Author Archive

We’re in the thick of baseball’s Hot Stove League right now, and I must say, I love the Tigers’ chances in 2010. Yes sir, I think they’ll do just fine. All they have to do is have every starter pitch a complete game every outing and oh yeah, hold the other guys to no more than two runs per pop. That’s all. Since the curtain closed on their end-of-the-season pratfall, the Tigers have ...

Detroit Lions’ Drew Stanton: Move Along, Nothing to See Here

Posted: 28th December 2009 by Greg Eno in NFL
OK, so you saw Drew Stanton. Happy now? Can we move on? If Stanton remains with the Lions as the No. 2 man behind Matthew Stafford, letÆs all chip in and provide Matthew with the best medical care availableùand maybe we can raise enough dough to buy some offensive linemen, too. Stanton was the prime suspect in the LionsÆ 20-6 loss to the 49ers in the Bay Area on Sunday. He was ...

Detroit Red Wings: The Rodney Dangerfields of the NHL

Posted: 26th December 2009 by Greg Eno in NHL
á Well, how do you like the rest of the NHL? TheyÆre showing their true character, these teams. Look what theyÆre doing to the Detroit Red Wings these days. Someone must have hung a sign outside Joe Louis Arena: ôFree licks! Get æem inùlimited time offer.ö The Joe used to be a House of Horrors for opponents. You flew into Detroit, got your requisite butt kicking, and moved on. They werenÆt hockey games, they ...

Matthew Stafford’s Growth Depends on Strong Veteran Backup

Posted: 23rd December 2009 by Greg Eno in NFL
Not to bring up the dead during this holiday season, but when Joey Harrington was in Detroit struggling to become an NFL quarterback, the Lions organization didnÆt do a lick to help him. By his second season, the Lions tried to plug Harrington into Steve MariucciÆs pattycake West Coast offense, with garish results. Square peg, meet round hole. But the most egregious thing the Lions did during HarringtonÆs formative years was something ...
If you look real hard at the NFL standings in this morningÆs newspaperùsquint, go cross-eyed, maybe dip the newsprint in lemon juice and hold it up to a black lightùyouÆll see a fourth column, nestled among W, L, and T. ItÆs MV. And the Detroit Lions are among the league leaders in that secret society category. MVùthe Moral Victory. The Lions do pretty well against that spread; have for years, as a ...
So even the Arizona Cardinals got it right, eventually. ThereÆs something wrong with the world in which I now live. Since when did they change slapstick and make it into refined theater? The Arizona Cardinals are now a championship contender for two years in a row. The blind squirrel found a nutùtwice. The Arizona Cardinals? Winners, two years in succession? About to wrap up another divisional title? ItÆs like the Marx Brothers playing Shakespeare. Buddy ...
It was a line uttered by a wisecracking former player for the Cleveland Indians. Its genealogy dates back to the mid-1980s. ôThe first thing they do when they find out you have talent in Cleveland,ö the player said, ôis trade you for three guys who donÆt.ö That observation was made because of curious personnel decisions that the Indians front office had been making, none of which involved money. Just plain baseball. IÆd like ...

Last Night on “The Knee Jerks”: Tigers and Lions, Oh My!

Posted: 15th December 2009 by Greg Eno in NFL
We took a step outside the box last night on ôThe Knee Jerks,ö the weekly gabfest I co-host on Blog Talk Radio with Big Al Beaton , whoÆs rapidly beginning his own Internet writing empire . It was our first show at our new 9:00 p.m. ET time slot, and our guest was professional sports photographer Greg Shamus , whoÆs the official team photographer for the Pittsburgh Penguins (relax, heÆs ...

The Shootout Makes a Mockery of the NHL

Posted: 12th December 2009 by Greg Eno in NHL
Leave it to the NHL to make the designated hitter rule look profound. The NH Hell continues to chip away at its grand game, slowly but surely ruining it through a series of gimmicks, rule changes, and officiating that has the consistency of lumpy pancake batter. The league is doing its best to kill its game by stripping it of what little credibility it has. Take the shootout. Please. There’s a phenomenon occurring right ...
Where’s Randy Smith when you need him? Where’s Randy and his Detroit-to-San Diego shuttle? Edwin Jackson pitches now in Arizona, which means he will soon be out of sight, out of mind. The Tigers may as well have traded him to Siberia. Jackson is a Diamondback now, whatever that is. You won’t hear a peep out of him after Easter. Curtis Granderson, on the other hand, is another story. A Tigers fanbase in mourning ...