Rip Hamilton Coming Off the Bench

Not sure how I feel about that change for the Pistons starting line up. Clearly the small ball line up they had been using of starting 3 guards was not going to win on most nights. It was a gimmick that made us extremely small and got us killed ont he boards. It appears, at least for now that Amir Johnson has replaced Rip in the starting line up.

If it were up to me I probably would have put AI on the bench instead of Rip, but we'll see how it goes. I think Rip fits better with Stuckey than he does with AI, but one thing I will say is that Rip has lost his game. He is not playing to his strengths anymore. He is not running marathons anymore like he is hopped up on Ephedrasil hardcore and seems to think that he is a great one on one player now. HE is not.

I wonder how he will adjust to this exactly. I get the impression that he has the mindset he is now a superstar in the NBA. A "go to" guy. He is the captain, but is neither a superstar, nor a go to guy. He is a guy that can score, and a very good player, but he is not the guy you go to so he can create his own shot. He's a mid-range shooter (may be the best in the league) that comes off screens, or spots up for the occasional 3. A future Reggie Miller if his range is more consistent behind the arc.

Rip has not adjusted well to AI coming to this team. He is missing Billups quite badly. At least he seems to be making an effort to miss Billups by not adjusting to the new game this team plays. He is becoming Sheed in a sense. What i mean by that is that he seems to go out of his way to play against his strengths. Sheed is a post up nightmare for anyone, but he would rather jack 3s. Rip is a guy that will kill you if you have to chase him around all night, but now he would rather try to prove he is an iso player.

You can blame Coach Curry as much as you want, and I do for a lot of things, but these guys are playing like idiots. Away from strengths, and selfishly it seems.

Tigers Agree with Brandon Lyon

Well...it looks like the Tigers have finally decided to pay a reliever to come here. That man is Brandon Lyon who closed a bit for the Arizona Diamondbacks last year. Lyon was 3-5 for the Diamondbacks in 2008 with 26 saves and a 4.70 ERA. He had a tough second half of the season and ultimately lost his closer's job.

Perfect for the Tigers. The falling a part and all.

Of course this guy has some injury history and it appears we are still waiting on him to pass his physical so this isn't a done deal by any means, but at least they went out and got a RP.

I have to be honest here since I have just got done watching some Christian videos that tell me not to lie. I can't remember seeing this guy ever pitch before. I can look at stats all day, but when it comes to pitchers I at least want to have "seen" them toss a bit before I pretend to know what I am talking about n regard to how good they are. Can't do that here because I simply haven't seen him that I can recall.

All I can say is that I would have never had this guy on my fantasy team because he doesn't strike enough people out for a "closer". It isn't clear what role he is going to assume in Detroit yet. I'm sure that he will be looked at for the closer's role, but I am not optimistic that he is the man to be the closer. OF course our options are rather limited in that regard.

Just more gambling on the part of DD to try and put together some sort of MLB bully. Quite a bit of "If's" going into this season. Going to need a ton of luck, and career years from about a dozen players to really have a shot at doing anything.

Your New Coach Jim Schwartz Hires an Old Defensive Coordinator

Well...it has been a while since I have posted anything. Kind of in mourning over the Lions going 0-16 this year I guess. Kind of lost my fire for Detroit sports in general with the way the Pistons are playing and the lack of Tiger signings as well. Everything is just in a sad state.

As for Jim Schwartz and the Lions, I guess I didn't really care a whole lot about it. Knew when the search began that it wouldn't make much of an impact on me one way or another who it was. This is still the Lions. Where coaches go to die in a sense. All that matters is how well the new GM Martin Mayhew (It would take me a month to tell you how much I hate this "promotion") is going to draft and evaluate the talent he brings in. IF this guy doesn't "get it" this is just another coach in the long line of failures to come through here. Whether he is a great coach or not is besides the point. Fans will want to take him back to the return counter and pass him back over the barcode scanner like all the rest if the talent doesn't arrive.

So...he goes out and name Gunther Cunningham as the new Defensive Coordinator to his staff. A guy that just a few days before I was mocking on various message boards as someone who would "be a ridiculous" hire. Joke is on me I guess. He is the new DC.

He comes from Kansas City. The team that might be just as bad as the Lions. A team the Lions might have actually beaten had they played this year.

Let's throw some very limited numbers up about Cunningham in his past few years.

These are KC's Defensive ranks for yardage allowed since 2006 where they went 9-7 before they proceeded to go 4-12 and 2-14 record-wise in 2007 and 2008.

2008: 158 RYPG (Rank 30 above us and Oakland, Total D=31)
2007: 131 RYPG (Rank 28, Total D=13)
2006: 120 RYPG (Rank 18, Toatl D=15)

Worse every year. They lost talent of course over that time, but they got much worse every year regardless. Their defense was the WORST defense in the league of teams that actually won a game. So all other teams besides the Lions. What does that tell you? This guy blows with little talent. What does that mean in Detroit? This guy is gonna blow in Detroit because we have NO talent.

Yeah Yeah...Schwartz is going to run the D. Good luck with all that. The suckiest sucks that ever sucked will continue to do so friends.

They did It! Lions Go 0-16!

I thought this would be a great day. I thought that I would be ecstatic to finally see a team go 0-16. I thought that maybe, just maybe if the Lions went 0-16 that the entire thing would be blown up. The front office gone, coaching staff gone, and that we would get some people in here that have actually proven they know what they are doing.

Obviously this isn't going to happen since Ford already said Mayhew and Lewand are guaranteed jobs after this season. This means that anyone he hires is already handcuffed with hiring decisions. They are going to be a puppet, which is exactly what Millen was. Nothing will change if people that are put into the position to build the team don't have the people they want to do those jobs.

Today i am a little less happy about it all. After seeing them play yesterday, and still seeing them motivated to actually try to win after this horrible season, I started to regret my cheering for the 0-16 mark. IT started to hit me when the Green Bay fans were chanting "0 and 16! 0 and 16!". My Liedown pride as a Detroit sports fan kicked in and I wanted to punch Packer fans. It's OK if I say they suck. It's OK if I root for it, but Packer fans who went 6-10 to chant it? Just not going to cut it. You went 6-10 this year. Shut the hell up.

Now that it is reality I don't know what to think. I thought i wanted it, but now I find that it actually really bothers me when it comes down to it. Almost every player on the team will likely be retired after this season because they are terrible. Working at grocery stores, as auto mechanics who specialize in Ferrari parts, or drink themselves to death. I know these guys suck, but I can't feel good about this happening to anyone. I just can't. these guys have to live with it the rest of their lives. "Here is Joe Lion that played for the only team in NFL history to go 0-16!". Doesn't have a very nice ring to it I must say.

Do something Ford! This blood is on your hands. Get some help, pass the torch, do whatever, but change this BS!