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Mike was a VERY bad Tigers owner for a long time. Until there was a competent person in place (DD) it really did not matter much what Mike did. Perhaps the same will be true of Chris. He obviously waited way too long to replace Avila, who he inherited from his dad. Hard to see how Avila could have kept snowing him under, unless Chris was hearing what he wanted to hear. When asked to spend, he did last winter. (Maybe he told Avila "no" in earlier years.) Really what I want from an owner is to stay out of the way until he is needed; patience but not too much; and a $180MM payroll.

Well William Clay Ford allowed his drinking buddy Russ Thomas to be GM for 30 years. If it weren't for his son stepping in and axing Millen, he'd have allowed Millen to be here as long as Russ Thomas was. So it is a low bar, but given that Sheila fired Quinn and Patricia fairly quickly into her tenure, it does seem like she has more involvement and expects more accountability than her dad ever did.

Which polo shirt will Dombrowski wear on his hall of fame plaque?

Well we have all played that broken record so its understandable because its so improbable that things could have gone so badly. But they did. Perhaps we will be better served looking downstream which has to be better. I have a good feeling about the new commander. I think Scot Harris will prove to be an excellent hire and our treasured Tigers will be far more entertaining the next seven years compared the last. So let's try to feel good about what's coming. We certainly are due !

Another day another Trump crime. Another day the party that used to champion personal responsibility stays silent...

This year, but no timetable yet and they won't rush it.

Ah I saw the KHL hashtag in the top tweet and just went with that! I also apparently never sent the below post earlier in the week or this weekend I don't even recall lol

This is a great post and I hope you're right.

Yeah, Al Avila (Ah-vi-lah) got fired and Chris Illitch did the unexpected hiring Scott Harris instead of just promoting Sam Menzin like I thought he was going to do. A number of Detroit/Michigan teams lately have been pleasantly surprising me. I really like the Harris hire. I liked the Brad Holmes hire. I like that Harbaugh is finally righting the ship at Michigan. I love Yzerman. Dan Campbell and Aaron Glenn are testing my patience, but I am really, earnestly trying to give it the necessary time before I just rag on them, Sheila, and this franchise for being the same old lions.

Look man, Holland was fired, Stafford was traded, Harbaugh has seemingly turned things around. What do I have left?

So Buch is looking good in the KHL

Fair enough. I wasn't talking specifically about your idea of "soft" switching or specifically Casey's schemes. Just switching in general. And I certainly don't advocate for switching everything being the only defensive strategy. Defense changes with not just personnel but based on opponent strengths and weaknesses, how each game is going. Against a shooter like Steph, you'll hedge and maybe blitz or trap him off the PNR. With Giannis you'll play drop coverage every time and collapse the defense in the paint. Everything defensively is fluid game to game. But in general, on most nights against most teams, I switch everything. You still have to play up after the switch. But I switch and guard the three point line unless or until the other team dictates that I don't.

Yes the Cardinals to me are the model franchise. But you are right that the changes that need to take place go beyond just the front office staff making draft choices and trades and signings. It's also development. I always say it's not about just picking the right players but making the players you do pick into something. That's also a skill. Good and even average players are not always born or finished products.

If you like Scott Harris, I challenge you to avoid the trap of requiring him to magically build a Rays/As style low-payroll success here. If that could be repeated simply by hiring a good GM then everybody would be doing it. And the As have hamstrung their once-in-a-millenia talent in Billy Beane to the point where even his As have only had winning seasons 1/2 of the time. Not bad, but is that the goal? As for the Rays, again, that is a wonderful organization, and I would love to see that here, but again, if that could be duplicated by simply plugging in a good GM and President then the Rays model would have been duplicated elsewhere, and it has not. The Cardinals are the Rays but with a consistently average or above average payroll. I would love to emulate that model, and since we are a mid-or-better market, we have more economic resources to draw on than St. Louis. I don't suppose we can match the Cardinals in terms of organizational competency (few if any can), but we can (like Houston and Atlanta) make up some of the difference with larger market resources. Houston and Atlanta are probably the closest and most relevant models that Detroit/Harris should try and emulate -- we have a fairly similar market as they do, they are fairly recent (last 10 years) entrants into the upper class of organizations (unlike the Cardinals, who have been pretty continuously successful for about 75 years). Houston and Atlanta, like the Cardinals, also continuously commit nominal/average resources/payroll (or more), and don't slip in that regard. THAT should be our goal, to build, commit, and maintain excellence in all phases, never going for the "cheap" solution. So my hope is that Harris can be the influencer of ownership, the leader of the front office, the architect of organizational excellence, and technical master that will lead this team from historical incompetence under Chris/AA to Astros/Braves level competence, resource commitment, and success.

Lincoln Project has the best attack ads. Here they are slaying Blake Masters and Kari Lake in Arizona. I hope this ad is up on TV or digital in the state.

I have some Yankee fans within my orbit and was hearing all about it when they were down 2-1.... which wouldn't have mattered because the exact same two teams would have been playing under last year's format lol

Would like to see Cade take a big step in improvement this season, starting with tonight. Starts with more shooting consistency and not turning the ball over so dam much. The rest of his game I'm good with. But shooting consistency and turnovers are really an issue with him. He's gotta become that franchise guy he was drafted #1 to become. Also interested in the rotations the first few weeks. I'm not convinced Stewart belongs in the starting unit. How fast can Duren earn that spot?

F ND.

As we hopefully watch the first of many Laker losses. The Pelicans have the right to pick swap with LA this year. So no high pick for LA this year if they suck.

Huh, isn't that weird....strange, unexpected...I mean, what fool would have guessed such an improbable event, after a lost decade of Philly futility? After their GM was let go by one of the all-time great organizations, the Tigers, which has done so well without him. And DD just lucks his way into his sixth straight winning season as a GM post-Tigers (along with 4 post-Tigers winning seasons and 3 playoff appearances and a WS). DD was washed up, a has-been, and according to the salary scolds and DD haters around here, the Tigers were going to rise like the Phoenix from the ashes of his incompetence. Some people are **still** convicted that we are better off. Not that **anybody** here disagreed with them. Oh, I get it, our wonderful and amazing owner here would NEVER have worked well with DD, because our wonderful owner is far too progressive and smart to work with a retrograde like DD. Well, hopefully, our new GM can some day begin to sniff the kind of success as the head honcho that DD has been experiencing for several decades. Maybe someday. Maybe we can start to be good just in time to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 2006 team? Or maybe the 25th? Wait 'till next year (2024, that is)!

All that is required for evil to triumph is for entitled douch canoes to be empowered.

I have no idea what to expect. The only thing I’m confident about predicting is there will be multiple horrible calls that go against the Lions.

No in hindsight Mr. I should have been grooming DD to maintain things after he's gone. Could have even given him a small percentage of the team like 1/2% per year after his death for up to 6 years for a net of 3% plus a solid salary. Let Chris learn under DD instead of you know who. Thats about 30 million for the stewardship or one season of Miggy. Peanuts to keep the team winning.

Mr. I’s last few decisions were not good and perhaps made with the heart and emotions instead of the sound business thinking of his career. Over paying Miggy and firing DD instead of competing to retain him. And I think the emotion of his loss carried over to Chris over relying on the guy who was always there Al Avila who I bet was very adept at working his new boss over in the realm of office politics.

Not sure about your advice, but you were one of my favorite Bond movies.

After 1-3 it was true. They lost those three games by a combined 10 points. One game doesn’t put someone on the hot seat.

dear nbc, you see the difference between the big ten and notre dame? that nd game was in prime time and didnt even get as many viewers as michigan state!

i think it was belichick remembering who jared goff is, and the lions had no counter because all their playmakers were injured (and jared goff is a below average nfl qb). that said, did the pats expose the lions oline a bit? they looked bad in pass pro. matt judon took turns making sewell and decker look pedestrian.

Zach Lowe. Sports journalist. He used to work for Bill Simmons on grantland. He’s been a part time contributor at espn for a few years now, since grantland closed down. Known for a more analytical approach to NBA analysis. Knows his stuff, seems pretty laid back, and isn’t obnoxious or hate worthy as some NBA analysts. Pretty sure he’s a Celtics fan too. But then nobody’s perfect.

Tudor Dixon is both dumb and repugnant, which is par for the course with MAGA politicians.

Now that I am dead I can say this without fear of reprisal. Why waste time predicting what is going to happen? Just let 2023 happen and be disappointed.

Toledo is expected to have a strong team this year...could be a nice landing spot for him developmentally.

Marvin Lewis.