I am not really sure I have seen a coach who has been more disrespected by a team.  Lovie Smith has taken the Bears to the Super Bowl.  He has gotten better each year and so has the team.  He took over and went 5-11 the first year.  Then the Bears flip flopped and went 11-5.  Then last season the Bears went 13-3 and went all the way to the Super Bowl.

It is a little shocking to know that he is the lowest paid coach in the entire NFL.  Smith has been seeking a new deal as the coach for almost an entire year now.  According to the Chicago Sun Times "The sides remain millions apart on an extension, with Smith now poised to be a lame duck going into the 2007 season, when he will earn $1.45 million -- less than top coordinators receive. His starting point is believed to be more than $5 million annually -- more than $1.5 million more than where the team is. 

''Ted can't bring himself to do what I think is right,'' Bauer said Thursday evening. ''It's up to them what they want to do now. It's a situation where we're not close, and I feel it is going to take a miracle to get this thing broken open.''

The Bears said Phillips was not available for comment and issued a release in which he said negotiations are ongoing and he would like them to remain private.

When Bauer originally spoke out Wednesday, it sent a shock wave through Halas Hall.

''Certainly it didn't bode well on the situation,'' said general manager Jerry Angelo, who indicated the team is not at a take-it-or-leave-it stage. ''But these are negotiations, and that's part of the process. From our point of view -- and I feel strongly I am speaking for Lovie -- we want him here and he wants to be here. That's the bottom line.''

If the Bears can't show the guy who turned their franchise around and headed in the right directionsome respect, Smith needs to find someone who will.  He makes less than Mike Martz in Detroit who is just an offensive coordinator on the second worst team in the NFL.  Should Lovie pull the same card as MLB's Mariano Rivera and Carlos Zambrano?  Both players have said that if they are not offered long term contracts before spring training they will be gone at the end of the season.  Maybe Lovie needs to give the same ultimatum.  Maybe black coaches still aren't getting the respect they have earned.  I see other coaches with zero experience getting paid a lot more than Lovie, but why?

Lovie Smith, you need to go.  Go to a team that will pay you the money that will keep your mind soley on football and not contract negotians.

  It is that time of year again!  The next National holiday to be named will be for the Monday after the Super Bowl any year now.  I would vote for a Presidential candidate of the United States if this was in their campaign as an actual issue.  But one thing I have noticed about the Super Bowl is that the partys have been changing with the "pussification" of America.  Lucky for you I have put togeter a list of things that you MUST live by each year if you are going to stand up for yourself and the game you love so much.  If you don't start doing this now you are going to be paying for it for the rest of your life, and lets face it, the Super Bowl will be around much longer than your spouse/girlfriend.  It is also just a party in the sense of the word, not like the ones your spouse/girlfriend thinks of when she hears the word party. 

I hope this year that if a player from the winning team thanks Jesus for watching over him in victory, a player will blame Satan for blowing the game for his team!


Rules are in order of least important (still important) but more acceptable rules to break.

10.  No channel surfing at all, none.  Put the game on two hours before ti starts and don't touch the remote except to turn up the volume.

9.  No wine of any kind, leave it in the box!

8. No napkins, that is what your shirt is for!

7. no veggie plates, pretty much no vegatables at all!

6.  One item of food serve must be flaming hot (####y)

5. The only card game permitable has to be some form of poker

4.  It is imperitive that at least two or more wagers should be placed BEFORE kick off.

3.  No matter the score, no video games until the Super Bowl trophy and MVP trophy are awarded.

2.  Rules for football "squares" shpould be clearly printed on your sheet.  Or clarifications MUST be in place and understood by all participants.

1.  NO CHICKS!  NO GIRLFRIENDS, Fiances, or wives.  They talk to much, they only want to watch the commercials, and they don't care who is winning, unless it involves you making money on a bet so she can buy more shoes and purses.  The one and only exception to this tule is that one wife may be present, but she must be the wife of the guy having the Super Bowl party.  She may also have a friend over to keep her company, but she must be HOT and single.  If you cave in and let your girlfriend come it will set a bad president for the rest of your life.  Stand up and be a man or you are going to look like this loser in the picture, looks like he is having a blast,.................yeah right

Now that you know the rules you should have a great time this Sunday and every Super Bowl from here on out.  You're welcome!

I have been listening to all the "experts" give their two cents about everything regarding this Super Bowl.  This means that I am ready to throw prediction into the ring.  I think I know who will win but the final score is really unpredictable.  I have never understood how anyone could throw the score into a prediction either, especially in a Super Bowl.  Sometimes the games look close and turn out to be huge blow outs.  The games that look like they are going to be blow outs are the games that come right down to the last drive.  You can NEVER predict penalties and turnovers either.  You never know how refs will call a game, or if they are even called correctly or with balance to each team.

  The Bears will win Super Bowl XLI and here is why.  The Colts are favored by seven and almost everyone I have heard, read, or saw make a prediction is saying the Colts are going to win.  So why does that matter?  Simple, remember the college football National Championship?  Everyone said that Ohio State was gonna smoke Florida and it was the exact opposite.  Remember the NBA Championship between the Lakers and Pistons?  Everyone said Shaq and Kobe are unstoppable and they are going to roll over Detroit, uhhhh didn't happen.  You could even look at this years World Series where pretty much everyone picked the Tigers to beat the Cardinals in the World Series.  No one could have predicted the three errors at the end of those two games that the Cardinals won.  So this is why I am taking the Bears and of coarse the points.

The reason why the Colts will lose is the thumb.  It has not been given nearly the attention that the stupid Colts plane arriving the day after the Bears coverage has received.  Seriously, how could your first story from the Super Bowl be that the Colts plane was a day later than the Bears?  Manning's thumb is hurt and well since he throws the ball I can't see why this is not more of an issue.  Of coarse the Colts and Manning are going to downplay this injury, they don't want the Bears going after it and they want their team to be completely confident when they take the field Sunday.

So there you go, DAAAAA BEARS will win the Super Bowl because it is them against the world.  They could have also won it with one miniature Ditka against the Colts as robot giants with laser beams.  DAAAAA BEARS

It has come down to this weekend in the NFL playoffs.  The Patriots will play at Indianapolis and the Saints play at Chicago.  Last weekend had some great football and these two games this weekend have all the potential to go to right down to the last play or overtime as any.  Last weekend was the first time in a long time I picked a perfect weekend 4-0 because I made my picks a little different.  I picked from my gut instinct for once instead of the overwhelming populus that all pick the same way, using logic.

AFC Championship - Tom Brady will give his team the lead late in the game, less than a minute left.  But they score to soon and Peyton Manning gets over the hump like Steve Young, and gets the Colts to the Super Bowl.  Manning gets the close enough for Adam Viniteri to kick the winning field goal as time expires winning 30-28.  Using logic you would see that the Colts and Patriots defenses have been dominant in the playoffs and both quarterbacks have been unimpresive, so the game will be low scoring and the Patriots win.  But going by my gut the Colts win 30-28.  I can't believe I am picking against Tom Brady, that is gut rule number one (1. Never pick against Tom Brady in the playoffs!)

NFC Championship - daaaa Bears run out of big plays when it all counts and Drew Brees and the Saints carry the city of New Orleans to the Super Bowl.  The Bears won a lot of games they should not have won this year with punt/kick returns, fumble returns for TDs, ints for TDs, and playing the Detroit Lions twice.  The Saints can do so much for the morale of a city in depression from huricane Katrina.  The Owner had talked of moving the team as well.  The Saints may have the mojo and the players that fit well enough to put it all together to get to the Super Bowl.  They had added just about every position they needed and brought in not only all the right players but coachs as well.  Rex Grossman loses this game for Chicago with four turnovers and the Saints win 34-13.  They don't get all the breaks that got them to this point in this game.

Saints vs Colts

 We see it every year, lately from the Colts, but the Bears have done it as well.  We see a team dominate all season long and finish with a great record.  Then when the playoffs come, they are one and done.  This year there are a few reasons I don't see the Bears even winning the NFC Championship.  Here are a few of them.

1. Defense wins championships, but not if your QB makes mistakes.  Rex Grossman may be the demise to the Bears, again.  That defense is not only fast but play very smart as well.  Never mind the last couple of weeks that they have given up a few more points than they should have to teams like the Lions, Bucaneers, and the Rams.  They have been giving up more than 26 PPG the last three weeks.  This is not the big question though because they have had the NFC North and home field through out the playoffs wrapped up for a few weeks now.  They have rested slightly injured players and gun toting d-lineman for the playoffs and they haven't had a whole lot to play for other than pride in almost a month.

2.  Because they haven't had to play for a whole lot in so long it may be harder to turn on that championship roster than expected.  This doesn't include the first round bye they have either.

3.  The game changing plays that won so many of their games this year may not happen in the playoffs.  If the Bears play teams that don't turn the ball over what are they going to do?  So many times this year the Bears had huge plays on defense that they scored on or pulled away with.  Playoff teams don't always mistakes when it matters, that is why they made the playoffs in the first place.

4.  Devin Hester has had a great season and his kick returns for touchdowns made a huge difference, especially when the bears needed a play.  Chances are he wont have a return for a touchdown in the playoffs so the Bears may not be able to get a spark from him when they need one.

5.  Rex Grossman almost single handedly lost 3-5 games this year but the defense and special teams made up the difference, if Chicago has a chance, Rex needs to just NOT blow it.

6.  They have 2 of 3 parts of the team equasion.  Defense, special teams, and a sub par offense can win it all.  But to really be able to not rely on one or two things you need to have all three.  The Patriots are a symbol of that.  If the Bears can get all three together in time, they will make it to the Super Bowl, I just don't see it happening.

Detroit - According to several outlets in Detroit including detroitlions.com, Mike Williams and Charles Rogers will apparently make the roster for the Detroit Lions this season. They have been down the depth chart all through training camp. This gave Shaun Bodiford and Glen Martinez a chance to make the team and show what they can do. However they really haven't showed anything. The other factor is the signing bonuses of Charles Rogers and mike Williams combined with "potential" they will make the team instead. The Lions would take a significant cap hit for cutting one of the star WRs and could not cut both. They may not play a lot in the season though unless they can show why they should be on the field.

Philadelphia - Todd Stinkston is allowed to seek a trade after the Eagles acquired Dante Stallworth from the Saints. According to the Delaware County Times: "Pinkston’s agent Joel Segal immediately began shopping him around to other teams in the NFL, and according to a report on ESPN.com, at least three teams are interested in Pinkston as a possible starting wideout." However this morning they just flat out released him.


Oakland - Jeff George has signed with the Oakland Raiders. In case you missed it earlier this week you may need to reread that first sentence again. It has been five years since he last played in the NFL. The former #1 overall pick with Indianapolis was said to have looked sharp and still possesses the big arm he once had in an open to the media practice earlier this week.

Chicago - If the Bears decide to stick with Rex Grossman it may be the biggest mistake the team makes all season. With current back up Brian Griese on the team, who is a proven NFL quarterback fans will be calling his name by week 3. Grossman has a great arm but just does not put up many points or yards. Chicago has proven they can win with Kyle Orton at QB throwing for less than 150 yards week after week. But why try to win with you defense alone, again. If the Bears stick with Grossman they may not repeat as NFC North champs.

Where you are - NFL prognosticators and gurus are everywhere right? Not really, anyone can guess at scores and predict division winners. Here is a chance to prove you can predict NFL games, winners, stats, rank players outcomes at Fan IQ. It is a website that allows fans to enter predictions and opinions on every subject sports. If you and you friends want to try it just send the this link! http://www.faniq.com/index.php?id=24942

Comebacks can come in all shapes and forms and I am about to take you through some that have come to mind. Comebacks are what we love about sports, among other things, but what does it take to have a comeback? Well lets see.

With a player it takes a complete turn of events from recent history, such as injuries or appearing to be finished as an athlete. In a game, it takes all the players on a team to stay focused and battle through all adversities that may come there way until the end when they comeback. I will show you some examples of comebacks and would like you to comment on one of your best/favorite comebacks. It can be recent, past, or most memorable.

Baseball- comeback players/team of the year

1. Magglio Ordonez - Maggs has comeback from a knee injury that ended his days in Chicago the season before they won the World Series. Magglio only played 52 games in 2004 and 82 games last year for Detroit. Not only is Magglio Ordonez tearing it up this season, he returned to the All-Star game as well as leading his team to the best record in baseball to this point with a whopping 10 game lead on any team in baseball. This year Maggs is hitting .298 with 16 hr and 79 rbi.

2. Jim Thome - He is somewhat similar to Maggs in the fact he making his comeback from an injury in which he only played in 59 games last year in Philly. Although the Phillies didn’t just let their star walk, they were able to trade him and get Aaron Rowand. This year he has been crushing the ball. He currently is hitting .304 with 34 hr and 85 rbi. Last season was the first season since 1995 in which Thome did not hit at least thirty home runs, last season he only hit seven. This year he has comeback to form.

3. Nomar Garciaparra - Nomar was going to be considered but he yet again has been sidelined with injuries again in 2006. When he has been in this year he has been lights out hitting .327 with 12 hr and 57 rbi. But the problem with Nomar, he hasn’t played in more than 81 games for anyone since 2003 in Boston. Will Nomar ever comeback?

4. Detroit Tigers - this is an epic comeback! The tigers were 43-119 in 2003, this year they have the best record in baseball by a full 10 games at this point. This is also the best start to any season for Detroit in the entire history of the franchise. In 1984(way back when Uncle Rico could still throw a football over those mountains, and still reeling from his coach not putting him in and his team not winning the state championship) the Tigers had their highest win total of 104. Right now they are on pace to win around 110 games.

 

NFL players and teams -

Terrell Owens - can he comeback healthy enough in body and mind and put together an actual season this year. He has Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells but he can always find a way to blow that too. He may have been right every time he exploded on the sidelines or ran his mouth to the media and other players with the words he was saying. But hey, if you can dish it out you better be ready to eat some too. If those players and offensive coordinators were so bad at making mistakes, you don’t call them out in front of the world. Because that is being a bad teamate. Terrell, comeback to reality and show the world who is the best receiver in football, not the worst teammate.

Jon Kitna - Jon gets another chance to finish off his career on a good note. When he was in Cincinnati he was part of the building block for the foundation they don’t call the "Bunguls" anymore. He was to hold down the team until Heisman trophy winning first round pick Carson Palmer was ready. Now he gets to run a new offense in Detroit led by Mike Martz as the coordinator. He was the comeback player of the year in the NFL in 2004. And if you don’t think he can get the best out of Kitna you don’t know anything about Mike Martz.

Javon Walker - He gets his shot this year in Denver to be the man. After blowing out his knee in the season opener last year in Detroit, Javon was sidelined for the whole season. Now he is going to comeback and he is ready to go. We just don’t know where he is going to go with Jake Plummer at quarterback.

Brett Favre - If Brett is poised for this honor. If anyone can be a comeback player it is him. He is a legend for a reason. The legends and true champions always find a way to come back in the end so it wouldnt suprise me to see Brett have one last comeback.

Seattle and Philadelphia, will they both comeback to the NFC Championship game this year and contend for the Super Bowl. Philly was absent after the whole T.O. debacle and Seattle is poised to make another run for the title. Seattle may comeback, Philly, they need to learn how to run the ball before they comeback.

     Three quarterback making a comeback or sorts. Carson Palmer, Daunte Culpepper, and Ben Roethlisberger are all coming back from serious injuries. NFL fans around the leaguwill be anxious to have their star players on the field. Everyone knows how much of a factor injuries are in the NFL.

Cycling -

Floyd Landis’ comeback at the Tour De France this year was epic after the kind of crash he had. It was almost as if he were helped in some way. Not really, knowing what little I do about testosterone, it takes a long time for you to get any results from what ever it is you are using. Floyd, stay strong if you are innocent because this whole thing is fishy year after year and it has already gotten old accusing so many of doping and the testing system having so many bad tests.

Comeback lines of the day -

Yo mama is so fat, when I yelled into her belly button I heard an echo!

Yo mama so stupid that she sold her car for gas money!

How about some go aways!

  How about all the NFL players getting in trouble on the Bengals and Bears. Daven Holly of the Bears and Chris Henry of the Bengals got arrested on weapons charges, Henry didn’t stop there though. Henry managed to get picked up for drunk driving, posseision of marijuans, and giving alcohol to underage women. This between these two teams is so long and you have probably heard all about it. Not to mention Barrett Brooks (OL) for the Steelers tried to out run cops on a motorcycle and got caught, after trying to ditch his bike, and then get back on and run again. Sean Taylor of the Redskins who recently was sentenced on gun charges was fined by the NFL $71,000 and has community service until he is of retirement age.

Do you think you know more about sports than I do?  Lets see, go to http://www.faniq.com/index.php?id=24942  



The changes made to foxblogs have cramped my blogging style the way you post pictures and links.  If anyone will give me insight into this change it will be appreciated, thank you!

NFC North Preview

I will keep this brief due to the amount that could be written and speculated about but will be changed within sometimes just a few weeks and the fact there hasnt been one preseason game played yet.

This year there are three new coaches in the NFC North division. Minnesota hired Brad Childress, Green Bay hired Mike McCarthy and Detroit hired Rod Marinelli. Each team has made plenty of changes as well. Chicago is still considered by many as the favorite to win the division. The division may also only send one team to the playoffs though as far as I see it.

These predictions are null and void at anytime due to season ending injuries in the preseason to starters:

Green Bay - they drafted A.J. Hawk and signed Charles Woodson to solidify an already good 2005 Defense. In 2005 Green Bay finished with the 7th rated overall defense. The big problems they will have will more than likely be related to the offense and the kicking game. They signed former Cowboys kicker Billy Cundiff and he only had a 62.5% field goal percentage in 2005. Samkon Gado is slated to be the starting running back as well. He will be running behind possibly one of the worst offensive lines this year and have a Brett Favre back at quarterback. The biggest X factor for Green Bay this year is whether they get the Brett Favre of old or an old Brett Favre. My guess is that it is the ladder of the two.

Chicago - The Bears come into the 2006 with a good ole fashion quarterback controversy brewing with the signing of quarterback Brian Griese. He may be the better quarterback as well. Rex Grossman has been injured for the majority of his short career. The Bears will need the quarterback position to be serviceable and Cedric Benson to run the ball well with the defense being ranked near the top again this season. In 2005 the Bears finished with the 2nd overall defense despite the fact they had almost one hundred more plays ran on them with that terrible offense they had and led the league in points against with a mere 12.6 points per game. That is almost three points better than the 2nd best points against team Indianapolis (15.4) and they drafted almost all defense in the 2006 draft.

Minnesota - The Vikings are now Daunte free and will excel because of it. Daunte was exposed when Randy Moss was traded to Oakland and his maistakes and impatience caught up to him (5 td 12 int). They started winning when Brad Johnson took over and he is back this year. The most impressive feature the Vikings will have this year is the running game. They have a massive left side of their offensive line with Bryant McKinnie and newly signed LG Steve Hutchinson with newly acquired Chester Taylor to run behind them and the receiving core is basically them same (solid). The issues they had on Defense however may be better this year. Last season they finished right behind Detroit in total defense 21st overall. If they can get the running game going early and often the defensesive numbers will get better.

Detroit - The biggest changes in Detroit come at the quarterback position and coaching. They brought in two guys that were backups last year and hired Mike Martz to make them and the rest of that anemic offense better. Last year Steve Mariucci did not make many adjustments and played all his running backs regularly taking away a lot of snaps from their best back Kevin Jones. Mooch was in love with Shawn Bryson and anyone not named Mike Williams or Charles Rogers. One thing for sure is that Martz will utilized all the players on offense. This year they will have many different looks and adjustments made that weren’t in the past. The issue may be with the defense which was 20th overall last year and gave up just over 21 points per game. They brought in former Jets defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson to improve their defense, and he probably will. The Lions biggest weakness may be the linebackers inability to play due to injuries. Boss Bailey has been injury prone and Teddy Lehman is still out from last season currently listed in the PUP list and they drafted Ernie Sims who is known for speed (4.5 40 time), hard hits, and concussions. Too bad the concussions have all been his. Rod Marinelli comes in as a rookie coach but he is a no nonsense type of coach which the Lions lacked with Mariucci. This year things will be better in the Motor City but it will be a challenge to contend for the division.

Breakout players in the North -

1. Kevin Jones will get most of the snaps and will get more catches out of the back field. He will be a key to the Lions offensive success. He is a hard runner and new coach Rod Marinelli and Mike Martz are very impressed by him thus far.

2. Chester Taylor is going to have a big year rushing with the type of offense and the offensive line they have built. He already had a 4.3 yards per carry average over the last three years in Baltimore.

3. Ryan Longwell has moved indoors in Minnesota and that will work in his favor. He had success in Green Bay but the offense was getting worse by the day there. In Minnesota they will have a solid running game and that will translate into more kicks for Longwell.

Strongest links to each team -

Green Bay - defense will be the only chance they have to win any games,

Minnesota - running game will have its best back since Robert Smith retired

Chicago - the defense may be better than last year if it is even possible

Detroit - the offensive will be so improved that the NFL will forget about their defense even if it is mediocre.

Weakest link to each team -

Green Bay - the entire offense from having the best wide receiver being Donald Driver and still having Brett Favre the kicking game may be non existent especially with Billy Cundiff trying to split the uprights

Minnesota - new head coach will be the biggest obstacle with this team. He will be learning on the fly and does not have the best supporting staff in the division which is important for a rookie head coach

Chicago - Offense will and has been the downfall to the Bears for some time now. That won’t change with the way they drafted all those defensive players this year

Detroit - too many questions on defense and more in particular linebackers. They have some injured linebackers and a rookie slated to start but they need to practice together and that may not happen for a while.

Prediction on final standings before pre season games -

team                                       W-L

Vikings                                  10-6*

Bears                                       9-7

Lions                                       
8-8

Packers                                   5-11



Post pre season prediction on final standings -

Chicago                  13-3
Minnesotta             7-9
Green Bay             6-10
Detroit                    3-13
how is that for waffling?

 

*only playoff team from the North with three teams from the NFC East making it and the rise of Arizona this year

Do you think you know more about sports than me?  lets see you prove it or take a shot.  Go to FanIQ.com and lets see what you got!

Chicago -   Vasher joins the list of angery Bears. According to the Chicago Tribune: "Cornerback Nathan Vasher is the latest Bear to leave organized team activities over dissatisfaction with his contract, which has two years remaining and is scheduled to pay him $425,000 in 2006."  The list is growing and growing and may force a few other players to be cut or back loaded contracts.

Green Bay - Veterans still continue to skip practices.  "No, maybe and yes. That's apparently what Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy has heard from Al Harris, Charles Woodson and Ryan Pickett or their representatives in recent conversations regarding the veterans' availability for the team's five remaining voluntary practices."  The team is still in need of Offensive line help and the group needs to be together to form some kind of continuity.  New head coach Mike McCarthy needs to nip this in the bud quickly.  Hey at least they have Favre there right?

Miaimi - On Tuesday, they had a visit and are working on a contract with Bennie Anderson, who was cut by Buffalo last week after starting 15 games last season.  Free agent defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson's agent said Tuesday his client likes Miami, and negotiations continue.  Wilkinson was recently cut from Detroit and could likely end up with former QB Joey Harrington.

New England - No "sign" of Law.  Ty Law has had talks with both Arizona and New England.  No doubt the former Patroit would like to return home after a one year stint with the rival Jets in which he had 10 interceptions for last year.  Arizona is also very interested in Law and still have $10 million under the salary cap.  New England has another issue with hold out wide reciever Deion Branch.  The Patriots could always try to put the squeeze on by trading for underachieving Denver receiver Ashley Lelie or disgruntled Saints wideout Donte' Stallworth, but with David Givens gone to the Titans, what they have right now as far as receivers. They aren't Deion Branch. And Branch knows it.  I'm Deion Branch bit%^!

Detroit - Mike Williams was sent home early from Lions mini camp last week because he missed a treatment for his sore hamstring and then was late to a meeting.  This also stems back to last season when he reportedly missed treatments and was late for meetings as a rookie.  The Lions however won't give up on him now.  Besides they can't.  All his bonus money would prorate this year and next year which would bump $12 million on to the cap.  They are financially committed right now and must find a way to untap the potential and cap off the foolishness.  Also with the signing of free agent offensive lineman Ross Verba the Lions hope to have shored up a dismal offensive line that had breakdowns all season long.  They are currently trying to work out a long term deal with left tackle Jeff Backus.  Backus was hesitant to sign the one year tender offer by the Lions but that had given him their word they will work out a long term deal before training camp.  Charles Rogers was pictured working out with the first team during mini-camp and this may not sound like much but that is the closest he has been to starting in a long time.  It has been rumored several times that he may not even make the team.

Pittsburgh - With the motorcycle accident of Ben Roethlisburger the Steelers have to look at another option for this season at least early on.  It has been rumored that Tommy Maddox may come back.  They do still have Charle Batch but we all know what he can do.  They may have to look into a slim market of free agents that are free agents for a reason.  Unless they think they can win with QBs like Tony Banks or Ty Detmer.  They do still have Kerry Collins and Jeff Blake they can talk to at least.

As it stands right now the Detroit Lions have five quarterbacks on their roster.  Jon Kitna, Josh McCown, Dan Orlovsky, Shaun King, and Joey Harrington.  Some say that there is power in numbers, but not in this case.  They may just have five back up quarterbacks.

Joey Harrington is still a Lion after deals have fallen through on trades for him with several teams.  Most recently the Browns (on draft day) and the Miami Dolphins.  The Browns were willing to give up a 4th or 5th round pick this year and Miami was only willing to trade a 6th rounder in next year's draft.  Matt Millen thinks his quarterback is much more valuable than just a 6th round pick.  I actually will have to agree with him to a certain extent.  Joey did have his issues with Detroit but has starting experience and also has had times without almost every starting skill position players in place.  On the other hand they do need to cut ties with him and try to get something for him. They really don't need him around with the attitude change he has had since wanting to be traded.  He sure has high demands for a player who has not accomplished anything in his career.  Joey and Terrell Owens have something in common and it isn't being a great player.  They both had division in the locker room causing rifts between players (right or wrong). Terrell had to go and so does Joey,  Philadelphia didn't get anything for Owens though.  Besides, the Lions weren't winning with him so now they will most likely be winning without him.

Jon Kitna may be the starter when the season rolls around.  He will have the strongest competition from Josh McCown who they recently signed from the Arizona Cardinals.  Jon Kitna is not the answer this team needs to turn the corner, is he?  Kitna joins the Lions after spending the last four years with the Cincinnati Bengals. He signed a four year deal with Detroit.  While in Cincinnati he played a crucial role in the Bengals current success. After going 12 seasons with 11 seasons below .500 and one 8-8 season, Kitna engineered a run to compete for a playoff spot in 2003. That season, he posted career highs in completions (324), completion percentage (62.3), passing yards (3,591), touchdown passes (26) and passing rating (87.4) as he led the team to an 8-8 record while starting all 16 games. The year prior, the Bengals finished the season with a 2-14 record.  For his performance in 2003, Kitna was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year by the associated Press and Pro football Weekly. He was the only quarterback in the NFL in ’03 to take every snap. He led the team to an NFL-best improvement from 2-14 in 2002 to 8-8 in 2003. Kitna also had a plus-11 differential in touchdown passes (26) to interceptions (15) that was the best by a Bengals passer with at least 20 passes since 1989.

Josh McCown the biggest competition to this point for Kitna was a starter and back up in Arizona.  He was drafted by Arizona in the third round (81st overall) of the 2002 draft and has played in 33 games with 22 starts, completing 498-of-862 passes for 5,431 yards and 25 touchdowns.  To me I always wonder why teams (especially teams like Arizona) give up on young players.  Sometimes players look good from a far but are far from good.  If Arizona was comfortable letting him go to hold on to Kurt Warner doesn't that raise a red flag?  At the time they didn't know that they would be drafting Matt Leinart.  Maybe Arizona just thought it would be smarter to pay a rookie than McCown to back up Warner.

Dan Orlovsky may be the teams no. three quarterback when the season rolls around but as far as this staff sees it they all have a shot at starting.  Shaun King is in the mix to possibly make the team but he didn't even play in 2005.  King and Orlovsky may just be battling just to make the team as the third qb. 

To a Lions fan like myself, I really don't see any of the quarterbacks making a big splash this season.  Really Detroit's best hope is that McCown or Orlovsky take over because of their ages.  It would be better off for them to have a young guy be good enough to take the job from Kitna as far as the future of the team is concerned.  As long as they are the best player it bodes well for Detroit.  That is what they need.  If someone is on the field it is because they are the best player, not the highest paid or been here the longest.  Personally though I am not sold on any of these guys and have a great deal of concern for this position.  The good news is that the Lions have put in place a offense coordinator and offensive line coach in place that should get the most out of what the team has.

 

coming soon: 

 Ty Law and Az Hakim Lions?

"Hurtin" Ernie Sims, Brian Calhoun, and Daniel Bullocks.  What impact are they going to have?

 

  Tuesday, The Governator said that he had a meeting with several NFL owners Tuesday and told them he was there to make sure "we're getting not only one NFL team to the Los Angeles area, Southern California, but to actually get two teams. That's why I came. Why limit it?"  I do have to say that I wasn't and do not support him as a governor, but it is hard to not root for a guy that would try to get me two NFL teams.  Besides it is a traveshamockery that there in no NFL football in L.A.

  Yes Arnold why not?  why limit it?  You are so business and pro sport savy anyway.  Actually I am guessing you don't know a very much about that fancy math that is put together when you are wanting to accomplish something that has never been done in pro sports.  Just expand the NFL by two or move two teams to L.A.  That makes a lot of sense considering how well the city handled two NFL teams in the past. (terrible)

    It is however rediculous that L.A. does not have a NFL team.    Two teams is not and should not happen ever again there.  But they do however deserve one team. Lets look at a couple options they may actually have eventually as ways to get a new NFL team(s) there.

1. Expansion - may be the best option, at least to get two teams in southern California.  They could put a team in Aneheim and one in Los Angeles.  That is the best chance to get two teams.  This is actually one of the proposals they are going to put together.

2. Move an existing franchise - (a) How about the Saints?  They still have the Superdome under renovation and is a possible reopening by next season.  This franchise has a lot of new talent and upside and just drafted Reggie Bush.  I think he would sell a lot of jerseys back in southern California.  (b) There are two teams that I would not have any personal issues with them moving.  One is the Baltimore Ravens, they lost a team to Indianapolis and stole the Browns from Cleveland, then won a Superbowl them and just digs the knife a little deeper.  The other team would be the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Florida does not need three NFL teams.  So by order of inception, they gotta go.

3. Move Oakland or St. Louis back.  Oakland is the better choice because that is best place for them anyway.  Renovate the L.A. Colesium into a brand new looking place and use the same field and outer layer to keep the original theme.  St. Louis (won a superbowl shotly after leaving as well) needs to stay put as they lost the Cardinals they took from Chicago to Arizona.