Savor It

I don't when the last time this happened was, but the Tigers currently have a better record than the Yankees:

Detroit W:11 L:10 PCT:.524 GB:4.0
New York W:9 L:14 PCT:.391 GB:6.5

You can see all the standings here.

Professor Carter

You may have heard that Mike Williams has been working out with former NFL great Cris Carter. You can read about it here. Here's a quote:

"I don't care how many receivers are drafted," Carter says. "There's no rookie receivers working like this today. Yeah, there might be a Torry Holt working like this today. Yeah, there might be a Marvin Harrison, guys like that, because they know. But those young guys, they don't know this."

You Can't Take The Sky From Me

You can check out the first trailer for the coolest movie of the fall here. Don't argue, just do it. If you don't get it, go here or maybe here.

Rookie Numbers

From the Freep:

The Lions' new players already know which uniform numbers they will be wearing when they report Thursday to minicamp at Allen Park. Williams will wear 85, Cody No. 75, cornerback Stanley Wilson No. 33, Orlovsky No. 9, defensive end Bill Swancutt No. 90 and linebacker Johnathan Goddard No. 99.

Adios!

The draft fallout begins:

(April 25, 2005) ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- The Detroit Lions announced today that they have released WR Az-Zahir Hakim and S Brock Marion. The team also announced that they have signed free agent DT Brandon Kennedy to a one-year deal. No additional contract terms were disclosed.

Draft Grades

Here's my grades for the 2005 NFL Draft:

Arizona Cardinals: Incomplete
Atlanta Falcons: Incomplete
Baltimore Ravens: Incomplete
Buffalo Bills: Incomplete
Carolina Panthers: Incomplete
Chicago Bears: Incomplete
Cincinnati Bengals: Incomplete
Cleveland Browns: Incomplete
Dallas Cowboys: Incomplete
Denver Broncos: Incomplete
Detroit Lions: Incomplete
Green Bay Packers: Incomplete
Houston Texans: Incomplete
Indianapolis Colts: Incomplete
Jacksonville Jaguars: Incomplete
Kansas City Chiefs: Incomplete
Miami Dolphins: Incomplete
Minnesota Vikings: Incomplete
New England Patriots: Incomplete
New Orleans Saints: Incomplete
New York Giants: Incomplete
New York Jets: Incomplete
Oakland Raiders: Incomplete
Philadelphia Eagles: Incomplete
Pittsburgh Steelers: Incomplete
St. Louis Rams: Incomplete
San Diego Chargers: Incomplete
San Francisco 49ers: Incomplete
Seattle Seahawks: Incomplete
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Incomplete
Tennessee Titans: Incomplete
Washington Redskins: Incomplete

You see, one day after the draft it's silly to try to assess how successful a team's draft was, hence incomplete. All these guys handing out draft grades are only really telling you whether or not they LIKED a team's picks. Check back in 2008 if you want to see how a team actually did.

Exploding Toads!

What's funnier than penguins walking through an airport metal detector? Exploding toads!

Flightless Birds

From Michelle Malkin.

Phrases You Never Thought You'd Hear

"Now, if they can get either Joey Harrington or Jeff Garcia to play like Scott Mitchell – then they’ll really be onto something special." -Doug Warren, Scout.com

Now, granted, he was talking about the Scott Mitchell of 1995 who threw for 4,338 yards, 32 TDs, and made it to the playoffs for the third consecutive time, but that's still a phrase I'd have never imagined hearing. You can read it here.

I was wrong.

The Lions did make a move to get a QB in the 5th round, but it wasn't McPherson. They went with UConn QB Dan Orlovsky. Not a bad pick: he's 6'4", 238, has some skills, and a cool last name. McPherson went off the board 7 picks later to New Orleans. Great place for a guy with character issues to land.

QB #3

It's the second day of the draft and the Lions still need a 3rd-string quarterback? Who to pick? Some of the players still available: Adrian McPherson- Florida State, Timmy Chang- Hawaii, Dan Orlovsky- UConn, Derek Anderson- Oregon State, Ryan Fitzpatrick- Harvard, and Jason White- Oklahoma. My pick? McPherson, if they can get him. I usually am not a fan of guys with character issues, but this guy has 1st-round skills. If they take him in the 6th he would be worth the risk.

Crazy 88

Apparently, Mike Williams' jersey will look more like this:

New Jerseys

Maybe Mike will wear one of these?



What do you think?

Mike Williams?

With the tenth pick in the 2005 NFL Draft the Detroit Lions selected Mike Williams of USC. It was fairly surprising and I imagine they are going to catch a lot of flack for it when the draft grades come out since he's their third first round receiver pick in 3 years. I was expecting defense for this pick, but I wasn't totally shocked. I had read something earlier in the week that Millen said about taking value with the 10th pick. Obviously, I think Williams has value since I've said he's the best WR in the draft. Now Harrington is under REALLY intense scrutiny, because if you can't get the ball to Chuck, Roy, and Mike you can't play in this league. Who's ready to order a Mike Williams black alternate jersey? What do you think his number will be?

Mock-sanity 5: Bedtime for Bonzo

I lied! The name gag has taken over, plus I found more mock drafts from NFL.com: here, here, and here. Also, the Lions have signed tackle Kyle Kosier to a one-year deal, so their need at tackle is now much less severe.

NFL TV Deal

Since I was in North Carolina on Monday and Tuesday, I forgot to write anything about this. NBC has managed to get NFL games back, though only the Sunday night ones. And ESPN gets Monday Night Football moved there from ABC, which will be aired locally if your team is playing that night. I would have preferred football stay off NBC, but they obviously needed it badly and were willing to pay. My biggest concern is about what happens to ESPN's Sunday Night Football crew. They are the best in the business, hands down. I guess it'd be okay if they went to NBC, but I'd rather see them tak over MNF.

Popular Guy

This report says Braylon Edwards is getting a lot of interest in the draft, with the newest team showing interest being the Redskins. A lot of people seem to think Edwards is the best receiver in the draft, including Tom Friend here (Note: this is for purposes of talking about Edwards, not as another mock draft). I'm not sold on Edwards. Great, he hyperventilates before games, his ego is huge, and I'm SURE he is not the next Jerry Rice. In fact, I'll guarantee he won't even be the best rookie receiver next season. And, yes, I'm baiting Aaron.

Another thing I've been hearing is that Troy Williamson may end up being picked ahead of Mike Williams as the 2nd receiver taken. Now, I understand the case for Edwards, and Williamson is fast, but this is silly. It looks to me like a textbook case of scouts looking at numbers more than talent. And Mel Kiper agrees with me. Williamson may very well turn out to be a great pro, but mark my words, if a team selects him ahead of Williams, they'll regret it.

Mock-sanity 4: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

Seriously, this is the last one. I mean it. (BTW, you can check out the movie here.)

C isn't for Cookie?

I just heard about this. What an outrage. An excerpt from Goldberg's article:

"Lecter: First principles, Clarice. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing, ask: What is it in itself? What is its nature? What does he do, this creature you seek?

Starling: He entertains children….

Lecter: No! That is incidental. What is the first and principal thing he does? What need does he serve by entertaining children?

Starling: Social acceptance? Personal frustration?

Lecter: No: He craves. That’s his nature. And what does he crave? Make an effort to answer.

Starling: Food?

Lecter: No! He is not a “food monster!” He is a cookie monster!"

I'm going to have to go eat some cookies in protest. Mmmmm...cookies.

Mock-sanity 3: This Time It's Personal

Another mock draft from Mike O'Hara of the Detroit News. This is the last one. Probably.

Correction

Turns out "Back in Black" was accurate. From an article in the Free Press today:

"In 1948, former Indiana University coach Alvin (Bo) McMillin took over the Lions and changed their uniform colors to scarlet and white so they resembled the Hoosiers. He gave them all-black uniforms for big games, and they wore four combinations of the three colors."

I knew that they wore red for a time, but I had forgotten about the black. Here's a picture of the new ones:



I have to admit that these are slowly growing on me. You can buy them at the Detroit Lions website.

Back in Black

Okay, the Lions, to my knowledge, have never worn black before, but I couldn't resist. They unveiled their new black home alternates today. Check them out here. I'm not crazy about the idea, and I think black jerseys are becoming way overused, but these look okay. I'm afraid they'll end up like the Spartans silver b-ball unis: they look decent, but they're totally unnecessary. Marketing strikes again.

Also at the Freep Curt Sylvester has a mock draft up. At this point I think every sports writer has done one.

Taste the Force

I went to Wal-mart yesterday for cereal and had to buy this:



I expect to have Force powers within the week. Or maybe turn into a Wookiee.

Mock-sanity 2: Electric Boogaloo

As anticipation for the 2005 NFL Draft reaches a fever pitch ESPN has released it's own mock draft. Picked by ESPN.com senior NFL writers John Clayton and Len Pasquarelli, it appears to be a bastard child of their different takes on this draft. It talks of possibilities of more trades, but doesn't actually predict any. It's fun if you're into this sort of thing, which obviously I am. Also, if you're curious:

"10. Lions: Derrick Johnson, LB, Texas
John Clayton, ESPN.com senior NFL writer: This isn't a lock. The Lions would be tempted if Antrel Rolle fell to the 10th pick. It's also not out of the question that the Lions draft defensive end Erasmus James. In the end, though, the Lions can get a play-making linebacker who has the ability to dominate a game because of his speed."

Mock-sanity

If you still haven't got enough of the draft you can find a LionsFan.com mock draft here. If you're actually interested in seeing what might happen during the real draft, I'd skip this one. The author appears to have under the influence of numerous mind-altering substances when he made this up.

More Matt Jones

Yahoo! Sports has an article up by Charles Robinson about my favorite player in the draft, Matt Jones. You can read it here. An interesting part:

"Standing 6-foot-6 and weighing 241 pounds, he's a college quarterback who has the size of a tight end. Yet his 40 time is better than Michigan's Braylon Edwards, who is 31 pounds lighter and widely considered the top receiver in the draft. Even Jones's splits – 10-yard and 20-yard times – were nearly equal or faster than those of Edwards."

I want the Lions to get this guy, but I imagine it's only a dream.

More Mockery

Need more info on the NFL Draft? You can check out the Sporting News mock draft here. Not one round, not five rounds, not even three rounds, but seven full rounds of projections. Sure to be 90% wrong. Enjoy.

Skip Bayless...

... rips into T.O. and challenges him to a debate here. Now, I'm not a Bayless fan in general, but he makes a lot of good points here. You might say he brings it, and doesn't suck. With a little more of this he might win me over. Of course, I strongly dislike Owens, so maybe this isn't a good article to judge with. Either way, it's pretty entertaining.

"Game over man, game over!"

There's an interesting, and by interesting I mean silly, article up at The Guardian about the greatest threats to life on Earth. Apparently the human race being subjugated by robots is as big a threat as climate change. Who knew? I guess we should have been suspicious after all we've heard about cyborg monkeys, perhaps they are the shock troops of a robot army. Anyway, a blog did an analysis of this here if you're interested.

First Pitches

From National Review:

"President Bush is scheduled to throw out the first pitch at the Nationals' home opener tonight. The Wash Post has a graphic on the history of first pitches here. Every prez since William Taft has tossed a first pitch, with one exception: that killjoy Jimmy Carter. Reagan only did it twice. G.H.W. Bush hurled (no pun intended) on foreign soil--in Toronto."

At least the President will be able to get it across the plate. So many celebrities are just pitiful.

Mock Draft

If anyone's interested, there's a new mock draft up at SI.com. You can check it out here.

Draft History

Want to see just how important the draft is to a team? Check out DraftHistory.com. A look at the Lions' drafts of the late 90's will give you a pretty good idea of why they've been down for a while.

Also, Aaron noted that the Lions could trade down. I'd agree that this is probably a good strategy if possible, but unlikely because most seem to think there a few standouts in this draft. That being said, someone will surely trade somewhere in the first round.

The Draft

As promised, or maybe just mentioned, more on the NFL Draft. For reference, you can check Mel Kiper's Big Board (Top 25 Prospects) and Scout.com's Top 125.

As I posted before, the Lions have legitimate needs at OT, WR, DE/OLB, CB, and QB. OT is the biggest hole as they lost a starter to free agency. The others are a bit of a toss-up, with QB probably being the lowest priority. So, who to take? Let's make a list of top prospects at those positions who might reasonably be available at the 10th pick (excluding QB, the Lions aren't using a 1st round pick there).

OT- Alex Barron, the unquestioned top tackle in the draft.

WR- Mike Williams, Troy Williamson, and Matt Jones (just for kicks).

DE/OLB- Derrick Johnson, Dan Cody, Shawne Merriman, Marcus Spears.

CB- Adam "Pac-Man" Jones, Antrel Rolle, Carlos Rogers.

I think this shakes out to 2 possible picks: Alex Barron or Derrick Johnson. I can't imagine the Lions taking a top receiver 3 years in a row with their first pick. The CB position needs depth, but there are 2 solid starters there already. Scouts seem to agree that Barron is nearly a sure-fire tackle prospect and Johnson was probably the best LB in the country last year; he also played for a big-time program. My pick? I know the O-line is important, but I'd hate to see the Lions pass up a talent like Derrick Johnson. However, I think I'd be satisfied with either pick. Now, if they can only figure out a way to draft Matt Jones without overpaying... Comments?

Lions Draft Day Needs

I just saw this article up on Yahoo and thought I'd share. The most interesting part:

TEAM NEEDS
Wide receiver – The Lions need to add depth. Charles Rogers has been injury prone since arriving two seasons ago and Roy Williams was bothered with minor, nagging injuries despite having a solid rookie season in 2004. Az-Zahir Hakim has been a disappointment since coming over from the Rams and Tai Streets did not add anything of significance.

Offensive right tackle – With the departure of Stockar McDougle to Miami in free agency, the Lions have two young players in Victor Rogers and Kelly Butler . Neither has the experience to step into the starting role. The Lions may look towards free agency and the draft to solidify the position.

Cornerback – The Lions lack depth. Fernando Bryant and Dre' Bly are the starters. Andre' Goodman and Chris Cash are the backups but have not shown the ability to step in and be counted on as dependable replacements.

Defensive end/Outside linebacker – Adding quality, depth and speed from the outside edge of the defense is a must. While the position is not an absolute necessity, the Lions would like to add the presence of a disruptive force from either defensive end or outside linebacker.

Tackle is the only position where the Lions are short a player, besides 3rd string QB. I'll probably write more about this later.

Un-Rehabilitation

One year into his rehabilitation in Philly, Terrell Owens looks prepared to trash the whole project, says Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Enquirer here. It's hard to imagine T.O. being more popular in Philly than he is now after his play last season and especially in the Super Bowl. Well, winning the Super Bowl might have made him slightly more popular. Anyway, hiring Drew Rosenhaus is a bad sign. If he starts boycotting minicamps or holding out, after making $10 million last year, well that's just idiotic.

Watch out Barry

Did you know that Hideki Matsui is on pace to hit 162 homers this season? This would shatter Bonds' current record. However, as the Yankees have only played 2 games, it may be a little early to start projecting stats.

Phrase of the Day

The phrase of the day: scrotal-tightening horror. See the G-File for the context.

Why CC is better than NY

One reason:

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- A Chinese food delivery man was found trapped in a broken elevator Tuesday, more than three days after he was reported missing, police said…

Shamelessly stolen from the Corner at NRO.

All-Time All-Tigers

Also at the Detroit Tigers website, you can vote for the All-Time All-Tigers team. Go and vote for Gibson, Trammell, and Sparky.

ROAR!

.
Dmitri Young came up big today in the Tigers season opener. Da Meat Hook became just the 3rd player to hit 3 HRs on Opening Day; he went 4-4 with 5 RBI (That's a 4.25 OPS for you Moneyballers). The Tigers beat the Royals 11-2. Bonderman is the youngest opening-day starter since 1986 to win for the Tigers. Here's the recap.

In other news, scientists are still experimenting with monkey cyborgs:

"And at labs in several universities, monkeys operate mechanical arms with just their brains. At the University of Pittsburgh, a monkey can feed itself chunks of zucchini and orange slices this way."

Go and get your riot gear...

You may have heard about there being a "civil disturbance" in E.L. on Saturday night. Now some students are whining because they got tear gassed when they weren't doing anything. Whatever. I'm sick of these idiots making me and my school look bad. As my friend Fitzy J said on Saturday night when he heard some people were causing trouble in Cedar Village: "Gas 'em." The police may have overreacted a little, but maybe it'll teach those morons a lesson. To paraphrase a particularly skull-looking fictional character: "Fear will keep the students in line..."

A joke

I don't have anything April Foolish to say, but here's a joke:

A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says: "That's the ugliest baby that I've ever seen. Ugh!" The woman goes to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her: "The driver just insulted me!" The man says: "You go right up there and tell him off – go ahead, I'll hold your monkey for you."