Why the NFL should dump the Pro Bowl

The NFL and NBC Sports hope fans want to tune in to the annual Pro Bowl tonight at 7pm ET. Commissioner Roger Goodell keeps threatening to get rid of the game if the quality doesn't improve.  But, it doesn't seem like recent moves with the event have done anything to facilitate a better game.

Fan voting is a joke; Nothing more than a popularity contest conducted at a time when we have no idea who will have played an "all-star' caliber season. (This is the case with all of the major sports all-star balloting.)  On top of that, too many of the players fans DO vote for (translated: the ones they want to see in the game) end up NOT playing because they are in the Super Bowl-- which wasn't an issue when the Pro Bowl was the week AFTER the big game-- or, they claim injury.  I say "claim" because it seems to me that the league, which thinks the Pro Bowl is important enough to stage,  has made it quite easy for elected/selected players to opt out of the game using injury as the excuse.

Titus Young Just Doesn't Get It

Detroit Lions WR Titus Young.
(Photo: DetroitLions.com)

Detroit Lions wide receiver Titus Young spoke with reporters today following practice.  It was the first time since he has talked publicly since his most recent exile from the team for disciplinary reasons.  Head coach Jim Schwartz deactivated Young for the Lions' Thanksgiving Day game agains the Houston Texans and sent him home for the week to, basically, get his head straight.  Judging by this session with media, I'm not certain he got the message. But, I'm not in the Lions locker room, team meetings or the practice field with the guy.  What do you think?

(Video: WXYZ.com)

I'm so glad that the reporters didn't ask Young questions about anything but his situation.  Nothing else he has to say matters until he addresses his behavior and its effects on the team.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

GO LIONS!!!

Tyrann Mathieu's Phantom Menace

One week after I received and read the Sports Illustrated cover story on Tyrann Mathieu and his attempts to redeem himself for a possible return to the LSU Tigers football team, he faces drug (marijuana) related charges in Baton Rouge.

Several questions are now (in my best Herman Cain voice) "twirling around in my head" concerning Mathieu:

1. Is Mathieu destined to be just like his biological father, Darrin Hayes- also a talented football phenom in his day, but now serving a life sentence for second degree murder- with whom Mathieu has virtually no relationship?

2. Even if convicted, simple possession of marijuana is not going to earn Mathieu a life sentence in prison, but is this the next step down a path to a life sentence from football and, more importantly, productive adult life?

3. Are these things hereditary? Does Mathieu's family history wreak havoc on his psyche and prevent him from realizing he does not have to repeat his father's mistakes? 

4. And, considering Tyrann's demonstrated troubles to date, was it prudent for him to only spend a month, or so, in John Lucas' rehab program in Houston and then return to Baton Rouge and LSU with no real, on-site support structure to keep him strong in moments of weakness?

The whole thing almost plays out like Star Wars, to me.  The character comparisons are very clear.

Same Old Song

Lions fans celebrate during home

opener vs. Kansas City. 

(Photo: Robin Buckson/The Detroit News)

This NFL season got off to such a great start for Detroit Lions fans.  The team jumped out to a 5-0 start.  Something that I had not previously seen since the last time it happened was 1956, eight years before I was born.  Lions fever was running at high pitch.  The fifth win came against the division rival Chicago Bears before a sellout crowd at Ford Field on Monday Night Football.  But, despite the wins and the euphoric feeling the Lions were creating in the City of Detroit, it was becoming clear that the team was heading for some bumps.

Lions win in Stafford's Return

I am ghoulishly giddy on this Halloween night thanks to my beloved Detroit Lions and their big win over the visiting Washington Redskins!

Lions QB Matthew Stafford
Photo Credit: NFL.com

Quarterback Matthew Stafford made is first start since Week 1 when he suffered a separated shoulder at the hands of Chicago Bears defensive end Julius Peppers.  Oh, what a return it was!  Stafford threw four touchdown passes-- three of them to Calvin Johnson-- and for the second straight season, handed the Redskins a nice big "L" to show for their visit to Ford Field.

While I am extremely happy to get the win, I can't-- for the life of me-- understand why Redskins coach Mike Shanahan, down by six points late in the fourth quarter, benched starting quarterback Donovan McNabb in favor of backup Rex Grossman claiming Grossman could best run the two-minute drill.  HUH?!?!  Shanahan really blew that one and Detroit's defense made him pay.  Grossman coughed up the ball after taking his first snap!  Ndamukong Suh scooped up the loose ball and danced into the endzone! Now, we're up 13.  Game over!

Lions DE Kyle Vanden Bosch sacks
Redskins QB Donovan McNabb
Photo Credit: DetroitLions.com

I'll take my wins any way that I can get them and I was fairly confident that the defense would do what it had done all game long-- give McNabb fits-- and protect the win.  But, Shanahan pretty much conceded defeat when he inserted a barely warmed up Grossman into the game at such a critical point.

Hmmm.  The Redskins are off next week giving Shanahan, McNabb and the media two weeks to let this thing simmer.  It will be interesting to see how things play out for the rest of the season.  More importantly, it will be interesting to see how things play out after the season.  My guess is that Donovan McNabb-- while standing on the sideline after being pulled from the game-- was thinking to himself, "I'm calling my agent as soon as we get back to DC and telling him to start quietly planning my departure from this comedy of errors."

Oh, Good Evening!