The Beard Goes All Mel Kiper Jr

I'd been mulling over the Lions draft since it concluded yesterday around 7.  They filled most of their needs, so at least they did that.  But I can't help but think they're draft could have been better.

With the 5th pick the Detroit Lions took Ziggy Ansah, defensive end from BYU.  Fills a huge need, losing Cliff Avril, the Lions desperately needed a top end pass rusher.  But did they get it when they took Ziggy?  He has 4.5 sacks in his career.  4.5 sacks and only one year of significant playing time.  Oh and he never played football before college.

He is so raw that Gordan Ramsey would throw the Lions out of the kitchen in a glorious display of Scottish accent and cursing.

With his freakish athleticism, he could be the stud the Lions need.  But at number 5, I don't want a could be, I want a for certain.  What would I have done?  Try to trade down, assuming I couldn't... I'd probably take... Milliner?  Probably Milliner.

Second round though is where I have my biggest beef.  With other corners of perhaps more refined skill, the Lions make a pick at corner that would make Al Davis proud.  Darius Slay, the cornerback out of Mississippi State wasn't (arguably) the best cover corner on his team, let alone available at that pick.
The Lions became enamored with his 4.35 40 time.  So much so that we ignored knee problems.  Second round pick of a guy coming off a knee injury, stop me if you've heard this before.
What would I have done?  Trade down.  There were plenty of need/skill guys to make a move.  There would have been a suitor for a trade I have no doubt.  But the Lions were hell bent on getting Slay, but hey, what do I know?  I'm just a guy with a keyboard.

Third round the Lions finally make a pick I'm okay with, taking the big guard from Kentucky Larry Warford.  He will be starting and he will be a solid guard for years to come.  YaaaaaY Lions!

The fourth round pick end Devin Taylor from South Carolina next.  He's got freakish size, so no complaints here.  4th round pick guys need to make an impact in a couple years tops, this is the part of the draft the Lions haven't hit since.....................  I actually have no idea.

5th round pick... WE TOOK A PUNTER!!!!!!!!!!!!  A punter who didn't even lead his sub-D1 league in yards average.  In fact, he was third.
"But Dave, we need a punter!"  Hush child.  Take one in the 7th if you're so determined to take one.  Bring in 8 punters for a try out.  They're punters, there's like 50 looking for work.  Pick one.

6th round we get a wide receiver! Yay!  Tall guy that can run but can't run routes.  Exactly what I want in a wide receiver.  Al Davis would be proud.  But 6th rounders are projects.
199th pick, the Tom Brady pick.  The Lions take a Notre Dame man in Theo Riddick.  Puuuuuuuke. Lions are taking him for kick returning I presume.  Sooo there's that.  But I don't like him.  Yes it's because his school, deal with it.

7th round here we go!  Lions take Mike Williams.  Tight End from Alabama.  Hopefully this goes better than our first Mike Williams.  But he went to Bama, and all they do is produce pros so hey I like it.
Last pick, the Lions FINALLY take a linebacker.  I've wanted one since round 2.  So we take one.  But he won't be anything but a special teamer.  Let's be real here.  Brandon "Don't Call Me Audrey" Hepburn from Florida A&M, King Kwame's old stomping ground.  He's a biochemistry major... So I guess that's cool...

On a side note, the Lions told Denard if he fell to them in the 5th, they were taking him... This makes me sad.  I wanted him.  Just because I know he'll never play QB, and when you know that, you want Robinson.

Overal, they addressed the many needs they had, so I can't complain too much.  But I'm not blown away.  I'll give them a B that could easily become an A or a D.  I do have a hunch that this was the last draft for Mayhew and Schwartz... But that's another blog for another time.

Remember folks, I know more than Mel Kiper Jr so read this, not his articles.

Red Wing Playoff streak at 22... I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!

I have friends and people that like to talk sports with me.  I did not write an official prediction blog, but people can attest that I have been very adamant all season long and even before the year that your beloved Detroit Red Wings would be amongst the eight teams in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League to compete for a chance to become the Stanley Cup Champions in the 2013 postseason.

I was told, "No, you're dumb"  "They have no chance"  "Too old"  I was even laughed at when I said I thought they were a playoff team.  Not a Cup contender, just one of the top 8 in the Western Conference.  I was laughed at.

I never wained, and now after Detroit's 3-0 win over the Dallas Stars, I can proudly write this blog and say what I've been waiting to say even before this season began...

I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!

I said they've been "too old" since 2001.  I said they've been written off year after year.  Everything I had been told this year that I "wasn't seeing" is the same rap I've heard year after year.  And all I said was this, 21 years ain't no fluke, they always find a way.

And found a way they did, getting hot at the right time to take themselves from a 9 seed on the outside looking in to the 7th seed getting a more favorable matchup and a trip to Disney Land.

Now a full playoff preview will come at a later time, but real quick I will say this:  Anaheim a much better matchup than Chicago and the Wings are hot at the right time.  Look out.

There's a lesson to be learned hear ladies and gentlemen:

Do not doubt the Beard.

Happy playoffs everyone!

Get Ziggy With It (puns are funny)

With the 5th pick in the 2013 NFL draft, the Detroit Lions select... Ziggy Ansah, defensive end, BYU.

I can't rationally hate this pick.  No KVB, no Avril, a pass rusher was clearly our biggest need.  But why am I still not happy?

I'm still nto happy because Ziggy can't speak English.  That's because he's only been in America in 2009.  Okay, I don't have him for his broken English, but it's a part of my beef with him.

He has hardly played any football in his life.

This is a risk.  And when you're picking at number five, you can't afford to take risks.  Unfortunately for the Lions, the three tackles went in the top four, but Dee Milliner was still on the board.

In an ideal Dave Cobb world, the Lions would have traded down picked up some extra picks and still pick up a guy like Milliner, Chance Warmack, Jarvis Jones, the list of guys I like goes on.

But instead, the Lions took the one guy I had on my "Don't you dare even thing about it board."

But what else is new?  The Lions never make me happy.  Ever.

But he does have tremendous upside.  He has great size and is a tremendous athlete.  He could be the next Jason Pierre-Paul, but unfortunately for him he was drafted by the Lions.  This fills our biggest need so it can't possibly be a bad pick... right?

Bottom line, he has tremendous upside, but can he provide the immediate impact the Lions need from a #5 pick?

We'll see how this pick works out, and I won't be proven right (or wrong I guess) until he takes the field.

Let's hope this one pans out...

Full Beard of Sports: Sorry for being lazy.

I am way behind on things I want/need to talk about, so I'm forced to do a quick wham bam post for you all, more substantial stuff is on the way!

Here's some quick headlines and comments for ya:

The Red Wings are in 9th place, in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in my lifetime.  I will not pick against them until they are eliminated.  Dallas lost, which helps.  Columbus is the 8th but The Red Wings have the tie breaker and two games at hand on the Blue Jackets.

Although, if Detroit is eliminated from the playoffs, Columbus better be the team that does it.  In a perfect world, Detroit will win out, Minnesota will lose out, and the Wings and Jackets will be dancing in the playoffs cuz the Jackets are the team of destiny, right Tommy?

...

Decisions decisions.

Backus, Hanson retired from the Lions.  Burke and Hardaway Jr are going pro, Pistons fired Lawrence Frank, there's a lot of moving and shaking going on lately.  I'll go into more details about the Michigan decisions when I write my post mortem, but real quick on the Pistons:
They're a joke.  Three straight coaches fired before their third year.  And Joe D is on board to hire his EIGHTH coach.  There should have only been two options this offseason: Joe D and Frank get one more shot, or clean house.

It's time to clean house.

...

The Boston Marathon tragedy... I'm glad the ordeal is finally over.  Those two punks are scumbags and they picked the wrong city to f**k with.  My prayers are with the victims of the actions of these two cowards.
I am no longer surprised by the depth of evil humanity is capable of, but it's always great to see the resolve of a community to unite and overcome attacks like this.  BostonStrong.

...

The Tigers are playing baseball.   That's about it.  Got smacked by the Angels again.  The bullpen is horrendous.  It needed some tweaks in the offseason but Double D didn't do a thing.  And now it's clear to the world it's our weakness.

The Fat Potato is pitching well against high schoolers and 30+ year olds who never gave up on their dream.  But he's not an answer to any problem we're having.  Sept that closer one I guess.  I welcome the Potato back, if he's pitching well enough.  Give him a shot, why not? No one else is doing any good.

Rondon is lookin solid in Toledo.  If Villareal doesn't get his ERA below 30 soon then I think it's time to pull a swap.  Villareal is a two-pitch pitcher, so I welcome literally any other pitcher in our system over him.

They'll win the central though.  They'll find some arms to settle down and the bats will find consistency.  I'm not panicking, just blogging.

This is has been your Bearded Sports Wrap up... I'm Dave and this has been one man's uninformed, unqualified opinion.

enjoy your Saturday y'all

Red Wings; Howard Agree on 6-year extension.

Today it was announced that the Detroit Red Wings have reached an agreement with goaltender Jimmy Howard on a six year extension.

Because I love Twitter and value every fans two-bit opinion (because  I don't.  And yes, my opinion is a two-bit opinion as well... I just blog it so it's... more words.) I did a little social media scouring to see what the overal feeling about the signing was...

And it seems the only people in love with the signing are the females that find him "dead sexy."

The rest... Most seem to hate it.  But a variation of these particular words keep coming up, and this is what I'm blogging for...

The Wings won't win a cup for the next six years... Even further than that though, they say they are "committed to not winning the cup."

Now if you remember I was harsh on Howard and was torn apart by all you lovely people back in 2010.  And now, I am taking the role of the voice of reason and there is something seriously wrong with this.

Now I don't think the Wings are winning the cup this year, but anything can happen if you get in so who knows.  I'm usually wrong about everything, but that's different story.

In Detroit over the years, myself included here, the fans here have been known to be extra harsh on three people in particular: The Detroit Lions quarterback, The Detroit Tigers closer, and The Detroit Red Wings goalie.

It's a fact.  If you don't believe me, look at Charlie Batch's first couple season stats in Detroit, or the stats of Todd Jones or best example, Curtis Joseph's playoff stats.  So many insist he's the reason for our too early exit, but he was stellar.

Jimmy Howard isn't perfect.  He's not elite.  He probably won't win a Vezna (see line "I'm always wrong") But here's one thing  I do think:  Jimmy Howard is good enough to win a Stanley Cup.

Key word here is enough.

He's not going to be the goalie that steals series after series as we run to the cup, but he can and has stolen games.  He can do that.  He is a reliable number one goaltender and is a respectable starting tender.

Now if the Wings don't win a Cup in the next six years it won't be because of the man between the pipes.  It will be because young Grand Rapids kids don't pan out and we fail to properly replace Datsyuk and any other veteran who retires.

Goalie used to be a position in Detroit where it didn't matter how good they were, they just needed to not be bad.  Which lead to the blame being on their shoulders when the star-studded teams failed to reach expectations.

But now those times are gone.  It's time to realize the talent is there between the pipes and it's lacking elsewhere on the ice.  If the Wings were even remotely as loaded as they once were, a goalie of Howard's talent would lead to a Cup.  I have no doubts about that.

Glad to have ya for years to come Jimmithy.  Here's to hoping a Cup is in our future... Cuz Damnit I will not accept a losing Wings team.

Team of Destiny? Wolverines Run Still Going

I haven't blogged enough about this tournament run.  I didn't write up about Kansas or Florida.  My fault folks.  But the excitement and disbelief of this run has overwhelmed me to be completely honest.  But it's time to do my "job."

Michigan's win over Kansas was one for the ages.  Down 14 in the second half, down 10 with just over two minutes left, the team did not quit.  Trey Burke hit the most absurd shot I have ever seen.  Ever.  From way down town to tie the game late.  Stone cold.

The game against Florida was a bit shocking.  I had a feeling Michigan would win; Florida hadn't played a non-double-digit seed the tournament.  But I did not expect Michigan to come out and punch them in the mouth like that and then keep at it.  Florida was never in the game, besides when it was 0-0.

Now that brings us to last night.  Syracuse had shut down teams, averaging a tournament low 49.5 ppg against.  The 2-3 zone of Boeheim and the Orange was well-talked about.  The length of the players, how would Burke fair penetrating?  How would the Michigan shooters handle the close-out length and speed of the Syracuse defenders?

Well in a way, the answer to the first question was "not well."  Burke struggled offensively, hitting only one shot from the field (a really deep three.)  But Burke did make some, not all, his free throws late.  Michigan still did it's best from the line to keep Syracuse in it, missing nine all together.

The three point shooters did get the job done.  They shot 33% (8-24) which doesn't sound all that pretty, but eight three pointers made is what's key.  24 points from beyond the arc will go a long way in helping any team win a ball game, and it sure helped Michigan over come the 2-3 zone.

Give John Beilein credit, who gets his first win over Boeheim in his 10th try.  Beilein had that team ready to play against that zone.  Given a week to prepare, he made sure the players were ready to shoot over close outs and lengthy arms, doing drills where players held what looked to me like a pad on a stick, to simulate the close out.

But the key to this game, in my eyes, was the play of Mitch McGary.  Coach Beilein said all week they had Mitch running passing and shooting drills from the elbow, the ideal place to have the ball to beat a two three zone.  And his stat line (10 points, 12 boards, and 6 assists) showed that all that extra work really payed off.

Next up for the Wolverines, a date with Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals, the number one overal seed of the tournament.  Louisville loves to full court pressure and force turnovers.  This game should be an up and down game.

And here's why, I'm taking... MICHIGAN.  Louisville relies on turnovers and pressure.  Michigan has the guards to break pressure in Burke, Hardaway, Albrecht, and Stauskus.  Michigan doesn't turn the ball over, having one of the lowest turnover margins in the country.

The up-tempo game that Louisville wants to play is also the pace Michigan wants to play.  And I believe the key to this game will be guard play.  Siva and Smith are the second best backcourt in the country... Behind Burke and Hardway.  I'm taking the Wolverines in this one 77-72 in what should be an up and down thriller.

GO BLUE!