The Blog for the Sports Gamer

Okay, so the Lions have now officially signed Mike Martz as their offensive coordinator. It’s a three year deal with financial terms not disclosed but it’s reported that the contract is heavily backloaded. I like this deal. I was iffy when reports were the Lions would just sign him for one year, but a backloaded three year deal might keep him in the Motor City for a couple of years. Combine Martz (who I think is a great OC, but wouldn’t want as a head coach) with the signing of ex-Jets DC Donnie Henderson and I think new coach Rod Marinelli is putting together a pretty kick ass coaching staff. I mean you look at how bad the Jets offense was last year and it’s easy to appreciate the job their defense was able to do, keeping them in games. Certainly there’s no way the boatload of malcontents that is the Lions roster will be allowed to go mouthing off to the press about why the team’s losing because of this guy (Harrington) or that guy (also Harrington). I don’t expect miracles after the most disastrous unwatchable season I can think of (it really was worse than the 2-14 and 3-13 seasons under Mornhingweg), but I do think the team might at least be fun to watch again. And here I though I might be able to let me Sunday Ticket subscription lapse. There’s another $200 down the drain.

Speaking of coordinator hires, the Wolverines have undergone a similar makeover. OC Terry Malone just left for the New Orleans Saints’ OC gig. I do think he might be missed. Michigan’s offense sputtered this year, but injuries played a huge role in that, as did the growing pains of Chad Henne (who still took far more flack than he deserved). However, Mike DeBord, who was Michigan’s OC in 1997 when they won the national championship (okay, okay, co-championship) is taking over so I’d like to believe the worst case scenario is that it’s a lateral move and certainly not a drop-off.

The big deal, though, is that DC Jim Hermann is finally, mercifully out. He may still remain in some capacity, but he won’t be the defensive coordinator. Rumors earlier in the week had Georgia Tech’s DC in the mix, which I think would’ve been a good move, but now it looks like their secondary coach, Ron English, will be the guy. The rap on English is that he’s an unbelievable recruiter. Which is sort of like being told your blind date has a good sense of humor when you ask what she looks like. But unbeknownst to me, apparently Michigan ranked 2nd in the Big Ten in pass defense last year,which shocked the hell out of me. Plus, Hermann’s defensive schemes (all Prevent all the time) I think are far more responsible for Michigan giving up leads in virtually all of their losses the past two years. As long as English puts an end to corners lining up six-plus yards off of wideouts it’ll be an improvement.

Then there’s the Pistons. After years of only getting Ben Wallace on the All-star team, Detroit is abuzz with the news that four Pistons have made the team as reserves. I know some will call that crap, but each of those guys is worthy. Their numbers may not all be up with a few of the guys left off the team, but they’re the only team that distributes the ball to all five guys on the floor with any regularity. I think if you put any Piston starter (save Ben Wallace, who is truly an awful shooter) on a crappy team where they’re the primary option and their offensive output would go up 50%. There’s even rumors that Prince (the only starter not yet named to the team) is on the short list to replace Jermaine O’Neal. I doubt that’ll happen, and as good as I think Prince is, it probably shouldn’t happen (especially with Gilbert Arenas not yet on the team), but it’s cool that his name is being mentioned.

As for Detroit’s chase for 70. Hopefully the three losses in six games will cool that talk. It was great that they looked like they were going to flirt with it for so long (and they might still if they get on another extended win streak), but at some point you knew they would hit a skid. It’s the dog days of the NBA and the team is obviously fatigued and banged up (Chauncey Billups in particular is playing with some pain). Even if the team only nets 60 wins it’s still going to be by far the greatest regular season in Pistons history. It’s just flat out fun to watch this team play basketball and there’s just no way they don’t make the NBA Finals again this year (barring injuries). There is no team in the East that’s in their class and they have more depth on the bench than most people realize. (Carlos Delfino is going to be a legit player in this league for a long time.) It will be interesting seeing who comes out of the West. The Mavs are playing unbelievable basketball right now, the Spurs are the Spurs, and the Suns have done their fans proud the way they’ve been able to keep it together without Amare Stoudemire.

And hey, I can’t not bring up the Red Wings, who just beat Nashville in a home-and-home series and have the best record in the Western Conference. Take that “the cap will kill the Wings” prognosticators! And how about two of the young “uknowns” who have played big, big roles this year: Mikael Samuelsson (37 points) and Jason Williams (42 points). And all this despite losing two critical defensemen early in the year: Niklas Kronwall (only now starting to come back) and Jiri Fischer (career is probably over). Anything can happen in the NHL playoffs, but this is a team capable of winning the Cup, even with the way-underrated Manny Legace between the pipes. (At some point that guy will get the respect he deserves as a quality goaltender.)

Oh yeah, and did you hear about that whole Super Bowl thing? That was in Detroit too. No really, you can’t make something like that up. And aside from several cheap shots from a few notable media hacks, the city did itself proud. Eyesores remain to be sure, but the majority of people from other media outlets had nothing but nice things to say about the organization of the event and the hospitality of the people. Hopefully the city keeps it rolling now that all the cameras have left town, especially with regards to the rebuilding of several riverfront areas.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 10th, 2006 at 10:58 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.