Same old Lions? Same old Tigers? Oh My!

The simple answer to both the stated questions in this title is: No. Nevertheless, they are good questions. It is always appropriate to assume the Lions are the same old Lions and many people are worried about the Tigers. They got swept in Miami and have limped into the playoffs a bit, not to mention the fact that there is a very good possibility of  another rematch with St. Louis in the World Series, who Detroit fans have learned to hate.Still I like both these team chances.

Lions: I think last years disappointing performance after the playoff year was a fluke. This team, contrary to what many people think, is flat out talented. Stafford is on his way to becoming an elite quarterback and there is nothing that has to be said about Calvin Johnson. The Lions did not miss a beat without Nate Burlson and have many weapons who catch the ball. The secondary, of course, is still questionable, but I think Glover Quin has made a huge difference and Delmas and Houston have played great. Suh and Farly have been the monster combo they were expected to be when they were drafted and are giving offensive lines nightmares. Also, the rookie Annsah has played well. However, the biggest reason this team is not the same old lions is they finally have a running game. Reggie Bush is the best Lions running back since Barry himself and Joique Bell has been a beast and in my opinion the best backup running back in the NFL. The only things barring injury standing in this teams way from the playoffs are the bonehead mistakes and penalties only the Lions make. I say this team gets a playoff birth and maybe even advances to the second round or farther.

Tigers: First let me say, I think that series in Miami meant nothing. The team is a bit banged up and the games didn't mean much. When these players play how they should they I think, have the best starting pitchers AND bats in baseball. The lineup is flat out ridiculously good. There are concerns nonetheless because of injuries and this team does have a tendency to under-preform and at times has been inconsistent. Also, like always there is the question of the bull pen. Still I think we will be celebrating a World Series victory in Detroit by the end of October.    

There Was a Time

There was a time when college coaches had integrity
When  they didn't bribe recruits
 And they practiced what they preached
There was a time when athletes cared about the game
And the players loved the game
And the the game was exciting
 There was a time
Then it all went wrong.

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And games worth playing
I dreamed that players would be humble
I dreamed that the NCAA would be forgiving
when I was young and uninformed
And dreams were easy and plausable
There were no sanctions  to be paid
No game undone
No victory untasted

But the tigers got hit hard
with their penalties soft as thunder
As they tear your team apart
And they tear your dream to shame

These sanctions come each summer by our side
They fill the days with endless penalties
They take the victories from fans
But they really take their toll when autumn comes

And still I dream it will be fixed
That the NCAA isn't worthless
But this dream is unrealistic to me
And their are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream that college athletics would be
So different from this corrupt  thing it is now
So different from what it could be
But money has killed the dream I dream

I was, like many times, just thinking about how much better college sports used to be before almost everyday you heard about recruiting violations or something. I wanted to go on a rant about it and I hadn't blogged in awhile, so I sat down to do it and I just kept thinking of "I dreamed A Dream" from Les Mis, so I just decided to make this hopefully comical, but truthful parody of the song on how I feel.

The NFL: Who bounces back and who stays under. Playoff Predictions

We are two weeks into the NFL season and this is when we begin to see what the teams look like. At this point the stat is always thrown around that teams that start the season 0-2 only have an 11% chance of making the playoffs. Can any of these 0-2 teams do it?
Right now sitting at 0-2 are: The Panthers, The Vikings, The Browns, The Redskins, The Giants, The Steelers, The Buccaneers, and the Jaguars. For some of these teams it is not at all a surprise that they are where they are at this point, for some it is. Out of these teams I think the ones that are not even close to playoff teams are the Browns and the Jaguars, but the only two I think have a legitimate chance of making the playoffs are the G-men and the skins because not only do they have the talent and coaching to do so, the NFC East is wide open.

Now lets look at the teams that jumped to early 2-0 starts: The Bears, The Saints, The Seahawks, The Patriots, The Dolphins, The Texans, The Broncos, and The Chiefs. There are some definite surprises in this bunch, namely the Dolphins and Chiefs. All of these teams definitely have chances of making the playoffs, but I'm putting The Chiefs, The Dolphins, The Bears, The Saints, and actually the Patriots on alert.

Actual playoff predictions:

AFC:
1. Broncos
2. Texans
3. Bengals
4. Patriots
5. Colts
6. Chiefs
Just miss: Dolphins, Titans, Steelers, Bills.
Champion Broncos
NFC:
1. 49ers
2. Falcons
3. Packers
4. Eagles
5. Seahwaks
6. Lions
Just Miss: This is tough, I honestly think every team in the NFC has at least an outside chance of making the playoffs
Champion: 49ers
Super Bowl: Broncos vs. 49ers
Champion: Broncos
This is a tough prediction though because there are a lot of good teams in the NFC especially and I could see a number of them winning the conference.  .

One Quarter Down Three to Go

Well one quarter of the college football season is in the books and as always, we have very little indication of how it is going to turn out. Again, as always college football has not disappointed, we have seen some crazy games, some shootouts, some plays that make you gasp in wonder, some plays that make you scratch your head, and some serious upsets, but lets take a look at what we have learned:

1. Manziel could not repeat the magic (although he still had a lot of magical plays)
2. Notre Dame is not repeating their undefeated regular season.
3. USC can't escape an early upset when being coached by Lane Kiffin
4. Texas is NOT back
5. UCLA is for real
6. The lower half of the BIG Ten is not
7. Wisconsin hates referees
8. Oregon is the same old Oregon even without Chip Kelly
9.  TCU is not back
10. A zip is more than something I close by sweatshirt with, but they couldn't close the game.

Now lets look at some things still yet to be seen:

1. If Manziel and A&M couldn't take down Alabama at home. Can anyone?
2. Is the U back?
3. Is Devin Gardner for real? He looked like he was on his way to another classic Michigain QB award-the September Heisman, but was that awful game against Akron a stumbling block or a continuing trend. 

One thing is for sure we have some more great football ahead of us.

College Football Preview

Well College Football is just about back, with the first kickoff Thursday night when North Carolina takes on South Carolina at 6:00. The only thing stopping an explosion of joy is that, like always for us students with the return of football, comes the return of school.

Here is a brief preview of the three teams that most people reading this blog are interested in this season:

Michigan: The Wolverines of course lose the electric play maker of Denard Robinson, but for what most people consider an improvement at the quarterback position in Devin Gardner. Some are already slotting Gardner as a Heisman candidate and he is definitely a huge talent with some experience, but the fact is: he still has a lot to prove. There is no doubt though that the Wolverines success or failure this season is closely tied to the success of number 12. The Wolverines weapons on offense don"t look to be to be too lethal. Jeramey Gallon can sometimes make some plays, but is a far cry from a reliable receiver and virtually untested Jehu Chesson is going to line up across from him. At running back the Wolverines have some cause for concern; it would be nice to see Fitts Toussaint  make it through a whole season without an injury, but that seems unlikely at this time. Michigan fans were hoping the highly recruited incoming freshman Derrick Green would be a difference maker, but that seems unlikely at this point since overweight and conditioning issues have put him fourth on the depth chart. The Defense led by LB Jake Ryan will probably be a bit better than its mediocre self of last year, but this is not a shutdown D. 
Prediction: 9-3


Michigan State: State is going to as always have a hard nosed tough Dantonio style Defense this year, but that is not the issue. The issue is that I'm not sure if Andrew Maxwell is bad or if it is the case that he just has to take the fall for his receivers not being able to catch the flu.  Also, State has to find a way to replace Le'veon Bell who produced somewhere around 91% of State's running game last year, but State always seems to turn out good Running backs. If they can do that and their receivers hands don't turn to bricks every time Andrew Maxwell releases the ball, they have a good chance of being a good team this year with the help of a very soft schedule.
Prediction:  8-4

Notre Dame: The Irish return most of what was a monster Defense last year, that was the second best only to the team that murdered them in the national title game, Alabama, at keeping teams from getting on the scoreboard. The team returns almost the whole secondary and even without Heisman candidate/hoax Manti Teo the linebacking core is very solid. Nevertheless, the teeth of the Irish Defense is its strength with Big Daddy number 9 Louis Nix the third and Stephen Tuitt heading it. Until a few months ago it looked like the Irish very well could be getting back to the national title game this year, but then QB Everett Golson got suspended for the fall semester. Now with every Notre Dame fan out there groaning Tommy Rees returns to the helm (That sounds like the title of a sequel to a bad Western). Okay though lets cut him some slack he is an experienced quarterback who knows how to read defenses and has a record of 14-4 as a starter. He very well could surprise me and be great this season. The Irish also have many good weapons at skill positions including a stable of fine runningbacks.
Prediction: 10-2

Young QBs: Boom or Bust

There is a lot of hype this year concerning the young quarterbacks in the NFL, particularly the scramblers and justifiably so. Last year RGIII, Russel Wilson, Andrew Luck, Colin Kaepernick, and Ryan Tannehill exploded into the scene. The big question is: Will they continue to advance? Or take a step back? I'll tell you whether each of these quarterbacks is gonna be a Boom or a Bust for THIS season only NOT his career.

RGIII: Robert Griffin the third is undoubtedly one of the most exciting players in the NFL. Last year he threw the ball with pin-point accuracy, but he didn't air it out all that often. The excitement with RGIII is of course his wheels, he has blazing speed and knows how and when to cut. This guy can flat our run. He was also, helped out by the running game of his fellow rookie last year Alfred Morris. Nevertheless, the issue with RGIII is not his play it is his injury. He suffered the the terrible knee injury in the playoff game against the Sea hawks, which was the last straw to his already shaken up leg. His recovery has been reportedly tremendous and he may be on the field for the first regular season game, but you never know if he will be 100% immediately and the bottom line is he is injury-prone. This is also going to lead Mike Shanahan to call less designed runs, so that will diminish his productivity a bit too. If he is healthy though, this guy can play with the elite QBs in the league.
Verdict: Boom

Russel Wilson: Wilson threw for over 3,000 yards and tied the all-mighty Peyton Manning's rookie season touchdown record with 26 and ran for almost 500 yards and a few scores. He isn't going to have Percy Harvin for most if not all the season as planned, but he still has the same receiving core and skittles in the backfield. He is also, in my opinion the best quarterback in this class at reading defenses and making decisions. I see no reason he does anything, but improve from last year.
Verdict: Boom

Andrew Luck: The number 1 overall pick in last year's draft struggled at first last season, but got really hot late and ended up with an excellent rookie season. Still though he threw almost as many interceptions as touchdowns and still doesn't have a great running back or great receivers. I think he still has a lot of work to do and will probably be a stud in the NFL in future years, but I think he has a sophomore slump and takes a step back this season.
Verdict: Bust

Colin Kaepernick: Kaepernick came in mid-season last year for the injured Alex Smith and did such an incredible job that he kept the starting role when Smith came back from injury. He was dynamic as a passer and runner leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl (though the niners were a definite defense first team). He also struggled mightily in the first half of the Super Bowl against the great Raven's crew. I think we will see a little more of that this season mixed in with the brilliance. He has some maturing to do still, but is an excellent talent off to great start.
Verdict: Boom

Lastly, and least from last year: Ryan Tannehill. Ryan had his ups and downs last year, but overall had a great rookie season. He didn't have much to work with on offense and now has even less with the departure of Reggie Bush to the Lions. He made incredible strides from week 1 to week 16 and I think will continue to do so over his career, but he still has a lot to learn and doesn't have many play makers. He probably has a great career ahead of him, but also is probably not leading the Dolphins to the playoffs this year.
Verdict: Bust