So long Mike Martz. As for the rest of the Lions coaching staff, I bet they wish they could join him on the next thing smokin' outta dodge.

Martz claims he could have stayed, but the question is, who'd want to, and why? This team is going nowhere fast. I'm not trying to be negative, I'm simply pointing out a fact.

Here's why I'm so convinced this Lions team is on a bullet train to Loser Ville yet again in '08 - consistency and continuity - or should I say the lack thereof. I mean in comes yet another offensive coordinator and since it's an internal move, it means a new position coach for the guys on the o-line. It also means the team has to learn a new offensive system; they'll be starting from scratch yet again. By the time the new system is learned, we're 4 loses in to a new season.

The team has never had a consistent game plan with a core group of players and coaches growing together. Their drafts have been horrible and therefore there are no players with any talent who've grown in the system who are ready to break out and produce. The cupboard is bare.

This also means Rod Marinelli is a year away from being replaced because the current structure dictates he'll lose big again next year and thus get the ziggy. That in turn will mean this vicious cycle starts all over again with Matt Millen hiring yet another new head coach who will want to employ new coordinators and coaches and this consistently inconsistent three ring circus down at Allen Park will roll on status quo...which means more losing for you and I to suffer through for the foreseeable future.

Sucks doesn't it!

Well it does unless your name is Mike Martz. Smarty Marty gets paid for next year while at the same time ridding himself of this comedy of errors you've come to know and love as "the same 'ol Lions."  Martz will likely have another gig even before this blog is posted, meanwhile we must stand by and watch another receiver taken in the first round (just joking, I hope) and watch another all-to-predictable season of "Lions Football" down at Ford Field.

If I could pass on one piece of advice to you it'd be this; don't bet the farm on any ten-win seasons taking place in the 'D' any time soon, regardless of what Jon Kitna has to say this off-season.

Go Wings! Go Pistons!

Now there's something for which to cheer.

Back when the Lions were 6-2 I stated that it would be a colossal failure if they didn't make the playoffs. They had eight games left. All they had to do was win three to four games which would have sealed the deal...and they couldn't do that!

Yeah, mathematically playoff hope lives with 3 games left, but it's not going to happen. Don't allow yourself to get sucked in to thinking that it can either. That kind of optimism leads to a pit of hopelessness from which there is no escape. It's a black hole, a place where there is no light. Your positivity is wasted on such foolish daydreams. Do not go there...

Hell of an effort against the Cowboys, but it didn’t make up for that dog o####ame against the Vikings. The bottom line was all the same, loss, loss and likely another loss coming on the road in San Diego as the Chargers fight to make the playoffs themselves.

As for the Lions they managed to find a way to show the football-watching nation that those six wins to start the season were the most deceiving six wins in the league. Now they take the field looking like the team we're all use to watching, the team that we watch every Sunday to see in just what fashion they'll blow this weeks' game.

The Lions are not an elite NFL team. The Lions are not going to the playoffs. Rod Marinelli, try as he might, is not going to be the NFL Coach of the Year.

Now that all is once again right with the world, we can go back to accepting our football-fate here in Motown. We must reconcile ourselves once again to being on the outside looking in. Again, as opposed to being a Super Bowl contender, we must settle for being among the also-rans. It's not a bad thing; it just is what it is. A bad thing is what's taking place down in Miami. Think about that for a minute.

This week the Lions CRUSHED the Denver Broncos to the tune of 44-7 before a sold out crowd at Ford Field. It is, without a doubt, the very best I've seen the Lions play in the last 7 years. I'm not trying to over state it or embelish it in any way, it's the best game I've seen them play since I started covering them 7 seasons ago, bar none.

Special teams were turly special when you consider Jason Hanson became just the 11th player in NFL history to surpass the 1,600 point plateau with 14 total points on the day. He gave the team a lift all day long while lifting himself in record books.

The offense did it on the ground, through the air, and were turnover free.

The defense was sublime. They sacked, they scored, they served notice...they are not the same old Lions!

No, these are not the same old Lions. These guys, it's strange to say, are fun to watch. They're on a roll and they believe in themselves and now they're 6-2. At 6-2 at this point in the season it's fair to say if the Detroit Lions don't make the playoffs in the weak NFC, it would be huge disappointment. It would take a collapse of monumental proportions for them to fail in that regard at this point.

Yes we're talking playoffs.  Here in Detroit we're talking playoffs... 4-0 at home, 6-2 on the season, 2nd in NFC North with 8 games to play...you've gotta like their chances. Wow, we're mentioning the Lions and the playoffs in the same sentence in 2007 - what's the world coming to?

A month in to the Red Wings' season we find ourselves watching the best team in hockey.

Two months in to the Lions' season we find ourselves watching the second best team in the NFC North. 

A month after the Tigers' season ends they pick up one of the best shortstops in all of baseball, making them the odds on favorite to win the Central, if not the American League, when spring training begins.

And the Pistons' season is about to start with them on the very short list of best teams in the East. Is this crazy, or what? This is the best sports town in America, hands down, and if you don't think so, you're an ####. But I'm not here to measure your IQ. I'm here to write about what makes following these teams at this time, in this city, so compelling... so worthwhile... so fun....

First of all, the Red Wings just keep getting better. They are younger, faster, and more interesting than at any point since the Stanley Cup year of '02. They've adapted to the 'New NHL' better than anyone thought they would. To start with Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Lidstrom give them three of the best players in the entire league, making them competitive night in and night out before they even drop the puck. Add to that guys like Holmstrom, Hasek, Rafalski, Draper and Maltby who simply do their thing to ensure the team keeps winning, and guys like Hudler, Filpula, Kronwall, and Lebda who give fans a reason to believe in the present and the future and you've got can't-miss product. Personally, I show up just to watch Chelios. The guy is a freak of nature, simply amazing.  

As for the Lions, what can you say? You are what your record says you are and the Detroit Lions' record says they're 5-2, whether you or I believe it or not. Kitna has stopped fumbling and throwing picks in the end zone, the secondary is making plays and Kevin Jones is healthy and productive. Even more impressive is Calvin Johnson, who looks like a man from another planet whenever he's healthy and the Lions are smart enough to give him the ball. However the Rod Marinelli-for-coach-of-the-year talk is kinda crazy, but then again so is the fact that I even had to write that. Wow. All I can say is, WOW!

Meanwhile the Tigers re-signed Pudge and then swapped some tomorrow for some today by trading Jair Jurrjens (really sorry to see him go) and Gorkys Hernandez to the Braves for five-time All-Star, Edgar Renteria. I loved those moves and so did you. And if you didn't, let’s check your IQ for real this time.... But again, it's not about your IQ, it's about the fact that the team is solid as a rock up the middle, spending the right money on the right people, and Leyland's still running the show. It's back to the playoffs in '08 here in Tigertown.

 Finally, Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics are the poster boys for the Eastern Conference and that's all well and good as October comes to a close. However, when I saw Rasheed Wallace drop 25 lbs, Rodney Stuckey ball like a mother in the pre-season, and Joe Dumars turn up the heat on Flip Saunders and the entire crew, I saw the future. And in the future, namely April and May, I saw the Pistons rise to the top as the class of the East once again as the Palace prepared to host another  NBA Finals in June.

Yes sports fans, it's a great time to be a sports fan in a sports city as great as Detroit. The fun is never-ending.

Webmaster's Note:  Trevor's blog will return soon with his thoughts on various topics around the Detroit sports scene!