The View From Here: Lions Loss, Wolves Win, Pathos & Promise

By Ken De Laat

Wow quite a weekend huh?

A Debacle in Dallas.
The Lions got jobbed. I’m not prone to conspiracy theories (other than an ongoing suspicion about why there are so many solitary shoes making appearances along the roadway)  so I don’t believe there was any kind of fix on. Just because it was a big night for the Dallas crowd with their old Coach being inducted into the Ring of Honor, aka ego-inflated Jerry Jones’ personal HOF where he alone gets to decide who’s in, and those yahoos in the booth, Joe F Buck and ex Cowboy Troy Aikman falling all over themselves praising the proud Cowboy tradition.
But, in my Lion loyal opinion, whether it was a referee choke or an overzealous call you don't toss such a bs flag with the game on the line. They got jobbed.
But what’s done is done. 
What I want to see is a rematch. A rematch in the playoffs. Hopefully for the title. And because of seeding it would likely be back in Dallas and that’s ok too.
Because the Lions are the better team. They outplayed a good Cowboys squad for most of the game and kept getting up off the canvas time and time again like they have all year. Take a poll out there. I would bet there aren’t many teams relishing the thought of playing the boys in Honolulu Blue.
And to all the second guessers about Coach Dan’s decisions, it might give pause to remember who this team was before he got here. They didn’t take chances because there were often no chances to take. The Lions weren’t a factor. You can Monday morning quarterback all the right moves but criticizing the guy who knows his team better than any couch sitting wannabe coach out there seems a bit absurd given what he and the personnel folks have done to this chronically moribound team.
Go Lions.

UM in the title game.
This was sweet. Not only do they exorcise some demons by beating ‘Bama for the first time since Tom Brady called the signals in the 2000 Orange Bowl, they knocked the SEC out of the title game. Can’t imagine too many FSU fans disappointed with this outcome. 
And the dessert for the day was seeing Texas get beat by the Huskies, because, well, because it’s Texas. 
Now we have what in the past would have been the traditional Rose Bowl matchup with the Big 10 and the Pac 12 champs facing off except this time it’s in Houston for the national title and next year they’re both in the Big Ten.
The runner-ups will also be playing in the same conference next year as the ‘Horns join the SEC. And for those who wanted to see a UM/Texas tilt you will get your wish next season when the Longhorns visit the Big House on September 7th.
They also have a rematch with the Huskies in early October out West. Hopefully it will be Washington seeking revenge in that one.
Go Blue.

The Pathos of the Pistons.
One of the toughest things about a lengthy losing streak is that teams really get up for the game when they play you. No one wants to be the team who gets beat by the Pistons. The Raptors finally became that team when Detroit edged them by a bucket to end a 28 game, 2 month drought. The next game they began what looks to be another streak after a 23 point beatdown by the Rockets.
I’ve tried to watch the team I have followed since White Sox pitcher Dave DeBusschere hung up his baseball spikes and became their Player/Coach at the age of 24,  but they are truly just not a very good team. Heck they aren’t even close to being  kind of a good team. They just don’t have the depth of players to effectively put a solid rotation on the floor against the best basketballers in the world. This despite practically having a chair with your name on it at the lottery drawing event since they have been in it 12 of the last 14 years. I had to check and see if Matt Millen had been secretly hired years ago to rebuild the team.
Go front office. Please, just go.

Baseball on the horizon
As of this writing we are 53 days away from the first exhibition game against the Yankees and the beginning of what could be a promising year for fans hungry for a winner.
Go Tig’s.
 

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