Live from Mt. Pleasant

I know I know, it’s taken me damn near forever to update this blog and I’m sure you’re all clamoring for the latest and greatest.  Well before I get into it, let me tell you the reason I’ve been away.  I recently have taken a new job with IMG College as an Account Executive with Central Michigan.  I moved back up to good ol’ Mt. Pleasant on Sunday and started my new career.  In my downtime since leaving MA, I spent an awesome week in Port Austin slamming Hams (beer not the meat), doing shots of Root 100 (terrible idea) pounding vegas bomb after vegas bomb and building the biggest man made slip-n-slide Port Austin has ever seen.  All in all a great final week in metro Detroit but I am now back “home” in Mt. P.

Now on to the pressing questions…and I’ll be short and sweet. 

Pistons draft pick Andre Drummond – I LOVE it for 2 reasons.

He fills a need.  Greg “The Moose” Monroe needs help on the weak side and although he’s a kid, Drummond is already 280 and has a Tayshaun-like wingspan. 

Name me another GM that for 3 straight years manages to have the player of their dreams fall AGAIN so the Pistons can draft them.  Monroe, Knight and now Drummond all were players that weren’t supposed to be there.  Joe lucked out again and I think it’ll really pay off.

The next step for Joe is to amnesty CV31, play the hell out of the young guys and clear as much salary space as possible so Joe has the funds to go out and get real gamechangers than can help the Pistons return to form.

Tigers will be fine.  The AL Comedy Central is a joke. The White Sox and Tribe are not as good as advertised and the Tigers will win this division.  Pitching has come around, hitting has DEFINITLEY come around and though their defense still sucks, I’m not worried.  The trade deadline will come and go, Tigers will not make a move and we’ll be just fine in the second half of the season.

I'm very excited about this opportunity and I'm looking forward to what lies ahead.  Stay tuned for the latest sports chat.  Feel free to drop me a line and suggest a topic.  Until next time, same bat place same bat channel - #FIREUPCHIPS

State of the Pistons Address

Another season gone by and another season down the drain for the Pistons.  A sad 25-41 record in a shortened 66 game season has the Pistons yet again heading to the NBA Draft Lottery and it should’ve been worse.  In the only professional sports league in the U.S. where losing is actually winning, the Pistons delusional front office manages to win just enough to put themselves on the outside looking in. 

Why win games in the NBA when your team is inferior compared to their opponents?  Let’s be real here for a moment.  The NBA is made up of six elite teams, a handful of good ones and then the rest are just garbage.  Your Detroit Pistons are in that last category.   It’s the blind leading the blind in Auburn Hills where a brand new owner has allowed a GM to resign the entire team to multi-year contracts which prevents money being spent on any talent going forward. 

I will give credit to Joe Dumars for winning a championship and I’ll give him credit for a couple drafts picks but other than that, he’s been living on easy street.  I think Dumars has gotten a free pass since he won that title back in 2004 and since then hasn’t done a damn thing.  Horrible drafts, awful trades and a merry-go-round of head coaches have resulted in a 121-191 record since 2007.  Sure, Joe drafted the building blocks for the future in Greg Monroe and Brandon Knight but I’m even critical of those picks.  I say that because both those players fell to the Pistons.  It would have been foolish for him not to select them.  He hasn’t had to make any tough decisions in the past two drafts and that worries me because you can’t bank on the fact a quality player is going to fall to you  every time.

The Pistons have two players to build around.  Outside of that, I’d be fine if they get rid of the entire team.  There is no future with Tayshaun and Stuckey and Big Ben.  They’ve got wasted contracts in Charlie V, Austin Daye and Maxiell.  The only way a team can start the rebuilding process is by cleaning house and starting fresh.  Unfortunately they missed the mark again this year.  We’ll have to stick out another dumpster fire of a season and hope they really suck to have better chances of drafting top talent. 

The state of the Pistons isn’t good.  They suck.  Lose some games, get some more ping pong balls and hope that the Detroit Pistons grab the number one pick of the 2013 NBA Draft.

Let me know what you think by leaving me a comment, hitting me up on Facebook or checking me out on twitter @sportsinthe313

laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaater

Detroit Sports Mount Rushmore

Detroit has had so many amazing athletes through the years and now it’s your chance to tell me who you think should be on the Mount Rushmore of Detroit Sports.  There are no restrictions on this poll.  I want to know who you think belongs and why.  Your explanation doesn’t have to be long and reasons don’t have to be justified.  Just tell me what you think. 

I’ll start it off and give you my picks.

 

Steve Yzerman: Is there a guy that better exemplifies Detroit Sports?  Yzerman spent all 23 years of his illustrious career with the Red Wings. He won three Stanley Cups, was a ten time NHL All-Star and had his number 19 retired by the Red Wings in 2007.  Stevie Y came to Detroit as a young 18 year old kid and turned into one of the most beloved Detroit sports figures of all time.

Alan Trammell: Tram was another guy that played his entire career with one team.  He spent 19 years with the Tigers highlighted by the 1984 World Series Championship and was a part of one of the best middle infield in all of baseball.  He and Lou Whitaker were the Thunder and Lightning of the Tigers during their time together.  He earned three Silver Slugger Awards (1987, 1988, 1990) and four time Gold Glove (1980-81, 1983-84). Tram will forever be synonymous with Detroit Tiger Baseball.    

Barry Sanders: I could not make list without Barry being included.  Probably the best Lion of all time, Barry left the game way too early and had so much more to give.  He won the hearts of this city with unbelievable touchdown runs and his speed and agility made defenders look stupid.  His number 20 was retired by the Lions in 2004, he owns 10 team records and I consider him to be the greatest Lion of all time and one of the best running backs the NFL has ever seen.

Dennis Rodman: Yes I know, it would have been easy to pick Isiah or Dumars but c’mon, the Worm was AWESOME! Rodman was a badass throughout his entire career, won two championships with the Pistons and earned NBA Defensive Player of the Year twice in 1990-91.  Rodman will go down as one of my favorite Bad Boys of all-time.

 

Now I want to know what you think.  Leave a comment or find me on Facebook (http://on.fb.me/INlTqF) and let me know who you think belongs on the Mount Rushmore of Detroit Sports.

Make sure to follow me on Twitter @sportsinthe313 and like me on Facebook.  Until next time, Cooper OUT  

The Ghost of Millen Past

I thought that the days of Matt Millen were over! I mean I spent ten years scratching my head on draft day wondering what in the hell was he thinking. Now the Lions are Millen-free, went 10-6 last year and made the playoffs. The real work for Martin Mayhew starts today as he takes his third draft class into the 2012 season and tries to build on last year’s momentum. Mayhew has drafted Stafford and Suh, two players that are the prized pieces for the Lions on offense and defense and then he’s also drafted bunch talentless nobodies that can’t hack it in the NFL.  2012 proved to be an important draft class for a team on the brink of success.


Results from the 2012 Draft
This year’s draft reminded me of a college beer pong game. The people that are playing are doing a fine job and then you have one of your drunken friends ask to throw a celebrity shot that completely misses the table. The Lions drafted 23^rd overall, a position that isn’t going to garner the sexy pick. Picks outside the top 20 are position addressing picks that fill a need on the field instead of filling a stadium. But the Lions, I’m convinced, were visited by the ghost of Matt Millen. It’s the only way I can justify the players that they chose.
The Lions spent their first two picks on, surprise, offensive players. They took O-Tackle Riley Reiff from Iowa and (I’m shaking my head in disgust while typing) Wide Receiver Ryan Broyles from Oklahoma. It makes no sense why they went that direction. This team has needs on defense, not offense. Matt Stafford is great and Megatron is the best receiver in the game (On a side note, I think he will break the Madden Curse). Their offense will keep them in most games but it’s their defense that will win those games. Blatantly ignoring the teams most pressing needs at Linebacker and Defensive back does not bode well for a team already thin in those positions.  I thought the Lions draft plan was simple, draft defense, defense, and more defense. What do they do instead, spend their top two picks on an Offensive Tackle and a (wait for it) WIDE RECEIVER! Welcome back Matty! We haven’t missed you one bit!

I’m disappointed (to say the least!) in the way the draft went this year. I would have liked it a lot more if the Lions addressed their needs in the secondary with the 2^nd round pick. It’ll be important for them to take some chances on undrafted free agents, a lot of whom are very talented players. They still need a running back and I wouldn’t be opposed to them signing a defensive end, one that they could pair up with Willie Young and have opposite of Cliff Avril.  I guess Mayhew and the rest of the Lions brass weren’t watching the same games as me last year.
Overall grade: C-. What is it going to take for the Lions brass to realize that defense wins championships? Top picks are meant to be starters, not works in progress.  I understand that picks in the 3rd-7th rounds were all spent on defense and I’m sure Mayhew is hopeful one or two of them pan out. My problem is that their offense wasn’t an issue last year.  Stafford threw for 5000 yards and Calvin had an MVP type season.  The Lions failed to address their most serious team needs on defense picks in 1^st and 2^nd rounds and it’ll show this season when they’re getting bombed because their defense can’t get off the field.
Make sure to follow me on twitter @sportsinthe313, like me on Facebook and check back next time when I do a special Pistons Recap for my dear friend Dan Chandonais.