RedRamage

It still bums me that there's never been (at least according to baseball reference) a 2nd baseman named Second.

For all you are suffering from the early exit of the Lions like me, remember that there's still football coming up other than that last game a couple of teams are playing this Sunday. Maybe the Panthers will have a stand out edge this season that the Lions can sign?? Here's the 2025 schedule (all times are Eastern): Week 1 - Sun, Mar 30 - 12:00noon @Memphis Showboats - ESPN Week 2 - Fri, Apr 04 - 8:00pm vs. Birmingham Stallions - FOX Week 3 - Sun, Apr 13 - 12:00noon vs. San Antonio Brahmas - ABC Week 4 - Fri, Apr 18 - 8:00pm vs. Memphis Showboats - FOX Week 5 - Sat, Apr 26 - 7:00pm @St. Louis Battlehawks - ESPN Week 6 - Sun, May 4 - 12:00noon vs. DC Defenders - ESPN 2 Week 7 - Sat, May 10 - 1:00pm @Arlington Renegades - FOX Week 8 - Sat, May 17 - 1:00pm @Houston Roughnecks - FOX Week 9 - Sat, May 24 - 3:00pm @Birmingham Stallions - ABC Week 10 - Sat, May 31 - 3:00pm vs. Houston Roughnecks - ESPN The schedule's a little odd with three home games early and three road games late, but I imagine that's based on availability of the venues more than anything. This also appears to be the first year that all teams will play their home game in their home cities.

I can't remember the details on this... did they have the video before it was leaked? Was this a case of: "Well, he said 'x', she said 'y', weren't not sure which is true, but we know something bad happened, so 2 game suspension" but then they see the video and it's 'y' so whoops... bigger suspension incoming. Or was it a case of "Holy **** that's bad, but the public hasn't seen it, so we're just gonna give two games and hope that makes everyone happy."

I wonder if a visible line with influence spotting the ball? I mean, this assumes that refs aren't already influenced by where they THINK the line is, but if you physically see the line when you're about to put down the ball, might this make a ref adjust slightly if he ran out there thinking: "Yes they got it. " or "Oh, they stopped him short!" Just thinking out loud here, not saying the refs are intentionally cheating or that they don't already have biases in spotting the ball. I just wonder if there's be situations where the ref runs out there with his eye on a spot and thinks it's a 1st down, but then sees the spot is just short and his eye unconsciously nudges a bit over?

At this point if I'm a massage therapist or a major sports athlete I'm demanding video surveillance during appts. If I'm the therapist and you're not comfortable with the video whenever we're in the room together, I'm not comfortable working with you. I'm just going to assume that you're expecting/hoping for more than just a massage. And yes, I'm sure there are some therapists who would put up with a bit of inappropriate behavior from the athlete with the idea that the could score a settlement later, but I don't think that's the normal situation. I think most would prefer to just do their job. If I'm the player and you're not comfortable with the video whenever we're together then I'm worried that you might be trying to make a case against me at a later date. And yes, I'm sure there are some athletes who ARE hoping for something more than just a simple massage, but at this point if you go to a massage hoping for that and being okay with that you are seriously opening yourself up for major trouble in the future. There are plenty of safer ways to get that specific "treatment." I have no idea if this is a guy hoping for some "extra" service or if this is a group of women working together for an extra payday. Personally I'm probably leaning towards the former but I don't want to make too strong a stand until we know more details... if we'll ever know more details.

Okay, so if the WNBA comes back... do they re-adopt the 'Shock' name given that the team formally known as the Detroit/Tulsa Shock is now the Dallas Wings? Or do they try to modernize it and go with an EV terms like the Stators?

Well, one could make the argument that they signed Flaherty because they thought they were close on Bregman. Like maybe it's a case of: "If we don't get Bregman we're probably not going to be a 'real' contender, so no reason to spend a lot of Flaherty... better to save our money for next year when we can make a better push." Or it could even be a case of: "Bregman is worried that the Tigers aren't making a real commitment to winning so adding a top end arm like Flaherty will help us convince him that we're making a strong push." Of course, I supposed its possible (however unlikely that it might be) that I'm simply grasping for whatever thin strands of hope that I can possibly find.

2003 was more like needing to roll a 7 on a 6-sided die to win. By like mid-May I started every game with this thought: "Please just don't get no-hit."

Oh look... another few days of Bregman not being the main topic of everyone's news story and another "leak" comes out that Bregman has a 6-year offer from another team other than the Astros that he's sitting on. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/01/alex-bregman-reportedly-has-six-year-offer-from-club-other-than-astros.html Surely this is true and not just an effort by Boros to get teams to up their offer, right?

I have ALWAYS thought that teams should and do consider BPA and positional need. For example the Lions should not be in the market for a RB right now. They have stars at spots 1 and 2 and capable backups at 3 and 4. So if their spot comes up and the BPA is a RB and the SBPA (Second best player available) is an Edge rusher, the Lions SHOULD take the edge rusher and I think they would as would 31 other teams in the same situation. But it's rarely as black and white as that. More likely it'll be something like BPA is a WR and SBPA is a LB. We're sitting decent at WR... it's not a need. LB is more of a need, but it's not necessarily a DESPERATE need. I think most teams here would take the LB. I think the Lions would take the WR.* *Even this is an overtly simplistic senario because there will be lots of other factors including age/contact status of current players at various positions, trade options, depth of the draft class at various positions, etc. etc. etc. But I'm trying to present a situation here demonstrating where I think the Lions might behave differently than the majority of other teams.

For the record... I'm well aware of my ignorance here. This is just message board chatter. I'm not claiming that Hooker is or isn't a bust... that the Lions do or don't like him... or that other teams do or don't value him at all. It's just speculation based on Bridgewater vs. Hooker getting the nod.

But that only shifts the timing of the decisions, not the results of the decision. The Lions still decided that Bridgewater provided a better options for them if Goff went down.

Because he's a bust... at least in hypothetically. My original post was positing that the Lions may not have had confidence in Hooker because he put Bridgewater in when Goff had to come out instead of Hooker. I found it odd that they put in the guy who'd only been back for like a week or two in place of the guy who'd been with the team all year, learning the playbook, getting the reps (if just the backup reps) in practice, developing with and getting to know the players. So *IF* the Lions don't have faith in Hooker, maybe we trade him. But obviously if I'm totally misreading the situation and the Lions still think highly of Hooker, then don't.

Honestly this should have been a no brainer. He should get the nod for how he acquired all the defensive bodies to fill all the hole and not have an absolute turd defense.

I'm honestly surprised with both the destinations for Johnson and Glenn. They obviously have much more knowledge than I but I don't see either of those as good stable places. Now you can 100% say the same thing about the Lions before Campbell came here so maybe these will be the right people to turn both of those franchises around. I'll be rooting for Glenn. I can't say the same thing about Johnson... not because I don't like him, but that I just can't root for the Bears.

If Kelvin Sheppard didn't seem like the heir-apparent already I'd be push hard for Saleh.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... Holmes will draft best player available (almost) regardless of position. Honestly, just completely throw out the positional depth chart because Holmes does not care. He does not care if he drafts a position of need or not, certainly not in the early rounds. If the bpa is a DE, great. If it's a Tackle, he'll draft the tackle. If it's a linebacker, that's who he'll draft. Positional need does come into play, but it is much, much further down the list when evaluating players than we've ever see in a Lions GM previously (at least as long as I've been paying attention to the draft). That doesn't mean we can't or shouldn't speculate. This is a fan message board after all. It's just that when you speculate look at players, not positions. Does he have a high motor? Does he love football? Does he play hard? Those are the things they are looking for first and foremost. Does he fill a position of need? Okay, that's nice. That's bump him up maybe 1 or 2% on our rankings.

I should have linked the MLB Trade Rumor's story in my first post, but here it is now: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/01/poll-would-you-trade-the-2027-mlb-season-for-a-salary-cap.html They didn't say anything about the players being proud, but they did mention this:

I think that a Salary Cap would limit the west coast advantage. Suzuki is a bit of an wild card here because he was considered part of the amateur pool. If players like him show up more often then they might need to tweak the rules there. But if he was "regular" free agent and the Dodgers didn't have infinite money to throw given that they already spent so much of the hypothetical pool last year, then I think it would have been less certain that Suzuki would have gone west coast.

Browsing MLB Trade Rumors and they have a story/poll on a Salary Cap in baseball. Now, I'll readily admit that being a fan of a mid(ish)-market team obviously is influencing my opinion here, but I'm ready for a cap. Seeing the Dodgers just spend and spend and spend and spend and pick up all the big names is frustrating. It doesn't feel like mid and small teams can compete when they don't have the budget to bid along side the major players. Now, on one had I do think Chris Ilitch could spend more on the Tigers payroll and still make money, but I don't think the Tigers could get anywhere close to $370M and be profitable. I'm not opposed to looking at other options beside a hard cap, but I think it needs to have some more teeth if MLB is going to stick with a Luxury Tax model. I think the tax needs to be higher and perhaps based on a percentage of local media revenue from the "offending" club.

I was very surprised when Goff had to sit out for a bit that Bridgewater came in, not Hooker. I know that Bridgewater has more experience of course, but he also wasn't involved with the Lions offense for nearly a full year. On one hand I don't think you need to be in peak physical shape to be a successful QB and I also doubt that the Lions massively overhauled their offensive scheme and terminology from last year. Still... you have a guy who's been practicing and learning the plays and the terminology and has time spent working with the player in Hooker, and then you've got a guy who just came back to the team like a week ago... and he's the guy the coaches pick to go in? That was surprising to me. Now, calling a 3rd round pick who's barely had any actual field time and has only had about 1.5 NFL seasons of being able to practice/play... calling that person a bust is admittedly a bit of a clickbait title. Still, it just seems odd to me that Hooker didn't get the nod and it makes me wonder if the staff doesn't have high confidence in Hooker.

Well... at least we're not drafting last, right??

They all have NOT been in my kitchen.

Assuming everyone comes back healthy, I don't think you need anymore defensive additions. DL: Hutch, McNeill, Reader, Smith LB: Barnes, Campbell, Anzalone DB: Davis, Branch, Joseph, Arnold Plug in those four players and you'll get much more QB pressure, much better WR defense, and better run defense as well. Obviously you always try to upgrade, but this defense is not a bad defense when healthy. Just way too many injuries to over come.

Just too many injuries on defense. This turned into anti-complimentary football. Defense couldn't get stops, Offense made too many mistakes.