Are you ready for some football? Hey, Monday Night Football? Okay, add in a little golf and we’ll have you covered so let’s jump right into today’s SCL’s Fresh Take.
The Detroit Lions got off the schnide yesterday ending an ugly 0 and 19 run through the NFL by beating the hapless Redskins 19-14. Streak over! Nightmare over! Can someone give me an AMEN? Could this win not have come at a better time for the Lions and their beleaguered fan base who have suffered through bad football, an economy that has gone belly-up and an unemployment rate close to 30%? The answer is a resounding NO! Lion Fan has had a tough go at it over the past few years and is the poster child for hard times in America. Too bad President Obama could not figure out a way to steal Detroit Lions stock from the Ford family and give it to the players union like he did with the Big 3 automakers. If any team ever needed a bailout, the Detroit Lions were it.
Tiger and Phil both won on Sunday and took home huge sums of cash for their play at the PGA Tour finale at Eastlake in Atlanta with Woods raking in a cool $10.8MM and Mick a cool $4.2MM. Woods’ payday came from winning the season long Fed Ex Cup point’s race and Lefty’s came from outdistancing Woods and the field by three strokes to win the Tour Championship. The media has built up this Fed Ex Cup race because that it’s job and that is what creates revenue but I’m not sure the Fed Ex Cup is good for the PGA Tour. Lost in all the hoop-la of are the local sponsors who have been the backbone of the tour and supported its golfers for years and years. In the old days, the community hosting that week’s event took the players in and treated them as one of their own. Those days seem to be long gone but should not be forgotten just because our friends in the media have teamed up with Finchy, Tiger and the boys to chase the all mighty dollar.
Finally, an adult has taken charge of a senseless and uncontrolled problem in sports. Texas Tech’s head coach and self proclaimed pirate, Mike Leach laid down the law today concerning his payer’s use of Twitter. No more! Adios Tweetmeisters. Like I said last week, this is just like pulling a drivers license from a teenager who can not make good decisions. One of Leach’s players Tweeted about the coach being late for a meeting and another player Tweeted about the recent loss to Cougar High. Thank you Captain Hook for pulling the plug. ARRGH!
Tony Romo needs to answer the bell tonight. After last week’s abysmal performance during Jerry Jones’ celebrated debut of the new Cowboy Stadium, Romo looks to pick himself up off the mat and come out swinging against the Panthers. By the way, why change the name to Cowboy Stadium? What was wrong with Texas Stadium? Hall of Famer and former Dallas Cowboy Tony Dorsett called Tony down this week about not being a big time player, prompting Jones to come to his QB’s defense. I think TD has it right and JJ is on another witch hunt for someone with an ego big enough to wear that blue star on his helmet. Jerry needs that superstar because his brand and his stadium are all he has for now. Hey Ho! Romo has to go. Hey Ho! Romo has to go.
I don’t know much about motivating people much less professional athletes but I don’t think what Jim Mora did to Olando Mare is going to work. Mare miss two field goals in Seattle’s loss to Chicago Sunday prompting Mora to call down his kicker in front of God and everyone, saying his team works too hard to lose because some kicker misses field goals. We’ll Jim, that is nice and all but since you have such a stellar track record in your short head coaching career and an even more stellar track record in leading young men, I have just one thing to say…..Shut Up! Win yourself some games and then come see me. Provide a good example to some of your young men and then come see me. Until then, handle your nonsense in house as Orlando Mare is a professional knows he missed two kicks he should have made.
And that, my friends is what is HOT or NOT in sports. Join us again for the next SCL’s Fresh Take.
Last season, the Dallas Cowboys traded 1st, 3rd and 6th round picks in this years draft to Detroit for wide receiver Roy Williams to be the number 2 wideout behind Terrell Owens. After arriving, Williams caught all of 19 passes and 1 touchdown for the Boys. This season, TO is gone and Roy Williams finds himself at the top of depth chart in Big D. Can he handle the upgrade?
Enough of the smokescreen already! The Detroit Lions need to stop playing around and sign the guy in the picture, top 2009 QB prospect Matthew Stafford. By all accounts the former Georgia Bulldog has all the tools for the NFL; big arm, good mobility, good field presence, leadership, the works. I’m tired of hearing about how much money it costs to draft a quarterback with the first pick in the draft. What if he’s a bust, you ask??? From where I stand, the Lions have done nothing from a draft standpoint in many years. They finally hit some gold with Calvin Johnson two years ago, but how about getting someone to throw to him? Can you name five Detriot Lions and oh by the way, Joey Harrington is not a Lion anymore folks so don’t name him. The franchise made a signature move finally jettisoning Matt Millen who was a good player, but lousy General Manager. Now it is time to make another move, draft Matt Stafford. Anyone remember Matt Ryan from last year? Think the Atlanta Falcons are crying about drafting him number 3 overall last year? It takes money to make money people and the best way to fix a franchise is to get a franchise quarterback. Is Matthew Stafford Troy Aikman or Peyton Manning? Probably not, but he probably is not Tim Couch or Ryan Leaf either. Its great to get a solid left tackle to play for you, but if Miami had seen a QB they wanted, Jake Long would not have been the number 1 pick. It is just as hard to find the next Anthony Munoz, Orlando Pace or Jonathan Ogden as it is to find the next Carson Palmer. Its time for the Lions to start fresh, dig deep, take a chance and get the man to lead them; Matthew Stafford!
