Entries Tagged 'Detroit' ↓

I’ve always found that the best part of being a blogger is that there is no editor or proofreader sitting behind me with a blue pencil.  I’m pretty free to say whatever I want to and although I try to remain candid, fair, responsible and honest…I like the fact that I can tell someone to kiss my fat, pimply, white ass.  Something I’ve done from time to time.

I also understand why the “mainstream media” can’t stand the blogging community.  They are restricted and often forced to be politically correct.  Newspapers, radio and television outlets must answer to sponsors and advertisers as well as their readers and viewers.  Steven A.(hole) Smith despises us and Tony Cornholer thinks we’re all 12 year olds sitting behind mom’s computer in the basement.  WELL…WELL…WELL…I may act like a 12 year old from time to time but I use my own damn computer to write my blog.

Matt Millen was a good, NOT GREAT,  NFL football player while playing with the Raiders, 49rs, and Redskins. He was fortunate enough to play for some very talented teams and won four Superbowl rings.  He even went to the Pro Bowl in 1988.  After his football days were over, Millen went on to become a football TV/Radio broadcaster with FOX as well as a color commentator for Monday Night Football.  For the most part, he did a pretty good job but I found nothing special about his broadcasting style or his experienced input.

For reasons unknown to civilized man, Detroit Lions Owner William Clay Ford hired Matt Millen as the teams President of Football Operations and General Manager.  A move that left many scratching their heads but a bold move nonetheless.  At least Millen was a football man who understood the game and the players…RIGHT?

We all know about his dismal record of 31-84 (Not counting the games lost by the Lions after Millen was fired).  We all know about the four out of five years  drafting Wide Recievers.  I just wanted to shed some more light on this fucking football moron.

Did you know that Matt Millen never took a residence anywhere in Michigan?  He lived in Pennsylvania and communted a few times a week to Detroit.  Now there’s a guy who is imbedded in the community, the fans and the team.  Can you imagine the phone call on Monday morning?  “Yeah, I slept in so I’m going to be a little bit late.  I’ll see y ou all on WEDNESDAY!!!”

Here’s some draft history from the anointed one:

1.  First draft pick - Jeff Bakus OT (Michigan) 17th pick overall - Bakus has been a decent O-Lineman but Millen passed on Casey Hampton, Nate Clements, Jamar Fletcher, Reggie Wayne and Todd Heap.

2. In his second year, Millen chose Joey Harrington QB (Oregon) with the 3rd pick of the 2002 draft.  He did not take Pro Bowlers Quinten Jammer (CB-Chargers), Roy Williams (FS-Cowboys), Dwight Freeney (DE-Colts), Albert Haynesworth (DT-Titans), Ed Reed (S-Ravens).

3. With the second pick in the same draft, Millen chose Kalimba Edwards (DE-South Carolina).  He did not chose Larry Tripplett, LeCharles Bentley, Tank Williams, Clinton Portis, Doug Jolley, Sheldon Brown or Dion Branch.

4.  Then comes the gaffe that only the 0-16 season will overshadow.  Millen drafts FOUR wide receivers in FIVE YEARS.  Starting in 2003 with the second pick of the draft he takes ganja boy Charles Rogers from Michigan State.  He follows that up with Roy Williams from Texas and Mike Williams from Southern Cal (who hadn’t played football in over a year.

*  Players that Matt Millen did NOT draft while addressing the wide reciever position as if it were the only position on a football team.  Andre Johnson (WR-Texans), Terence Newman (CB-Cowboys), Kevin Williams (DE-Vikings), Troy Polamalu (DB-Steelers), Willis McGahee (RB-Bills), Dallas Clark (TE-Colts), Larry Johnson (RB-Chiefs), Nick Barnett (MLB-Packers), Kawika Mitchell (MLB-Chiefs), Anquan Boldin (WR-Cardinals), Osi Umenyiora (DE-Giants), DeAngelo Hall (CB-Falcons), Ben Rothlisberger (QB-Steelers), Tommie Harris (MLB-Bears), Steven Jackson (RB-Rams), DeMarcus Ware (OLB-Cowboys), Shawne Merriman (OLB-Chargers), Aaron Rogers (QB-Packers), Roddy White (WR-Falcons), Corey Webster (DB-Giants), Lofa Tatupu (MLB-Seahawks).

**Do you think you could have put a pretty good team together with the guys above?  I know it’s hit and miss but Millen couldn’t hit the side of a pig poop stained barn with an empty bottle of Zima.

5.  In 2004, Millen had THREE of the top 37 picks.  He took Roy Williams, Kevin Jones and Teddy Lehman.  Now there’s a trio to build on.

6.  In 2006, Millen drafted Ernie Sims (OLB-Florida State) and I like Ernie, but not so much when I look at what was passed on.  Dumbo didn’t select Jay Cutler (QB-Denver), Chad Greenway (LB-Vikings), Bobby Carpenter (LB-Cowboys), Joseph Addai (RB-Colts).

7.  In 2007, Millen once again stock piled draft picks and had FIVE of the top 73 picks.  So he selected Calvin Johnson who is the best player he ever drafted.  Then comes the second round where Millen decides to trade away his third round pick to MOVE UP to take Drew Stanton (QB-Michigan State).  Ummmm…WHAT?  Did he think Stanton wouldn’t be there in the fifth round let alone the third?  FUCKING BRILLIANT!!!  Then with his second pick of the second round, Millen takes Ikaika Alama-Francis (DE-Hawaii) who I guarantee was not a blip on any other teams draft board.  Not to out-do himself, Millen then uses his THIRD PICK of the SECOND ROUND to take Gerald Alexander (S-Boise State)

Picks that Millen COULD have made with those second rounders were LaMarr Woodley (LB-Michigan), Brandon Jackson (RB-Packers), Charles Johnson (DE-Panthers), Aaron Rouse (S-Packers), Trent Edwards (QB-Bills), Quinn Pitcock (DT-Colts), Le’Ron McClain (RB-Alabama).

8.  In 2008, after years of ignoring team needs…Millen decides to address the offensive line and drafts Gosder Cherilus (OT-Boston Collage).  He had a fair rookie season and the jury won’t be in on him for a few more years.  Then with four more picks in the top 92, Millen takes Jordan Dizon (LB-Colorado), Kevin Smith (RB-C.Florida-not the directory), Andre Fluellen (DT-Florida State) and Cliff Avrill (LB-Purdue).  Players he passed on were Jeff Otah (OT-Steelers), Chris Johnson (RB-Titans), Dustin Keller (TE-Jets), Donnie Avery (WR-Rams), Tracy Porter (CB-Saints), Matt Forte (RB-Bears), Mike Pollak (OT-Colts) Antwaun Molden (CB-Texans).

Now I only point this out because I’m trying to show that Matt Millen does NOT have a keen eye for talent, does NOT know how to put a winning football team together and his opinion should NOT be listened to when speaking of the game of football.

So just imagine my surprise when I see the bobble-head with a bad moustache on NBC Saturday.  Bob (softball) Costas interviewed him about his departure from Detroit and the ruins he left behind.  Well…he really didn’t have to leave Detroit since he lived in Pennsylvania.

Millen portrayed that he took all the blame in one sentence but deflected with the next.

“Completely responsible,” he said. “I mean, you were head of football operations, you throw it back on me. You can say something about the coaching, you can say something about the players. But inevitably, I’m responsible for them. And so I’m completely responsible for it in my mind.”

Sure Matt…we can say something about the coaching.  Coaches that YOU FREAKING HIRED!!!  Sure Matt…We could say something about the players.  Players that YOU FREAKING DRAFTED!!!

I truly believe that Matt Millen has a problem with image dysmorphia and dementia.  The guy is a borderline retard and I have lint saved up from my belly button that has a higher IQ.  So what do you do with a guy like this?  A guy who has proven time and time again that he knows nothing about football beyond tackling?  What do you do with a guy who took a mediocre team and turned it into a fucking NIGHTMARE??? What do you do with a guy who is more dedicated to his horny rose bushes in his back yard than his $5 million per year job?  What do  you do with a guy who says “There’s a lot of talent on that Detroit Lions team and they can turn it around just like the Dolphins and Falcons did.”

SURE…give him a job as a fucking FOOTBALL ANALYST!!!  As if the viewership would take anything he has to say as credible, reliable, true and not some kind of fairy tale.  You have got to be kidding me NBC!!!  Hey…didn’t NBC give up their NFL contract years ago?  What the hell are they doing back in the business of the Super Bowl?  Hey PeaCOCK network…you really wanna piss me off?  Put the COCK back in the booth for the Super Bowl so he can tell the world what a great job he did an how he still believes in his non-fucking-existent system!!!

I will give him credit for one thing.  After becoming the LAUGHING STOCK of the football world…he actually WANTS to put his 70’s Porno Moustache back in front of the camera and give his “opinion and analysis”.  Now that boy has some huge, shiny, shaved eggs between his legs.  Can’t wait to see who’s next.

It was the summer of 1969 and a the days were filled with sunshine and the sound of kids playing in the yard. Under the back stairs of a brick, two story flat was a makeshift fort that acted as cover for the make believe soldier, cowboy, Indian or outlaw. Imaginations ran wild for me in those days and my biggest daily accomplishments involved staying out of trouble.

Being the second oldest of four boys, there was always something going on around the house during the summer. Baseball games in the back yard with tennis balls so we wouldn’t break any windows. Basketball in the driveway. Antagonizing our 100 pound German Shepherd who watched over us like a body guard. Oh, to be 8 years old again…but not just that. To be 8 years old in a time when being “outside” and playing games was the entire meaning of life.

Dad worked hard and long hours but he always found some time to hang out with us. Throwing the baseball, building an ice rink, playing floor hockey in the basement or taking us to the Drive-In Movies on Friday nights. So we nearly jumped through the roof when he came home with front row seats to a Detroit Tiger Double-Header. Now I’m not talking about these wimpy Day/Night double headers. This is a time where they played the first game, took 20 minutes to towel off and rehydrate before taking the field again for game two. The good old days.

Dad packed my older brother, my younger brother and me into the car with our tiny little baseball mitts and headed down to the ballpark. This would mark my first EVER professional sports event. I was 8 years old and it was time. Not like today when people lug their 8 month olds down to a ballpark in 90 degree heat and humidity….(Dumb-Asses).

The excitement was increasing with every mile we drove. Closer and closer to the place that my favorite team played their games. The defending World Champion Detroit Tigers and my first visit to Tiger Stadium on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Trumbull. It doesn’t get any better than that when you’re 8 years old.

We arrived at the stadium and dad stopped to buy a program before we headed to our first row box seats. I remember the feeling of euphoria as I stepped out of the concourse and experienced that ocean of green for the first time. I had never seen anything like it. The chalk painted foul lines leaped out and the brown dirt infield was a vision of perfection. These were the days of the manual score boards but they were still beautiful in the back drop of green that just swallowed me up.

My team was stacked with players who had received their World Series Rings for their upset victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in 1968. Norm Cash at first base, Dick McCaullif, Dick Tracewski, Bill Freehan, Willie Horton, Jim Northrup and Mickey Stanley.

Their opponent for the day was the Cleveland Indians with Jose Cardinal, Ken “the Hawk” Harrelson and Duke Sims. Game one had right hander Earl Wilson going up against righty Steve Hargan. My Tigers would score 4 runs in the first two innings and skate to a 6-1 victory.

In game two, things would look tougher as Pat Dobson would go up against Louis Tiant who was always a challenge. The Indians would win the game while hitting four home runs, one of which was hit by Tiant. However in this game there was another incident that would be embedded in my mind forever. As we sat in our seats just behind the on-deck-circle, one of the Tiger hitters fouled off a weak bouncer towards the third base side. My dad stood as the big hop was headed directly to him and just as he was about to nab the most excellent souvenir from our very first baseball game, sure handed third baseman Don Wert reached up and nabbed the ball out of the air. (This was during a time when they DID NOT throw balls to kids in the stands).

It was a long day and it was time to go home. I had experienced what, to me, was the Holy Grail of my childhood. I had loved sports as a 6 and 7 year old, but now that I was 8 and had been to my first ballgame, I knew that sports had captured me. Tiger Stadium was part of my childhood.

Forward through life some thirty years later. It was a beautiful evening on September 27th 1999 when the Detroit Tigers would play their last game at my childhood friend. I was at the stadium with my older brother and two lifelong friends and we basked in the magic, the memories and the special feelings that we experienced in that ballpark. The Tigers won in a meaningless game in the standings but it wasn’t meaningless to the 52,000 plus people who jammed themselves into that old ballpark.

In an after game ceremony, every Detroit Tiger player who was still alive and had played on that field was announced for the last time as they took their position. There was cheering and clapping and lumps in the throats of everyone there as we all thought back to those warm summer nights of our childhood. Willie Horton trotted out to left field with tears running down his cheeks. Horton grew up in Detroit and his childhood dreams came true when he manned the left field corner. Al Kaline received an explosive ovation as he looked up at the crowd from Kaline Corner in right field.

Just the other day, demolition began on the ballpark that introduced me to my love of sports. Built in 1895 and home to four World Series teams. Tiger Stadium was also home to three Detroit Lions Football Championships during the 1950’s. The “Corner” as hall of fame announcer Ernie Harwell often refers to her, as also been the backdrop of several movies for Hollywood. Most recently, Billy Crystal’s “61″ was shot at Tiger Stadium.

Do not mistake me for some idiotic fanatic who wanted to “preserve” Tiger Stadium and turn it into some kind of ridiculous monument. It was time for that old girl to be laid to rest. The wrecking ball is exactly what was needed for development….and Detroit could sure use some positive development these days.

I just wanted to pay a little tribute to one of my friends growing up. One of my BEST FRIENDS!!! Bye Friend.