I can forgive the Darko pick even though by drafting him he passed on at least three franchise players for the long term. But the dual move that still baffles is trading Chauncey for pretty much nothing (Iverson was a long shot to play well) while at the same time locking up Richard Hamilton to a long term deal (with still three more seasons to go at $12.5 million) I know he did this to clear cap space but he then took that money and signed another shooting guard ($25M to $30M tied up at the #2 position) and a big albiet soft guy (though Villanueva clearly has upside.)
But as far as where the roads converged, why did he not do it the other way around? Trade Hamilton and surround Chauncey with young talent. I guess in his mind he thought Rodney Stuckey was a point guard.
Now the Pistons get the 7th pick so we'll get somebody good but not franchise like. And they'll need to trade all the over the hill dudes before they even have a chance to begin to rise again.
As far as the Pistons go, wake me up in a few years.
I am a fair weather fan and now that the Pistons are clearly in the bottom third of pathetic NBA teams, I immediately drop them and the whole sport in general. My theory is that a team on the rise generates more interest than a team on the decline (Lions) or even a team that has been on top so long people begin to take it for granted (Red Wings.)
In the past two years, Joe Dumars has blown his reputation as one of the smarter and more savvy NBA GMs (which is not saying much). This Pistons team has a lot in common with the teams his back court mate Isaiah Thomas built with the New York Knicks. Stupid long term contracts with one-dimensional over the hill players that are like an albatross around the future of the franchise.
Dumars does (or at one time did) know how to swing trades and sign free agent cast offs who had something to prove. In this specific way, he was a savvy judge of talent. Why this blinded him to the aptitude and upside of people on his own roster and when their inevitable decline would come and any player in the NBA entry draft continues to baffle me (but not a lot, as I am pretty apathetic at this point.)
I can forgive the Darko pick even though by drafting him he passed on at least three franchise players for the long term. But the dual move that still baffles is trading Chauncey for pretty much nothing (Iverson was a long shot to play well) while at the same time locking up Richard Hamilton to a long term deal (with still three more seasons to go at $12.5 million) I know he did this to clear cap space but he then took that money and signed another shooting guard ($25M to $30M tied up at the #2 position) and a big albiet soft guy (though Villanueva clearly has upside.)
But as far as where the roads converged, why did he not do it the other way around? Trade Hamilton and surround Chauncey with young talent. I guess in his mind he thought Rodney Stuckey was a point guard.
Now the Pistons get the 7th pick so we'll get somebody good but not franchise like. And they'll need to trade all the over the hill dudes before they even have a chance to begin to rise again.
As far as the Pistons go, wake me up in a few years.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
A Roaming Suh
With the Red Wings playoff run done, the Pistons poised to suck for the foreseeable future, and the Tigers on their annual slow death march through summer, the only thing to be excited about is the potential for the Lions not to be the worst team in the NFL.
This article from Yahoo Sports got me salivating and dreaming of a defense that will not be ranked dead last in the NFL.
This article from Yahoo Sports got me salivating and dreaming of a defense that will not be ranked dead last in the NFL.
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