2:43p    Goodell should make Cushing pee in a cup at the podium when he is selected.

2:24p   Karsch’s Top 5 Lions Needs…1) Middle Linebacker, 2) Defensive Tackle, 3) Quarterback, 4) Cornerback 5) Safety.

Sunny and 80 today? My ass! There’s a near hurricane outside my house right now.

12:51    We’ve had a poll on our Lions page http://www.971theticket.com/Lions–0-16/3560792 for a while asking how Mayhew and Lewand are doing since they were hired. The results: 47% think they’re doing a pretty good job, 44% think they’re doing an OK job and 9% think they’re blowing it. I wonder if those numbers will change after this weekend.

Here’s who Riger thinks the Lions should take at 20: “It would be great if the Lions could get Michael Oher, the tackle from Ole Miss at number 20.  If Detroit takes Aaron Curry at 1, then  20 would be a nice pick to start bolstering that O-line.  If the Lions go with Matt Stafford with the top pick then Detroit needs to go defense and if one of the linebackers from USC, Cushing or Maualuga are available, then they should go in that direction.  Also how nice would it be to get Michael Johnson, the DE from Georgia Tech.

12:38    Best part of the first pick will be the reaction from the Lions Draft Party at Ford Field. It should be priceless.

Here are Fithian’s top 5 Lions Needs :  1. Middle linebacker 2. DT 3. Saftey 4 Guard 5 Tight End . Notice QB is nowhere on the list.

12:19p    A bowl of Lucky Charms, working out in the basement listening to House of Hair, a quick water-change of my fish tank and the Live Draft Blog begins.
A lot of near suicide calls to Caputo and Fithian over Stafford. It’s going to be an interesting day. Please refresh all day. I have draft thoughts and content from Caputo, Riger, Fithian, Karsch, Anderson and Ortiz as observations of the TV coverage and other opinions.
Here’s a quote from Caputo about Stafford: “There is a lot of risk there, but also much reward. He has the highest ceiling of any player in the draft”. What do you think? 248-539-9797 is the number to call Pat and Dennis.

Former Duke Point Guard Greg Paulus wants to get into football. This probably seems like a really good April fool’s Joke, Right? Well, the joke’s on you.

Back in High School, before he chose to play basketball, Paulus held two football scholarship offers from two storied programs: Notre Dame and Miami (FL). Paulus was even a former Gatorade football player of the year. He also played in the U.S. Army All-American game and set six records in the state of New York. He compiled a record in high school of 42-3. Sounds like he chose the wrong sport, huh?

Well, hindsight is always 20/20, or is it?

On Tuesday, Greg was in Ann Arbor watching the Wolverines play football. He was talking to Coach Rodriguez about maybe playing Quarterback at Michigan. Rodriguez simply told him what he tells everyone: “You’ll have a chance to compete for the “Starting Job”. It’s the mantra he’s breeding into Michigan. Paulus and the National Media are taking that sentiment to heart.

To be fair, Michigan does have three scholarships to spend on this year, and with Steven Threet transferring this past winter, another warm body wouldn’t hurt. True. But, it also doesn’t make any sense.

For starters Paulus hasn’t played the game in four to five years. The speed of the game changes drastically from high school to college and so does the terminology. That’s rust you can’t just shake off in a fall camp. Second: Paulus isn’t looking to be a back-up. Sorry Greg, but you’ll have to compete against Nick Sheridan and Tate Forcier. Sheridan, who has started for Rich Rod, was showing confidence and comfort within the system through spring practice until his injury. No worries though, he’ll be back for fall camp when/ if Paulus comes to Michigan. With Sheridan’s injury, Tate stepped up and into the presumed starting role. Forcier, who has been working with the ones on offense, is more like a QB that Rodriguez utilizes in his system. The kid is slippery and can throw the ball on the run. He has players and fans alike gravitating towards his confidence and seems to be the anointed heir apparent to the Steven Threet “era”.

You have to also consider incoming freshman Denard Robinson. He’ll be on campus on June 5^th. He is also another player slotted to compete for the “vacant” starting job at Michigan. Denard has been in frequent contact with QB Coach Rod Smith learning the playbook and the system on a weekly basis. He also runs a 4.38 40- yard, and a 10.28 100 meter dash (a would-be record in the state of Michigan).

So unless Paulus is a freak of nature, it’s more likely than not he will be that warm body holding a clipboard, sending in decoy plays from the sidelines with David Cone. There are just too many factors; whether it is from the NCAA not granting him a year of eligibility, or the players already at Michigan that will prohibit him from being a real contributor to the offense.  Not to mention Division-I talent on opposing teams. A scholarship allegedly has been offered from Michigan and Syracuse and Duke is looking at Paulus as a WR, but it seems Greg is more suited for basketball as his 95 games of starting experience shows. End of story.

Tomorrow most, if not all, of us will be sitting in front of a television donning some form of red and white, while others don black and yellow. Hosts will be entertaining either their friends or family or even both. Soldiers will receive a hard-earned break from battle for a small glimpse of home. All of us have selected a side. All of us are tuning into the Super Bowl.

Whether we admit it or not, each of us has some vested interest in tomorrow.  Whether it is for the commercials or the actual game, well, that’s a different story. Naturally there are people that have fallen in love with the underdog story of the Arizona Cardinals. Then, there are others that believe the Steelers are a shoe-in for their second championship in three years. I’ll admit next to the Lions, the Steelers are a close second in my heart, and they are the safe pick. But, as Lee Corso always says: Not so fast my friend.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say the Cardinals are going to pull off the upset tomorrow in Tampa and here’s why:

The Steelers’ offensive line has given up 46 sacks this year and in the post-season hasn’t really been spectacular. You can definitely count on the Cardinals to send blitz packages from every angle to keep an ailing Big Ben scrambling to extend the play, or getting to know Raymond James’ turf on a more personal level. In Arizona’s three playoff games the defense has played out of their minds holding good rushers to mediocre yardage: Michael Turner was held to 60 total yards, DeAngelo Williams had only 75, and Brian Westbrook rushed for 97. Two of which were in the top five this past year in rushing. Not to mention Westbrook was ranked 18^th while Willie Parker, the Steelers go-to guy, holds the 26^th spot respectively.  The Cardinals aren’t strangers to good defenses either. Two weeks ago against Philly, who had the No. three defense in the NFL, the cards put up 32 points and 369 total yards. Kurt Warner lit up the Eagles for 4 Touchdowns while going 21-28 with four and didn’t throw an interception all game. Plus Kurt Warner is a Super Bowl MVP. Not to mention this is Kurt Warner’s third Super Bowl appearance.

The Cardinals’ coaching staff has seven Super Bowl tested minds to their advantage. One of which coached with the Steelers in 2006. You have to expect that Ken Whisenhunt will bring that expertise and familiarity of the Steelers to the Table.

Vegas holds the spread at 6.5. I say the Cardinals win 24-20 tomorrow and who knows it could be on a late touchdown like Eli threw to Plaxico last year against the Patriots and that is the beauty of this unofficial holiday.

Every year experts and fans both agree that the BCS creates conflict. Usually it is about whether a team is ranked properly or who should get a shot at the National Championship. No matter what the case, the BCS leaves doubters in its wake. One doubter is taking the argument and the BCS to a whole new level. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff makes the claim the BCS is monopolizing college football. But, why bring this up now?

9=8. When you first look at the equation, it’s total nonsense. Or is it? Joe Maddon used it to explain an elementary philosophy: Nine men playing nine innings of baseball equals one of eight teams to make the playoffs. Tomorrow night there will be a new equation: 9=2.

The road for both teams has been filled with exciting baseball. Game four of the NLCS displayed the passion only playoff baseball can muster. The Dodgers held a 5-3 lead until the Phillies unloaded with a four run eighth inning to take the lead and the momentum of the series. Plus who could forget Matt Stairs’ heroic shot over the right field wall that made it all possible. The ALCS was just as memorable. It was a tale of two sides. One was a young over-achieving team proving to baseball they belonged. The other was an experienced team who had done it all before. People expected Tampa Bay to close out the series during game five, but the Red Sox came back from a 7-0 deficit to force a game six and then a game seven. Displaying such power throughout the beginning of the series, the Rays showed that they can win with small ball tactics in game seven.

This World Series has as much anticipation as any other series in recent memory. 2006 is dear to any Detroit sports fan for obvious reasons. 2004 the Red Sox finally broke the Curse of The Bambino. And, in 2001, the New York Yankees exuded the spirit of America getting back to the World Series after the horrendous attacks of 9/11. This year’s Series will definitely fit the bill of its predecessors. I know I’ll be watching. Will you? After all, “This is October”.

On a related note:

Jose Canseco appeared on an A&E Special: Jose Canseco: The Last Shot. He was quoted saying that he “regrets mentioning players [as steroid users]. I never realized this was going to blow up and hurt so many people.”

Are you kidding? What did you expect to happen when you singled out players and their habits. You knew full well what you were doing. To say anything different is laughable. If you truly regret your first book, then why bother writing a second or appear on several shows discussing the issue? Spare us the crocodile tears. Nobody sympathizes with you.

The football team at Detroit Henry Ford lost in a Detroit PSL
semifinal Friday night to Detroit Southeastern 36-0 and most
people would not even know it. After the events that happened on
Thursday afternoon where one student was killed and three others
were injured the loss on the football field seems meaningless. I
know it is not meaningless to the players , coaches , and anyone
who participated in the game , but I think right now they could
care less if they won or loss that game. People should have been
crowding around to watch their football team try to make it to the
city championship game on Friday not having a candle light vigil for
a 16 year old kid . There is too much senseless violence going on.

The events of this week just
overshadows what happened last week when Ford had to cancel
their game for one day due to violent threats against students.
After the game was canceled last Friday they went on to win the
rescheduled game last Saturday to make the playoffs. I feel like the
playoff game this week should have been pushed back to give the
team a chance to grieve over what happened to their classmates on
Thursday. I will give credit where credit is due , and Ford deserves
a lot of credit for playing this game. I just wonder when will the
senseless violence will stop. I am a graduate of a PSL school,
and back when I was going it was not this bad. Things have
changed a lot since 1994. I do not know what the state playoffs
holds for Henry Ford , but I do hope all this senseless stuff will
stop so the team can concentrate on football. It is not fair to them
as a team to have to deal with all this when all they are doing is
trying to go to school stay out of trouble and be positive young men. As
for the victims of Thursday’s shootings my prayers are with you
and your family and i hope everything will be ok.